Confused in Ca (Denver, Lakewood, Arvada: apartments, waterpark, condos)

[UK2USA]

I'm new to the forum so please bear with me. I've been reading and scrollig through the threads and posts for a while now hoping to gain more insight into the various areas of Colorado. My very good friends are moving out to the Littleton/Highlands Ranch area next week, while my husband and I anticipate a move within 6-18 months depending on work and school schedules.

My confusion is over area and schools. I know Highlands Ranch is master-planned, which does mean it is a community. My family and I live in a master-planned community and wish to get away fom that and gain a little land but still have a "neighborhood" and great schools.

My husband was born and raised in Ca, while I was born in England and did not move to CA till '93. Our concern is that if we move further out for more space that we are losing the activites for our kids and this can lead to other incidences. My husband concern is a lack of stuff to do except "make babies" (he's a very over protective father of one boy and 2 girls!)

We've been looking at numerous areas but seem to be focusing more on the Parker area.

Any input is greatly appreciated.

[TinajaCo]

I think you can find that cohesive, neighborhood feel in a lot of areas around Denver. You certainly can find that in Highlands Ranch, but if you want to get away from cookie-cutter, master-planned communities then I think there are a lot of areas that would fit the bill. There are towns that are physically separate from Denver, like Parker and Castle Rock, that are nice and allow you to have the small-town feel while being close to the city. But, you can also find enclaves within the suburbs that would also provide the small-town feel--Littleton comes to mind. It does have a historic downtown and a lot of community-oriented activities, while being a Denver suburb and having the amenities of a city. Castle Rock, Parker, and Highlands Ranch are all Douglas County schools, which is a great district. Littleton and Centennial are Littleton and Cherry Creek school districts, which are both excellent as well.

[sumisu]

Hi - Parker is a great and growing, in a positive sense, community. It has a nice rural feel with urban goods/services. The "Main Street" area is attractive with more of a European feel. Having seen it and knowing what you're searching for, I would start there. Good luck. Sumisu

[formercalifornian]

I know a lot of people like Parker, but I don't care for it at all. The small town feel of Main Street has been completely overwhelmed with dozens upon dozens of gargantuan big-box stores & chain restaurants that line Parker Rd (83). And, as far as cookie-cutter houses, that's pretty much all I've seen in Parker. Once you leave Main Street, most development dates from the 90's and every neighborhood is a sea of ugly tract houses painted some shade of beige. I also don't find it to be all that accessible to the Denver metro region: traffic on Lincoln is awful. Last, but certainly not least, there is very little to view in the way of foothills or mountains. You'll find the same thing in Castle Rock, but at least the foothills & Pike's Peak provide a visual distraction, and access to Denver via I-25 (south of the DTC) is tolerable.

That said, I hear wonderful things about Parker all the time. What am I missing?

[Charles]

We've been to Parker a few times recently to the waterpark there on Mainstreet.

Anyone know anything about those blue tarps on the apartments/condos roofs on the west side of 83 between (and I'm going on my some-zheimer's memory here) Morgan and Stroh? These blue tarps are on portions of all the roofs. It doesn't seem like they are there for repair, it almost seems like they are part of the design...but that just can't be... or can it????

I think these are the condos. The Google Map link below doesn't seem to show the tarps though....but I think this is where they are:

Parker, Douglas, Colorado, United States - Google Maps

[dj32]

I know people love Parker... to me I find it also a bit vanilla, and conservative. I second the recommendation of Littleton... or maybe Golden. Of course, you could always look at the neighborhoods of Denver proper including Observatory Park, Bible Park, Eisenhower Park, Platte Park, Washington Park, Park Hill.

[tfox]

I understand that there's many parts of the country in which it is easy to get large-lot properties. Unfortunately, Denver Metro is not one of them. The large lot properties that do exist tend to be pretty far out, and also tend to be quite expensive. Foothills properties that are forested (which seems to be what most people want when they think of a large-lot) are the most difficult to come by.

In the city, lots tend to be very small, though there are some exceptions. Newer subdivisions (i.e., Highlands Ranch, Parker, etc) also tend to have small lots. Probably the best bet in finding a larger size lot for a reasonable price is to look in some of the older suburbs (e.g., Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Lakewood, etc).

[BabyBoomers2]

We have been living in Parker for the last 3 1/2 years (just south of Mainstreet). Parker is growing FAST and the traffic is getting more and more heavy. There is a LOT of construction going on in a few different parts of the town (soon will end up being a "city"). The Housing Developement that we live in is very, very quiet at night, but with the increase of people moving into Parker, that probably won't last long. Another problem that can come with the high increase of people, is the increase of crime.
Another thing to remember, during the winter months, Parker can definitely get it's share of snow.......a number of more inches than Denver can get.
As far as the drive from Parker to Denver (downtown): I've been making the drive now for 3 1/2 years and to me it's not bad at all. But, then again, I'm not in the 8AM traffic.....my job starts at 7AM.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Depending on your budget, there ARE some large lots, i.e. two acres, in Littleton. They are located between Santa Fe Drive and Broadway, north of Mineral Avenue. So they are "close in" Littleton while easily accessible to major transportation corridors.

[RGG13]

Originally Posted by Charles

We've been to Parker a few times recently to the waterpark there on Mainstreet.

Anyone know anything about those blue tarps on the apartments/condos roofs on the west side of 83 between (and I'm going on my some-zheimer's memory here) Morgan and Stroh? These blue tarps are on portions of all the roofs. It doesn't seem like they are there for repair, it almost seems like they are part of the design...but that just can't be... or can it????

I think these are the condos. The Google Map link below doesn't seem to show the tarps though....but I think this is where they are:

Parker, Douglas, Colorado, United States - Google Maps

I saw the blue tarps when I was there last week. It's definately some kind of repair work. The roof under the tarps looks new though. I suspect that there was a problem with the work the roofer did and once the rains came so did the leaks. This is unsubstantiated speculation though.