Highlands Ranch Information (Denver, Colorado Springs, Aurora: property taxes, hoa fees, luxury)

[BTNS_TX]

I want to extend my sincere thanks to everyone on the board. Since Thanksgiving I've been culling through the posts as we've waited, prayed, and chosen where we will live in Colorado as we relocate in 2007.

I've searched and read and copied and pasted as I've found info on Highlands Ranch, which is ultimately where we've decided to settle down. Lots of folks will be coming to this board as the weather warms up and kids gets closer to the end of school years so I figured the least I could do was save them some time in finding the same information I put together.

Below are excerpts of posts that I found helpful, insightful, or at least something to file away. The little numbers at the end of the posts is the thread number, if you'd like more context.

The messages are limited to 5000 characters, and this info is about 7X too much, so I'll post it in sections.



Highlands Ranch is a large 25 year old subdivision with 4 rec centers and hiking/biking trails, good schools, dog friendly...light rail on the sw side will take 20 minutes to downtown. Prices lowest in the group. Brand new properties are available. Highland Ranch is a suburb. It is well designed and there actually seems to be a sense of community there but it is obviously a suburb.
9722

Highlands Ranch is nice and modern and has up to date amenities, also close to lots of shopping and restaurants.

Town Center is the area between Broadway & Lucent Pwky. ... The DC library and a park is in the mix as well as a Tattered Cover, Office Max, Home Depot & Cold Stone...along with other non chain shops. There is also a park n ride for RTD. The park has "activities" in the summer months like free concerts & movies. There are two off lease dog parks in HR one near Quebec past the post office near GP's house and the other near Shea Stadium on the north west side of HR.

According to the HR website http://www.highlandsranch.com:

"At Town Center, intimate avenues, retail and commercial venues, and efficient transportation connections converge to meet the needs of Highlands Ranch residents…now and for generations to come.

With an atmosphere all its own, Town Center features popular shops and restaurants, services, office spaces, and a grand 72-foot clock tower that can be seen from miles away. An RTD park-n-ride station is conveniently located adjacent to Town Center, connecting the facility to other areas of Highlands Ranch and points beyond.

Town Center is located along Highlands Ranch Parkway between Lucent & Broadway."

There you will find some small shops and restaurants near some of the bigger stores (Home Depot, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Tattered Cover book store). On the other side of the RTD park-n-ride is the HR Library and a performing arts center. Also adjoining the area is a nice park and some brownstone looking condos.

Some other info can be found at http://www.highlandsranch.com/media_...TownCenter.pdf
33599

[BTNS_TX]

There is school choice here so you can actually send your kids to any school in the state provided there is room in the school and your can take your kids in the car.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bbrown
Are there better parts to move to?

That depends on what you consider "better." If "better" means lots of culture, activities, and character, then central Denver has lots of great neighborhoods (Wash Park, Cherry Creek, Highland, Cheesman Park, etc). If "better" means super-wealthy, then there is Cherry Hills Village or Evergreen. If "better" means upper-middle class with lots of families, then there is Littleton, Highlands Ranch, or Parker.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bbrown
What are some nice suburbs outside of Denver?
That very much depends on who you ask. I'm not big on suburbia, so my favorite suburbs are Golden and Littleton since both have retained a little bit of their prior history and character. If you want newer construction and don't mind commuting, a lot of people speak well of anywhere in Douglas County (i.e, Parker, Highlands Ranch, Castle Rock).

Conventional Wisdom says generally northwest (Boulder and surroundings), west (Arvada, Golden, mountains), southwest (Morrison, Ken Caryl, Littleton, Highlands Ranch), and southeast (Greenwood Village, Centennial, Parker, Castle Rock) are good, generally north, northeast, and east are bad. But these are very broad generalizations and aren't reliable all the time. If housing prices are any guide, central and downtown Denver and the far out suburbs are the most desirable, whereas the "inner ring" of suburbs less so. But this is also quite generalized

34548


We just moved from Highlands Ranch (Douglas County) and we were surrounded by some of the best schools in the state. I think most of the elementary schools in Douglas County are year round too... might want to keep this in mind. Hope that helps a little.

http://colorado.gov/colorado-how-do-...c-schools.html

Here is a great site to compare schools:
http://reportcard.cde.state.co.us/re...andHandler.jsp

And this one lets you search by many different criteria:
http://nces.ed.gov/globallocator/

2348

Highlands Ranch just celebrated it's 25th birthday, it's a very large subdivision with 4 rec centers, bike trails, community classes, has a good schools and a nice tax base. Very kid & dog friendly.

