Wash. Park? Hilltop? (Denver: for sale, mcmansion, work)

[JakeDog]

Looking for opinions on living in Washington Park and Hilltop areas.

[2bindenver]

as far as? Cost of living? Parking? Proximity to parks? Historic housing? Rents? Heating bills?

[JakeDog]

Safety & schools. Homes look nice.

[2bindenver]

Both are exceptional neighborhoods to live in. Their popularity is well known and widespread. People have paid more for their Wash Park, Bonnie Brae, Crestmoor, Hilltop houses for decades.

Personally my favorite area is between Gaylord & Franklin - because of proximity to Old South Gaylord shops & the Park.

Schools can be researched at http://www.csapscores.org/

[dj32]

WAsh park is great- East Wash park (area 2B mentioned) is nicer than west, more exp. Hilltop to me, is a little more "mcmansion" and so pricey. Wash Park is more convenient to CC, mountains in my opinion. What is your price range?

Schools may be better in Hilltop (if you are in Steck school area) but steele is improving. Lots of good private/montessori opinions as well.

[JakeDog]

$425k-$525k

[2bindenver]

there are 29 3 beds 2 bath with a garage between $425,000 & $525,000 available for sale in our MLS.

[dj32]

425-525 will get you a cute bungalow in Wash Park, walking distance to South Gaylord street and the wonderful park itself. You also may wish to check out Bonnie Brae (which in inexplicably more expensive and in my view, not as great of a location- across University on the east side) or Platte park which will buy you more but is still very close to light rail and lots of good restaurants. I think that area will be a good investment. It may buy you a small ranch (or even a teardown) in Hilltop. Hilltop has more families and I guess it is pretty, it just seems a mecca for the "nouveau riche" these days with all the builders tearing down 500K homes for a glut of 2M homes. You may also want to look at the DU/University Park/Observatory Park area- again, close to shops but probably getting more for your money while getting character, old trees,etc...

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by dj32

425-525 will get you a cute bungalow in Wash Park,

Which you may have to pay $100,000 to renovate. My nephew lived in a duplex there that was built in the 1920s and had original wiring, plumbing, etc. It needed a lot of work, to say the least.

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by pittnurse70

Which you may have to pay $100,000 to renovate. My nephew lived in a duplex there that was built in the 1920s and had original wiring, plumbing, etc. It needed a lot of work, to say the least.

Yes.
Our 1916 bungalow in central Denver took $150K to renovate ($50K went into the kitchen).
And we certainly did not turn it into a mansion, we didn't even pop the top.
But we got what we wanted, in the walkable location we loved.
I guess it just depends on how badly you want to be in the city rather than the 'burbs.
I agree about Platte's up-and-coming location.