Good Neighborhood, Highlands Ranch area (Denver, Broomfield: houses, neighborhoods, buying)

[txngrl29]

Hello! We are going to be moving up to Denver and are looking for some recommendations of actual neighborhoods. Safe, family friendly, convenient, well kept, etc. We've driven through HR and have friends that live there. We seem to prefer this area due to the rec centers and schools (and my husband could car pool with co-workers if we lived there). But does anyone have suggestions for good neighborhoods? Preferably one that has homes under $400K. Or any other recommendations. Thanks in advance for your help.

[2bindenver]

Highlands Ranch is a neighborhood. City sized, three zip codes, but it is a neighborhood.

375 available properties in Wildcat, Lone Tree & Highlands Ranch, under $400,000.

What is important to you and your family?

[bhcompy]

The part of Highlands Ranch we zoned in on after visiting all the areas, viewing the schools, seeing the kids play around the neighborhood, etc was in the neighborhood directly surrounding Northridge Elementary School on the north side of Highlands Ranch Parkway. We were looking in the low 200s and found plenty of properties(though these mostly needed a little work). These houses were built in the mid 80s and seemed nicer with some potential for bigger lots than some of the post 1990 housing in the area.

[rkb0305]

Any neighborhood in HR for around $400K is going to be nice. We live on the west side near Westridge Rec Center. Pros - close to work, close to the "whale pool" a favorite in the summer for kids, close to Town Center, little traffic on Lucent/easy access to C470 (new building will make for more traffic in the future, though), possible future light rail station nearby. Cons - far from Park Meadows shopping, and I25 interchange, farther from the better indoor pools (Eastridge and Southridge). Because HR is a planned community, there is no good or bad side of town. It is all intermixed.

[mczabe]

I agree completely with buying older in HR. The houses just seemed better built to us, the trees were bigger, the yards were larger, and there was just a feeling of much more stability. I have friends who live in the area you mentioned and they are very happy there.

[Scott5280]

I think anything close to Highlands Walk is pretty nice..it's nice to be able to walk to services, restaurants,shops..and leave the car at home now and then..There are some brownstone/flats type properties adjacent to this newer area.

[txngrl29]

Originally Posted by bhcompy

The part of Highlands Ranch we zoned in on after visiting all the areas, viewing the schools, seeing the kids play around the neighborhood, etc was in the neighborhood directly surrounding Northridge Elementary School on the north side of Highlands Ranch Parkway. We were looking in the low 200s and found plenty of properties(though these mostly needed a little work). These houses were built in the mid 80s and seemed nicer with some potential for bigger lots than some of the post 1990 housing in the area.

Thanks for the info. This sounds great. If you don't mind me asking, which subdivision are you speaking of? Northridge its self or Broomfield, Timberline Ridge, etc?

[bhcompy]

There is no subdivision name that I know of. It's just part of Highlands Ranch as far as I know

[rkb0305]

Originally Posted by txngrl29

Thanks for the info. This sounds great. If you don't mind me asking, which subdivision are you speaking of? Northridge its self or Broomfield, Timberline Ridge, etc?

It is the oldest part of HR between Broadway and University and south of 470, off of Dad Clark Dr. I don't know of any subdivision names within the area.

edit - the home values in this area seem to be mostly $250-300K. It may not be upscale enough for you. Or you could put the left over $ toward updating.

[2bindenver]

HR is divided into four sections northridge, eastridge, westridge and southridge which are also the names of the 4 recreation centers) - within each section there are also sub area names - like terrace, glen...

There are 3 zip codes. 80126 is central and Province Center (not HR), 80130 is the west side, 80129 is the east side. 80124 is Lone Tree (not HR) & Wildcat (also not HR.)

Most folks search for houses by age and price, beds, baths, size, then if needed, or highly desired, specific things - like cul de sac, a/c, walkout basement, 5 piece bath...

Then depending on how many, you may want to expand your search, or continue to narrow it down.

I am finding a lot of buyers won't bother to look at homes in person, if there are no photos online.