6588

Highlands Ranch is a great place to raise children. today's humidity is 4%! Douglas County schools are highly rated by the state, and HR is a community with 4 recreation centers, outdoor pools, parks, bike paths...light rail opens on the southeast side in November. 5th graders ski free.

If you are considering the Denver area, I would definitely choose Douglas County. I live in Parker, and that is a very kid-oriented area. The schools are fantastic (I am a teacher in one!) Broomfield has some nice areas, but also some bad areas. Denver is not very cold in the winter. There is a lot of snow in the mountains, but little by us. Although it's great to go skiing in that snow! I'm not sure you will beat the heat in the summer. This week there have been several 95 degree and above days. Due to the altitude, you really feel it pound on you, and drought is always an issue.

4635

I moved to Littleton 17 years ago from Sunnyvale. We have here today gone tomorrow snow for the most part. 55 inches on average a season. Could snow in September or May, sometimes both

Mostly it's the 2-3 inch storm that snarles rush hour traffic, then it's gone.

Golfers have pink, green and orange balls to play in the snow.

There are several active adult communities here, in case you are looking for that type of community.

Hyatt is building a super-duper luxury condo-hotel in Highlands Ranch (which the post office calls Littleton) because Highlands Ranch is a subdivision (with 3 zip codes) and not a city.

7337

[BTNS_TX]

Highlands Ranch, Douglas County, built since 1985, 4 rec centers, feeds 4 high schools, would be the 9th largest city in Colorado if incorporated. Price start at $210 for a single family residence to more than a million.

9056

My husband and I lived in Highlands Ranch (south metro Denver) for about 4 years, and we really enjoyed it there as well. Denver is certainly a little more expensive, …. One thing you might consider, if you really enjoy gardening, is the climate difference between Denver and the Springs. The Springs gets the last frost in the spring and the first frost in the fall. Our growing season is pretty short, and every week counts. So if you really like to garden you might consider Denver for those few extra weeks in the growing season.
10420

Sleek, in your case I wouldn't suggest Highlands Ranch. It sounds like you are looking for an older home right? The oldest homes in HR were built in 1981 so that won't safisfy that requirement. Also you are looking to spend $350k to $400k, in HR you are going to find a huge house, not one fit for one or two people. Yes zen4all is right, HR is very family oriented. Of course this translates into not for single people. There are lots of activities to do, but most of them are for families, not singles.
9979

I live in Highlands Ranch. I have three kidlets 16, 14, & 9. Many communities are family friendly and have loads of activities for kidlets to take part in. Soccer, hockey, swimming, bowling, running, basketball...you name it there is organized sports covering it. Even a 4H group. See the dougco school website at http://www1.dcsdk12.org/ResourceLibr...CalChanges.pdf

What's great here? Climate, people, the land and mountains, ultra low crime - downtown Denver is the most viable city I know (but I have not been to the Northwest), Christmas in Basalt, Thanksgiving in Steamboat Springs, day trips to Winter Park, Breckenridge, Mt Evans, very outdoorsey, hundreds of miles of mountain biking trails, the real west National Stockshow, great schools for the most part, lots of colleges - my daughter at CU and my son at CSU, tons of wildlife - elk, Bighorn Sheep on I-70, mountain goats on Mt Evans, saw my first Bobcat last August in Morrison..... I get carried away. I am from the South, and I am the happiest when I am on a plane back to Denver!
8550

i guess highlands ranch (a suburb of denver) could be considered upscale. the schools are supposedly good. crime is low. the population tends to be educated and well-paid. transportation wouldn't be a problem as you would be near major highways and near the light rail. the light rail runs all the way to downtown denver with stops at coors field (rockies), invesco field (broncos), pepsi center (avalanche, nuggets), etc.

