Jefferson County--Chatfield Area (Denver, Arvada, Boulder: hoa, travel, work)

[rebagirl]

We have been back and forth from California to Colorado a few times recently, meeting with our Realtor, looking at homes. For those of you who have followed my journey, you know that I've been interested in a lot of areas, but am mostly drawn to Littleton/Centennial (west of I25). Because we are hanging on to our home and renting it out, we don't have the hunk of money a lot of Californians have to work with from selling their home. We're trying to find a 4 bedroom or 3 bedroom with a study for no more than 350K. This is proving to be a difficult task--and I don't think I'm being all that picky! Every home we looked at had issues--huge power lines in the backyard, virtually no backyard, some structural damage, backed to a very busy street, lot size of 6,000 or less, etc. We are now looking at areas in Jeffco (Chatfield High School area) because lots are larger and homes are spaced further apart--and within our price range.

Specific Questions:
1. Does Chatfield area seem far away to you, as in "Boonies?"
2. Does anyone have first-hand knowledge of the schools there? (checked into Coronado elementary and Ute Meadows--both rate "high")
3. I'd like some yard for the kids, but is it worth sacrificing a certain area just to have some kind of a yard and privacy?

We're still looking into Parker as well, but that should be another thread...

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by rebagirl

We have been back and forth from California to Colorado a few times recently, meeting with our Realtor, looking at homes. For those of you who have followed my journey, you know that I've been interested in a lot of areas, but am mostly drawn to Littleton/Centennial (west of I25). Because we are hanging on to our home and renting it out, we don't have the hunk of money a lot of Californians have to work with from selling their home. We're trying to find a 4 bedroom or 3 bedroom with a study for no more than 350K. This is proving to be a difficult task--and I don't think I'm being all that picky! Every home we looked at had issues--huge power lines in the backyard, virtually no backyard, some structural damage, backed to a very busy street, lot size of 6,000 or less, etc. We are now looking at areas in Jeffco (Chatfield High School area) because lots are larger and homes are spaced further apart--and within our price range.

Specific Questions:
1. Does Chatfield area seem far away to you, as in "Boonies?"
2. Does anyone have first-hand knowledge of the schools there? (checked into Coronado elementary and Ute Meadows--both rate "high")
3. I'd like some yard for the kids, but is it worth sacrificing a certain area just to have some kind of a yard and privacy?

We're still looking into Parker as well, but that should be another thread...

I live up north, so I don't know a ton about Chatfield, but I've been there. I'll try to be helpful.
1. No. It is southern-ish, but it's still in Jefferson County. There is all of Douglas Co. south of there that is still considered metro Denver.
2. No. My entire knowledge of their schools is having been to a gymnastics meet at Chatlfield High. It is the high school where the Columbine kids finished up the year of the shootings.
3. IMO, yes. I like having a yard. We moved into this house when our kids were two and five. We have enjoyed the yard immensely, in different ways over the years. First it was a swingset and a little above-ground pool, then a trampoline and a bigger pool, and now we're back to just the pool as "empty-nesters". We like to sit out there on summer evenings, and we even rigged up a mini-croquet course (non-regulation, of course).

[rebagirl]

Thanks for your reply, even though I know you're in the northern section. I think because we're coming from California--- in an older, established neighborhood with trees--I really don't want a crammed-in feeling like I've seen in so many neighborhoods. The yard is very important to me. Like you mentioned in another thread, it's nice to have a place for the kids to play safely, while Mom is doing the usual household chores. It certainly isn't practical to constantly be taking trips to the park or rec centers for the kids to play. I also love that some of the areas I've looked into in 80127 and 80128 don't have ridiculous HOA's and there is some sense of land/privacy between homes.

One concern that someone can hopefully answer:

Are Kipling and Wadsworth both extremely busy streets? Some of the homes I've looked at are near either of these roads and I can't tell if it would be too close for comfort. I've used Google Maps and Virtual Earth, but would love to hear from someone who actually travels in that area.

