Moving from Orlando to the Denver/Aurora area - (Littleton, Englewood: apartment complexes, rental market)

[grungegrownup]

I am thinking of accepting a job offer at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora. I am married, in my mid 30s with an son in 8th grade (good kid, smart, in gifted program). Eventually, after my house here sells, I will be looking at buying but in the meantime, I thought of renting an apartment. The rent in the Denver Aurora area is much more than my mortgage now, as I pay roughly $1100 for a 1200sq ft 3 bedroom house. We can live with a 2 bedroom apartment for the short run. I'm looking for any ideas on areas/apartments that in a decent area or ones to avoid all together. Also I have 2 dogs, a yorkie and a pitbull. I would prefer to be closer to work, while in a safe area with a decent school for my son. I'm not looking for new or fancy.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[davidv]

Your chances of getting your child into a gifted school/program right now is near zero.

Your best bet for a neighborhood high quality middle school would be to send him to West Middle School or Campus Middle School in the Cherry Creek School District, and then sending him to Cherry Creek High School next year. These are the closest excellent neighborhood schools to Anshutz.

Anshutz can be reached from via I-225 if you are driving or by light rail this winter.

Use padmapper.com to look for apartments and use this map of CCSD to see school attendance boundaries.

FYI - School in CCSD starts in the next two weeks.

[grungegrownup]

David - Why are my chances at getting him into the gifted program/school near zero? I was under the impression that if he met the guidelines, the state had to put them in the program. I do have the option of leaving him in Orlando with my parents to finish out the school year. It would suck, but it might be easier on him.

[grungegrownup]

I was also thinking of possibly the Centennial or Littleton areas...

[IndyRC]

I think the pit will be a problem when trying renting an apartment.

[2bindenver]

You will have trouble finding a rental in Denver or Aurora with the dogs. Colorado - Breed-Specific Laws - DogsBite.org

You will also have trouble buying a property in Denver & Aurora with dogs.

You have to find a school with a g&t program *and* live in the attendance area.

[caverunner17]

Originally Posted by IndyRC

I think the pit will be a problem when trying renting an apartment.

+1

I'm not going to get in a debate about Pit Bulls, but the fact is that many apartment complexes nationwide have recognized that they are an aggressive breed, and for liability reasons, have banned them.

My girlfriend and I were looking at apartment complexes in June in both Englewood and Littleton. We had over a dozen on our list and every single one of them banned Pits.

Your best bet would be a private owner renting, though they'd have to be an an area that doesn't have an HOA that bans Pits.

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by caverunner17

+1

I'm not going to get in a debate about Pit Bulls, but the fact is that many apartment complexes nationwide have recognized that they are an aggressive breed, and for liability reasons, have banned them.

My girlfriend and I were looking at apartment complexes in June in both Englewood and Littleton. We had over a dozen on our list and every single one of them banned Pits.

Your best bet would be a private owner renting, though they'd have to be an an area that doesn't have an HOA that bans Pits.

It is not the apartment complexes themselves but the cities they are located in. I think both Aurora and Denver have banned the breed.

[maiamom]

Originally Posted by grungegrownup

David - Why are my chances at getting him into the gifted program/school near zero? I was under the impression that if he met the guidelines, the state had to put them in the program. I do have the option of leaving him in Orlando with my parents to finish out the school year. It would suck, but it might be easier on him.

In the Cherry Creek School District, there is a Challenge School for gifted K-8 students. However, it requires multiple recommendations from teachers and is very difficult to get into (parents try for years with no luck). In elementary there are GT pull-out programs but not sure they have the same thing in middle schools. At this point your son would probably be placed in advanced classes in a regular middle school which would be just as adequate, in addition to being able to take challenging electives. School begins in a few weeks so would you really have your son live apart from you for a year?

[Sunderpig2]

Yeah, the pit bull will be a problem. Your like or appreciation for the breed may very well collide with the opinion of many in CO. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices when you relocate. It's already a tough rental market as it is, and that would greatly worsen options, even if you can find them.