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Old 07-06-2014, 02:49 PM
 
4 posts, read 6,240 times
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So... We are most likely moving to the Denver area (from rural upstate NY, think closer to Canada than to NYC) so that my husband can work at UMC in Aurora.

We have five children (9yo, 7yo, 5yo, 3yo, and 7mo), some savings (in the 20-40k range) and will be living at least at first on a very tight 50k salary. We would like to rent for at least a year to explore various communities and commutes... But where to rent?

We homeschool, so at least for the next year or two the school district isn't crucial. We have only a single vehicle so a walkable/bikable community is important for me while a shorter commute to UMC would be best for my husband. We're totally open to public transit ideas and have lived in areas where one or both of us had hour long commutes (by train or subway) so while that isn't something we'd want, it's something we could deal with temporarily.

We are obviously on an extremely tight budget so access to restaurants or similar retail outlets isn't a priority. Proximity to a public library, parks, and so on would be, however. My understanding of housing law in the Denver area seems to suggest we would need to find a four bedroom in order to comply with the "heartbeat" law? Is this accurate? With two sons and three daughters we have found three bedroom homes to be fine... Parent's room, girls' room, boys' room. But if it has to be four bedrooms then it is what it is.

Searching here and elsewhere, it seems like Aurora is really "rough". Is this really the case? Are there sections that are family friendly and safe for kids? I have family in Colorado Springs and in Boulder and they are very worried about us living in Aurora... But at the same time, that's where the job is and we'd like to keep the commute fairly simple for this first year.

Thanks in advance for any ideas about where to settle during this first year (or communities to explore/avoid).
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Old 07-06-2014, 03:41 PM
 
Location: Berkeley Neighborhood, Denver, CO USA
17,670 posts, read 29,561,379 times
Reputation: 33200
Default Ignore them

Quote:
Originally Posted by ladysybil View Post
family in Colorado Springs and in Boulder and they are very worried about us living in Aurora
More nice parts than crappy parts.
Your family members need to get out more.
And, I am a City & County of Denver bigot.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ladysybil View Post
comply with the "heartbeat" law
I have never heard of this.
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Old 07-06-2014, 09:05 PM
 
Location: Home, Home on the Front Range
25,826 posts, read 20,595,336 times
Reputation: 14818
Aurora is a large city. Some parts are rough, it is true.
That being said, I live in Aurora, in a lovely, safe family neighborhood. I have access to public transportation, am close to a branch library, shopping, parks and the commute to the medical center is very easy on local streets/via bus.

Some rentals in my general area:
16161 E Oxford Dr, Aurora, CO 80013 is For Rent - Zillow


2480 S Kittredge Way, Aurora, CO 80013 is For Rent - Zillow


4342 S Evanston Ct, Aurora, CO 80015 is For Rent - Zillow
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Old 07-07-2014, 09:12 AM
 
4 posts, read 6,240 times
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Awesome, thank you!

We lived in Boston for several years, in a section if the city that was lovely.... But about three blocks from an extremely violent section. I was hoping that Aurora was similar, with the rough sections just getting more coverage because that sorry if thing sells more papers (so to speak).

My other worry is that given our extremely tight budget, the sorts of neighborhoods we could afford would be very limited once we factored in safety and walk ability.

Heartbeat law... It's the colloquial term for the "two people per bedroom" guideline. I'd never heard of it either until I started looking for rentals. Apparently it is named for some HUD memo? Basically it allows landlords to legally refuse to rent an apartment if there will be more than two residents per confirming bedroom. As a family of seven, that means landlords can (and have, I learned about this law after being turned down by a rental service) limit us to four bedroom units. Which are harder to find and more expensive.

I'm hoping that a private rental landlord will be less concerned, especially given that we're not an unrelated group of seven adults but rather a family in which most members aren't "full size". Lol

I'd love to hear more about family life in and around Aurora. The stuff that /doesn't/ make the papers. Both for my own peace of mind but and to share with my relatives so they will be less worried as well.
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Old 07-07-2014, 09:34 AM
 
Location: Denver CO
24,204 posts, read 19,029,803 times
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Usually the laws limiting number of people in a rental apply to unrelated roommates, not to a family and kids. Some landlords may not want to rent to that large of a family - generally speaking, a family of 7 will be harder on a home than a family of 4 renting the same space. But I'm sure you'll be able to find a 3 BR. I am not all that familiar with Aurora but the area pretty close to the medical campus seems nice to me as I drive through it (I'm doing a new build in Denver around that area).

4 bedroom house

Aurora Apartments for Rent - 46 Rentals - Zillow

Last edited by emm74; 07-07-2014 at 09:43 AM..
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Old 07-07-2014, 10:26 AM
 
Location: Home, Home on the Front Range
25,826 posts, read 20,595,336 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ladysybil View Post
Awesome, thank you!

We lived in Boston for several years, in a section if the city that was lovely.... But about three blocks from an extremely violent section. I was hoping that Aurora was similar, with the rough sections just getting more coverage because that sorry if thing sells more papers (so to speak).

My other worry is that given our extremely tight budget, the sorts of neighborhoods we could afford would be very limited once we factored in safety and walk ability.
It is not as bad as that. I grew up in/lived in the NYC metro for most of my life and it was similar there.
Here, there is much more of a buffer. Most of what is considered Southeast Aurora is very safe and made up of well-kept family-oriented neighborhoods.
It is definitely suburban, but, the sidewalks are good and I have no qualms walking around my area.

