thinking about moving to Denver Metro Area within the next year (Aurora: 2009, lease)

[Jewels2008]

Hello all! My company is relocating to Aurora (from North Texas) during 2009. I am not sure when we will be moving, but am pretty sure that my husband, three cats, dog and I will all be moving up there in the next year. We just came up to visit over Labor Day and stayed at a hotel off I-25 in the Tech district. We loved the area!
We are planning to rent a house our first year there and then look to buy. That way we can get more familiar with the metroplex.

My question is....where would be a good area to look in?

We know we won't be able to get the land like we have here in Texas (we have an acre), but we would rather not be living on top of our neighbor either. We are very middle class in Texas and have already seen the sticker shock of houses in the Denver area. Knowing that they will be more, we would still like to stay below the 200K range. We aren't concerned with being in the middle of everything, matter of fact, being a bit outside of town would be great. We have a 45-60 minute commute to work now and fully understand if we have to do that in Denver also. (though in Denver, there IS the light rail, so that would help). Both my husband and I love to be outdoors a lot.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[djohnmd]

Good luck. I have lived in Denver for 17 years and 200K will buy you a shack in the ghetto out in Aurora. Your best bet for that money would be to go further east where it is windy and flat with new developments coming up (Strasburg for instance). If you like a small town atmosphere where people are polite and neighborly don't look at moving to Denver - it is now a cutthroat big city with big city attitude and problems

[Jewels2008]

Thanks djohnmd! Yeah, we weren't actually looking at living IN Aurora, I will just have to work there. Don't think we would like living that far "in the city". I have seen Strasburg on the map and checked out some of the houses in that area. They seem really nice. I was hoping to try to find something a little less "texas-like" in the landscaping though

[vegaspilgrim]

I would start off by living in Aurora (you didn't say exactly where in Aurora the job is, since it's a BIG city), rent a house in Aurora for a year, learn and explore the metro area and then branch off from there. Aurora itself offers a pretty big cross section of all different kinds of society you'll find in greater Denver-- everything from rags to riches. Most of it is in the middle. It's a good place to live, but even if you don't want to live there permanently it's a great place to start off-- especially since you work there anyway. If I were you I'd live somewhere in what I term south-central Aurora, between Iliff and Smoky Hill, Havana and Buckley. This is a middle of the road middle class area (about exactly what you'll get for $200k), it's not the bad part of Aurora by east Colfax. I'd also leave behind your notions of living on an acre of land-- or even a half, even a quarter acre for under 200k-- just not going to happen, unless if you literally move to a small town on the eastern plains. Things in western cities are a lot more tightly packed in than in Texas. Don't live in places like Strasburg unless you really are going to live a true rural lifestyle and work and live there full time.

[Jewels2008]

thanks Vegaspilgrim! I think they have just signed a lease on a building near Quebec and Alameda? Not too far from the Jackie Robinson Park? We drove around that area over the Labor Day weekend, but I guess that I just found all the NEW homes/condos. We had considered living in Aurora for the first year. I was just hoping that there might be a way to be a little bit more out of the city. Unfortunately, I agree...we are going to have to deal with not having the land we are used to....I just really don't want to look out of my kitchen window and see straight into my neighbors window - you know? We don't mind living outside of town. We do that now...we aren't even inside a city limits where we currently live...no cable even available to the house (but we do have dsl!). I remember passing Iliff when we were there - so that is a nice part of town? I know we also drove down Parker Road - looked like a LOT of building going on over there too.
Thanks again! I really appreciate the input! Makes a tough decision easier.

[sumisu]

Hi Jewels - I suggest searching REcolorado.com - brought to you by Metrolist Inc. which is the public side of the Denver metro MLS. You can enter your price range compare what's available in various areas/towns. Good luck.

[steveindenver]

Ignore the bit about Denver being some manner of cut throat city, whatever that even means.

In that price range you are going to be very limited. Even the exurb developments that are falling through the floor in terms of prices are still above that threshold for most if not all single family homes.

I do not recommend the area given the checkered history and large number of forclosures but you might consider looking in the Green Valley Ranch area just south of the airport. Your commute would be around 30 minutes each way with traffic.

