Need Help w/Area to Move To (Neighborhoods, Schools, Etc) (Denver: sale, rent)

[Abdbluetx]

Hey all,


My family and I (2 adults, and 2 young kids) are moving back to Denver after about 25 years. We're moving back to help take care of some elderly family, and all of our younger siblings are relatively nearby, so we want to be closer to family.

We don't remember anything about the suburbs/neighborhoods over there, and we don't really scope out neighborhoods or schools, etc whenever we visit family. Nothing is really as I remember it when I lived there a long time ago, for only a short time. What we wanted to try to find were these points:

Good schools/school community and school system that has some diversity. Our kids will both be in elementary school by the time we make the move and the school we're zoned to has less than 1% Asian student population. It doesn't necessarily have to be Asian, but I don't want my kids to feel out of place or like an "other."

Area diversity - similar to the top point but also being able to have Asian grocery stores nearby! We also want to be able to introduce our kids to various other cultures, traditions, and generally to different walks of life

Love going to libraries with our kids multiple times a month, so being able to get to one close by would be great!

Newer-ish housing (made in this century, ideally) around 650k - 800k. I don't want to deal with the headache of having to fix up problems every year due to things aging. Did it once, never again!

We've looked into the Stargate school, and are hoping to apply there and see if we can get our kids in that school, so I've looked into the northern side of Thornton. I realize there's not as much diversity there as Aurora, but we'd trade it in if our kids could get a great education at a relatively diverse school. I've also looked into Centennial, on the southeast side, and that seemed to fit a few of our priorities, but I don't know anything about the schools there. I did see a few that seemed to have diverse populations, and "great" scores. Can anybody suggest some schools they are familiar with that they have good experiences with?

We're a pretty low-key family, we don't eat out much or drink, but we do like being active with the kids and introducing them to new things. We're a typical suburban family, hah! Can anyone provide any more information about these areas, schools, or even make some suggestions on where I should be looking? Sorry for the wall of text, and thanks for taking the time to read! Please let me know if I can provide any other information.

Edit - SO and I work from home, so we don't need to be near a certain area. The in-laws will rent an apt/condo to wherever we end up moving whenever they feel ready to (they're way down south, past Parker and pretty clueless about any of the things above).

[bluescreen73]

Sounds like Southeast Aurora (80015 or 80016) might be a good fit. We're in 80016. We're zoned to Cherry Creek Schools (Cherokee Trail HS), and it's a fairly diverse area (plenty of South Asians). It's a newer area. Very suburban, but it gets rural in a hurry. It's a quick trip to both the airport and Parker via E-470. Aurora Reservoir is just down the road from us. There's a faux downtown shopping center called Southlands nearby, but you do have to go farther west and north to get to areas with more-established retail and restaurants.

[mic111]

I live near Stargate. For Asian groceries the Great Wall supermarket on 120th has a good selection.
https://www.gw-supermarket.com/homepage-2/

Near Stargate there are lots of good restaurants. Just tried BOPP Kitchen (Korean) today. It was fantastic and we will go back. https://boppkitchen.com/

Stargate is a well known school and I've heard positive things from parents. However there are alot of charter schools in the area, in addition to the public/assigned schools. Also hear good things about them. I guess since there is so much choice people are generally thrilled with the schools.

Happy to answer questions on specific neighborhoods but hard to say go to just this one as there is alot of options in your price range. You will want to get one with a garage that you can park your cars in for hail protection and protection against car theft.

Generally the area is very nice, newer roads, good trail systems, nice parks. Lots of stores and restaurants. Good recreation amenities at both city rec centers and private businesses.

Thornton has two water systems. One is known for bad water. The one you want to get on is from Standley Lake. The other one seems to have taste and smell issues due to algae blooms. Alot of people use a bottled water delivery service on that system.

[Abdbluetx]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

Sounds like Southeast Aurora (80015 or 80016) might be a good fit. We're in 80016. We're zoned to Cherry Creek Schools (Cherokee Trail HS), and it's a fairly diverse area (plenty of South Asians). It's a newer area. Very suburban, but it gets rural in a hurry. It's a quick trip to both the airport and Parker via E-470. Aurora Reservoir is just down the road from us. There's a faux downtown shopping center called Southlands nearby, but you do have to go farther west and north to get to areas with more-established retail and restaurants.

Awesome! That is close to the areas we are looking at for sure. It might definitely be the same zipcode. How are you liking the schools there, and living in that area in general? Thank you for your input!

[Abdbluetx]

Originally Posted by mic111

I live near Stargate. For Asian groceries the Great Wall supermarket on 120th has a good selection.
https://www.gw-supermarket.com/homepage-2/

Near Stargate there are lots of good restaurants. Just tried BOPP Kitchen (Korean) today. It was fantastic and we will go back. https://boppkitchen.com/

Stargate is a well known school and I've heard positive things from parents. However there are alot of charter schools in the area, in addition to the public/assigned schools. Also hear good things about them. I guess since there is so much choice people are generally thrilled with the schools.

Happy to answer questions on specific neighborhoods but hard to say go to just this one as there is alot of options in your price range. You will want to get one with a garage that you can park your cars in for hail protection and protection against car theft.

