Centennial or Aurora? (Denver, Littleton, Center: HOA, low crime, house)

[CoCharlie]

I mentioned above that i got mine from various online property journals and info from local realtors. I also found the same info on Weld being the highest in the US via a recent google search.

Who knows which source to ultimately believe lol.

[TKL]

My family and I are in the process of moving to Denver. Our home in Phoenix/Scottsdale is for sale. We have done quite a bit of searching for homes on the web. We are considering Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Littleton as places to live. In doing some more searching we found a neighborhood in Centennial called Piney Creek Estates. It is east of the Cherry Creek State Park, just off Chambers. Is this a good area? It seems to be right on the border with Aurora which I don't always hear good things about. Is it there a lot of traffic since you have to go around the state park if you want to go west?

Seems like there are nice homes, but not as expensive as some areas we have been looking in. Cherry Creek schools, but the middle school (Laredo) is rated average. Our son is only in 4th grade, but will be in middle school in 2 years.

I appreciate any feedback.

[Kyusa]

piney creek is good area. people on welfare cant afford that area so your safe as neighborhood goes. but do your research on section 8. Aurora has Tons of them. but be prepared to pay some big property taxes in cherry creek schools its so overrated! you do border Aurora or Centennial. and yes, i hate aurora, and you will to if bought a home aurora! im just glad im out of there. good luck

[Kyusa]

can i ask why you moving out of Phoenix area?

[vegaspilgrim]

We have had like HOW many topics on this exact issue already? Please go search for some of them in the archives. The Estates at Piney Creek is an extremely expensive neighborhood-- a lot of homes there are listed in the 900k and even 1 million range. We are talking HUGE homes here. I'm assuming affordability is not really an issue for you. I went to Laredo Middle School-- and think it sucks. Cherry Creek Schools is a good district in general, but Laredo is one of the bad apples within it. A few miles east there is another middle school called Falcon Creek which is much better. Smoky Hill HS, on the other hand, is an excellent school IMO, if you are in the IB program there, or if your kids are taking AP level classes there. They have one of the best science programs in the state. In CCSD, you have school choice, so you could send your kids to a different school within the district if you want. There are other neighborhoods in SE Aurora/Centennial that are similar to the Estates but with different school attendance boundaries.

[glheer]

The Piney Creek area is a nice place to live. We lived a couple of blocks south of the skate park until we recently moved to Austin, TX. I have not heard good things about Laredo or Smoky Hill High School. I agree that they don't have a good reputation compared to other schools in the district. Have you looked at any homes in The Farm? There is a wide range of home size and price. Fox Hollow Elementary is awesome! The other schools are Liberty Middle School and Grandview High School.

[chilicheesefries]

Originally Posted by JFletch

The City of Aurora is established (115 yrs. old) and has put significant investment into the 80015/16 area (new library, police and fire station), while the City of Centennial is 5 yrs. old and has no library, police force or fire department (these services are provided by the Arapahoe County government seated in distant Littleton).

For the Centennial portion of this area, the fire is provided by Cunningham Fire Protection District, Sheriff is provided by Arapahoe County SO (Centennial has a contract with them). They do have a library, the Smoky Hill Branch of the Arapahoe Library District. For anyone not familiar with libraries, Arapahoe runs circles around Aurora in terms of collection. Aurora is very, very underfunded in terms of libraries. Not that it matters, because anyone living anywhere in Aurora or Centennial or Denver or Parker or wherever can freely use the other area's libraries as if they lived in that city or district.

[the3Ds]

As someone who actually lives in Aurora but is technically surrounded by Centennial, I can offer some perspective (rather than those who have not even been on this side of the city).

I live in Saddle Rock Ridge. My address is Aurora, but we are technically in "unincorporated Arapahoe County". If I drive out of my neighborhood and make a right on Smoky Hill Rd, I am in Centennial. If I turn left and head towards Southlands Mall, I am in Aurora. If there weren't any signs saying what city I'm in, I would have no idea. As residents who live within the "district" of the Trails Recreation Center, we are given discounted rates for membership to the Trails as well as the other activities they offer (swimming lessons, karate, pottery, dance, etc). The Trails is in Centennial. The pediatrician is only a few blocks away and is in Centennial. The point is when you get out on Smoky Hill Rd, there is no noticeable difference.