[bhcompy]

look south of aurora in parker, franktown, and elizabeth(all of these areas are "out of town" and in the outer suburbs.

cottonwood seems to be the cheaper part of parker and is the part of town closest to aurora. because its one of the older parts and added benefit are a lot of different type houses, bigger lots/yards, and lower property taxes. the houses in cottonwood were fairly nice for sub 200k when i was looking in april/may. some people had said the commute into denver was bad from there, but coming from southern california the traffic really is nothing.

go past parker and seems thing to open up a bit. ive never been to elizabeth but read a little bit about it and asked some questions here about it and it seems to be a bit more rural with bigger lots and such. franktown is the major town between parker and elizabeth. none of those areas should be too far out of aurora for your commute

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by Jewels2008

Hello all! My company is relocating to Aurora (from North Texas) during 2009. I am not sure when we will be moving, but am pretty sure that my husband, three cats, dog and I will all be moving up there in the next year. We just came up to visit over Labor Day and stayed at a hotel off I-25 in the Tech district. We loved the area!
We are planning to rent a house our first year there and then look to buy. That way we can get more familiar with the metroplex.

Just a note, Denver metro isn't called "The Metroplex", like Dallas-Fort Worth is.

Originally Posted by Jewels2008

Knowing that they will be more, we would still like to stay below the 200K range. We aren't concerned with being in the middle of everything, matter of fact, being a bit outside of town would be great. We have a 45-60 minute commute to work now and fully understand if we have to do that in Denver also. (though in Denver, there IS the light rail, so that would help). Both my husband and I love to be outdoors a lot.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

There is no need for a 45-60 minute commute here. I think there might be one factor you are overlooking here, which is weather. A 45-60 minute commute can only be 5 miles in a bad snowstorm. The light rail (for now), only serves the southern I-25 corridor, and the US-85/Santa Fe corridor to the southwest. Not far enough really to reach the wider-open spaces you are looking for.

Originally Posted by djohnmd

Good luck. I have lived in Denver for 17 years and 200K will buy you a shack in the ghetto out in Aurora.

Sorry, but that is dead wrong. $200K doesn't go as far here as it does in Texas, but you have to also remember property taxes are MUCH lower here as well, that kind of takes the sting out of the sticker shock. To get a "shack in the ghetto, in Aurora", that would only cost about $80K. $200K is a lot of money, and can still get you quite a lot many places in the metro.

Originally Posted by djohnmd

Your best bet for that money would be to go further east where it is windy and flat with new developments coming up (Strasburg for instance).

I think Strasburg is a fine town as well, even though some of the new developments are taking its charm away.

Originally Posted by djohnmd

If you like a small town atmosphere where people are polite and neighborly don't look at moving to Denver - it is now a cutthroat big city with big city attitude and problems

I agree with this. Though I don't like to generalize, there are nice people here , nice people in Texas, along with mean people here, and mean people in Texas. It all balances out, IMO, I don't think there is a large population of overly-friendly people anywhere I've been.

Originally Posted by Jewels2008

I think they have just signed a lease on a building near Quebec and Alameda? Not too far from the Jackie Robinson Park? We drove around that area over the Labor Day weekend, but I guess that I just found all the NEW homes/condos.

Alameda/Quebec is in Denver proper (not Aurora), in the Lowry neighborhood, which is virtually all-new, built on top of a former military base.

I live not far from there in Aurora, on a .21 acre lot, so it's not impossible to find a bigger lot, but I can see into my neighbors' homes if I squint hard enough.


In conclusion, only you know what you want, so follow your heart. Only you know as to how far you are willing to commute , how much you want to pay, and what kind of area you'd like to live in. Hope I've been of at least a little help.

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by djohnmd

Good luck. I have lived in Denver for 17 years and 200K will buy you a shack in the ghetto out in Aurora. Your best bet for that money would be to go further east where it is windy and flat with new developments coming up (Strasburg for instance). If you like a small town atmosphere where people are polite and neighborly don't look at moving to Denver - it is now a cutthroat big city with big city attitude and problems

This is totally incorrect. There are many homes in the Denver Metro area that are less than 200K and in very nice neighborhoods.

I would suggest the western suburbs of Denver: Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Lakewood, Westminster. There are some good values in established neighborhoods with many Colorado born or long term residents. In addition, these areas are close to most areas and are very well served by mass transit as well as close to the mountain amenities.

Now to the comment about this being "..a cutthroat big city with big city attitude and problems..." Not at all. I have been here for 30 years; I came up from Dallas/Ft.Worth--originally from New York. The city of Denver has not, and never had, the same attitude and problems of very big cities, and I do know, having lived in NYC.

Denver is a city with a majority of wonderful people from all areas of the country. It is a progressive city with new ideas that meld together with good western traditions of toleration and politeness; that is helped with the values of the many people who have made this area home.

Denver has taught me to be more pleasant, more patient, and more caring of others. It has mellowed my loud obdurate bravado but beware, bad comments bring out the "New Yawk" in me...Ya, know whata mean...

Livecontent