Not going to sugar-coat it, your husband's salary will make things very tight. The rentals I posted above are on the low end for a family-sized home. On the plus side, I find utility costs here a fraction of what they were back east and they are controllable so that should help some.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ladysybil View Post
Heartbeat law... It's the colloquial term for the "two people per bedroom" guideline. I'd never heard of it either until I started looking for rentals. Apparently it is named for some HUD memo? Basically it allows landlords to legally refuse to rent an apartment if there will be more than two residents per confirming bedroom. As a family of seven, that means landlords can (and have, I learned about this law after being turned down by a rental service) limit us to four bedroom units. Which are harder to find and more expensive.

I'm hoping that a private rental landlord will be less concerned, especially given that we're not an unrelated group of seven adults but rather a family in which most members aren't "full size". Lol

I'd love to hear more about family life in and around Aurora. The stuff that /doesn't/ make the papers. Both for my own peace of mind but and to share with my relatives so they will be less worried as well.
Something that I consider one of the great bonuses to living in Aurora is the recreation program.
They have tons of different offerings for all age groups and as a resident of Aurora, they are very well-priced.

Here is the link to the summer listings as well as some general info about living in Aurora.

https://www.auroragov.org/ThingsToDo/Recreation/
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Old 07-07-2014, 12:17 PM
 
4 posts, read 6,240 times
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That looks great! I'm already doubling down on frugality... The upcoming birthday kids are going to be getting family memberships to museums and zoos. Lol

The girls participate in the girl scouts and the whole family enjoys the Society for Creative Anachronism, so hopefully we'll find a troop and an SCA group once we move, but really... We're a pretty outdoorsy family and I'm sure that if we can get the kids out hiking and riding their bikes they won't notice too much of the belt tightening that we'll have to do during this transition.

I really appreciate the local perspective... I'm excited about the move, but we've only ever lived on the eat cost (Maryland, New York, Massachusetts) so Colorado feels like a BIG change.
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Old 07-07-2014, 01:25 PM
 
Location: Home, Home on the Front Range
25,826 posts, read 20,595,336 times
Reputation: 14818
Quote:
Originally Posted by ladysybil View Post
That looks great! I'm already doubling down on frugality... The upcoming birthday kids are going to be getting family memberships to museums and zoos. Lol

The girls participate in the girl scouts and the whole family enjoys the Society for Creative Anachronism, so hopefully we'll find a troop and an SCA group once we move, but really... We're a pretty outdoorsy family and I'm sure that if we can get the kids out hiking and riding their bikes they won't notice too much of the belt tightening that we'll have to do during this transition.

I really appreciate the local perspective... I'm excited about the move, but we've only ever lived on the eat cost (Maryland, New York, Massachusetts) so Colorado feels like a BIG change.
It will be a BIG change. The altitude make take some getting used to, also the lack of humidity.
Food shopping will be different as there as some brands that are not sold here and some that have different brand names (Hellmann's Mayonnaise is Best Foods Mayonnaise here, most of the time).
A lot of those sorts of things have been covered in other threads in the Denver forum.



There are some great museums and (I've been told) zoos here so that's another benefit and there are a number of free days throughout the year. For example, the Denver Art Museum (DAM) is free the first Saturday of every month, excepting some special exhibits. The Nature and Science Museum also has free days, again excepting IMAX and some special exhibits.



A very short list of some of the fun places here:

SCFD Community Free Days : Denver Museum of Nature & Science

Denver Art Museum


Home - The Wildlife Experience

Plains Conservation Center | -- this is in Southeast Aurora, right down the street from me, actually.

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Old 07-07-2014, 01:38 PM
 
Location: Na'alehu Hawaii/Buena Vista Colorado
5,529 posts, read 12,577,377 times
Reputation: 6187
Quote:
Originally Posted by ladysybil View Post
That looks great! I'm already doubling down on frugality... The upcoming birthday kids are going to be getting family memberships to museums and zoos. Lol

The girls participate in the girl scouts and the whole family enjoys the Society for Creative Anachronism, so hopefully we'll find a troop and an SCA group once we move, but really... We're a pretty outdoorsy family and I'm sure that if we can get the kids out hiking and riding their bikes they won't notice too much of the belt tightening that we'll have to do during this transition.

I really appreciate the local perspective... I'm excited about the move, but we've only ever lived on the eat cost (Maryland, New York, Massachusetts) so Colorado feels like a BIG change.
I suggest that you spend some time reading through some of the threads here about how Colorado and Denver are different than the East Coast. There are a bunch of us (myself included) who moved here from the MD, DC, VA area, as well as other parts of the Eastern Seaboard, and there have been some very informative discussions about acclimating to the dryness, altitude, and general cultural differences. Here's one hint -- it's a lot browner here!
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Old 07-07-2014, 04:49 PM
 
4 posts, read 6,240 times
Reputation: 10
Thanks, I have been! (I've been lurking for a month or so and registered to ask about Aurora because searches seemed to turn up a lot of negativity and not much about larger families lol)

I think the biggest surprise that shouldn't have been a surprise has been the cost of water. Honestly I'm looking forward to lower humidity especially since the weather outside my door right now is 80+ degrees and 90%+ humidity. But it's going to be a real change. We live on a well right now so we're used to managing water, but I don't know how the kids especially are going to adjust to a climate without their beloved rainstorms.

When I was younger my family would vacation in Idaho (snake and salmon river rafting) and I loved it. And I lived in Ankara for a while... I remember coming back to NY after a year of brown and tan velvet landscapes and feeling rather like Dorothy opening the door to Oz with the overwhelming /green/.

Part of me is sad that my children won't really identify "home" with the lush/green/finger lakes, but I hope that Colorado will be or home for the next ten or twenty years and I know that there will be a lot of beauty and wonder there too. The Denver area seems to be a really good for for our family and I hope it plays out that way.
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