Yes, Aurora has a reputation and most of it is well deserved. Aurora, however, is a massive city that takes up nearly the entire East side of Denver. Surely anyone with half a brain would realize that in a city this size, there is sure to be good and bad parts. SE Aurora is a good part.

As far as a "stigma" which would affect resales, I haven't found that to be the case at all. We are in the Cherry Creek School District. School District trumps City name every time. Only those who don't have kids would think otherwise. As parents, we want our kids to have a great education. Good schools not only affect our kids futures, but they also make an impact on the surrounding area. We were willing to live in whatever house size we could afford in order to put our kids in a good district. Fortunately, we found this neighborhood which not only put them in top-rated schools, but didn't put us in the poor house. Not one of my neighbors (and I have spoken to many of them) moved here for any other reason than the school district. We chose this area for the same reason. We aren't unique and if we moved to this area for the school district, there are bound to be others. None of the homes that were for sale last year are still for sale (at least in my neighborhood). The residents in our school district just passed a bond to give Cherry Creek SD more money for more classrooms and improvements. We moved here for a reason and are going to make sure our schools continue to be excellent.

If I was debating between two homes in Centennial or in SE Aurora (literally up the street), I would make my final decision on the house itself. Both areas are great. Both have access to the same parks, shopping and dining establishments. Both have low crime rates. SE Aurora is in Cherry Creek School District and so is Centennial. There are parts of SE Aurora that fall into the Aurora Public School District and I would not put my kids in that. But as far as making the city name the deciding factor, I wouldn't bother. For the few (and I mean VERY few) who would specifically avoid living in SE Aurora because of the name, there are many more who would move here for the school district. Make your final decision based on your house, the neighborhood, the property around it, etc.

Our house has a great view of the mountains off the back deck. It backs to open space. It has a decent amount of space (for Denver anyway) on both sides. The neighborhood is awesome. We are always in our front yard talking to one neighbor or another. In a few weeks, we are having a block party. The schools (all 3 levels) are considered neighborhood schools so everyone walks. The events the schools put on are very well attended. The neighborhood pool is packed as are the parks. There's always a baseball or softball (or soccer camp) taking place on the weekends at the field nearby. It's suburbia at it's finest and the fact that we share an Aurora address falls way down on the list.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by Kyusa

piney creek is good area. people on welfare cant afford that area so your safe as neighborhood goes. but do your research on section 8. Aurora has Tons of them. but be prepared to pay some big property taxes in cherry creek schools its so overrated! you do border Aurora or Centennial. and yes, i hate aurora, and you will to if bought a home aurora! im just glad im out of there. good luck

With all due respect, you have no idea what you are talking about. I suppose you've been on Colfax and now think you're an expert? Cherry Creek Schools are not "overrated." Some perform "average" but the rest are way ahead of the norm. And we voted YES to fund our schools last year but our property taxes are only going up $22, which is a small price to pay for great schools. Our property taxes are also nowhere near "big". My house is worth $265,000 and our property taxes aren't even $200 per month.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by chilicheesefries

For the Centennial portion of this area, the fire is provided by Cunningham Fire Protection District, Sheriff is provided by Arapahoe County SO (Centennial has a contract with them). They do have a library, the Smoky Hill Branch of the Arapahoe Library District. For anyone not familiar with libraries, Arapahoe runs circles around Aurora in terms of collection. Aurora is very, very underfunded in terms of libraries. Not that it matters, because anyone living anywhere in Aurora or Centennial or Denver or Parker or wherever can freely use the other area's libraries as if they lived in that city or district.

We here in Saddle Rock Ridge (SE Aurora) also have the Cunningham Fire District. When we were getting our homeowner's insurance, our agent told us that we were getting a discount because of our fire district. I have no idea what that means, but it saved us some money, so it must be pretty good.