where to move to in denver. (Colorado Springs, Arvada: rental, housing, assessment)

[deaner3]

we are thinking about moving to either denver or colorado springs and want to do some research about the different suburbs or subdivisions each has. first off, what side of town is the newest part or nicest part. where i'm from the west side of madison is far better than any other part of madison. is there one side or another of denver that's better? my husband and i are mid 30's, 3 young children and i'm a stay at home mom. my husbands office would be in denver or westminster. i am looking for a new subdivision that has parks, things close by, just new and nice to raise a family in. any ideas??

[steveindenver]

search this site...

[preppyglam]

from what i have read, researched, and learned from friends and family who live in colorado- you dont want to go north of denver, not counting boulder. and when you start going east, its flat lands. south and west, towards the rockies are best.

many, many people who live north and east of denver will disagree, im sure.

whats really helped me is this system i developed for myself. i got a regional denver map. i decided how far out side of the city we are willing to live and i drew a perimeter. then, as i research and read about cities inside that perimeter, i mark with a dot the places to look into and i shade in the places that are "no"s. the ones that are highest on our list, i outlined. i did this to still keep the other options open, but highlight the cities that best match our wants/needs.

also, as i go along, as people reference different areas, i look at the map and i can get a feel for where things are. its helped a lot.

[Bradburn1]

Yeah, I'm going to disagree with the north being bad assesment (where in the world did you come up with that? Have you even actually been to these areas? Although I like your method for looking, commuting distance is really important especially with current and future high gas prices). I live in Westminster which is a wonderful part of Denver 20 minutes north and west of downtown. The other suburban areas around here are also beautiful including Broomfield, Arvada, Superior, Louisville, and Lafayette. I think my neighborhood is one of the most beautiful new neighborhoods in all of Denver (there are many, many beautiful older neighborhoods in Denver) and is packed with stay at home parents. East across I-25 in Thornton and Northglenn things are little older and a little more run down but those areas have benefits also (cheaper housing!).

To give you more specific recommendations, what is your price and size range for either rental or home purchase? Do you have specific needs/wants in a house/lot? What things are important to your family in a neighborhood?

[TropicanaRose]

Oh my goodness, there are lots of lovely places to the North. It really depends on the specific needs of the OP.

[FoRuMRideR420]

near mountains....golden,arvada,lakewood,wheat ridge

[Mikieo415]

Bad? North of Denver? That can only be said of someone who has never been here. The truth is that there is no bad side of Denver. There are a few pockets of somewhat run down areas in the metro area, but I will disagree with anyone saying that the collective north is not nice. It is the fastest growing area in Denver.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by deaner3

we are thinking about moving to either denver or colorado springs and want to do some research about the different suburbs or subdivisions each has. first off, what side of town is the newest part or nicest part. where i'm from the west side of madison is far better than any other part of madison. is there one side or another of denver that's better? my husband and i are mid 30's, 3 young children and i'm a stay at home mom. my husbands office would be in denver or westminster. i am looking for a new subdivision that has parks, things close by, just new and nice to raise a family in. any ideas??

Denver doesn't have a "side". You're talking about a metro area of near 3 million people, so much larger than Madison. And if you want to live in Colo. Springs and commute to Westminster, I hope your husband enjoys spending $50 a day on gas and 4 hours in a car roundtrip. That's not within reasonable commuting distance. I'd say with gas where it is, anything over 10 miles isn't reasonable.

[Katiana]

Count me among those who disagree with the assessment of the north side being "bad". All of the northern suburbs mentioned on this thread are excellent places to live. I like living north as it gives me the feeling of being in a more open area than the close-in suburbs do. You have to go pretty far south to get that feeling on that end of the metro.

I also agree with denverian. Even if DH's office is in Denver, it's a long way to Colorado Springs. Wouldn't you rather spend the time with your honey than having him commute at least an hour each way?