the houses in highlands ranch tend to be smallish and crammed together. highlands ranch is not a cultural hotspot. there is little diversity among the population.
12499


Parker has few, relatively speaking, Hispanics, and is in Douglas County, like Lone Tree and Highlands Ranch (which have no low end homes either) and don't have extensive public transportation. These areas have pretty strict HOAs and covenants, so that you can't park 5 cars at the house or do auto repair work in the yard.
13942

Denver has some very conservative suburbs as well. Highlands Ranch, Aurora and Parker are all considered conservative. The rest of the metro is fairly liberal.
14632

The "Denver" way of home buying is different than where you are now. There are local customs in buying and selling that are different from where you are now. We are a wet state (meaning there is cash at closing, or there is no closing. We are not an escrow state. Can we escrow? Sure. Do we want to? nope. We usually give possession 2 or 3 days after closing if it's an occupied property. We have buyers agents and transaction brokers, listing brokers and showing brokers. (And we are all brokers) We have inspection contingencies, and HOA contingencies. We write offers on state approved forms (me on my tablet computer)...Part of what I do is to educate a client about the possibilities, and also what is normal for our area.
14987

We live down in Highlands Ranch and it takes us about 1.5 hours to get up to A-basin/Keystone/Breckenridge. I imagine from Golden it would be a bit less than an hour. Of course, that depends on the roads and traffic (accidents). On the weekends, traffic up the mountains in the morning can be a problem, as well as coming down the mountains after the lifts close. If you get dinner before going down, you can skip most of the traffic going down. In the morning, just leave as early as you can.
20124

I live in Highlands Ranch and really like the area. Douglas county schools rate very high, crime is low, everything is close by, and we have 4 great rec centers that we can go to (included in our $115 per quarter HOA's).
20104

[BTNS_TX]

is it the pondarosa pine trees, rolling hills, winding S driveways that make you feel called by the mountains? As I have said before, the suburbs are higher in elevation than Denver proper, Highlands Ranch is at 5900.
440231

We are in Highlands Ranch and have gotten over 9 inches of snow last night and today and it is still falling. The kids are having fun making snow forts, snowball fights and sledding. I had to knock snow out of our Aspens since they still had plenty of leaves still on them. ….For those of you not familiar with the 5th and 6th grade ski passes, they are an awsome deal. For 5th graders, they get 3 FREE ski passes to 25 different ski resorts throughout Colorado. Do the math and they get 75 free passes. For 6th graders that had the 5th grade pass, they get the same passes for just $59. They call it the Graduate pass. The booklets they get also come with discounts on ski/board rentals, lodging, lessons, and adult lift tickets. We will likely only use the A-Basin, Breckenridge, Keystone and Vail passes due to the season passes that the rest of the family has, but that would give us at least 12 ski outings this season.

You can find out more about the 5th and 6th grade ski passes at http://www.coloradoski.com/5passport/index.cfm

21346

Highlands Ranch http://www.hrcaonline.org with its miles of trails and it's own running group

http://highlandsranch.org/04_rec/04_...nningGroup.pdf 40-45 minutes to DIA on E-470.
19631


It really depends on what you're looking for. We've lived in both Colorado Springs and South Metro Denver (Highlands Ranch). Denver housing prices are a little higher- but so are wages- so that's really a wash. The main thing we miss from Denver is the good shopping and restaurants, and the landscaped medians. … The stores in Denver are open later. Most everything in the Springs closes up by 9:00. In Denver there is something to do most any day of the week, and in the Springs usually just on weekends.

I myself prefer a suburb of Denver, where we have little crime, and there are lots of open space parks. The Springs is always cooler than Denver by a few degrees.
21490

Highlands Ranch and Littleton have very good schools, close support facilities. All the major restaurants are here and a handful of local ones. Same with big box shopping. Park Meadows mall is a pretty nice mall and the largest in south metro. Its nuts around Xmas, though. Just about every modern convenience of the suburbs. One of the better places to live in the metro area all around, especially for suburbs. I especially like the South Suburban trail system. Very nice amenity. Most of the area homeowners have access to I think 5 good recreation centers (pools, health club facilities) w/ HOA dues. Roughly a 20 minute drive to downtown w/o much traffic. With traffic, an hour if its bad. Short of your husband working downtown, you can easily do you daily living in HR/Littleton w/o needing to leave the south side of town. The light rail system now comes as far south as Lincoln Blvd, quick access to 'the Ranch'. You need to make your way over to I-25 to get to it at Lincoln, but that might be a good option for going downtown.

if you are planning on living in highlands ranch or littleton, your husband's commute to/from downtown denver will not be much fun. traffic can be a bear especially if driving on i-25. there is a light rail that goes downtown, and a new line is opening this month, but it is not a very efficient system.

