Downtown Living (Denver, Aurora, Westminster: foreclosures, rent, condo)

[ronaldl79]

I just moved to Downtown Denver from Westminster. Who else is a former suburbanite living Downtown? How was the transition? As for me, I have no complaints. I'm four blocks away from 16th Street Mall. I can walk practically everywhere. It's pretty convenient.

[BarryK123]

Just wondering about your demographics - age, family, etc? Are you in a condo, apt, loft, etc?

[DenverLawGal]

I wanted to do exactly what you've done. But we own a house in Thornton, and the selling is pretty iffy there. Plus, the rents made me gag for downtown. They just seem to be skyrocketing. I should also note that we are now spoiled by tons of room, which is just not what we'd get by renting downtown for our desired price. I'm very happy for you though. I would much rather live downtown. Although I absolutely love my house.

[katmoney]

I loved the time I spent living downtown but can't believe I paid that ungodly rent for as long as I did!!

[DenverLawGal]

you know, sometimes it's just the lifestyle that's worth it. When I lived downtown, my rent was really affordable. I think that's changed immensely. Or, I'm spoiled. It just seems highly inflated right now.

[tfox]

Yes, it's expensive, though it's surprising how much the rent drops just a few blocks east of Broadway.

On the other hand, if your job is also downtown and you can walk, that can save a lot of money on gas and parking, not to mention time.

[DenverLawGal]

tfox: I totally agree with you. However, we are chained down by our home, and we just didn't want to be in the position to have to pay to sell, or worse, not sell at all. Overall, we've become happy with our decision. We started by landscaping the front of our house. And after accomplishing that feat, we've begun working on all kinds of things in the house improvement wise. Nothing expensive, but small things really can change the look of your home. We spent 4 yrs. doing nothing (well, not nothing, we worked full-time and went to college), but now that I'm done, I have time to fix stuff and make changes.

What I meant by spoiled is that before we bought a home, we paid $800 for a one bedroom, with a pool and a gym, and parking. That was just four years ago. Everything has changed since, and we just couldn't see sacrificing to live in a small spot with no amenities for more money --- when we really just want to move out of state.

In the end it just made sense to us to sit tight and continue saving $$. For me, that's the real issue with people and moving, you gotta have $$$. And then the research...

But...still jealous of you downtowners!!

[Katarina Witt]

And, if you work in the burbs, you're better off living in the burbs. It's whatever works for you.

[DenverLawGal]

Actually, I work downtown, which was why I was getting so frustrated with the burb life. I've found ways that work for me with commute. I've gotten my commute down to 30 minutes, and that's on the bus, so I've saved some sanity there.

[DenverAztec]

I live a few blocks off Broadway and love it, but work in Saudi Aurora. I would love to work downtown as I could walk to work. I don't rent and believe buying is the best option as you get decent space and the prices are coming down again due to the amount of foreclosures. I will never move to the burbs as it feels like everyone wants to know your business and you have to drive to get to anything. Some folks like that but I prefer being in the thick of it.