North of Denver? Nice? (Aurora, Lakewood: mortgage, loans, foreclosures)

[KrisluvThreePrinces]

How are the areas north of Denver? Are they nice?

Looking for an affordable, nice home. Wanting new but looking South of Denver, they're very pricey. I notice that north is more affordable. Why is that? Is it considered a bad area?

[tfox]

The answer to your question is: It Depends. If the area you're talking about north of Denver is in Jefferson, Broomfield, or Boulder counties, then it's probably just as nice as the south suburbs. (This would actually be more NORTHWEST of Denver rather than North). If it's in Adams or Weld Counties, then I'd say that RELATIVELY SPEAKING it's probably not as nice as some areas in the metro area.

Part of the reason is schools. If you look at school ratings, Jeffco and Boulder Valley are good school districts overall, whereas the performance of the Adams county school districts (there are actually a handful of them) are in many cases not really any better than DPS (Denver Public Schools), and in some cases actually worse. But this is all public information, so I encourage you to look it up for yourself.

Another reason why these areas (Adams & Weld) are cheaper is that they have tons of foreclosures which have led to declining property values.

[McGowdog]

I drove from southern Colorado to DIA (in order to pick up a work associate) then to Greeley via E-470, 76, Kersey road, then HW 34 in Greeley.

Is it due to the fact that it's winter time, or does everything north and east of Denver have a disgusting thick brown-cloud pollution problem?

I don't ever remember it being that bad.

Back in the day, I used to here rumors that all the Denver pollution follows that small valley created by the South Platte and dumps into Nebraska. Maybe it's true.

[LoveBoating]

When we first moved here in June 2002, we were going to live somewhere in the Thornton (north of Denver), then we rented an apartment in Englewood and later bought a house in Parker. For us, we do like the southern part of Denver much, much better than the northern part. Our house has somewhat of a costly (1,800) monthly mortgage payment, but we really enjoy the town of Parker and we can afford it. In fact, our housing developement is so quiet at night (most of the time), it is almost UNBELIEVEABLE.

[Scott Williams]

Its true that the high number of forclosures are bringing down property values in towns that are north of Denver like Fort Collins and Greeley. This is mainly due to the high number of bad A.R.M. loans that people were talked into 3-5 years ago and the balloon payments are coming due. This in no way makes these towns bad places to live. In fact, the opportunity to pick up a heck of a deal right now is incredible. I did last month.

[cavemanosu]

Scott - I too am a big fan up picking up undervalued properties or even just jumping in on a foreclosure when the bank is ready to unload. I don't know the Denver market like me my home market. I am seriously looking to transfer within 6 months and I am spending so much time only to learn that I don't want to live in Aurora or 1 hour away. Do you have any advice for a mid-twenties couple that will work downtown (energy) her in (pharmaceuticals) but would like to have a place where we had a yard and a park nearby for fun with the dogs?

[2bindenver]

Centennial, Littleton, Lakewood, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Thornton, Westminster, Broomfield, south Jeffco...all over the metro area, even inside the Denver County line. Did you know that Denver has more parks than any major city?

[Mile High Denver]

Originally Posted by McGowdog

I drove from southern Colorado to DIA (in order to pick up a work associate) then to Greeley via E-470, 76, Kersey road, then HW 34 in Greeley.

Is it due to the fact that it's winter time, or does everything north and east of Denver have a disgusting thick brown-cloud pollution problem?

I don't ever remember it being that bad.

Back in the day, I used to here rumors that all the Denver pollution follows that small valley created by the South Platte and dumps into Nebraska. Maybe it's true.

You will always have certain days that have a brown cloud over Denver. It depends on the weather in the winter. If the conditions are just right -- then the brown cloud will sit over the valley-like bowl of the Denver area. It is much better than it was in the 70's and 80's though. We don't get that many days of brown cloud as we used to.