Communities for 30-somethings withOUT kids? (Denver, Aurora: how much, homes, living)

[libbyann721]

NYC was awesome for the 30-somethings, single or married, with no kids. LOVED it there for that reason.

[wanttomoveeast]

I wish I could love winter, then I'd totally move to NYC.

[Brian_M]

Thanks for the replies thusfar, much appreciated.

I've done NYC and DC, my wife and I have done Atlanta... we're both done with the east coast (does not offer what we want).

Sounds a lot like we just need to find homes that are appealing and scope out the neighborhoods to see if it's going to be good for us. More or less where we were before (waiting till we have time). At least I found 2 Denver specific groups for people similar to my wife and I (no children of our own, by our decision). With any luck, we'll make some friends there and find housing near those new friends.

Thankfully once we finally GET to Denver, we have nothing but free time to cruise around and check things out. Just the annoying matter of selling our current home, killing off a 3 month trip to Alaska over the summer and we'll be there. :P

Thanks again. Much appreciated.

[wanttomoveeast]

Thanks for coming back Brian, so often OP's never come back. You found 2 specific groups for people like us? Point the way, please! We are in the same boat as you.

[zionvier]

Originally Posted by steveindenver

150,000 excludes anywhere near Denver with the exception of the East Denver / Aurora (80010 zip) neighborhood.

I have to completely disagree with you on this one. With the state of the real-estate market right now and the OP saying that a place that might need some work, I think $150k is doable if they are flexible (which they appear to be). This time last year I was running all over the place looking at houses under $125k (which was my price-point). East Denver / Aurora was completely off my list because I was working near Wadsworth and Hamden/285 and knew I was going to end up working in/near Broomfield/Boulder sometime soon (which I do now). There are still deals to be found, probably at better prices than I found a year ago. I even saw a number of nice places in Highlands Ranch around the $175k mark back then, I'm sure they're not all gone.

Originally Posted by wantstostay

Downtown is definitely more adult-oriented than the burbs, especially the burb I'm in (Thornton).

I live close to WantsToStay in the Thornton area. I don't mind kids, but I'm single, live alone and don't have any of my own. The one suggestion I'd give to the OP is to drive through the neighborhoods/areas you're looking at around 5pm in the summer. This is the time the parents are getting home, the kids are home from where-ever they go, and all the kids will be running around the streets playing.

Since I did my looking during the winter, no kids were outside playing when I would go by after work since it would be dark and typically not so much on the weekends since it's that much colder. I knew the street I was buying on had kids, because I had noticed a couple run from a car into a house when they'd get home, but I had no idea how many there where. Since I live at the end of the street (cul-d-sac style) all the kids end up directly in front of my house playing... soccer, football, bikes in the middle of the road, toys, kids running up to me when I'm working in the garage. Luckily I don't mind kids, but I think it would be horrible for someone that was less neutral than I am on the matter. Even I worry that I'll be seen as the only single guy living by himself on a street street with 9 houses and 15 kids.... I wouldn't be surprised if the neighbors had checked to see if I was a sex offender or something already. (I'm not just for the record) I know I'd check if I had kids and some single guy moved in on that street. So if having less kids in the area is important, I'd suggest house-hunting during warmer months when kids won't be glued to their Wii's and XBox's

[wanttomoveeast]

Excellent advice and I have to say this part cracked me up!!!

Originally Posted by zionvier

Even I worry that I'll be seen as the only single guy living by himself on a street street with 9 houses and 15 kids.... I wouldn't be surprised if the neighbors had checked to see if I was a sex offender or something already. (I'm not just for the record)...

If we would have checked around more, we would have realized some things that we wished we realized before we bought.

1) proximity to the freeway, we are wayyy to far.
2) proximity of schools (there are several by us, hence tons of little ones)
3) the existence of ginormous trucks along with mini-vans. The other day, while walking thru my plex, I saw a truck in the driveway with a confederate flag. Wished I would have paid more attention to where I bought.

Oh well, a learning experience.

[zionvier]

Originally Posted by wanttomoveeast

The other day, while walking thru my plex, I saw a truck in the driveway with a confederate flag. Wished I would have paid more attention to where I bought.

Oh well, a learning experience.

