Moving to Denver area, working in Thornton: Where to live? (Arvada: to rent, townhomes)

[broken-windows]

Hi all,

My wife and I (no kids or plans to have kids, only dogs) are moving to the Denver area and will be working in Thornton near I-25 and E 120th Ave. (roughly). We would like to rent at least for the first year.

We enjoy walkable neighborhoods and don't mind giving up living space to have cafes, restaurants, etc. nearby. We would, however, like to live in a single family home with a backyard for the pups.

A couple of questions:

1) Would commuting from downtown Denver to this area be a nightmare?
2) Are there any areas outside of downtown that would fit this profile?

Open to any other comments!

Thanks!

[jacoby23]

Commuting from downtown is a reverse commute but I25 is unpredictable. Broomfield along 120th street has a ton of restaurants but is not like downtown Denver.


If you have $ to spend check out the Highlands in Denver. Would be about a 25 min commute against traffic.


If you don't mind a longer drive (35-40 minutes) you could live in Boulder and do that commute. Boulder has more restaurants and cafes than you can imagine.

[NorthDenverGirl]

Hi There!

I live in the Thornton area. Your budget will determine the best areas but here are some you might want to check out.

Broomfield - Uptown Area off I36 and Wadsworth area. Restaurants, breweries, cafe, concert center, public transport to go downtown all right there. A 20-minute drive to your work I would say. They have row homes more than single-family homes with yards though.

Westminster - Bradburn - You can get a single-family homes here but they are upward of $500,000. The townhomes are nice though and it backs up to trails that you can easily get to and walk the dogs on. Restaurants, yoga studio, whole foods, sprouts and other restaurants shops are all right there. 10-15 minute drive to work from here.

Brighton - Brighton has an old downtown area with restaurants, breweries, locally owned shops. You could live in one of the surrounding neighborhoods and have a home with a big yard. It's a 15-20 minute drive.

Stapleton - Yards aren't very big but it is a walkable area. 25-30 minute drive to work.

Erie - An Old downtown area with locally owned shops, restaurants, breweries, cidery, bar. You could get a smaller house with a yard in the old Erie area. 15-minute commute

Arvada - If you live close to the old downtown area you have access to breweries, restaurants, bakeries, cafes, locally owned stores and public transport (maybe not so easily to Thornton though). 20-25 minute commute.

As mentioned above Boulder could be an option but the commute could get tiring and Boulder is one of the most expensive areas to live in.

I am really giving options outside of downtown because that commute might get a little crazy and it can more expensive ofcourse because you are in the city. However, if downtown is where you want to be there are plenty of walkable areas.

If you like let us know a rough budget and maybe we can narrow down suggestions a little better.

[Katarina Witt]

Boulder would be more expensive than some of these other suggestions, but in the same ballpark as Stapleton for sure, maybe Bradburn as well. Depending on where in Boulder to where in Thornton, 30-40 min. (Google says 26-33 min just using the terms "Boulder" and "Thornton 1-25 and 120th".)

Another option is Louisville, particularly Old Town and environs if you want to walk to restaurants, brew pubs, etc. 18-21 min per Google.