Elementary schools and neighborhoods - chicago transplant (Denver, Evans: sale, buying a home)

[emm74]

Originally Posted by mundele

ok, yes, the places you're looking at in denver have a bit of that oak park/evanston vibe. many on this forum will tout areas like stapleton, lowry, bradburn, belmar, etc but from what i surmise, these are not what you're after. the areas you listed have some architectural character to them (plus a fair amount of new construction, fwiw) and lots of mature trees, and when i checked them out when i first moved here, they reminded me a bit of chicago. they will vary a bit in terms of how "urban" they feel, though, and it certainly won't be on par with lincoln park.

diversity in denver does not compare at all to chicago, at least in my experience.

if your husband's work will be near downtown, it might be worth looking at neighborhoods along the light rail. i'll put in a plug for my neighborhood, university, as it's got lots of parks, a decent amount of non-chain restaurants, and it's centrally located. our neighborhood elementary school, asbury, has been climbing in the ratings over the past few years and we're sending our soon-to-be kindergartner there in august. we were impressed with the staff and diversity of the student body, and have heard nothing but rave reviews from other parents in the neighborhood who send their kids there.

FWIW, I'm a Stapleton resident and yes, I do often recommend it because the reality is that it ticks a lot of boxes for many people (that's why about 20,000 people live there now, throughout the various individual neighborhoods).

However, in this case, the OP explicitly mentioned that she was not interested in "newer cookie-cutter/planned suburbs." While I might try to make the valid distinction between Stapleton and Highlands Ranch, I think it's pretty clear that the OP wants one of the older Denver neighborhoods. Although as ridiculous as it sounds, it's possible an 800K budget may not get them what they want in the areas with the most highly regarded schools, depending on what they are looking for in terms of size and condition of a house.

[Augie Daugie]

Originally Posted by macao

Another "moving to Denver" post for you all.

My DH, myself and our two daughters (6.5 and 3) currently live in Lincoln Park in Chicago. Our older DD goes to our neighborhood school, which we love. We live in a 3 bed condo (~1600 sqft) and are strongly considering moving to Denver. My DH can transfer with his job and work at home or his company's office in downtown Denver (16th and Market). I can also transfer with my current, but am looking into teaching positions at the university of community college level.

Our main criteria are the following:
-Some diversity in the neighborhood and elementary school
-A "good" school with active parent involvement
-Walkable to some errands
- Easy access to parks and easy to bike around the neighborhood - we currently do this in Chicago

Our housing budget is around $800k depending on property taxes. We'd like our monthly mortgage + taxes to be around $2500-$2800 or so.

So far, I've looked into Steck, Cory, Slavens, Carson, University Park, Steele and Bradley. Any thoughts on these schools or suggestions of schools I've overlooked? I don't think I can handle suburban living after Chicago, but may be convinced if the schools + diversity + walkability can be achieved.

Thanks!

Check out Park Hill and Bromwell also---both are closer to downtown Denver and definitely more walkable neighborhoods than Bradley, Slavens, Carson, Cory, and Steck.

[macao]

Thanks everyone! I will look into all these neighborhoods. I just booked tickets to go to Denver next week, so I hope to be able to tour some of these schools and get a sense of neighborhoods.

I know that no where in Denver will be like Lincoln Park, and that I have to adjust my expectations. As many posts in this forum has stated, this is an apples to oranges comparison. That's what's making this decision so dang hard!

[NorthDenverGirl]

Hi There, we lived in St Louis and visited Chicago often, now we live in one of the northern suburbs of Denver. It sounds like you might want to look into areas like Capitol Hill, Cheesman Park, Golden Triangle, Highlands and maybe RiNo. The schools in downtown Denver areas are getting better but the school district in the city does not have the best reputation, but that is always so personal and depends on what you are looking for.

My son goes to a school in Northglenn and it is very diverse but I hear schools in Broomfield have issues with not being diverse enough and they are only 10 minutes from each other. You should be able to tour schools and that would be a great way to do it. Be sure to check out some of the Charter School options too.

If you have specific questions or you want more specific information about each neighborhood just shout out!

[mundele]

Originally Posted by macao

Thanks everyone! I will look into all these neighborhoods. I just booked tickets to go to Denver next week, so I hope to be able to tour some of these schools and get a sense of neighborhoods.

