Thornton vs. Northglenn? (Denver, Aurora, Boulder: for sale, real estate, apartments)

[twowolves]

Could I get some input from Denver locals regarding these 2 areas?

Whatever info you could give re: buying a home in either place, comparison-wise.

Some topics I'd like covered:

crime
neighborhoods
school districts-which town has better schools
demographics
proximity to shopping
proximity to skiing
property taxes
HOA's
snowfall amts

Thanks ahead of time!
2wolves from FL

[Count David]

Disclaimer: Thornton and Northglenn might as well be the same place. Thornton kind of wraps around Northglenn like a horseshoe. So pardon me for not bothering to differentiate between them.

1. crime:
I'd say about average between the both of them. Thornton is very large, however, and probably varies by neighborhood.

2. neighborhoods:
Mostly inner-ring, 50-70s style homes, brick ranches to tri-levels. Thornton is typical suburban sprawl, going north and east.

3. school districts-which town has better schools
Don't know, but probably about the same, maybe even same district.

4. demographics
mostly white and hispanic families

5. proximity to shopping
Can be found on any of the major roads. 84th, 104th, 120th, Colorado, et al.

6. proximity to skiing
probably at least an hour and a half to two hours

7. property taxes
beats me

8. HOA's
would say they would be more common in newer neighborhoods

9. snowfall amts
I believe officially around 60 inches per year. IMO, the northern suburbs along the I-25 corridor get noticeably less snow than Denver, Boulder or the S, W, E or NW suburbs. However, there are times when I'd have no snow at home in Aurora, yet would find some up in Thornton.

10. Thanks ahead of time!
you're welcome

11. 2wolves from FL
David Aguilar in CO

[zionvier]

I'd agree with most of what David said. I'll try to add to it to fill in some of the blanks:

2) Neighboorhoods: It really does depend on the area of the towns. Most are the older brick homes, but there's a number of new townhomes, houses and apartments when you start to get to the north/eastern side of the towns. One thing worth mentioning is that if you're thinking of buying an older home pay close attention to the foundation. Colorado soil is netorious for expanding/contracting and destroying foundations.... I can't remember the type of soil that does it, but it can be under one house and destroy it but not be under the houses next to it and they could be fine.

6) Proximity to skiing: Hour and a half from door to parking lot of Keystone, given no traffic or accidents of course. Add a half hour to get to Vail, subtract 20 minutes to get to Loveland.

7)property taxes: depends on the house and the area. Best resource is a web site called zillow (Real Estate Valuations, Homes for Sale, Free Real Estate Information | Zillow Real Estate) It gives you a ton of information on the specific houses you're looking at... what they sold for, what school system they are in, the taxes, etc. The value estimates are off because it hasn't really adjusted completely with the decline, but everything else was pretty dead on when I bought my place.

8) HOA's: it really depends on the neighborhood. I have one, but my friend in the neighborhood a mile away doesn't. I did notice that there seems to be some huge differences in HOA dues from one neighborhood to the next though... and it never seemed to correlate to what the neighborhoods offered either. I have one friend that pays almost half of what I do and they have a 9 hole golf course; confuses the heck out of me.

9) snowfall: hit and miss I think... depends on the winter, which directions the storms come from. But I'd probably agree that most of the time the towns along the front range get more typically.

10. Thanks ahead of time!
Hopefully it helps

11. 2wolves from FL
Pete in Thornton

[Katarina Witt]

You can look up crime statistics on city-data's main page for each of these places, also demographics. Snow is hit and miss. The same storm can bring different amounts to every little micro-location. The general averages are about the same all over the metro area.