Light Rail & Apartments (Denver, Westminster: apartment complex, travel, rental)

[happygirl17]

Hey all,

I am in Denver on a temporary contract through July but will be making it permanent once it's up woohoo! I'm living in LoDo but once I lose my housing stipend I'd like to fin a place a little less expensive. Ideally though, I want to be within a block or two of a light rail station so I can still get to downtown quickly (about 10 min max) and not have to worry about parking etc.

I've looked at the light rail map online but I've only been here a month and it's not really specific enough for me to be able to visualize the areas/streets. Does anyone know of a more detailed light rail map or have any suggestions of apartments close to a light rail? Thanks so much!

[livecontent]

The first restriction that you have is a 10 minute max on the light rail to downtown. Well, that leaves out many of the station. You need to look on the scheldule and see where the station that fit within this description. I can tell you that you can only go to the Evans Station of the Southwest Line and Colorado Station on the Southeast Line and remain within a 10 minute max commute.

The Southwest Line on Evans and North would not suite your needs, as living is a little farther than a block or two, unless you lived near the osage station--which I would not advise. The Best Bet for you would be the Southeast Line, especially the Louisianna/Pearl, University of Denver and the Colorado Station. This is were housing would be within a 1-2 blocks of the station and within 10 minutes of Downtown.

However, you should not only restrict yourself to the light rail. Some of the bus routes are just as fast and frequent; would give you access to Downtown within 10 minutes; and you can live within 1-2 blocks of a stop.

For example West Colfax (Route 16, and 16L), East Colfax (Route 15 and 15L), Broadway (Route 0, and 0L) are the major bus routes that run at all hours, have express buses( called limited, L) to downtown and pass multiple apartments. You would have many choice on Broadway--a good bet would be the baker neighborhood.

Another option would be areas east of Downtown on East 17th, East 18th, East 16th--Colfax is 15th. Along these routes, in the Capital Hill neigborhood are more reasonable apartments and multiple buses going downtown. The buses are in addition to Route 15, there is Route 20.

Another option is to live in Cheesman Park which is close to downtown and has many frequent buses such as Route 10 and Route 12.

You can look in Cherry Creek, pricy but close and it has express buses to Downtown along 3rd. Avenue such as Route 3L and easy access to the Alameda Station.

I am a frequent bus traveler and a big supporter of mass transit. It must be pointed out that Denver has good bus service in many neighborhoods. Light Rail is nice but is not the only choice for a good commute. There are many neighborhoods in Denver that have nice little communities serviced by buses.

Another suggestion would be to look at the area around the Westminster Park and Ride in Westminster. This Park and Ride is ideal for commuting downtown because it is served by the B Bus from Boulder and most importantly there is no other stops on the highway until it reaches Union Station--about 12-14 minutes. The B bus is a major bus route on the highway and runs everyday, almost 24 hours. This Park and Ride can also be reached with the L Bus to Longmont. These buses all leave/arrive at Market Street Station. I use this Park and Ride and there are Apartment complexes nearby.

Other major bus routes that have express buses downtown are 44L, on West 44th, 38L on West 38th and 30L on South Federal. 44th Avenue and 38th Avenue into Wheat Ridge are a good place to find reasonable apartments in safe neighborhoods.

Livecontent

As far as apartment, I am no help because I have not lived in a Apartment in decades. I do not pay attention to rentals. You are doing in right in making choices--that is finding the transportation first and then the place to live that fits a wise commuter decision.

[happygirl17]

Thank you so much for all the information, that will be very helpful. I'm glad to hear there are a lot of buses with a quick commute downtown. I lived in Toronto for a while and although their public transportation system is great, the buses weren't really quick to get anywhere. I'm probably ok with a 15 minute hop downtown, but getting closer to 20 minutes and above is just farther than I'd like to be.
Thanks again for the response I'll look into all those areas!

[ColoWeb]

Hey happygirl!
livecontent is right on! Based on your provided info, University of Denver Station is right at 20 minutes away from Downtown at 16th/Stout Station. So this is an area (and previous stops) is what you may want to looking into.

Realistically speaking it would probably have to be areas near the Louisiana Station or University of Denver Station. Good luck!