Looking at Denver real estate - a little torn between the city and the burbs (Lakewood: how much, houses) - Colorado (CO) - Page 8 - City-Data Forum

mkwensky · 08-11-2020, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MissTerri

Lol! You’re not the first person I’ve heard the HR swingers thing from.

There actually is a swingers club just on the edge of HR. Very weird. https://www.yelp.com/biz/scarlet-ranch-littleton

They also have the Denver branch of the Landmark Worldwide” organization in HR. Some say it’s a cult. http://www.landmarkworldwide.com/

So friendly block key parties? Sounds like fun.
How is the commute from HR to downtown/Tech Center? What about the shopping and rec center?

bluescreen73 · 08-11-2020, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mkwensky

So friendly block key parties? Sounds like fun.
How is the commute from HR to downtown/Tech Center? What about the shopping and rec center?

Tech Center commute isn't bad. Commuting to downtown sucks. HR is right next to Park Meadows Mall. Tons of shopping right in that area.

mic111 · 08-11-2020, 09:45 AM

I was hoping someone from Highlands Ranch would jump in because there are some new-to-me assertions on this thread. If you do a forum search on Highlands Ranch you should be able to find the comments from people who actually live there. From my memory they are a very happy, satisfied lot. They love the rec. centers and trails.

I lived in the DTC when Highlands Ranch was being built and alot of people put it down as being like a California suburb with all the closely built homes, parkways etc. But they put in alot of trails, rec centers, got a Whole Foods and some other shopping over the years and I think it is a very nice place to live. It isn't "hip" like the 70s and earlier neighborhoods which are closer in. But it is a perfectly nice place to live. I didn't choose it at the time as I liked being closer in and in an older neighborhood with mature trees. I also liked being walking distance to a grocery store and other amenities but I didn't get the big or newer home either. Tradeoffs are made with whatever choice you make.

ORLguy · 08-12-2020, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mic111

I was hoping someone from Highlands Ranch would jump in because there are some new-to-me assertions on this thread. If you do a forum search on Highlands Ranch you should be able to find the comments from people who actually live there. From my memory they are a very happy, satisfied lot. They love the rec. centers and trails.

I lived in the DTC when Highlands Ranch was being built and alot of people put it down as being like a California suburb with all the closely built homes, parkways etc. But they put in alot of trails, rec centers, got a Whole Foods and some other shopping over the years and I think it is a very nice place to live. It isn't "hip" like the 70s and earlier neighborhoods which are closer in. But it is a perfectly nice place to live. I didn't choose it at the time as I liked being closer in and in an older neighborhood with mature trees. I also liked being walking distance to a grocery store and other amenities but I didn't get the big or newer home either. Tradeoffs are made with whatever choice you make.

Good post. What area are you in now?

I agree with the whole "hip" thing. It's overrated in any city. For example, the only bad meal I had in Denver was in Berkely at some little hipster breakfast spot that was completely awful.

Main reason I liked that area was the proximity to parks and it's a nice area for sure. But I'm not sure I'd be happy if I overpaid to live there. If I can find a steal, thats another story but there is a very low % of that happening.

Gaylord_Focker · 08-12-2020, 09:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mic111

I was hoping someone from Highlands Ranch would jump in because there are some new-to-me assertions on this thread. If you do a forum search on Highlands Ranch you should be able to find the comments from people who actually live there. From my memory they are a very happy, satisfied lot. They love the rec. centers and trails.

I lived in the DTC when Highlands Ranch was being built and alot of people put it down as being like a California suburb with all the closely built homes, parkways etc. But they put in alot of trails, rec centers, got a Whole Foods and some other shopping over the years and I think it is a very nice place to live. It isn't "hip" like the 70s and earlier neighborhoods which are closer in. But it is a perfectly nice place to live. I didn't choose it at the time as I liked being closer in and in an older neighborhood with mature trees. I also liked being walking distance to a grocery store and other amenities but I didn't get the big or newer home either. Tradeoffs are made with whatever choice you make.

There are some beautiful trails there for sure.

mic111 · 08-12-2020, 09:39 AM

We live north of Denver now. It turned out to be better for employment (we are both engineers) because we could work in the Denver/Boulder/Longmont triangle (also along US36) and stay in the same house. I loved the DTC area and my old 1970s neighborhood but found that it was only really convenient (even at that time in the mid 90s) to working in the DTC. Crossing the city for other jobs was simply too challenging.

There are great neighborhoods all over the metro area. If we weren't so opposed to HOAs I wouldn't hesitate to move to Highlands Ranch. But we would probably choose Ken Caryl (great trails) or Cherry Knolls (good trails and walkable to Natural Grocers and restaurants/Streets at Southglenn) over Highlands Ranch. Even better yet the homes near Goodson Rec. Center that don't have HOA but are near the Highline Canal Trail but still near The Streets at Southglenn (same area as Cherry Knolls). But I tend to like solid suburban neighborhoods with walkable amenities and a good trail system. That hasn't changed as I've aged. Ken Caryl has such an amazing trail system that could sway me to forgo the walkable aspect if I were younger and could take advantage of it.

My old neighborhood near I-25 now has rail access to downtown so that would also be a strong consideration if we were younger and wanted to do that. At the time it was an easy drive to hit the hip urban areas and even Colfax for great ethnic food. But trail access wasn't great so had to drive to Cherry Creek State Park, the foothills (Jeffco Parks) and Chatfield for recreation opportunities. It was easy then but traffic has increased significantly so not so easy now.

Reasons we haven't moved from north of Denver back to the south side include loving our neighborhood and more importantly our neighbors. We are currently on acreage but walking distance to everything one needs urban wise along with a great lake and trail system. It also isn't yet as crowded up here as it is on the south side. It is more like the DTC area was in the early 2000s from a crowding perspective so shopping in the stores is easier, driving on the roads is easier etc.

We considered moving when residential fracking got approved but my husband doesn't think it can last and it can pop up anywhere (we also looked at Aurora and Loveland) so he thinks we should wait it out and they will go out of business or be driven out of the state. One can only hope.

My big fear with moving is that we end up next to a noisy home, someone who smokes outside, disruptive teenagers etc. Right now we have a sweet spot of calm respectful people. Being on Nextdoor has really opened my eyes to problems people have with their neighbors who are exerting their rights to disrupt other people's lives. People tend to live here for decades so the turnover is very low and to my knowledge there are no rentals.