[Katiana]

Yes, in general they are pretty busy. Wadsworth actually starts up north of Broomfield as Highway 287, and goes all the way south to SW Plaza Mall, as near as I can tell on my map. Kipling, too, goes all the way from Arvada south to the Chatfield area. If the house is near but not on the road, I think you'd be OK. It's one of those situations where you have to see it to make a decision. Our house is one block from a very busy road that runs all the way from west Boulder to east Lafayette, yet our own neighborhood is very quiet.

[rkb0305]

I noticed a difference between California and here as to how traffic noise is addressed in residential areas. In the central valley it was very flat, so the road was almost always at the same level as the bottom of the house. An earth berm, or more often, a cinderblock wall was ALWAYS required for houses that back to busy streets (at least in my county). Here I noticed that the variation in elevation makes a big difference (I can hear traffic from farther away), and that there doesn't seem to be a consistent requirement for a wall or solid fence. I've seen split rail fences along busy streets. We made the mistake of backing to a busy street in our first house in CA, and didn't make the same mistake again. If you don't eliminate a house because of the street, I think you should at least stand in the back yard during rush hour, and listen.

[Katiana]

That is an excellent idea.

[rebagirl]

Thanks, everyone. We went to a house that backed to Lincoln and stood on the deck outside. It sounded like a California 6-lane freeway! No thanks. I think we need to prioritize and decide what's important. In our price range, we obviously can't have it all, but we certainly can find something that will work and make us very happy.

[rkb0305]

Originally Posted by rebagirl

Thanks for your reply, even though I know you're in the northern section. I think because we're coming from California--- in an older, established neighborhood with trees--I really don't want a crammed-in feeling like I've seen in so many neighborhoods. The yard is very important to me. Like you mentioned in another thread, it's nice to have a place for the kids to play safely, while Mom is doing the usual household chores. It certainly isn't practical to constantly be taking trips to the park or rec centers for the kids to play. I also love that some of the areas I've looked into in 80127 and 80128 don't have ridiculous HOA's and there is some sense of land/privacy between homes.

One concern that someone can hopefully answer:

Are Kipling and Wadsworth both extremely busy streets? Some of the homes I've looked at are near either of these roads and I can't tell if it would be too close for comfort. I've used Google Maps and Virtual Earth, but would love to hear from someone who actually travels in that area.

We also had a hard time finding what we were looking for in a house. You have a little more $ to spend, so it might be different. We couldn't find a main floor bedroom/office and settled for 4 beds up. We also had a hard time getting past the shorter fences between yards and differences in elevation that sometimes allow you and your neighbors to see straight into each others yards. We looked at houses for months, and seemed to see them with different eyes by the end. It just takes some getting used to, I guess.

[thedfly]

Originally Posted by rkb0305

We also had a hard time getting past the shorter fences between yards and differences in elevation that sometimes allow you and your neighbors to see straight into each others yards. We looked at houses for months, and seemed to see them with different eyes by the end. It just takes some getting used to, I guess.

We are in the same boat...not finding anything decent anywhere. Either nice house, no yard...or nice yard and terrible house. It seems that many of the houses that are opening up in MLS are backing to streets and/or corner lots...and having kids with a corner lot tends to be a safety issue IMO. I actually prefer the lower fences or no fence at all IF the yard sizes are reasonable and there is some mature trees or a few bushes to break it up. I think it lends to being 'neighborly' while cutting grass etc. and makes it easy to exchange hello's instead of pretending that you don't hear/see the neighbor that is outside 20 feet away.

We have just a few days left to find a home...or we will have to rent. Not something I wanted to do...changing schools...moving furniture again....blech.

I think Centennial and Littleton and parts of Englewood have some really nice yards. Highlands Ranch has some nice homes without yards. If my children were older, I could see living there. But when the yards won't even support a playset and/or trampoline...and they can't kick a soccerball around....it just won't work for us.

Keep up the hunt! Something is bound to meet your needs soon. Our moving date is about 3.5 wks away and counting.....Wish us luck!