Where is our perfect home? (Denver, Westminster: budget, jobs, houses)

[gowgow]

Hello, hopefully some of you can help us. We're moving the the Denver area and are looking for the perfect home/neighborhood. My wife has a couple different work at home businesses to run and I'm a tech worker (java programming mainly) and do not have a job lined up.


Here's our wish list!
- Great schools
- Good neighborhood for kids. Our kids are 7 and 3 and we'd really like to move to a block with lots of kids for them to play with.
- We need a large home 5000-7000 sq/ft and at least a 3 car garage. The work at home businesses have significant storage needs
- Home budget $450,000 - $675,000
- Preferably a home with a yard. It doesn't need to be huge, but just not one of those communities where they cram in as many houses as possible and give you a postage stamp sized yard.
- reasonably close to tech jobs. I'd prefer to avoid a long commute, preferably nothing more than 10-15 minutes. I don't like freeway driving first thing in the morning so a park-n-ride/bus situation might work.
- reasonably close to shopping center (mall/target/best buy) - 10 minutes or less preferably.
- less wind (not a big deal really, I just don't love being wind blown all the time)
- Some trees and rolling hills might be nice. Not a requirement, but I think total flat neighborhoods with no trees lack character.

Really we could move anywhere in the whole country but we're looking at the Denver area because:
1. I have 3 friends in the area so we would at least know someone there.
2. There seem to be a descent supply of tech jobs.
3. The homes seem to have large basements that we could use for our businesses (you can't find this in Seattle)
4. People i've spoken to seem to like it there.

If anyone has any thoughts, we'd sure love to hear them!

[Charles]

Originally Posted by gowgow

....prefer to avoid a long commute, preferably nothing more than 10-15 minutes....

If anyone has any thoughts, we'd sure love to hear them!

You've provided lots of good information but until you nail down where you will be working you are going to get suggestions for homes everywhere between Parker and Boulder.

[gowgow]

Originally Posted by Charles

You've provided lots of good information but until you nail down where you will be working you are going to get suggestions for homes everywhere between Parker and Boulder.

I'll (hopefully) work close to wherever we find a home. I do not have a job lined up and we will move to our new house before I even start looking for a job. With our 2 work at home businesses, these could support us for awhile while I search for work. So if we can find a home in close proximity to areas that have tech jobs, I should (in time) be able to get one of these jobs.

[Katiana]

To add to Charles' post: the main employment centers for IT are: Denver Tech Center just south of Denver on the east side; downtown Denver; Broomfield/Interlochen; and Boulder. This covers a lot of territory. Your criteria could be met just about anywhere in the metro area (yards, basements, shopping, public transit, etc).

[Bradburn1]

Check out Broomfield, good location especially for techies (close commute to downtown but also Boulder/Interlocken), lots of kids, good schools. Specific neighborhoods for you might be Aspen Creek and the Broadlands. Close by, there's also Legacy Ridge in Westminster. Broomfield and Westminster are 20 minutes north and west of downtown Denver.

[David Aguilar]

Lone Tree fits the bill.

[steveindenver]

Stapleton is about the only area that fits the bill with close proximity to all possible areas of employment.

[tfox]

To get within 10-15 minute commute of your work, you're going to have to pretty much "commit" to one of the four main employment areas: DTC, Downtown, Interlocken, or Boulder. Since you're looking at suburban areas, DTC or Interlocken/Broomfield are probably your best bet. In both cases, the office buildings pretty much line I-25 or Hwy 36, so you don't want to get too far away from the freeway in order to get the office within 10 minutes.

[gowgow]

Thanks, other people have recommended Broomfield also. What is "Interlocken"? I can't find this on the map. If I didn't need to drive I could tollerate a longer commute.. it's really the freeway/heavy traffic first thing in the morning that I'd like to avoid most. So if there was a 15-30 minute "light rail" option, this would probably be just fine. Given this, are there any nice neighborhoods that would meet most of the items on our "wish list" that would have a good light rail option to any of the best tech employment centers?

One of the most important requirement is a large home 5500-7000 sq/ft for between $400,00 and $650,000 so any neighborhood needs to have homes in this size/price range.
Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide!

[steveindenver]

I don't understand the requirement for so much square footage for such a low price. Doing as much will stick you in the sticks which will only drive up gas costs.

Considering the average family of 4 lived in < 1000 square feet less than 50 years ago it seems a bit absurd ...