Lifestyle Differences in Denver Burbs? (Aurora, Boulder: cul-de-sac, sale, amusement parks)

[BummedInBmore]

Hey Enigma

Where are you in Mo Co MD? I live in Bmore (as you can tell by the name) and I work for State Highway, so I am getting to know the state pretty well.

I've been here for two years and looking to jump ship, so I also can't wait to leave

[Swampy101]

Originally Posted by wanttomoveeast

Swampy: I was just clarifying that my post was comparing downtown Denver to Denver burbs. I think the OP was interested in other comparisons as she has lived elsewhere. So it was sort of generalized. I am glad you posted as it is always intesting to hear how life is outside of my little box!

8 million?? that's insane.

I know that when my husband moved here he thought man, it's cheap here! I just ran prices by my best friend (she's in Hollywood) and she about choked. I guess it's all relative.

Larkspur is funny that way. I think 8mil is the highest I've seen, but there's everything in this town from a run down single wide mobile home to that 8mil place.

There's another neighbor that's selling that's "4 doors down" from me for $400k, but right next door, they're up for sale (kids all finally moved out so they're looking for a smaller place) for 1.35mil.

[enigmakairos]

Originally Posted by wanttomoveeast

Wow, that does not sound fun. Are you coming back to Denver?

Yep. I'm going to be teaching in Douglas County. So we have to get this stuff sorted out within the next two months and get the heck out there. If we're still not solid with our plans by July, I'm in trouble.

FYI: When I lived in Denver the first time around, I was single and a student. I had to use Pittsburgh for my comparisons of urban vs. suburban living because that's where I was when I got hitched, bought first house, et cetera. I don't even think about comparing it to Maryland. I just about detest everything about this place except the diversity, the lush greenery, and the large boardgaming and scootering community (more reasons why it's easy to spend more on my hobbies).

Besides, it's too close to D.C... You know it's going to get nuked or targeted for some bioterrorism scheme sooner or later.

[enigmakairos]

Originally Posted by BummedInBmore

Hey Enigma

Where are you in Mo Co MD? I live in Bmore (as you can tell by the name) and I work for State Highway, so I am getting to know the state pretty well.

I've been here for two years and looking to jump ship, so I also can't wait to leave

I'm in Clarksburg. Follow the I-270 Corridor north of Germantown but not as far as Frederick. I've been commuting from here to Columbia for this entire school year. Now i'm interning in Potomac and never thought I'd be greatful for a sucky commute. It's just soo much less sucky than the 1 hr from here to Columbia. I do trek up to Bawl'more occasionally for scooter stuff though. Can you tell me why I STILL haven't had a good cannoli considering the sheer number of Italian restaurants in Baltimore?

[DenverLawGal]

Still it is interesting to see the differences of burbs and cities. Thing about Denver is, even if you are in a burb, I'm sure my 45 min.-1 hour commute pales to those living outside of L.A. and other major cities. And Denver is small enough that you can drive from one end of the city to the other --- all within an hour or two!

[BummedInBmore]

I'm a native New Yorker, and I lived in Manhattan for a majority of my life. No cannoli can compare to the ones my family used to get. It was from a bakery on Carmine near Bedford. For the life of me, I can't remember the name, but I can definitely remember the pastries. I grew up as Little Italy (in NYC) was being swallowed by Chinatown and my family still remembers what the area and especially the food used to be like.

I know the area a little. I know broad areas because of the design projects that go on in the office. I had a project on the border of Mo Co and PG and My boss has a project on 270 around Watkins Mill Road.

Now whats driving you to go back out to Denver? Did you just go to school here and were planning to move back anyway?

[enigmakairos]

Originally Posted by BummedInBmore

Now whats driving you to go back out to Denver? Did you just go to school here and were planning to move back anyway?

Nah, I went to school in Pittsburgh, actually. Long story, but a classmate and I both ran out of money/tuition at the same time. (not difficult to do when tuition is 36k/year...back in the 90's.) She was a Denver native, and suggested we come out here, earn money, get back to school. (Job market out there was especially excellent at the time.) So we did. Then I left and went back to school. Strangely enough I didn't really enjoy myself much the first time around, but that's primarily because I despised my living situation and was working 12+ hrs a day. Never even went skiing the whole time I lived out there. Bah. Now I'm ready for the more laid-back lifestyle and access to snow. My only issues are the lack of Trader Joes and IKEA. How do you people live without IKEA?????

[BummedInBmore]

My only issues are the lack of Trader Joes and IKEA. How do you people live without IKEA?????

Well the only one I know relatively close to you would be the IKEA in College Park. The only Trader Joe's that I have been to is up in Owings Mills. Both great stores, but I never really had anything to do with them till I moved down here.