[BTNS_TX]

from what i hear, the schools in highlands ranch are good. there are a decent amount of libraries nearby as well. there is not much to do in highlands ranch except go shopping or go to one of the many chain restaurants. it is a pretty clean area though and crime is low.

in highlands ranch, … lots are very small and all the homes are crammed together.

highlands ranch is pretty barren. the landscape is generally yellow and devoid of trees. traffic in and around highlands ranch/littleton is not too bad on weekends.

Commuting downtown from HR or lone tree would be easy via light rail. a monthly light rail pass under $150 a month and no parking fees.

HR has been in the past a part of tree city USA. It has lots of family friendly activities, a civic center, 4 recreation centers, hiking and biking trails, two off lease dog (bark ) parks...highly rated schools.

We live in HR with our 3 kids and love it. Schools are excellent. Low crime. HR is a master planned community, so everything (schools, shopping, restaurants, parks, trails, churches, movie theaters, rec centers, etc.) are close by. We have 4 excellent rec centers with lots to offer for adults and kids. Our $115/quarter HOA's allow us to use any (and all) of the rec centers.

Some call HR barren. I wouldn't say that. It is a pretty new area (the oldest homes are about 25 years old), so there are not the big mature trees you will find elsewhere (yet). That is to be expected in newer areas.

Housing is a bit more expensive in HR than some of the surrounding areas, but I believe that is due to people desiring all of the amenities that we have. I do think the home appreciation rates are a bit better in HR than the surrounding areas as well. There is an extremely high percentage of the HR residents with kids, so it is very attractive to families. It is hard to find a street in HR that doesn't have kids.

With the big T-Rex highway project complete, the commute to downtown should not be all that bad. However, parking in downtown can be a big pain and expensive, so riding the light rail may be the better alternative. There are actually two light rail stations within a short drive of HR, one on the west side and the other on the east side.

Quote:
Originally Posted by wamommy1
WOW! HR sounds great! The rec centers? Are there pools? Indoor tracks, stuff like that?
Each rec center has a set of indoor pools and an outdoor pool. There are lap pools, a diving pool, hot tubs, kids pools, a lazy river, water slides (not very tall), and a water playground. No two rec centers are alike, so they do have different pools at each, but there is something for the kids and the adults at each one.

There are also indoor running tracks, basketball courts, racket ball, weight rooms, outdoor tennis courts, a climbing wall, and so on. They even offer art classes and other activities.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wamommy1
Are there any golf courses nearby.
Yes. There is one in HR and one in nearby Lone Tree. There are also several others in nearby cities and some that have hosted PGA tournaments. I'm not into golf, so I don't know the names of the tournaments or courses. There is also a driving range with a miniature golf course in HR.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wamommy1
I've noticed that HR and littleton run into each other. Is that true.
County Line Road is the basic dividing line between the two. Some in HR use a Littleton mailing address, so it can get a bit confusing when looking at home listings. HR is an unincorporated part of Douglas County, not a city, while Littleton is a city. Since HR is not a city, we do pay a bit less in sales taxes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wamommy1
Went to the Park Meadows Mall. That seemed real nice.
Park Meadows is a really nice mall, but over the holidays it can be a zoo. A short drive down to Castle Rock there is a big bunch of outlet stores also.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wamommy1
On average how much does it snow there? Do they sand the raods? Is traffic horrible when they do?
We do get our share of snow, but probably not as much as you might think. When it does snow, it is generally gone pretty quickly as we do get a lot of sunshine (over 300 days worth) and have low humidity. It can snow in Sept and as late as May, but it can also be in the 70's and 80's in January. There is a saying in Colorado that if you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes and it will change.

