Relocating to Denver area need Advise about Highlands Ranch

[Florida2014]

I have not personally lived in HRanch but have several friends who either currently live there or have lived there. Seems as though people either love it or hate it, not much in-between. If you like suburbia with cookie-cutter houses, proximity to shopping/entertainment, decent schools and family friendly you might enjoy it. If you prefer more of an inner-city feel with more diversity and cultural events, HR would likely not be the place for you. We looked for housing there before deciding on a place in the city of Denver. Personally, I did not care for the neighborhoods that much, I just felt like every house looked the same and there wasn't much room between you and your neighbor. We looked at maybe 4 houses there and all seemed very "dated" and more of that 1990s style of house. These are generalizations, I realize. Having said that, this was BEFORE we had a child. I may have very well looked through different eyes at everything with a child to account for.

[abbey2014]

It's funny, people always say it is love-it-or-hate-it here but we're very much in the middle. We definitely miss living in the city but couldn't afford the house we decided we needed. It's a trade off. HR is absolutely cookie cutter but as it ages, some of the neighborhoods are starting to take on a little more personality. Northridge is a good example: trees, some distinctive landscaping from house to house, etc. Don't get me wrong, it's still the burbs but it doesn't feel so cookie cutter.

The one thing I would argue, especially because it is a major reason we are staying here, is that the schools are "decent". Relative to other school districts, the schools are excellent. We are pretty excited our kids can go to a nearby public school that is rated a 10 and considered one of the top elementary schools in the state. For anyone with young kids, that's a major factor. That and an affordable house are the major reasons we are staying here for the time being.

We do end up driving to Denver often for a little culturin' and that works out pretty well. And while the open spaces here are nice, they don't compare to city parks or going up to the mountains.

My thought on Highlands Ranch is that it's a great place for a young family who wants to buy a house in the $250k-$500k range in a safe neighborhood with rec centers and great schools. If that's your priority, HR might be perfect for you. One thing I appreciated about our choice to buy a house in HR is that home values stayed pretty stable over the recent bad years and it won't be long until we have enough equity to consider a move somewhere else.

[2bindenver]

Abbey,

I too, live in the Northridge neighborhood. I started in Eastridge, move to Southridge, now Northridge.

There is no neighborhood that compares for activities, open space, quality of life.

If it was just me, I would live in Denver. For the kids, I am happy I chose HR.

[abbey2014]

Exactly!

Interesting that you moved from Southridge to Northridge. I would guess most people make the opposite move?

Northridge has some real advantages, depending on your situation. It is much easier to get in and out of then some other HR areas. I love that we can be on C-470 in minutes. Downtown Littleton, Denver, and Park Meadows are all a pretty short trip, depending on what you need. For us, we like that we can shoot down Santa Fe/Broadway/University to all our Denver spots we miss but we can also jump on C-470 and be up in the foothills/mountains in just a short trip.

I've lived all over Denver, including Boulder and Fort Collins, and have never understood some of the hate against HR. To me, the cookie cutter feel is not much different than areas of Parker or many areas up north. That's just how the suburbs are in general and is part of the reason we can actually afford a house. If all the lots were massive and each house was it's own unique snowflake, it'd probably be out of price range. It's just a newer area that is starting to get some "seasoning" and we're thankful there is a place to get a decent sized house with access to great schools, open space, and rec centers. That said, it took us some time to find a house that didn't feel like our neighbors were living in our backyard. I remember thinking Westridge was particularly bad in that respect.