Young kids, small town to suburb, good schools. Where to move? (Denver: 2013, house)

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Earlier I wrote: There are 6 small towns/cities in the greater Denver area.
I was wrong.
There are 12 small cities/towns.

Lakeside: pop 6 or 8 as no one is sure. If you work for the Corporation, then you are in.
Mountain View: pop 529 and very much working class
Bow Mar: pop 847 and definitely a town of HENRYs
Columbine Valley: pop 1,256 and you must be over 50 (only slightly joking) to live there (and, you must golf)
Glendale: pop 4,184 and completely surrounded by Denver and full of apartment complexes
Lone Tree: pop 4,873
Edgewater: pop 5,170 and literally next door (on the west side) to Denver
Cherry Hills Village: pop 5,958
Federal Heights: pop 12,065
Greenwood Village: pop 12,817
Englewood: pop 30,255 and a traditional inner-ring suburb
Littleton: pop 41,737

You are not done yet. You left out Sheridan.

[davebarnes]

Earlier I wrote: There are 6 small towns/cities in the greater Denver area.
I was wrong.
There are 11 small cities/towns.

Lakeside: pop 6 or 8 as no one is sure. If you work for the Corporation, then you are in.
Mountain View: pop 529 and very much working class
Bow Mar: pop 847 and definitely a town of HENRYs
Columbine Valley: pop 1,256 and you must be over 50 (only slightly joking) to live there (and, you must golf)
Glendale: pop 4,184 and completely surrounded by Denver and full of apartment complexes
Lone Tree: pop 4,873 and "no way are we going to part of Highlands Ranch
Edgewater: pop 5,170 and literally next door (on the west side) to Denver
Sheridan: pop 5,600 and lower class working poor
Cherry Hills Village: pop 5,958 and your betters (just ask them)
Federal Heights: pop 12,065 and trailer trash even when they don't live in a trailer
Greenwood Village: pop 12,817 and would like to be CHV, but they can't

Every other city is 30K plus.

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Earlier I wrote: There are 6 small towns/cities in the greater Denver area.
I was wrong.
There are 11 small cities/towns.

Lakeside: pop 6 or 8 as no one is sure. If you work for the Corporation, then you are in.
Mountain View: pop 529 and very much working class
Bow Mar: pop 847 and definitely a town of HENRYs
Columbine Valley: pop 1,256 and you must be over 50 (only slightly joking) to live there (and, you must golf)
Glendale: pop 4,184 and completely surrounded by Denver and full of apartment complexes
Lone Tree: pop 4,873 and "no way are we going to part of Highlands Ranch
Edgewater: pop 5,170 and literally next door (on the west side) to Denver
Sheridan: pop 5,600 and lower class working poor
Cherry Hills Village: pop 5,958 and your betters (just ask them)
Federal Heights: pop 12,065 and trailer trash even when they don't live in a trailer
Greenwood Village: pop 12,817 and would like to be CHV, but they can't

Every other city is 30K plus.

You left out Foxfield

Every other city is NOT 30K plus because you left out Golden at about 18,000.

You are not done yet.

Livecontent

[seethesun]

Thanks again for all the responses. I have nothing against these areas that are closer to work. It would be great to have it all (or most of what we want like you are describing) and be close, as long as it's not what would be considered an urban setting. So I am not interested in district type living, high rises, etc.

My kids are 1 and soon to 4. So we want a place with a yard, parks are great, etc.

The issues I am finding with the areas right around work is that there are not an abundant amount of rentals. Which of course that may change by the time everything is worked out. And we don't want to buy right away as we want to make sure we want to be here for the long-term.

Also, unless I am looking in the wrong places, those that are in Lone Tree, Greenwood Village, and Cherry Hill Village tend to be much more than what is affordable ($2,400 to $10k). Whereas, Parker and Castle Rock seem to have more options (at least according to Zillow), which is one of the reasons I added them.

So I am not dismissing ideas being suggested, but unless more options become available, as much as I would like the $8-$10k homes I saw for rent in Cherry Hills Village, that won't happen anytime soon. But wow, I surely would like to.

[seethesun]

LiveContent - One other question. You mentioned you live in Arvada, so what about that area, schools, neighborhood? I read on another thread that they have big lots. Not being on top of our neighbors would definitely be something that would be at the top of our list when talking about the actual house. It would be a welcome change from Vegas where the distance between our house and the neighbors on each side is probably no more than 6 feet (not to mention the tiny/non-existent yards).

The commute, according to Google Maps is about 30 minutes? I know at times it's not accurate, but what are your thoughts on that to the Inverness/Dry Creek, and with traffic?

It would be great to live minutes from work, but you must realize that right now we are use to a 45 minute commute. We would definitely like to drop that drive time and 30 minutes or less would be great.

DaveBarnes - Thanks for the data on the population. I think I gave the wrong impression that it MUST be a small town. A nice suburb works great. It was just on my wife's wishlist to be in a more rural area, emphasis on wish. I told her it;s not likely to get everything you want. Rural area, 30 minute or less commute, and find a rental.

What she misses most about a rural area is not being on top of your neighbors, as in our current situation. So even a suburb with just a little space would be a step up from all the neighborhoods in Las Vegas where if you open your window you could just reach into your neighbors window and ask to borrow that cup of sugar. That was only a (slight) joke.

