Highlands Ranch Bashing (Denver, Fort Collins, Westminster: condo, crime rates, houses)

[steveindenver]

A couple of observations for no real reason.

You find outside judgment based living location objectionable yet at the same time you go well out of your way to differentiate yourself as southern, the pretense here being that southerners are somehow better.

I see no real reason for this post in the first place, unless you were itching to tell other people that you drive a Mercedes and have children who play lots of sports. You claim you have no concerns what others think yet you ramble off justifications for your impending decision left and right before anyone can comment.

Those comments by the way as well as suggestions are what this forum is meant for. Questions are asked, opinions are given. Some you may agree with, others you may not.

All I see in your post is an insecure person’s cry for attention.

As to the highlands ranch bit. I say live where you want no one should tell you where to build. However that statement comes with a caveat. When gas hits 5 bucks a gallon and all the HR folks who have to drive their vehicle for any service (food, movie, etc) don’t go crying to the government to bail you out and put the burden of your contributions to urban sprawl on the backs of those who know better.

As to the latest post above regarding all urban areas as crime ridden. No doubt you are a product of a suburban upbringing. It saddens me yet does not surprise me when I run across such ignorance.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by JMadison

I see a lot of bashing of suburbia in here. Can someone please tell me what is so great about "urban". To me "urban" strikes me as a cuss word. I mean why would anyone want to live in crowded crime ridden areas?

Now I can understand how true outdoor wide open spaces would percieve suburbia, and perhaps that's where the condemnations are coming from.

But having lived in all three types of places, urban is unequivacably the last of them I'd think *anyone* would pick as first choice, unless there is some urban area that can *not* be described as blighted. (Granted I realize there are some places in say NYC or what have you that are urban and extremely expensive, and thus are the exception.)

Very little of the Denver metro area, or any of CO, could be described as "crowded crime ridden areas" or anything close to it. Many people love Denver and the urban civility of being near work and taking the light rail.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Very little of the Denver metro area, or any of CO, could be described as "crowded crime ridden areas" or anything close to it. Many people love Denver and the urban civility of being near work and taking the light rail.

Absolutely! My DD and many of her friends live in Denver b/c they are attending school at DU or the Health Science Center. She lives near DU and is truly a "city mouse". Even I, a confirmed suburbanite, like her little neighborhood.

[steveco.]

Originally Posted by JMadison

I see a lot of bashing of suburbia in here. Can someone please tell me what is so great about "urban". To me "urban" strikes me as a cuss word. I mean why would anyone want to live in crowded crime ridden areas?

Now I can understand how true outdoor wide open spaces would percieve suburbia, and perhaps that's where the condemnations are coming from.

But having lived in all three types of places, urban is unequivacably the last of them I'd think *anyone* would pick as first choice, unless there is some urban area that can *not* be described as blighted. (Granted I realize there are some places in say NYC or what have you that are urban and extremely expensive, and thus are the exception.)

Please, Please tell me you are joking, It surprises me that you claim to have lived in many different areas yet seem to know very very little about what "urban" means. Based on your comments I highly doubt you have ever been to an Urban setting and I find your blind judgement and generality of what a city is as just plain ignorance. Maybe we should turn the tables. How would I look to say "the suburbs are chock full of plain people with plain families who drive plain cars and do the exact same thing every week with the exact same people and will raise their kids to do the same thing and the plain cycle continues until the day you die"

[2bindenver]

I was born in DC and raised for the most part in Montgomery County in MD. Douglas County is very similar to Monkey County in many ways...I did spend two years living in DC, and three years living in Silicon Valley...

If it was just me, I would live in Denver proper, but I married a farm boy, who would rather live in isolation on some mountain top, than the city. So we compromised and live in the suburbs with the family.

To each there own. There is no one right answer for anyone. Home is where the heart is. After assisting hundreds of families find the "right" property, you new home is where you "feel" the most comfortable.

We have the ability to live anywhere. Isn't life about choice, freedom and the pursuit of happiness??

[Kibbiekat]

Originally Posted by Stagger Lee

In my opinion Highlands ranch is where all these characterless and boring types live. I would rather have a conversation with a bum in an alley way off of Colfax ave then some regular, suburbinite, Highlands ranch yuppie. That is just me though. Hell the bum on Colfax ave probably seen a rough life and has some good stories and wisdom to tell. Highlands ranch suburbinites just talk about their suvs they drive, work, and soccer practice. Well atleast the ones I all knew.

I live in HR, and will most likely be a soccer mom in a year when my oldest starts school. I don't live my life in order to be interesting to you. I live it in order for my kids to have a nice life and a nice place to grow up.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by rkb0305

I live in HR, and will most likely be a soccer mom in a year when my oldest starts school. I don't live my life in order to be interesting to you. I live it in order for my kids to have a nice life and a nice place to grow up.

RKB: Relax, the person you quoted was a troll and was banned by the mods.

ALL: There are trolls all over C-D, we ban them when they go too far. Until then, do not respond to obvious ignorant remarks, prods, pokes, or insults. Ignore them and they'll go away. For ones that don't go away, I can make them go away.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

RKB: Relax, the person you quoted was a troll and was banned by the mods.

ALL: There are trolls all over C-D, we ban them when they go too far. Until then, do not respond to obvious ignorant remarks, prods, pokes, or insults. Ignore them and they'll go away. For ones that don't go away, I can make them go away.

He seems to be back under a different name.

[Nikistyx]

We are also looking at relocating from Texas. (originally from utah and colorado). Don't be concerned about the "stuck up" thing. I think people don't understand being from a place where manners are ingrained..... No offense to any one who is not from the South!! IT IS a different world in Texas! Not that I still don't love Colorado!!!

What made you decide to move? We are looking at a job relocation...but, we already did that from Utah. I don't know if I want to do it again!!!! I love Colorado,but that's a past life. Ya know??? Most family is in Utah, but we don't want to go back there. What's the deciding factor???

P.S. We're looking at Highlands Ranch area too!!!

[JMadison]

Originally Posted by steveco.

Please, Please tell me you are joking, It surprises me that you claim to have lived in many different areas yet seem to know very very little about what "urban" means. Based on your comments I highly doubt you have ever been to an Urban setting and I find your blind judgement and generality of what a city is as just plain ignorance. Maybe we should turn the tables. How would I look to say "the suburbs are chock full of plain people with plain families who drive plain cars and do the exact same thing every week with the exact same people and will raise their kids to do the same thing and the plain cycle continues until the day you die"

Ok, let me clarify a little. I have lived in densities from "1 house in 5 acres" to apartment buildings. To me urban = inner city/ghetto. So from that perspective, urban = "something to run from". To me suburbia means houses fairly close together, but at least single family homes. Yes, perhaps tract homes and/or McMansions, but significantly nicer than anything inner city.

So when folks speak negatively about suburbia and positively about urban, I find myself confused and shocked as suburbia, as I tend to understand it is "entry level American Dream" and urban is the definition of everything one would work hard and improve one's socia-economic standing in order to get away from.

The verbal thashing of "yuppies" also puzzles me. If Yuppie = "Young Upwardly Mobile", well geez, don't we all want to be that or better?

I dunno, guess I'm nutz or something.

In any event, nicely manicured, planned communities strike me as a plus over urban, and of course homes on even more land (e.g. an "estate") strike me as even better.