Planning a move to CO, got a dilemma to face (Denver: apartments, job)

[danial]

Hey guys, just stumbled upon this forum by accident, but hope it helps me with my preparation for the move.

I have a potential job offer with my friend's company and its located in central Denver. Originally I thought it was near DIA so I originally planned on staying in Superior and commutting to work by using E470 everyday. So that leads me a dilemma on where to stay. I'd like to be closer to work, but at the same time, I would like to live in an area where its lively and contains lots of activities to do.

My choices are the following:

Living in Superior - Commuting 22 miles one way, closer to the mountains, has the apartments I'm looking to move into (Horizons at Rock Creek), close to CU Boulder (since I'll eventually attend there), next door to Flat Irons Mall, lots of college students there (I'm 22 so I'd like to meet people around my age)

Living in Littleton - very nice town, only commute 10 miles one way to work, not as close to the mountains, doesn't seem as lively as living in Superior would be, haven't really searched for the apartments there that I would want

I am leaning a bit towards Superior, but then the short commute time seems enticing.

Is traffic on I-25 that bad during rush hour morning? How much time would I expect to spend on commuting to 4th St and back in Superior? If it's only around 30-40 minutes then it shouldn't be bad I suppose.

Thanks!

[denver80134]

Well, I think north is bad too, but I live miles south of where I work in Central Denver and it takes me about 30 minutes to get there at 7:30am and like 45 minutes at 5:00pm on I-25.

[tfox]

Actually, gridlock on 36 is probably worse than I-25 for the time being. After the recent t-rex expansion -- I-25 south is pretty clear most days. I would guess that your commute from Littleton to downtown would be consistently shorter than Superior.

I couldn't give you much of a recommendation for Superior. Superior's sole benefit for you is that it's close to Boulder. The town itself is as sleepy and as cookie-cutter as they come. In fact it's more of a subdivision than a town. It was built overnight from zero in the mid-nineties and IMHO it has not aged all that gracefully. Nor is it a good value in terms of housing. If you enjoy the lifestyle of Boulder, why not just live there? -- it's really just a few miles further from Denver than Superior is. Even nearby Louisville would be much more interesting.

If I were in your shoes (young, single) looking for a lot of other singles and tons of stuff to do, I'd personally focus my search either on Boulder or on the central Denver neighborhoods. Since you work in downtown, that would make me lean to Denver.

[danial]

Originally Posted by tfox

I couldn't give you much of a recommendation for Superior. Superior's sole benefit for you is that it's close to Boulder. The town itself is as sleepy and as cookie-cutter as they come. In fact it's more of a subdivision than a town. It was built overnight from zero in the mid-nineties and IMHO it has not aged all that gracefully. Nor is it a good value in terms of housing. If you enjoy the lifestyle of Boulder, why not just live there? -- it's really just a few miles further from Denver than Superior is. Even nearby Louisville would be much more interesting.

I would live in Louisville, but the apartments I'm eyeing at (Horizons at Rock Creek) has everything I want in an apartment, not to mention there are a lot of CU students that live there too

I would live in Boulder, but Boulder proper is more expensive than living out in Superior. Plus for what I pay for at Horizons, I would get a studio in Boulder proper.

[TinajaCo]

Littleton is nice, and a lot of the time you can avoid the interstates, or good portions of them anyway. But if you are looking for a young, lively area, I would consider areas in Denver proper. You could look at downtown/Lodo, Capitol Hill (although it's a little rough around the edges), Cheeseman Park, etc. If you simply want a large concentration of CU students then you're search is somewhat confined to the Louisville/Superior area.

[Rootsy]

I'd think you would be bored to death in Superior if you are at all interested in the 20-something social scene. It doesn't exist in Superior and you'll spend most of you time driving to Boulder for fun (worrying about drinking and driving issues) and commuting to Denver for work. As others have already suggested, consider Denver proper. You'll be closer to work and in an area full of 20-somethings and all the fun of living in the city. Unless you want to hang with CU Boulder students, you can find plenty of smart, educated, socially adept people in most Denver hoods. You're too young to live in Superior.