Parker, Broomfield, or Lakewood?? (Denver, Boulder: speeding tickets, places, average)

[bhcompy]

Maybe Downtown Parker?

Honestly though, if you wanted south suburbs, you may want to look near areas with rail to see if anything suits you, that way you can get into town if you want some nightlife

[steveindenver]

Maybe Downtown Parker?

All 2 blocks of it?

[livecontent]

The best area for parks, trails the outdoors among the three Parker, Broomfield, or Lakewood would be Lakewood. It is far superior in the total parks, both in of the city and the extensive Jefferson County Park System. In addition, it has good water recreation with the many reservoirs and Bear Creek which leads into Bear Creek State Park. It also is just north of the Chatfield Dam and within easy reach of the Platte. Of, course it is much closer to the extensive parks, forests and canyons of the foothills of the Rockies.

Lakewood has numerous choices for rent that are reasonable. It would also put you in a more central location for jobs vs. the extreme, diagonal, locations of Parker and Broomfield. In addition, you are closer to the great amenities of Denver. Lakewood also has much better public transit than those other areas and now is the first city to see construction of a commuter rail line under the Fastracks expansion of public transit.

Livecontent

[bhcompy]

Originally Posted by steveindenver

All 2 blocks of it?

OP's the one that said Parker was on their list. I'm aware Downtown Parker is small, but it's something and it has a different atmosphere than the basic suburban areas of the city regardless of your personal dislike for everything not attached a rail station or with a bike trail from your front door to the nearest organic grocer.

[jlstiff]

tfox and livecontent,

These are some very good points - thank you. We really only were considering Parker because the rent was cheaper and the people were nice when we were there. It seems like a wonderful area to raise a family, but we are not at that point of our lives yet. Since we are moving from the Midwest (we grew up in northeast WI and now live in northern IL) we really want to be near the mountains, parks, trails, etc... and the western suburbs have all of this. I appreciate your help!

bhcompy,

We did not see downtown Parker when we were there. I will need to look into it. Even if it is small, it is something more to do that does not require us to go into the city. We are from smaller towns and are use to small downtowns anyway. Thank you for the suggestion.

[jlstiff]

Does anyone have an opinion about Westminster? I just found apartments there that are $200/mo less than in Broomfield for almost the same thing. I figured I should ask about the area before I waste time looking at other apartments. Does the city have outdoor venues or nice bars that have music in the summer? Is there a downtown with shops, restaurants, bars, etc...? Is there a farmers market? I plan to look into the city, but thought I'd ask for some first hand insight as well

[livecontent]

Originally Posted by jlstiff

Does anyone have an opinion about Westminster? I just found apartments there that are $200/mo less than in Broomfield for almost the same thing. I figured I should ask about the area before I waste time looking at other apartments. Does the city have outdoor venues or nice bars that have music in the summer? Is there a downtown with shops, restaurants, bars, etc...? Is there a farmers market? I plan to look into the city, but thought I'd ask for some first hand insight as well

Westminster is a very extensive suburbs. The old origin of the city is at 72nd. and Federal. It has older homes and stores and has attracted a large Hispanic and Asian population. About 15 years ago, the city built a new city center at 92nd. and Sheridan. This was down the road from the largest mall at that time, Westminster Mall. The city then extended up on Sheridan and built a large city park with recreation centers at 104th and Sheridan. Westminster continues to grow north and northwest toward Broomfield and Northeast toward Thorton with much newer developments and bigger shopping centers at 136th Street.

So, in essence Westminster is a sprawling city which I would not define as having a central core, or downtown. It has many different areas to please many different people.

The city does have a very extensive park system and trails with excellent recreation centers. It does offer all the amenities, like outdoor concerts and has farmer markets.

I live southwest of the older area and I shop at many of the ethnic markets. You can easily find nice places to live, with different economies, all over the city.

Livecontent

[David Aguilar]

The downtown of Parker, CO has got to be the smallest downtown in actual size in all of the United States. You are out of it before you even realize you are in it. It is smaller than the Best Buy down the street.

[DressageRider]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

The downtown of Parker, CO has got to be the smallest downtown in actual size in all of the United States. You are out of it before you even realize you are in it. It is smaller than the Best Buy down the street.

This is true... I saw the sign pointing towards the downtown and drove right through it before I realized that was it. It may have been a Sunday, and I don't think anything was open.

[movingfromcolorado]

We moved to the greater Denver area 3 years ago (without jobs) and stayed at the Eagles Landing Apartments. They are centrally located right by 36 and Church Ranch Blvd. From this location you are an easy commute to Boulder (15 minutes) and an easy commute to downtown Denver (15 - 20 minutes). If you ended up with jobs south of town (Denver Tech Center etc) you are looking at 45 minutes if the traffic is moving.

The Eagles Landing Apartments are pretty nice as apartments go. The area is near $300K+ homes and there is good shopping and restaurants within 5-10 minutes. When we lived there, we rented for 3 months then month by month until we were settled into jobs and found a home to purchase.

Broomfield is a couple of exits north on 36 and the area is pretty nice for the most part but there can be sketchy areas (as in most towns). I know there are a few apartment buildings on 120th that advertised cheap rent, but it’s old, and the people profile is lower income. However, I rarely hear of trouble in the area. While I like Lakewood, it’s not as centrally located if you don’t already have jobs. The main roads here are 1-70, I-25, and Route 36. If you stick close to one of these roads your commute will be much easier.

I can say stay away from anything on Sheridan or Federal south of 104th. North of 104th is generally fine and there are some good deals in the area. On the evening news, it seems like most of the violent crime is in the town of Aurora. This might not be totally fair because there are some really nice areas of Aurona but for a newcomer I would caution until you knew the area better.