What area did you live in when you were out in Denver? I am looking to move out there and can use all the advice I can get

What are you going to school for, if you don't mind me asking?

[vegaspilgrim]

Since we're on the subject of "lifestyle differences" in the suburbs of the metro area, let me ask, do you think Aurora is culturally different than the rest of the metro area, even from other suburbs? I'm not just talking about race, ethnicity, and nationality (and Aurora, BTW, is one of the most internationally diverse cities in Colorado and the entire Mountain West region, contradicting people who say Denver/Colorado is all white), I'm talking about lifestyle, how the people are, etc. I'm starting to think that Aurora may in fact be different. Aurora seems to contradict a lot of held "truths" about what Denver and Colorado is all about.

For example, in a city intimately tied to the Rocky Mountains in popular image and local culture, Aurora is the furthest city from the mountains in the metro area, located on the east side. I don't have any statistics to prove this, but I wouldn't be suprised if people in Aurora take trips up to the high country and the ski slope less often than people located further west. Growing up, I went to the mountains a lot since my dad is a virtual mountain mountain, but I don't really remember any of my friends going up to the mountains all that often. Aurora has a very strong Parks and Recreation program, but that's all city parks and plains preserves (like Cherry Creek State Park), not the mountains. People say that Denver is characterized by a materialistic, keeping up with the Joneses, California-esque lifestyle, but growing up in Aurora, I didn't find that to be true at all, in fact, I think Aurora is a very "down home" kind of place.

Supposedly Colorado and the city of Denver have a very high male-female ratio. If you look at census.gov Quickfacts, you'll say for Aurora there's no imbalance; it's perfectly 50-50. Colorado and the Denver metro area is supposedly becoming unaffordable for the middle class with high real estate, and while prices are going up everywhere (not now of course, with the recession), Aurora has some of the lowest home prices in the metro area. In fact, the bulk of Aurora is pure middle class USA, the way I see it. Aurora spans the gamut from rags (East Colfax) to riches (Tallyn's Reach, Saddle Rock, Southshore), but it's mostly made up of the groups in between. People used to make fun of Aurora, saying it's out there in Kansas... but do you think Aurora might actually have more of a "midwestern" culture than most of the Denver metro area? Just a theory. Curious what your thoughts are.

[livecontent]

All neigborhoods in the suburbs are not the isolated neighborhoods as depicted in popular culture. There many different types of suburban areas. There are the suburban neigborhoods of single family homes on large lots off the highways. There are neigborhoods intermingled with Apartments and homes on smaller lots. There are now areas with new homes that are mixed with condominiums, a concept which did not exist in my area when I was a child. There are neighborhoods that are infilled in older suburbs.

However, there are neighborhoods in the suburbs that mirror the feel of the city. There are the new infilled mixed used developments and transit oriented communities in the suburb, and areas that are near walkable little shopping centers, and have a little contained neighborhood--just like a city. Some of our innner suburbs are older and have many amenities of the cities--good transportation, houses closer together and walkable.

I live in an infilled development in a part of the older suburbs. Within a 1/3 mile walk is a major bus route; a grocery store, video store, many other varied shops, a movie theatre, a drug store, a hardware store, gas stations, numerous banks, numerous restaurants, a movie theatre, a roller skating rink, a hotel, auto repair shops--all walkable, just as if I was in an area of the city. In addition, there is a park, with 1/5 mile and a reservoir with a large park, about 1/2 mile. Bike trails on Clear Creek, which connect to the Platte River greenway and Ralston Trails are nearby at 1 1/4 mile. In the future there will be a rail station built within 1/3 mile and a regional park, about 1 mile. My neighborhood is very typical of many suburban neigborhoods.

There are many areas of the suburbs that are walkable neighborhoods with public transportation. Many are in older areas but many can be in newer areas that can have the some amenities like a city. An example of these types of areas would be the walkable area around the shop in Applewood in Wheat Ridge/Lakewood. There are many others.

The city of Denver also has neighborhoods that have the look and feel of a suburban neighborhood. A good example would be the Southmoor neighborhood, off of South Monaco, with a train station and a King Soopers which is walkable from the neighborhood. Again, there are many examples of these types of neighborhoods both newer and older in the city of Denver. In the future the redevelopment of the Gates property and environ on Broadway will add to the nice developments of Stapelton, and Lowry.

With the building of the rail network we will see more of these neighborhoods being developed even in far out areas of the suburbs. Stores and dense housing will grow near the station, so living close to these will give you a walkable transit oriented community where you can live, shop and get to work by public transit.

You can live in the suburbs and have many amenities of the city or get to the city very rapidly with the extensive transportation system and the further improvements that are being built. You can live in the city of Denver with the many neighborhoods which are like "small town village". However, as I said, in many of my posts---it is about choice and if you choose correctly you can
Livecontent