Family with small kids maybe moving to work at Buckley (Denver: for sale, real estate)

[meggoo]

So my husband is interviewing for a job at the base. We would be moving sometime in spring or summer and I need advice on where to live and schools. We are coming from Ohio but have lived in both the Springs and Denver before as a childless couple.

So we are looking for a suburban area with lots of parks and other young families and excellent schools. We are also looking for recommendations for private schools as my son is in a wonderful independent school here and we would like him to continue in such a school if possible.

Budget is $500K max we have a 3 year old and a 5 year old.

Suggestions?

[Gorges]

This is a commute I'm familiar with. With your budget, you should check out SE Aurora/Southlands. These areas are by the Smoky Hill and Gartrell exits for E470. Easy commute with lots of newer construction in your price range and young families. Neighborhoods are Tallyn's Reach, Saddle Rock, Southshore, Beacon Hill and Blackstone. Do a real estate search on zip codes 80016 and 80015.

You also might want to check out Stapleton. Also lots of children, but closer to the city and less suburban. Hubby did this commute for a while and though it's not far, the sun glare on I-70 got to be annoying. He prefers the N/S commute from SE Aurora.

[2bindenver]

What is important to you in a community? What else is important?

Houses can be had for less than $500,000 - but if I was working at Buckley, and schools were important, I'd look at Southshore as it borders the Aurora Reservoir or Tallyn's Reach, or Beacon Pointe all near Southlands Mall (it's an outdoor mall) and all in the Cherry Creek School District http://www.cherrycreekschools.org/Pages/default.aspx

Look for available houses here Search homes for sale & rent in Denver and Colorado

[meggoo]

Important is good schools, neighborhood with lots of kids, parks and walking paths in the neighborhood would be great. We looked at Stapleton years ago I'll have to come back and check it out. How is Lowry?

[emm74]

Your budget is low for Lowry for a 3-4 bedroom single family. Not impossible but it would be tough. Schools are not as good as Stapleton IMO. I moved from Lowry to Stapleton when my son was getting ready to go through the choice process for middle school primarily because I wanted access to the Stapleton schools.

Your budget is ok for Stapleton esp. if you are willing to consider a paired home (side by side duplex). There's more inventory in North Stapleton which would work ok for commuting to Buckley on 70.

Denver doesn't have a lot of options for independent private schools - there are some but not lots and I think they tend to be more in Denver proper, not too many in the suburbs, but most of the suburbs have pretty good schools.

You also have plenty of good options in SE Aurora as mentioned in other posts.

[davebarnes]

They allow kids to work at Buckley?
Must be part of Obama's full employment plan.

[meggoo]

What about Littleton? Would that drive be terrible? Looking at Stapleton. I don't think my husband would be willing to do the paired home. We could maybe up our budget to $600 if I could ensure great public schools. My worry with the Cherry Creek Schools is size. I prefer schools with a smaller population especially in high school.

[meggoo]

What high school do kids in Stapleton go to?

[emm74]

If you go between 500K and 600K, then you would have plenty of options in Stapleton, including spec homes that are fully constructed but brand new.

Stapleton schools are all very good - but the one thing to be aware of is that Stapleton is an enrollment zone, and you don't automatically get assigned to the school that is closest to you. It's good that you have more options and can choose the school that you think is the best fit for your kid/family but it may not be the one that is just a couple of blocks away. However, esp. in North Stapleton, I think most people do get their first choice and can usually choose into the closest school if that's the one they want.

Middle school options in Stapleton are great - better than almost all of Denver Public Schools. High school, which is so far away for you it's probably not even worth thinking about, but they just opened a brand new high school this year. It's had some growing pains, but everyone expects it to end up being an excellent school. There are also DSST schools for middle and high school - those are charter STEM schools, which are also very highly rated. My son goes to one, and I like the fact that they are on the smaller size, about 150 kids per grade compared with East High School which has 600+ kid per grade.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by meggoo

What about Littleton? Would that drive be terrible? Looking at Stapleton. I don't think my husband would be willing to do the paired home. We could maybe up our budget to $600 if I could ensure great public schools. My worry with the Cherry Creek Schools is size. I prefer schools with a smaller population especially in high school.

That drive would be rather unpleasant. Into the sun both ways and through some decent traffic bottlenecks. Unless you're willing to take E-470 every day (which can get very expensive) I'd try to stay east of I-25.