Looking for the proverbial white picket fence (Denver, Aurora: environment, real estate)

[cuff822]

Most likely threads already exist covering this topic, but here it goes anyway. My wife and I lived in Steamboat Springs for 2 years about 7 years ago, and since have lived in Southwest Virginia, DC, and currently Delaware. We both love to spend a lot time outdoors and on numerous trips to Denver i can remember the environment always to be comfortable. We are expecting our second child in about two weeks and we need to find ourselves a city to live in. I have discovered by way of this board "recolorado" which seems to be a excellent real estate resource, but need some info from the locals. Looking for a neighborhood with some character, young families, close to shopping and a good public school system. The houses do not have to be huge 2000 sq ft would be fine. We would not be moving until this time next year so if there are areas that are currently extremely overpriced include those as well.

Have friends that still live in Steamboat, heard the conditions were outstanding this year, and if any of you all were fortunate enough to spend some time in the "land of the little people" after a foot of new snow, consider yourself envied.

Thanks

[bhcompy]

i would probably start in douglas county.. highlands ranch, parker, etc. good schools and lots of young families

[cuff822]

Thanks for quick response, will look into the areas.

[Charles]

Originally Posted by cuff822

Looking for a neighborhood with some character, young families, close to shopping and a good public school system.

Where are you going to work?
What is your price range?

[dj32]

Just curious, why do you throw out the statement "will consider areas that are extremely overpriced". Not sure where you are moving from but the Denver area has largely been flat these last few years, in fact some areas are increasing in value.

[cuff822]

Moving from Wilmington, DE, essentially a suburb of Philly. The area is relatively small and when i moved out of here 10 years ago a good size house requiring some updates may have been in the low to mid 200's, now these same houses go for high 300's to low four 400's and need major rennovations. I understand markets vary, but I consider this area to be overpriced. Not implying Denver has experienced these types of increases, just looking for the best deal.
I am registered nurse and my wifes is currently in sales. She would like to scale back to part-time, which would affect our price range, 250,000-350,000.
Being in close proximity to a hopsital would be nice too. Thanks.

[Bradburn1]

LOL. We have them in my neighborhood, it has all the characteristics you are looking for, Bradburn Village in Westminster. I've posted about it here a lot because honestly I find it to be such a great place to live, especially for people with small kids (which accounts for around 85% of the people in here). Westminster is on the north side of Denver (20 minute drive from downtown in non rush hour traffic, rush hour is 30-40 minutes).

It's a new urbanist neighborhood which means it's walkable with lots of parks, access to huge open space, nice, traditional architecture (including the real white picket fences), good schools, and a commercial area which is a 5-10 minute walk from every house and includes bars, shops, restaurants, and much more. Three great hospitals within 15 minute driving radius (Avista, North Suburban Medical Center, and Expempla).

If you want more specific Bradburn info, search the Denver forum for "Bradburn Village" and a bunch of posts with more details will come up.

New Town builders is now building new houses around 2000 sq feet on the high end of your range ($350) but they are adorable, and a 2000 sq foot resale just sold on my block in the low 300s (although there are no more resales on the market in that range right now, but I bet there will be in the next year).

Good luck!

[denver_hacker]

Some questions to get the ball rolling:

- Do you want to live in the foothills/mountains? The mountains are beyond beautiful but the commute times are bad and winters are harsh.
- Does being close to the foothills/mountains matter? If you want to be able to get into the mountains quickly, you're probably looking at the west side of the metro area. If you don't care, then anywhere will be ok.
- Is there a specific style of home or neighborhood you want? Golf community, 'new urban' subdivision, gentrified old neighborhood, basic American suburb, urban loft, 50s mid-century ranch, etc.
- Do you have an idea of the lot size you're looking for?
- Does being close in to a big city matter? If so, then you're probably looking at competition in the sought-after city neighborhoods of Denver itself. The schools in Denver proper are generally not good, but there are certain neighborhoods in Denver with high end schools and steep housing prices. You can pretty much go by housing prices to get an idea of the schools via this map:

Interactive Graphic: Denver home prices - The Denver Post

- Public or Private schools? If Public you'll want to keep something like this in mind:

Colorado School Performance Maps

- What's the longest commute time you can handle? This will definitely constrain your search. If you can't handle more than 20 minutes for an average commute, you can't do something like live in Boulder and commute to SkyRidge in Highlands Ranch.

The big employment centers are downtown Denver, the Denver Tech Center (I-25 and Arapahoe area), and the 36 corridor between Denver and Boulder. There's a big medical scene at the Fitzsimmons Medical Campus in Aurora, otherwise there are hospitals all over the metro area.

[cuff822]

Denver Hacker thank you
I now have enough info to mull over for the next year, awesome. Not really a preference as far as location, maybe south or west (though not necessarily to the foothills). Love what I am seeing in the style of the houses so far, and pretty certain we could find something in the 250 to 350 range. My wife loves to walk, especially at night. We have a total of one of these new urban neighborhoods in our state, prices >450, which is ridiculous, but I love the idea. I was first introduced to the concept after searching the Charlotte area (our only other option right now) and realize the lots are typically small, but the amount walking trails and open areas usually makes up for the lack of private personal property. Have no desire to live in the city. Do plan on going skiing/riding, and it appears as long as you have some kind of access to 470 should be an issue. Any info on hospitals would help, just mainly whether or not they have good reputations. Was already looking Adventis? in Douglas County, looked OK.

Bradburn will checkout your suggestions thanks.

[steveindenver]

Stapleton -- and as an added bonus it is the only area increasing in value mentioned in this thread.