Generally the area is very nice, newer roads, good trail systems, nice parks. Lots of stores and restaurants. Good recreation amenities at both city rec centers and private businesses.

Thornton has two water systems. One is known for bad water. The one you want to get on is from Standley Lake. The other one seems to have taste and smell issues due to algae blooms. Alot of people use a bottled water delivery service on that system.

Oh that's fantastic that there's an Asian supermarket near by. We made a list of neighborhoods to look into, but it's all dependent on whether the kiddos get into these schools since I know some of them are lottery-based and some require applications. I think the schooling is going to be much better than where we are, that's for sure.

We've got a little bit of time before we make a move (a year), so it'll also depend on whether we find houses in some of those neighborhoods around there.

Thank you for all of that information! I'll have to see which houses are on which water system. Do not want gross water, but we've dealt with worse ::shrug:: Thanks again!

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by Abdbluetx

Awesome! That is close to the areas we are looking at for sure. It might definitely be the same zipcode. How are you liking the schools there, and living in that area in general? Thank you for your input!

We've been out here for a little over 11 years. All three of our kids went through Pine Ridge Elementary, Fox Ridge Middle School, and Cherokee Trail High School. Our youngest graduates in May. We like it out here.

The reservoir is a quick walk from our house, although we haven't spent as much time there as we could have. It has a swim beach and paved walking path all the way around it. It's about 8 miles. I've walked it a handful of times.

It's farther from the foothills, obviously, but the views of the mountains are great. It's only 30ish extra minutes of driving to get to the mountains. We're not far from Castlewood Canyon State Park, though, so I don't even have to go into the mountains to hike if I don't want to.

[mic111]

There is also the same chain Asian supermarket in Aurora so both locations should be good for that.

Contact the schools you are interested in and see if they accept applications from out of state students or if you have to have an address in a particular area. There are loads of good charter schools but since the admittance is a lottery you want to also choose a home with a good public school option.

You've probably seen this but three of the charter's on this list are local to the northern suburbs.

https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...hools/colorado

If you live up north you can enter the lottery for all three; Stargate, Peak to Peak and Prospect Ridge. I've heard good things from parents of students at all three. Also heard good things from parents with kids at our local public schools; Meridian Elementary, Rocky Top Middle School and Legacy High School. I know several kids who have gone to Ivy League colleges after graduating from Legacy so I feel like they give a good education.


This shows the options within Adams county.
https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...schools-103158
To have a safe public school option try to live in the area of Legacy High School.


Not sure how easy it is to get in across county or school system lines. But in Boulder County it looks like Peak to Peak Charter is a very good option.
https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...-no-re2-112043

[2bindenver]

School attendance lotteries usually start in January for the next school year. So you might want to have an address by next January in order to apply.

Thornton, Northglenn, Westminster, Broomfield all have housing stock from last century to this century and there are brand new homes yet to be built in those areas. But if you want brand new, dirt start you’d want to have something contracted for by June. Supply chain issues are common. I haven’t been involved in a new home sale that has not been delayed in the last two and a half years. Lately, it’s garage doors and windows.

[Abdbluetx]

Originally Posted by bluescreen73

We've been out here for a little over 11 years. All three of our kids went through Pine Ridge Elementary, Fox Ridge Middle School, and Cherokee Trail High School. Our youngest graduates in May. We like it out here.

The reservoir is a quick walk from our house, although we haven't spent as much time there as we could have. It has a swim beach and paved walking path all the way around it. It's about 8 miles. I've walked it a handful of times.

It's farther from the foothills, obviously, but the views of the mountains are great. It's only 30ish extra minutes of driving to get to the mountains. We're not far from Castlewood Canyon State Park, though, so I don't even have to go into the mountains to hike if I don't want to.

That sounds great! I’d love to be near state parks. We have small city parks nearby, but nothing like the reservoir! Thank you for help and information!

[Abdbluetx]

Originally Posted by mic111

There is also the same chain Asian supermarket in Aurora so both locations should be good for that.

Contact the schools you are interested in and see if they accept applications from out of state students or if you have to have an address in a particular area. There are loads of good charter schools but since the admittance is a lottery you want to also choose a home with a good public school option.

You've probably seen this but three of the charter's on this list are local to the northern suburbs.

https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...hools/colorado

If you live up north you can enter the lottery for all three; Stargate, Peak to Peak and Prospect Ridge. I've heard good things from parents of students at all three. Also heard good things from parents with kids at our local public schools; Meridian Elementary, Rocky Top Middle School and Legacy High School. I know several kids who have gone to Ivy League colleges after graduating from Legacy so I feel like they give a good education.


This shows the options within Adams county.
https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...schools-103158
To have a safe public school option try to live in the area of Legacy High School.


Not sure how easy it is to get in across county or school system lines. But in Boulder County it looks like Peak to Peak Charter is a very good option.
https://www.usnews.com/education/bes...-no-re2-112043

Oh, nice. I had not heard about Prospect Ridge or Legacy. And you’re definitely right, I need to contact these schools about how to apply if we’re out of state. That’s a whole different beast to tackle at this point. Thank you for the school names, I will be looking into those. This was much appreciated!