Golden vs Evergreen (Denver, Lakewood, Boulder: home, living, restaurants)

[Phil P]

Golden is one of the many pricey western suburbs of Denver that happens to also be it's own town. If you won't be using the rail or the School of Mines, the other burbs are prettier and offer more bang for their buck. It gets prettier the further south you go, all the way down to Perry Park, which is kind of it's own deal. Golden is browner than other areas, just due to the rain shadow it's in. I wouldn't pick it. All the mountain stuff near there is always crowded anyway unless you drive 20-30 mins away.

Evergreen is 2-3000 ft higher than Denver. It's gorgeous and it's green almost all year, but as others have stated, the winters are about 2-3x what Denver gets AND there's steeper hills to drive on, so that could be a deal breaker if you aren't familiar with winter driving cause it can get real wicked up there.

Option #3, Castle Pines / Sedalia. Not mountains per say but forested mesas (just as pretty IMO), you don't have to deal with winters as bad and you get more house for your buck. Traffics dead with COVID so 1 hr is now feasable from any of these.

[himain]

OP-I am from Miami (Pinecrest) What part are you currently living in?

I lived in Golden and worked in Evergreen for 3 years. Evergreen is nice, expensive but nice. However some of the driveways in the snow covered months can be very scary to drive up. I'm in a AWD large SUV with dedicated snow tires and sometimes I was seriously saying HOLY SHYT driving and down some of those driveways. They get a lot more snow than Golden does.

Ask me any questions you need to. The only true advice I will give you is to buy an AWD car and put snow tires on in the winter and take them off in the warmer months.

[kkroro]

That you - I'm hopeful;y heading there in August to stay in both areas for a few days. Will likely do the same again once snow hits, so we can get a good feel.

[kkroro]

Himan
I’ve been in Miami Beach for the past 30yrs. Lots of friends from pinecrest!
Any other areas we should explore? We love Denver to visit but think it’s a bit flat and sprawling to live there. The dream is to find a great small town not too far out. We seriously were considering Crested Butte, but as we’re in our mid 50’s, the lack of good hospitals and health care providers made us re-think that. Call it a Covid wake up.

[katharsis]

Originally Posted by MountainEarth

Evergreen is a forest community. Golden most certainly is not. While Golden can be plenty green in summer once the monsoon rains set in, in Winter it's brown brown brown much of the time.

I completely agree with the above, and Evergreen has a much more small town feel. if I had to retire in Colorado, Evergreen is the place I would choose -- although, yes, fire is much more of a danger in Evergreen than it is in Golden, I think.

The eastern part of Golden is more of a rural suburb (if that is not an oxymoron), although the part of Golden close to Colorado Mills can be considered definitely suburb and part of metro Denver and has a fairly large shopping area (Colorado Mills). The further west you go, the more rural it is -- and that part of Golden is very close to Boulder. Btw, my impression is that Golden, overall, is becoming more of a suburb than it was 30 years ago when I first saw it.

To get an idea of the general vicinity, I would suggest that you just look at a good zip code map to acquaint yourself with the area. What you need to know is that both Golden and Evergreen are very spread out, so what is true for one part of each town might not be true for another part; however, this is much more true of Golden than it is Evergreen.

(Btw, although we live in southwest Littleton -- actually, unincorporated Jefferson County -- my husband worked in Golden for several years, but we often hike and dine in Evergreen.)

P.S. Actually, here are two maps that show the boundaries of each town, so you can see what I am talking about.

https://www.zipmap.net/Colorado/Jeff...nty/Golden.htm

https://www.zipmap.net/Colorado/Jeff.../Evergreen.htm

[COcheesehead]

Originally Posted by Phil P

Golden is one of the many pricey western suburbs of Denver that happens to also be it's own town. If you won't be using the rail or the School of Mines, the other burbs are prettier and offer more bang for their buck. It gets prettier the further south you go, all the way down to Perry Park, which is kind of it's own deal. Golden is browner than other areas, just due to the rain shadow it's in. I wouldn't pick it. All the mountain stuff near there is always crowded anyway unless you drive 20-30 mins away.

Evergreen is 2-3000 ft higher than Denver. It's gorgeous and it's green almost all year, but as others have stated, the winters are about 2-3x what Denver gets AND there's steeper hills to drive on, so that could be a deal breaker if you aren't familiar with winter driving cause it can get real wicked up there.

Option #3, Castle Pines / Sedalia. Not mountains per say but forested mesas (just as pretty IMO), you don't have to deal with winters as bad and you get more house for your buck. Traffics dead with COVID so 1 hr is now feasable from any of these.

This just in....

Traffic is back and as bad as ever.

[Augie Daugie]

Originally Posted by kkroro

We are seriously considering a move from Miami to Colorado. Our son lives in Denver, so we don't want to be too far from him (up to an hour'ish) Looking for a place that has a small town feel with somewhat liberal leanings. Want to be in a mountain town ( so not Louisville or similar ) Need green all around if possible & some views. So far, we are considering Golden & Evergreen. Thoughts? Other suggestions? We are empty nesters, so schools are not a consideration. Just looking for a good quality of life & lovely people as we start our new adventure.

For the full Colorado mountain town experience, check out Nederland. It is just over an hour to Denver. Views from all over. Independent grocery store, restaurants, cafes and shops. A small ski resort nearby. Lots of live music (before COVID). Plenty of outdoorsy activities...and jussssst a little liberal leaning .

Between Evergreen and Golden, I guess I'd say Evergreen makes more sense if you want a town in the mountains. But Golden is also quite lovely.

[Good Red Road]

Originally Posted by kkroro

Himan
I’ve been in Miami Beach for the past 30yrs. Lots of friends from pinecrest!
Any other areas we should explore? We love Denver to visit but think it’s a bit flat and sprawling to live there. The dream is to find a great small town not too far out. We seriously were considering Crested Butte, but as we’re in our mid 50’s, the lack of good hospitals and health care providers made us re-think that. Call it a Covid wake up.

Yes, As the the previous poster mentioned I would definitely check out Nederland.

Also Morrison, Lyons and the Foothill neighborhoods west of Boulder.

Nederland has some interesting music history btw.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caribou_Ranch

[SkyDog77]

Depending on budget, you might want to look at Boulder.

[himain]

Originally Posted by kkroro

Himan
I’ve been in Miami Beach for the past 30yrs. Lots of friends from pinecrest!
Any other areas we should explore? We love Denver to visit but think it’s a bit flat and sprawling to live there. The dream is to find a great small town not too far out. We seriously were considering Crested Butte, but as we’re in our mid 50’s, the lack of good hospitals and health care providers made us re-think that. Call it a Covid wake up.

I'll be honest, I only lived in Golden and currently now in Littleton which is a nice area as well. Others have better ideas for other mountain areas.