They do a pretty good job of sanding the main roads and highways. The side streets have lower priority, so those are more likely to be the worst to drive on. Bad weather will slow traffic down quite a bit, but IMO I don't think it gets horrible very often. You just have to be careful not to go too fast and make sure you have a decent set of tires.

If you want more info on HR, you can go to this website http://www.highlandsranch.com/

[BTNS_TX]

Go to www.recolorado.com to search for homes. I wouldn't recommend Highlands Ranch. It's a very tightly covenent controlled area and prices are a little higher just because you live in "The Ranch"

one more thing, property taxes are much higher in Douglas county (Parker, Castle Rock, Highlands Ranch) vs Arapahoe county (Littleton/Centennial)

Quote:
Originally Posted by drobi1070
I wouldn't recommend Highlands Ranch. It's a very tightly covenant controlled area
There are pros and cons to covenants. It is an attempt to keep the properties from becoming ugly eyesores and reducing neighborhood home values. So far, there has been nothing in the covenants than we can't live with.
Quote:
Originally Posted by drobi1070
and prices are a little higher just because you live in "The Ranch"
Prices are higher, but IMO not for that reason. HR has a lot to offer and is very family friendly. That is very attractive to many and makes HR a popular place to move.
23622

We have been living in Parker, which is in the same County as Highlands Ranch, for the last 2 1/2 years.
Commute: I drive to downtown Denver, a few blocks north of Coors Field, five days a week/Mon-Fri. Three things help my drive extremely: the new LightRail system, wider freeway that was completed and I start work in Denver at 7AM. It is 28 miles from our house door to my work door and I can make the morning drive in 35-40 minutes. I do know one thing, the westbound 470 freeway, going thru Highlands Ranch area, can get pretty heavy during the 5PM commute. There seem to be a lot more people that live in that area than in Parker.
25907

HR has HOA fees of $112 a quarter, and no city tax, because it is in unincorporated Douglas county.

A good portion of why we chose HR over Parker and Castle Rock was for the amenities available here. Someone called HR a subdivision. It is really a master planned community. Everything (excellent schools, shopping, restaurants, churches, parks, open space trails, recreation, etc.) are all within a very short driving distance. That and our $115 per quarter HOA fees pay for use of all 4 of the HR rec centers. Each one is a very nice facility (but they are not totally alike) with lots of stuff for kids and adults. Since HR is not a city, we do pay lower taxes than the cities of Parker and Castle Rock.

For the person that said HR has a higher crime rate, I'd like to see those statistics. The crime rate here is very low, which is one of the reasons that we moved here. While Parker had 3 school lockdowns this last month, two of them due to murders. Parker is growing so much that there will not be any separation between it and Aurora, which I believe will bring the crime rate up in Parker.

Housing prices are a bit higher in HR (and correspondingly appreciate better than many other areas in the Denver metro area), since people are attracted to the amenities, it being a very family oriented community, and within a reasonable commute to Denver and the Denver Tech Center. You can find housing in a variety of price ranges here. There are very few apartment complexes, mostly single family homes and some condos. HR is mostly built out (though no house is older than about 25 yrs old), whereas Parker and Castle Rock still have a lot of development going on now and well into the future.

HR is also an easier commute to Denver and the Denver Tech Center than Castle Rock and most parts of Parker. Though, traffic can get heavy around here but that can also be said about Parker and getting in and out of Castle Rock. Most of the traffic issues are on C-470 and I-25 highways, which affects all 3 of these areas.





HR is a subdivision with 3 zip codes. 80126 was the first and is now located in the central part, also includes Provincetown Landing. 80130 is the eastern side & 80129 is the western side. 80124 is Lone Tree, Acres Green and Wildcate Reserve. 80125 is Roxborough, 80123 is Littleton & South Central Jefferson County & 80127 and 80128 is South Jefferson County.