We know that developments are typically cookie cutter homes these days, and we are fine with that for the most part. It would just be nice to a have a little space, but it may be like Vegas in that regard. If so, that's not going to make our decision for us as plenty of areas, so it seems, meet the other criteria we have set.

Thanks again!

[livecontent]

I have written extensively on Arvada, search on my name and Arvada. It would certainly have good areas for you to live. However, the commute would hurt you either by car or public transit. A commute by highway would be about 45 minutes to 1 hour, with frequent accidents, much more. In bad weather the commute could extend to 2-3 hours. It makes no sense when you could find good places to live near where you work. Time spend with a family is more important. All that driving will only contribute more stress to your life. You will have obligations to pick your kids up from school when they are sick and so many other reasons to be near. The biggest risk to life, the cause of injury and disability, in our adult years is driving, especially on a highway--be safer, reduce that risk and live closer where you work.

Of course, I did it for years but I already lived there in my own house. Also, I was single and never had a reason to get home quickly and I would meander through all the streets and explore all the neighborhood eating places; have a beer and sometimes take my bike for a trip along the South Platte trails, the canals, the parks and trails along the way.

If you look at older places in the area with older developments you will find many more larger lots. Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Lakewood are older. Littleton is also older but I am talking about the real city of Littleton, which is small, not all the extensive areas that use the postal address, generally in unincorporated Jefferson County. Littleton is in Arapahoe County and is the County Seat.

In Littleton I would look at homes off W. Ridge Road, West from South Broadway. The homes and the neighborhoods are just a fine example of a well built and well maintain older neighborhood. Going just east from Broadway into Centennial, on Panama, Arapahoe and Dry Creek you will also find great areas to live. These places would be close enough to where you are working and I highly recommend this area. You cannot get the character from Zillow. Look at the street views on Google Maps.

There is a great area, just west of the City of Littleton, across the Platte, west along South Platte Canyon road that has older well maintain developments with larger lots. It is in the Columbine area of Jefferson County. I would pass it on my commute to Inverness Park from Arvada and I loved the area. I rarely took the highway from Arvada to Inverness because I also wanted to explore different neighborhoods of the metro area, on the highway I would not be able to see, to know and to feel the characteristics of the place.

That is part of the reasons, I know the area very well because I take the time to drive down "the path not taken". Also many years ago, I had a job selling to restaurants. I could not see them at lunch time so I would pack food and made it my mission to have my "picnic" at all the different parks in the area--I have been all over as there are so many parks--Dekoevend Park off Panama to University is fantastic with homes nearby that are well desired; this park is just one example of many more great parks. Highway driving is not relaxing for me and I also make the time to do a leisurely drive. I will be driving to a family event in Highland Ranch this weekend from my home in Arvada; I will look to take another route that I have never driven, just to see what it there.

Livecontent

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Earlier I wrote: There are 6 small towns/cities in the greater Denver area.
I was wrong.
There are 11 small cities/towns.

Lakeside: pop 6 or 8 as no one is sure. If you work for the Corporation, then you are in.
Mountain View: pop 529 and very much working class
Bow Mar: pop 847 and definitely a town of HENRYs
Columbine Valley: pop 1,256 and you must be over 50 (only slightly joking) to live there (and, you must golf)
Glendale: pop 4,184 and completely surrounded by Denver and full of apartment complexes
Lone Tree: pop 4,873 and "no way are we going to part of Highlands Ranch
Edgewater: pop 5,170 and literally next door (on the west side) to Denver
Sheridan: pop 5,600 and lower class working poor
Cherry Hills Village: pop 5,958 and your betters (just ask them)
Federal Heights: pop 12,065 and trailer trash even when they don't live in a trailer
Greenwood Village: pop 12,817 and would like to be CHV, but they can't

Every other city is 30K plus.

Depends on what you mean by "greater Denver".
Louisville: 18,376
Lafayette: 24,453
Superior: 12,483
All in Boulder County

None of these, mind you, would be suitable for the OP.

[davidv]

You should stay in close proximity to her work because:

The school districts (Cherry Creek SD, Littleton SD, and Douglas County SD), in that area are all very good. If your kids are young, I would advise staying north of County Line Road, as Douglas County SD has had quite a bit of political drama that is starting to affect the school system. Here is one (biased) take on what is happening in Douglas County.

The neighborhoods in the area (Willow Creek, Fox Ridge, Walnut Hills, Homestead, etc.) all have a very good sense of community. They have active HOAs, community pools, large parks, and extensive trail systems, and strong neighborhood school identities.

County Line Road has a concentration of restaurants and places to shop including Park Meadows Mall.

[evan arellano]

You need to check out Parker. It is really close and the home prices/rents are less than you would get in DTC or Denver.

[seethesun]

Originally Posted by davidv

You should stay in close proximity to her work because:

The school districts (Cherry Creek SD, Littleton SD, and Douglas County SD), in that area are all very good. If your kids are young, I would advise staying north of County Line Road, as Douglas County SD has had quite a bit of political drama that is starting to affect the school system. Here is one (biased) take on what is happening in Douglas County.

The neighborhoods in the area (Willow Creek, Fox Ridge, Walnut Hills, Homestead, etc.) all have a very good sense of community. They have active HOAs, community pools, large parks, and extensive trail systems, and strong neighborhood school identities.

County Line Road has a concentration of restaurants and places to shop including Park Meadows Mall.

It looks like Highlands Ranch is below that County Line Road, are they zoned for Douglas County?