I know that no where in Denver will be like Lincoln Park, and that I have to adjust my expectations. As many posts in this forum has stated, this is an apples to oranges comparison. That's what's making this decision so dang hard!

yeah, the best thing to do would be to come out here for a visit and check out these neighborhoods. i think that many of denver's neighborhoods have their own feel, similar to chicago, albeit not as varied.

hopefully you get a taste of how much better the climate is here compared to chicago. if it's possible, i'd recommend renting a bike from b-cycle and pedaling around for a hours, as they have stations in many of these neighborhoods. these neighborhoods aren't too far apart, and i think you get a better sense of them via bike or on foot as opposed to just driving around.

macao, feel free to pm me if you have other questions, and hope you have a good visit.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by NorthDenverGirl

Hi There, we lived in St Louis and visited Chicago often, now we live in one of the northern suburbs of Denver. It sounds like you might want to look into areas like Capitol Hill, Cheesman Park, Golden Triangle, Highlands and maybe RiNo. The schools in downtown Denver areas are getting better but the school district in the city does not have the best reputation, but that is always so personal and depends on what you are looking for.

My son goes to a school in Northglenn and it is very diverse but I hear schools in Broomfield have issues with not being diverse enough and they are only 10 minutes from each other. You should be able to tour schools and that would be a great way to do it. Be sure to check out some of the Charter School options too.

If you have specific questions or you want more specific information about each neighborhood just shout out!

Don't believe everything you hear. I don't want to look up every elementary school in Broomfield, but here are the demographics for the three high schools that serve Broomfield:
Broomfield High School (attendance area is all Broomfield)
https://www.publicschoolreview.com/b...school-profile (Sorry can't get on the school's website right now)
"Minority enrollment is 23% of the student body (majority Hispanic), which is less than the state average of 45%."

Legacy High School (Some Broomfield kids, also others in the district)
http://public-schools.startclass.com...cy-High-School
"1,518 students, or 68.5% of the student population at Legacy High School identify as Caucasian, making up the largest segment of the student body."

Standley Lake High School (not in Broomfield; some of Broomfield is in attendance area)
http://public-schools.startclass.com...ke-High-School
"900 students, or 69.8% of the student population at Standley Lake High School identify as Caucasian, making up the largest segment of the student body."

I don't know what you mean by "only 10 min from each other". I guess it would take about 10 min to drive from BHS to Legacy, but why is that an issue? Standley is more than a 10 min. drive from either one. These schools are not hugely diverse, but more diverse than most charter schools. Most charters have probably accepted their student bodies for the upcoming (2017-18) school year, and will likely be hard for the older one to get into. Kids start in K and stay till they age out.

[welovequeencity]

Macao,

I read your post about strongly considering moving to Denver from Chicago. I'm a realtor in the Denver area and also completely understand what you mean by wanting to see people walking around and not having to drive everywhere to run errands. Luckily, for you, most parts of the city have little pockets that have their own conveniences. I live in the NW area of downtown and we have several pockets where there is a strip that has coffee shops, parks, grocers, restaurants, hardware stores, etc. Denver is really great about trying to keep stuff local. You won't find a shortage of people walking around, that's for sure! Like most cities, the further out from the metro area you get, the harder it is to find walkability. It's just such a great city, though!

[ritapriati]

As somebody who lived in Lincoln Park and has a sense of what you are seeking, I would check out these neighborhoods:

Curtis Park (check out the Denver Central Market on Larimer)

San Rafael Historic District (between Five Points/Uptown)

South Park Hill (drive down 17th, one of the prettiest residential streets in the city)

Good luck!

[SkyDog77]

Other elementary schools in the city to consider are Lincoln and Asbury. These neighborhoods offer what you're looking for and the schools are very good.

[denver_hacker]

Slavens parent here with two kids who started in K and have been at the school for years. Overall, Slavens has been fantastic, as both my kids are doing really well across the board and they love their school. The teachers, staff, and community support are tremendous, and we've made a lot of great friends. The parents raise a bunch of money every year to give the kids extras around art, music, STEM, classroom help, etc. And it's K-8, which is unusual but nice that they're in a solid school until 8th grade.

However, it's not very diverse, I think it's one of the least diverse schools in the DPS district. The folks are generally middle to upper class white collar families who can afford the housing. I think I last heard there are maybe 1 or 2 kids per grade that choice in, but the vast majority of kids are from the neighborhood. There are a fair number of families of DU professors/staff/coaches as well, which makes sense. It is a car or bike dependent neighborhood unless you live right on the edges. You're not going to pop out your door and get to anything in a block or two. My take on it is that it's a first ring suburb with 50s/60s ranches that happens to be inside the Denver city limits.

Beyond that, I think it's a great location - can get to downtown Denver and down south easily, DU/Newman Center has lots of sports and cultural events (they have a great Gymnastics Program), bunch of light rail stops close by, Wash Park/Harvard Gulch/Highline Canal are close, South Pearl St/South Gaylord Street are relatively close, etc. Several developments in the school's area have HOAs that prevent building second stories, but those areas that don't have that seen a lot of older homes getting plowed under for homes that max out the build plane.