The postmater here in HR lets us use Littleton as a mailing address, as it used to be the closest city to HR, but Littleton is in Arapahoe County.
26521

[BTNS_TX]

Curious: I know we have it pretty good. A lot of our natural gas is produced in WY and CO, and under long-term contracts. Same for our coal from WY. Meanwhile, after the post-Katrina price spikes of last year, NG rates have fallen to about 1/3 of what they spiked, good news for everyone. I posted a long comment about utility costs in a thread at:
Heating/Cooling Costs in Colorado Springs

See the actual utility rates here: http://www.csu.org/customer/rates/ra...ntial/1488.pdf

See how our rates compare to other cities: http://www.csu.org/customer/rates/ra.../page3036.html
17406

Highlands Ranch and a lot of Douglas County, on the other hand, are heavily reliant upon underground aquifers that are being sucked down faster than they can be replenished, and without big plans many areas could run out of water in that area (they are starting to look at other sources, but it may be too little, too late for some areas).
28050


There is designated open space between Highlands Ranch and Castle Rock that will keep that separation.
32845

Both are great options of places to live. Both have good schools and are family-friendly. In Highlands Ranch, you generally have easier access to shopping and other amenities, have easier access to light rail and other public transportation, and have more of an organized community (ie rec centers and the like). Ken Caryl gives you a more secluded feeling, since you're separated from the rest of Denver by a foothill, but you still have easy access to C-470 there. You also have hiking and other mountain-related activities right in your backyard (literally, for some of the homes). But you also have to deal with more "wildlife" there, in the forms of snakes, coyotes, etc (which are not as prevalent in Highlands Ranch).

34006

You can get a nice 4 bedroom house in Littleton, Highlands Ranch or Roxborough for $300k although if you are comfortable spending a little more you will get a larger house with nicer finish work. All of these areas are safe, homes are typically tract homes on 8,000 to 10,000 sq ft lots. I like Highlands Ranch, it is a very well planned community with miles of walking trails a fair amount of open space and numerous shopping centers. Property taxes will likely be between $2,000 and $2,200 per year and Highlands Ranch HOA dues are $114/quarter. Sales tax will vary from city to city, but most will be around 6%. Douglas County schools are very good, you may want to pull up specific schools on greatschools.net.
36124

They're all nice areas, especially for families..... Castle Rock and Highlands Ranch are in the south metro area, which is generally thought of as being more desirable than the northern areas.... Castle Rock is a fast-growing town that is distinct from the Denver metro area, and has it's own historic downtown, good shopping, and easy access to Denver via I-25. Broomfield and Highlands Ranch are both generally newer areas that are part of the Denver metro area, and don't have a distinct, historic old town or separate identities from that of Denver in the way Castle Rock does.

What is more important to you, I guess.... Highlands Ranch is very modern, it's an area (Park Meadows anyway, which is nearby) that tends to get a lot of restaurant chains, etc., first... but Westminster isn't all that different. Westminster puts you closer to Boulder and some outdoor recreation if that's a big thing, but it's just as easy to head west on I-70 from Highlands Ranch. With T-REX done, getting downtown is a lot easier than it used to be from HR.

HR looks transplanted out of Orange County, CA, except with wood siding instead of stucco.

[BTNS_TX]

Highlands Ranch has many walking trails, parks and open spaces. There are other areas close by like Waterton Canyon, Roxborough State Park, and Chatfield Reservior.

Traffic in HR is not bad at all. Of course, it can get busy as people are going to work or coming home, but not bad unless there is an accident. C-470 can get pretty slow at times with rush hour. Though, rush hour here is nothing like I saw in SoCal.

HR, in 2006, celebrated its 25 year anniversary as a community, so you will not see urban decay. It is a master planned community, so everything (schools, shopping, churches, people parks, dog parks, trails, 4 rec centers, etc.) are all close by. Downtown Denver is about 30 minutes away (non-rush hour) and about 2 hrs from several ski resorts.
36847

Most of the elementary schools are on a year round schedule, but there are some that are on a traditional schedule. I'm not particularly fond of the year round schedules.

You can find out about specific schools from the Douglas County School District website at http://www1.dcsdk12.org/cgi-bin/WebObjects/DCSD
Quote:
Originally Posted by rebagirl
Also, what are the average lot sizes of most homes? We don't need huge, but would like a backyard for the kids.
It can vary widely. Seems like most of the current new construction homes have tiny lots (like 6,000 sqft), but with corner and cul de sac lots you can get more space. I have seen other homes with 120,000 sqft lots or more. Some may have a small backyard, but back to open space. Our house has a 9,000 sqft lot, which is just fine for me. Compared to LA, the homes around here have spacious yards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rebagirl
Am also wondering about covenants--some people have suggested we stay away from communities that enforce them. It seems like a plus to me to not have a purple house with orange trim in the neighborhood!
LOL Remindes me of my sister painting pink polka dots on her house in Aurora because she was having an argument with a neighbor.