The confederate flag is interesting since people use/see it two different ways. On one side, it's a piece of history and southern family heritage for many. On the other side, because the Yanks won, and the side that wins typically writes history, their flag of honor was turned into a symbol of hatred, bigotry, and slavery. Similar to how the swastika has been turned into a similar symbol of hatred and bigotry, while the original use and symbolism was for good luck, prosperity, and victory. Don't get me wrong though, I think because of the stigma of the confederate flag, it's pretty insensitive and disrespectful to continue using it... after all, they could just bring back the original stars and bars flag and still be respectful. Mississippi's flag contains the confederate flag in it's design still, some tried to do away with that in 2000, but changing it was voted down. Did they vote to keep it as is because they wanted to give a big GFY to the US? to African Americans? or was it simply because it's been their heritage for the last 100+ years?

So if they've never done anything, don't jump to conclusions too quickly, because they might just be southern ;-) I'm not saying you don't have a right to be insulted/annoyed/or anything else, just that some people might think "how is this insulting/insensitive?" and not realize.... Remember, the human race has done away with darwinism, so stupid people are multiplying.

[steveindenver]

I have to completely disagree with you on this one. With the state of the real-estate market right now and the OP saying that a place that might need some work, I think $150k is doable if they are flexible (which they appear to be). This time last year I was running all over the place looking at houses under $125k (which was my price-point). East Denver / Aurora was completely off my list because I was working near Wadsworth and Hamden/285 and knew I was going to end up working in/near Broomfield/Boulder sometime soon (which I do now). There are still deals to be found, probably at better prices than I found a year ago. I even saw a number of nice places in Highlands Ranch around the $175k mark back then, I'm sure they're not all gone.

None of those places are in Denver, hence my comment that those prices exclude anywhere near Denver with the exception of East Denver or parts of Aurora.

[Brian_M]

Find a Meetup Group - Childfree Meetups - Denver

and

Denver Metro No Kidding Home

Were the 2 groups I've found. Had a return email from the MeetUp group already.

As for the $150k home price, I see a dozen new listings most days... on the REALLY active days, I'll see upwards of 50 (that was right about August). Now that I know more about Montebelo and N Aurora, I can probably discount a good number of those cheaper listings. I do find them in Thornton, Westminster, Parker, Denver, etc... too though.

Next time I'll be in Denver is March to hit up the theater. Then April to move stuff into storage before I head off to Alaska for the summer. We'll be there full time the first week or two of August and plan on renting while we look around and get a feel for the areas we like.

Cheers all.

[wanttomoveeast]

I do realize the southern heritage thing. When in Atlanta and Tennessee, I see it all the time and am not offended. But as this is Denver, it was a little unnerving. I haven't jumped to conclusions; however, if we were living downtown, that would probably not be something I'd see plastered on cars. sometimes my DH comments that Denver is practically like the south. Tongue in cheek of course, but when you see stuff like that you begin to wonder...

And yeah, while the swastika was turned into something ugly, when you see it, do you think of old time Christianity or Nazi's??

I believe Miss. wanted to keep their flag as a GFU to the "northerners". It seems as though they use their "southern heritage" b.s. as a charade for bigotry. I'm not entirely deadset on that opinion though.

Also, re: the license plate. I suppose you'd have to see our other neighbors to understand. So when we saw it, it was more confirming of what we'd already seen. Not like we live in some super cool plex with deep thinkers and this one stood out. More like we are becoming the minority (thinkers, not cows) while the stupid are multiplying like you said.

Originally Posted by zionvier

The confederate flag is interesting since people use/see it two different ways. On one side, it's a piece of history and southern family heritage for many. On the other side, because the Yanks won, and the side that wins typically writes history, their flag of honor was turned into a symbol of hatred, bigotry, and slavery. Similar to how the swastika has been turned into a similar symbol of hatred and bigotry, while the original use and symbolism was for good luck, prosperity, and victory. Don't get me wrong though, I think because of the stigma of the confederate flag, it's pretty insensitive and disrespectful to continue using it... after all, they could just bring back the original stars and bars flag and still be respectful. Mississippi's flag contains the confederate flag in it's design still, some tried to do away with that in 2000, but changing it was voted down. Did they vote to keep it as is because they wanted to give a big GFY to the US? to African Americans? or was it simply because it's been their heritage for the last 100+ years?

So if they've never done anything, don't jump to conclusions too quickly, because they might just be southern ;-) I'm not saying you don't have a right to be insulted/annoyed/or anything else, just that some people might think "how is this insulting/insensitive?" and not realize.... Remember, the human race has done away with darwinism, so stupid people are multiplying.