Lifestyle in Centennial? (Denver, Aurora, Arvada: for sale, house, find a job)

[ryanms3030]

What is lifestyle like there? I currently live in Los Angeles area with my wife and new baby. We are interested in relocating out of here and I have seen some jobs that fit my experience in Centennial. We both prefer somewhat slower pace of life and suburban area. We are outdoors types and need to have access to hiking/camping and mountains ideally. We currently do local hikes on week nights where we live and any give weekend will drive up to an hour to be in national forest land to hike and we do a few bigger camping/backpacking trips per year. I am also an avid road cyclist so I would like an area with a lot of clubs/cyclists and mountains to ride (I know CO in general is good for riding)

Obviously school systems is now a major concern as well. So, would we like it there?

[Robert5]

Centennial is part of the Denver Metro area, I suggest you post your question there. I don't agree that CO, at least not the eastern plains, is a good place to road bike. Few bike lanes or shade. There are multipurpose paths, but anyone going over 22 mph is somewhat of a hazard as the paths are dominated by dog walkers, joggers and strollers.

[davebarnes]

Centennial is boring, middle class, white bread 'Murica.
Schools are ok to good.
Walk scores are low.

[mic111]

I used to live in Centennial. Loved it! There is great hiking in the Jeffco county open space parks on the SW side of Denver. Mount Falcon and Deer Creek Canyon were two of my favorites.
Jeffco Open Space Parks and Trails - Jefferson County, Colorado

Used to ride bikes around Chatfield Reservoir and Cherry Creek Reservoir but you would want to join the cycling clubs for the road rides.
Colorado Parks & Wildlife - Chatfield
Colorado Parks & Wildlife - Cherry Creek

I lived in a nice suburban neighborhood with lamp posts in front of every house and walking paths throughout. But I could still walk to work in the DTC (Denver Tech. Center), the post office, breakfast restaurants, many other restaurants, movies, library, auto repair, grocery store, Fiddlers Green Amphitheater etc. And it has only gotten better since then because the light rail came through and now you can walk to that also for easy access to downtown. If your planning to stay awhile the neighborhood elementary school system is fantastic (top rated schools) with most schools being centered in the neighborhoods and kids walking to school.
Here is a house for sale in my old neighborhood to give you an idea of the location.
6597 S Heritage Pl W, Centennial, CO 80111 | Zillow

I choose the one I did because I like to walk alot. However in the surrounding areas there are tons of more typical suburban neighborhoods with easy access to all the amenities you would want.

For swimming, running and weight workouts in the winter I used the Goodson Rec. center. Very inexpensive, nice down to earth gym. I don't like the glitzy places.
https://www.ssprd.org/Goodson-Recreation-Center
For winter ice skating I went to the South Suburban Ice Arena.
https://www.ssprd.org/South-Suburban-Ice-Arena

For cheap dollar movies I went to the Tiffany Plaza Elvis Cinema. They are $3 (day) and $4 (evening) now.
Elvis Cinemas, Locations

If I were too move back now I would also look at the neighborhoods around Southglenn. It used to be a regular indoor mall and was replaced with the new trendy outdoor mall. It has Natural Grocers (best store ever) and Whole Foods along with many restaurants.
The Streets at SouthGlenn | Shopping & Dining

Cherry Knolls across the street is very nice and I believe their trail system connects into the Highline Canal 66 mile trail.
http://www.denverwater.org/docs/asse...printable1.pdf

In summary the lifestyle is excellent for what you are seeking.

[Lost Roses]

Ditto to what Mic111 said. If you are not into urban living it is hard to beat Centennial.

[ryanms3030]

Thanks mic111 and Lost Roses. We are definitely not looking for urban living. In fact we would prefer rural living even over suburban but we need to live somewhere that I can actually find a job. Yes we do live in a major ubran area now but we hardly make use of any of the advantages. We rarely eat out, we never go to the movies, shows, concerts or sporting events. We will do museums once in a while. We do most of our shopping on line and are happy with Target/Walmarts for the rest. We prefer to spend our free time in the outdoors. As for cycling, I would definitely be joining a club and doing group rides. So it does sound like a viable option

[Claire S.]

Centennial and Littleton sound like good fits.

[2bindenver]

Try for close to the Highline Canal https://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trai...lid=HGR004-001

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Keep in mind that Centennial is a very large area that was formed in 2001 from pieces of unincorporated Arapahoe County. When it became a city it was the sixth largest in the state, with a population over 100,000. It never was a real town with a central core like Littleton, Golden, Arvada, etc. It is made up of many diverse subdivisions, some old and some newer, parks, strip malls, and shopping centers. There's really no way to tell the difference between Littleton, Englewood, Centennial and Aurora when you drive down a major street like Arapahoe Road.

[Lost Roses]

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

Keep in mind that Centennial is a very large area that was formed in 2001 from pieces of unincorporated Arapahoe County. When it became a city it was the sixth largest in the state, with a population over 100,000. It never was a real town with a central core like Littleton, Golden, Arvada, etc. It is made up of many diverse subdivisions, some old and some newer, parks, strip malls, and shopping centers. There's really no way to tell the difference between Littleton, Englewood, Centennial and Aurora when you drive down a major street like Arapahoe Road.

Except that Littleton and Englewood aren't on Arapahoe Road. The city of Littleton is to the west of Arapahoe Road and the city of Englewood is a few miles north. Many people are confused about some Englewood addresses being present in the area but that's a postal necessity from years past and has no bearing on the actual city of Englewood.

As has been noted, Centennial is a large area with many neighborhoods, and many of which are fortunately anchored by shopping, grocery stores, libraries, and restaurants, which all contribute to a nice community feel, much like a "real town."