Best places to live in/near Denver with kids (Westminster: mortgage, work)

[thinkingofmove]

I'm guessing this has been posted before but I 'm looking for suggestions on places to live. We will be most likely working in downtown Denver. My dream is to live somewhere where we can walk to stores, library, parks, etc. but still be in a safe area with good schools. Any ideas?

[Charles]

Price range?

[thinkingofmove]

We are coming from Seattle so I'm hoping things are less expensive there. I would say our price range maximum is around $500,000. I would really love to keep it much lower though (like below $400,000) so we don't have a big mortgage. Being from Seattle, I'd be totally fine with a smaller, older place. A fixer would be great for us.

[2bindenver]

how far from downtown? what size house? What would you need for the school to be considered good?

Is light rail/bus an option?

[thinkingofmove]

We don't want killer commutes. I'd love to keep it to 30 minutes or less and absolutely under 1 hour. We'd be happy with rail/bus transit. In fact it looks like where my husband could potentially work is close to the rail line. I'd like a school with good test scores and plenty of activities for kids. We have pretty low expectations in terms of housing, being from Seattle where everything is so expensive. We'd rather have an older, smaller, fixer in a great area than a big house out in the middle of no where. We could very comfortably live in a house that was 1,800 s.f.. However, schools and safety are our biggest concerns. Close proximity to mountains is a huge plus too.

[steveindenver]

One option if public schools are a priority close to the city with the ability to walk places, Stapleton.

Prices are lower for virtually everything from houses to a gallon of milk.

Having lived in belltown for some time I think Colorado is going to be a big change and maybe a bit of a dissapointment in terms of the size and diversity of the city.

[thinkingofmove]

Thank you for the suggestion. I'm not worried about dissapointment in terms of size and diversity. We have kids and most of our lives revolve around their activities anyway. We're happy just having a few nice restaurants and so forth around. We don't need the huge variety we have here. We are more outdoorsy people actually, and being close to hiking and parks is of greater importance to us. Even though it is beautiful here, we detest the weather and would like some sun and snow.

[.gif]

highlands ranch would be ideal for you except it is probably too far.

[Bradburn1]

I agree with the Stapleton suggestion, although if you are really into fixer uppers all the homes in Stapleton are new construction. My neighborhood, Bradburn Village is also something you may want to take a look at: very walkable with excellent schools and crammed with kids (you didn't say how old your kids are, the majority here are ages 1-12).

We are a new urbanist neighborhood like Stapleton, with excellent schools, but again, new construction (although one builder here is offering solar power standard in their homes which I think is neato). Bradburn is in Westminster which is a 20 minute drive from downtown (30-40 in rush hour sometimes) and even faster by bus (we have several huge great park n rides 5 min away). We abut the Dry Creek Open Space which has bike/running path that goes on forever, great if you are into outdoor activities--also only 1 1/2 hour away from most ski areas and close (15-20 min drive) to the great open spaces of Boulder, and we have 9 of our own parks and close walking distance to another very large city park (soccer fields etc..). You can also walk to the great Westminster public library through the open space (about 15-20 min walk, by bike about 5-10 min).

There are lots of areas in Denver that would fulfill your walkable requirement, and your fixer upper in that price range-BUT the schools are very spotty. The Highlands neighborhood for example is awesome, but most of the schools rate as low, and that's the case in many Denver neighborhoods (however, CSAP ratings don't tell everything about a school, that's for sure).

Many people move to my neighborhood from walkable older Denver neighborhoods (many have moved from the Highlands) because we have the benefits of urbanism (walkable neighborhood--I can walk to many restaurants, services and soon to be organic grocery store (Sprouts!)-- traditional architecture) but also have the benefits of suburbia (excellent schools). It isn't for everyone, a lot of people feel these developments are a tad "Stepford Wifeish" or "Disneyfied", and I agree they have a bit of an unreal quality about them (no urban grit, too clean etc, too new, not enough funky people, not enough diversity), but it works great for us and all our neighbors love living here (also neighborhood is SUPER social, if you're not into that, it's not the best place for you).

Good luck! We certainly have more sunshine : )

[thinkingofmove]

My kids are between 1 and 8. So is there such a thing as an older established neighborhood with good schools around the area? I have lived in a planned community and liked it but I don't think my husband will go for it.