How long is a 29 minute commute -REALLY? (Denver, Aurora: work, house)

[txspamom]

We're looking at Catholic schools in and around Denver. We found a few we really like. But, when we map them to the areas that we are looking at renting a house, it's anywhere from aa 20-30 minute commute.

Considering traffic in and around Denver, how long is a 20-30 min commute really?? In the AM hours with rush hour? Say you were going from South Denver area to the North?

A few commutes we were considering for the schools were...between Aurora and Littleton.....between Aurora and Lakewood.....Highlands Ranch and Aurora

Any advice?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by txspamom

Considering traffic in and around Denver, how long is a 20-30 min commute really??

There is an "OK" but not great traffic map of the Denver metro here and on some news web pages:

Denver Traffic Report | Traffic Information | Road Conditions CO:: Traffic.com

You can also try Google and Yahoo Maps traffic overlays.

denver, cio - Google Maps

I have found the Google Maps directions tool pretty accurate for the times it provides for "in traffic". For example Google Maps provides

52.8 mi – about 1 hour 2 mins
up to 1 hour 20 mins in traffic

for Parker to Boulder.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

that's a really hard question to answer, because you have so many variables. Part of the answer would be whether you are going with traffic or against it. Part of the answer would depend on "where in Aurora" and "where in Littleton", etc. since these are all very big places.

I commute from the Tech Center to downtown. If it is not rush hour, it takes 20 minutes; during rush hour it takes about 35-45 minutes.

[2bindenver]

East to west would be preferrable in the am. Schools starting/ending time is also a question.

Is Aurora the workplace/homebase or school?

[txspamom]

Aurora would be where the school is….looking to live in Littleton or Highlands Ranch area

[wanttomoveeast]

This is a very realistic post. Also time of day is a big deal. I commute from north Denver to downtown. If I leave at 7am, it can take up to an hour for me to actually get downtown and park my car. If I leave at 8am, it's shortened to about 1/2 an hour. Coming back home, it can be nightmarish (maybe I'm tired from working all day?!). But --- if I leave just fifteen minutes early (4:45 pm), it can really shorten it. Then there are things like accidents which totally ruin the commute. I dread I-25, and if I would have thought more about my commute, it would be to see if there were alternate routes.

Originally Posted by Dreaming of Hawaii

that's a really hard question to answer, because you have so many variables. Part of the answer would be whether you are going with traffic or against it. Part of the answer would depend on "where in Aurora" and "where in Littleton", etc. since these are all very big places.

I commute from the Tech Center to downtown. If it is not rush hour, it takes 20 minutes; during rush hour it takes about 35-45 minutes.

[Katiana]

Even though Aurora to Lakewood is east to west, that would be a long commute. Keep in mind if your kids want to do after-school activities at their school, it would mean more than one round trip/day. Scouts, etc, tend to meet in the evenings, or other times that are not right after school. Likewise, if they want to do sports or other activities at the local rec, they would need to be back at home in time to go. I would suggest renting near the school (within 15-20 min).