Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Colorado > Denver
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
 
 
Old 10-18-2015, 06:28 PM
 
2 posts, read 8,062 times
Reputation: 10

Advertisements

Hello!

My wife, son (3), and I are looking to buy a home.

Areas

* Southeastern(?) part of Aurora, (slightly north of East Smoky Hill, west of the 470)

* Highlands Ranch (anywhere really), or

* Castle Rock (Meadows area, but could be elsewhere).

Details:
Our budget is $350,000. We care about being close to "stuff", but we value a nice, SAFE neighborhood almost over any other thing. I work in the tech center area of Denver, (25/Dry Creek), and am currently commuting from Colorado Springs each day. I'm tired of it and need to spend less than two to two and a half hours each day commuting.

So far, pros and cons of each:

* Highlands Ranch - least house for the money, but closest to civilization and work. Feels safe from what we've seen. Might be too expensive to find a "good" house that matches what we want with our budget, but the commute time would be under 10 minutes, which is a huge plus.

* Castle Rock - We lived here 5 years ago in a townhouse in the Meadows before we had our son. We felt safe beyond the shadow of a doubt, but it was boring. After outdoorsy things, we found literally nothing to do besides go to Sprouts over and over again. My commute was okay, but there are accidents and backups SO often on the I-25 that my 10 minute drive into work OFTEN times became a 30-40 minute commute. I hate the I-25 with a passion after commuting on it for 3 years.

* Aurora - Here's where my biggest question lies. We don't know anything about the area, apart from the homes we've looked at with our agent, and the hour or two we spent having lunch at Southlands Mall. We really liked the houses here, and the neighborhoods seemed safe - judging ever so surfacely by how often we saw kids playing outside, types of cars people had in their driveways, cleanliness of neighborhoods, etc. I've looked on crime websites and it appears that this area is very comparable to Castle Rock in terms of safety, but I'd like some more details on how it "feels" from someone who lives out there, or has experience with it. Google averages my commute at about 20-30 minutes, which is okay for me. We would be in the Cherry Creek schools neighborhood, as that will be a concern starting next year.

Any thoughts would be GREATLY appreciated as we're having a hard time deciding...
Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-18-2015, 07:03 PM
 
Location: Denver, CO
5,610 posts, read 23,232,540 times
Reputation: 5447
There are a ton of previous threads on this forum about southeast Aurora. Use the forum search tool to find them. Southeast Aurora has the best schools (CCSD), hands down, of the three options you listed. All three are about as equally boring. Of the three, Highlands Ranch is the closest to the mountains and to activities in Denver. I doubt you will find an actual "house" in HR for under $350k. Both SE Aurora and Highlands Ranch feel like actual suburbs of Denver, whereas Castle Rock is really a satellite suburb with a much more isolated feel to it, like you're in a whole different town apart from Denver (even though it is technically part of the Denver metro). That's both good and bad; Castle Rock has more scenic terrain than the other two. If you lived in SE Aurora, would you plan on taking E-470 to work (fast but very expensive) or driving down surface streets such as Arapahoe Rd (really bad stop and go traffic that will probably only get worse over time)?
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-18-2015, 07:30 PM
 
Location: Just south of Denver since 1989
11,815 posts, read 34,284,943 times
Reputation: 8935
HeadingtoDenver will disagree, but the commute from Castle Rock is terrible.

Centennial, northern Parker, Highlands Ranch, Littleton & southern Aurora are your best bets.

There are 49 matches within 10 miles of the tech center with 3+, 2+ baths.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-18-2015, 07:59 PM
 
Location: Colorado
6,623 posts, read 9,174,123 times
Reputation: 8554
Why not look at western Centennial? Friends of mine bought a house off of Orchard and Clarkson (approximately) earlier this year and really like the neighborhood. I've been down there a few times to visit and it's quiet, safe, and in my opinion the lot sizes are a bit larger than normal for the area. They are not far from the Tech Center and it doesn't take THAT long for them to get to downtown Denver (they take Broadway).

Not sure what size home you are looking for but their neighborhood is mostly older well-kept ranch homes, though their home is a 3bed/2bath with basement.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-18-2015, 08:08 PM
 
2 posts, read 8,062 times
Reputation: 10
Based on our budget, our desire for a home built after the year 2004-ish (my wife has really bad allergies), we found these areas to have the types of houses that match our desires. What I'm most worried about is the level of safety in Highlands Ranch and SE Aurora - since I already know the Meadows is super safe....

@2bindenver - I'm glad someone else agrees with me that this is a god awful commute. For its distance, you'd really think it'd be better. I'd ultimately take a mix of commuting on roads and use the 470 sparingly, or just work from home when the weather is really bad. I just want more options than "25 or bust," and I think I would get that either in HR or Aurora.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-18-2015, 08:47 PM
 
Location: In The Thin Air
12,566 posts, read 10,550,706 times
Reputation: 9247
Both HR and SE Aurora are pretty safe. I know this because I live in HR and my in laws live in SE Aurora. I think the biggest problem you will have is finding a home for around the $350K mark.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-18-2015, 08:55 PM
 
Location: Aurora, CO
8,592 posts, read 14,762,224 times
Reputation: 15343
I live at Smoky Hill and E-470 and work next to Fiddler's Green. If I leave at 7:45 I'm usually at my desk by 8:15 - and that's by taking Arapahoe Road the whole way. You don't have to take E-470 if you time it right.

We've looked at Castle Rock but refuse to move there because Douglas County has done a terrible job in regards to water resource management. They rely almost completely on well water and it's gonna bite them in the arse in the near future.

Highlands Ranch is a little better, but the C-470 commute is one of the worst in the metro area. Tis much better to live east of where you work than west (sun glare).
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-18-2015, 09:00 PM
 
Location: Berkeley Neighborhood, Denver, CO USA
17,672 posts, read 29,575,143 times
Reputation: 33220
I think you should consider Antarctica for a "SAFE neighborhood"
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-18-2015, 11:17 PM
 
5,444 posts, read 6,934,881 times
Reputation: 15145
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2bindenver View Post
HeadingtoDenver will disagree, but the commute from Castle Rock is terrible.

Centennial, northern Parker, Highlands Ranch, Littleton & southern Aurora are your best bets.

There are 49 matches within 10 miles of the tech center with 3+, 2+ baths.
Yes I will disagree along with a BUNCH of people. What the OP will find out is that there is traffic in every direction when going into or leaving the Tech Center.

I live in the Meadows and I get from home to work in 30-40 minutes. Sometimes more and sometimes less. We are hoping that the widening of I25 will improve on this commute dramatically.
Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-19-2015, 10:08 AM
 
Location: Born & Raised DC > Carolinas > Seattle > Denver
9,338 posts, read 7,069,839 times
Reputation: 9487
No consideration for Parker? It is literally right in the middle of all three cities you listed...
Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


 
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:

Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Colorado > Denver

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top