There hasn't been anything that we haven't been able to live with. I see them as helping keep property values up. Some people don't like them since you have to get approval from the HOA on paint colors, deck design and other things as well as not being able to store an RV on your property, having a shed, etc. You definitely won't find any pink polka dot houses
25492

There are 4 High Schools: Rock Canyon is the newest. Highlands Ranch is the oldest. HR and Mountain Vista are the largest as far as student population. HR is north, RC is east, MV is south & Thunderridge is on the west side of the subdivision.

The northern area is the oldest.
41746

When we aren't working, in the winter we enjoy skiing at Copper Mountain and ice skating on Evergreen lake. In the summer hiking and mountain biking is always nice. Chatfield reservoir located between Highlands Ranch and Roxborough is also a lot of fun. The Highlands Ranch Rec centers are very nice. Heather really likes Park Meadows Mall. Although we don't golf you have several good golf courses in the area.

The biggest problem lately is the poor snow removal on the neighborhood streets and it sure would be nice if the weather returned to normal.

The Jeffco parks have great hiking and biking trails, and they're easily accessible from either HR or Roxborough (Mt Falcon, Deer Creek, Meyer Ranch come to mind immediately). Daniels Park to the south is neat as well. There are also a lot of great bike trails, including one that runs along the South Platte from Chatfield to downtown Denver.
There are a lot of neat walking/shopping areas nearby as well, including downtown Littleton, Belmar, and downtown Golden. If you want malls Park Meadows can't be beat, with just about every store imaginable around there.
In the summer, and the winter, we like to occasionally get out of town for a weekend in the mountains. We'll just find a good room rate and go up for a night or two. You can be in the heart of Summit County in less than two hours from west Denver and can enjoy the mountain activities in and around there as well.
Highlands Ranch has nearly every sport, and water activity know to mankind...check out their website at www.hrcaonline.org other development info is available at www.highlandsranch.com

Well located for virtually any outdoor activity almost right on your doorstep.

There's good access to the mountains for those activities, winter and summer.

Good access to shopping, big box stores, etc.

Commute to Golden is not too bad, although C-470 corridor and 6th Ave area can get pretty slow ... bumper to bumper during peak hours AM & PM.

[BTNS_TX]

Functionally, a lot of the metro water districts depended upon the surplus capacity (and senior water rights) of Denver to provide them with water.

In the recent drought cycle, some municipalites have run out of water for domestic use as Denver's growth and senior commitments have used up most of the available water.

While it looks like the drought cycle is easing up right now, growth patterns are outstripping available water. Colorado recently recognized that certain ag water supplies/wells were straining domestic water supplies and required a lot of farmers to shut down their irrigation wells unless they could prove a replenishment of the acquifers from another source (water right).

Highlands Ranch was great for me, I lived there when there was only one high school (Highlands Ranch) and had a great time. There are so many new kids continually moving in, you always meet new people. The kids I went to school with were great, I have stayed friends with some well after college. Overall, my best and most enjoyable years of my education were in Highlands Ranch, I had great teaching, the sports programs were great, the after-school programs also were top-notch.

When ThunderRidge opened, many of the teachers and coaches went over to ThunderRidge, and they've done a great job. If your son plays or even watches football, they have one of the best programs in the state, not to mention a great stadium that a lot of us fought hard for back in the 90s! (it is shared between the HR schools)

Thunder ridge may be starting an IB program next fall.
Roxborough has definitely had water problems .
If there is more than one HOA snow removal has been better. It has been historically bad snow and I guess the infrastructure had a shortfall.
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[mtntopgang]

Thank You so much for this post. We have just learned that we will be relocaing to CO within the next four months and are overwhelmed as to where to begin looking. Neither my husband nor I have ever lived in the West. Your post povided some great information.