South Denver Schools and Housing (Aurora, Highlands Ranch: homes, school districts, to live)

[Augie Daugie]

Seems like a no brainer. If you've always wanted to live in Denver and live close to the mountains, you will likely regret not taking this opportunity. At $650K, your budget is more than adequate for HR, Centennial, Englewood, and Littleton - all within a reasonable to DTC. Southeast Aurora is quite nice and you can get a lot of home for your $$$$, but if you are here for the mountains, you should definitely look to be west of DTC if possible. How far west really depends on your office's location in DTC and long of a commute you feel comfortable making.

[Moonwalkr]

We are in 80111 (Greenwood Village) and it's about 5 minutes to DTC, top schools, and due to the slowing down of the housing market the past few months there are some opportunities to be had buying at $650k. Plus you'll be just a little closer to the mountains compared to Aurora!

[Tabbychic]

Originally Posted by history nerd

Born, raised, and live in Aurora... The people who have a stigma against the city are universally yuppie gentrifying trash people... You are better off having them look down on you.

The people in Aurora seem like really great people.

[history nerd]

Originally Posted by Tabbychic

The people in Aurora seem like really great people.

I kind of thought being overdramatic was funny... But I don't expect yuppies to have a sense of humor.

Edit: People look down on Aurora because of effite urban racism and classism, it's really that simple. Most areas of Aurora are quite nice and the southern area has the best public schools in the metro... As long as you don't mind people with melanin.

[SkyDog77]

Originally Posted by history nerd

I kind of thought being overdramatic was funny... But I don't expect yuppies to have a sense of humor.

Edit: People look down on Aurora because of effite urban racism and classism, it's really that simple. Most areas of Aurora are quite nice and the southern area has the best public schools in the metro... As long as you don't mind people with melanin.

I agree this is way overblown. I grew up across the street from Aurora and went to Elementary and High School in Aurora. Aurora is fine.

[Linz403]

Thanks everyone, really good insight.

Augie Daugie: good points. Definitely dont want to regret not going. Also don't want to regret not staying.

Valid point about being West, ive started to look more in Littleton. Just not sure about schools out there?

Some have said they intended to go to CO to play in the mountains and then never really took advantage, rendering the move less worthwhile. Traffic to go skiing, etc. Others have said being near family is really what matters in life. We all struggle with these crossroads i imagine. Its just some decisions are harder to undo. Id love to hear from others their experience in similar situstion and also why their CO move turned out to be great/not so great. Thanks again!!!

[COcheesehead]

If you can afford it, Lone Tree is worth looking at. Great south metro location. Close to highways and light rail. Some of the most beautifully put together neighborhoods in the metro area. Kind of one of those hidden in plain sight areas. The general area is C470 to Ridgegate, Quebec to I-25.
We lived in Highlands Ranch for years and loved the open space trails and mountain views, but if I had to do it all over again, I would look seriously at Lone Tree.

[COcheesehead]

Originally Posted by Linz403

Some have said they intended to go to CO to play in the mountains and then never really took advantage, rendering the move less worthwhile

Here’s a secret we learned. On weekends everyone thinks you need to hop on I-70 or 285. There are other areas that are just as or even more beautiful in other directions. I am not going to name our “ go to” spots, but if you have a sense of discovery, try going were the masses aren’t. There are great places south of the metro area that see very few folks and a lot of them are on or near national forest land. Just starting looking at a map. Cute towns, great hikes, fishing, camping, cabins....

[Augie Daugie]

Originally Posted by Linz403

Some have said they intended to go to CO to play in the mountains and then never really took advantage, rendering the move less worthwhile. Traffic to go skiing, etc. Others have said being near family is really what matters in life. We all struggle with these crossroads i imagine. Its just some decisions are harder to undo. Id love to hear from others their experience in similar situstion and also why their CO move turned out to be great/not so great. Thanks again!!!

I am actually someone who found himself playing in the mountains far less than I'd like after my son was born---I don't ski (I hate the traffic), but love hiking and snowshoeing. We wound up buying a 2nd home near Nederland that we Airbnb when we aren't up there, which has us up in the mountains more than ever.

I have a number of friends that I don't see in Denver all winter, because skiing is that important to them. I have other friends I don't see all summer because they spend it mountain biking. A lot of folks here are very committed to recreation, more so than other places I've lived.

For us, the move we made to Colorado 11 years ago has been amazing---we were nervous leaving behind friends and my family, but new friends have been easy to make and old friends love to come and visit. Colorado has provided us with some incredible opportunities and adventures and we haven't regretted making the move. I think Colorado suits us well b/c we are easy going folks who can go with the flow and get along with a lot of different people from different walks of life.

[Linz403]

Great insight, I suppose like anything else it is what you make of it. Thank you!

Originally Posted by COcheesehead

We lived in Highlands Ranch for years and loved the open space trails and mountain views, but if I had to do it all over again, I would look seriously at Lone Tree.

What is the appeal of Lone Tree? Is it an upscale area? Schools seem hit or miss there?