Moving to Denver from Houston-City/Area Equivalencies? (Aurora, Lakewood: low income, movers)

[Swedish Nurse]

My husband has been offered a job in Denver and we are excited to get out of the Houston Metro. We currently live in Sugar Land and like it a lot.

I am looking for some advice about the cities/areas in Denver and if anyone can help me draw some correlations. Like in the Houston area Sugar Land, Missouri City, & Pearland are common bedroom communities for those that work in the medical center. Bellaire/West U/Southside Place are the upper middle class neighborhoods where it is very kid friendly, low crime and close to everything, if you can afford it. Montrose, Mid-Town and the Museum district are filled with young urban professionals, newly marrieds, gays, and empty nesters that are still movers and shakers in Houston. River Oaks is the swankiest area of town where the super rich elite athletes, doctors and professionals live. There are no homes less than 1 million. Alief and Sharpstown areas are known for lots of gang activity, shootings and low income housing. These are great things to know if you are shopping in the Houston Metro and don't know kind of where to look based on your lifestyle.

Can anyone give me that sort of feel or explanation for Denver? We aren't decided on where or how we want to live. That is going to be based on budget and what private school we select for my son, my job, etc. So, I'd like a general feel for all the areas. We like the idea of the light rail system and my husband is an avid biker. We have toyed with the idea of having a couple of acres and a country close to the city type of feel. We also have thought about living in a revitalized urban area. We don't know so I'd kind of like some opinions on cities/neighborhoods/metro areas.

My hubby's new office is near Hwy 6 and Kipling St/391 in Denver. I'd really appreciate any advice or insight. Thank you.

[David Aguilar]

Sugar Land, Missouri City, Pearland = Highlands Ranch, Centennial, Littleton, Lone Tree (but without the HOU suburbs diversity)

Your husband's office is in Lakewood, not Denver. I would focus on that primarily and expand outward from there. There are many nice areas to choose from not far from there.

[chilicheesefries]

These are very general ideas

River Oaks = Cherry Hills Village, parts of Greenwood Village, Castle Pines, etc.

Commonly cited Gang Areas = parts of North Aurora, NE Denver and West Denver

Industrial - North Denver, Adams County between Denver and Thornton lines, Commerce City, railroad tracks along Santa Fe south from I-25 (includes parts of Denver, Englewood, Sheridan).

Established residential suburbs with some industry and commerce of their own: Wheat Ridge, eastern Arvada, Littleton (including south Jeffco with Littleton zip code), Englewood, Sheridan west Centennial, Lakewood, central Aurora, parts of Westminster and southern Thornton, Northglennm Edgewater, parts of Broomfield, Golden (more self-contained than most).

Newer development - eastern Centennial, SE Aurora, Highlands Ranch, northern Thornton, northern Westminster, western Arvada, northern Commerce City, Parker, Castle Rock, parts of Broomfield, parts of Louisville & Lafayette outside of downtown.

High Tech - Downtown, DTC, US 36 corridor.

As for Denver itself, others have better info.

[2bindenver]

Lakewood, Applewood, Golden, no light rail yet.

[Jerry Bckr]

Forget the couple of acres idea. You have to go into the mountains to get that and most times the couple of acres won't be level. They are attainable on the far outskirts of town, but you would be pretty isolated plus your husband would have a long commute. There are communities that have large lots (like a half acre) but they will have large homes sitting on them. Since you didn't mention your price range, it's rather difficult to direct you. There's some newer homes, some with great views that are south of Golden that have good highway access and a short commute to your husband's work. There's also 6th Avenue Estates.

[livecontent]

If your husband is working at 6th and Kipling, then I would choose an area to live that is in easy commute of that area. I would totally forget about any others and live close by. Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, Golden and Arvada all have great neighborhoods to live. This will make your move, simple, safe and you will have an great life in these areas.

I would choose a place to live, anywhere, adjacent to Kipling, north or south. North takes you into Wheat Ridge and eventually into Arvada. These are older established neighborhoods and all area are safe. There are nice choice of Parks, schools and recreation facilities. Check out the Wheat Ridge Greenbelt, along Clear Creek. It has good bicycle trails from Golden and extends, past the big Wheat Ridge Recreation Center, on Kipling, all the way to the Platte. A very nice area along this GreenBelt is Applewood, on Youngfield, which is area where Golden, Lakewood and Wheat Ridge come together.

If you go south from 6th and Kipling, you will go into a progressive newer areas of Lakewood and unincorporated Jefferson County--there are no problems in any of those locations, with good amenities.

You could go west near Golden and you can find some nice areas that are less dense, around the table mountains. If you want to live very close, you can live in the established neighborhoods of Green Mountain, off of Alameda, or go farther west on Alameda, toward the Hogback ( a ridge of the foothills with rocky outcrops that look like a back of a hog) and find newer homes.

Since that area is dominated by the Federal Center, there will be good options for public transit, and more on the way. The first commuter rail line of Fastracks expansion of the public transit will be West Line which will run west from Central Denver, through the Federal Center, and to Golden. In addition, a very large hospital, St. Anthony is being relocated, and is now building a brand new complex adjacent to the new rail station on Union (which is now a large Park n Ride, Cold Spring) at the Federal Center.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by Swedish Nurse

That is going to be based on budget and what private school we select for my son, my job, etc.

Why private schools? If it's for religious reasons, I get that. If it's because you want him to go to an excellent school, you'll find that Denver has very good schools that are public. You just have to find a good district. What grade is he in?

Before we moved to Denver, we received job offers in Houston. We were currently house hunting in both Sugar Land and The Woodlands. Both areas had the things we were looking for (mainly good schools and low crime). You'll find both in the Parker, Centennial areas. Depending on your budget, you can find a home with some space around it (though perhaps not acreage) in Parker and in Centennial (near Grandview High School). Both areas will put your son in an excellent school district which will save you money by not having to enroll him in private schools. Plus, it will give him the opportunity to meet and socialize with the kids in the neighborhood.

[the3Ds]

Originally Posted by Swedish Nurse

Montrose, Mid-Town and the Museum district are filled with young urban professionals, newly marrieds, gays, and empty nesters that are still movers and shakers in Houston.

River Oaks is the swankiest area of town where the super rich elite athletes, doctors and professionals live. There are no homes less than 1 million.

Montrose and the areas you mentioned sound like what residents on these threads describe Stapleton as. You'd also probably find that in Boulder, but you seem to be looking at metro Denver.

River Oaks is our Cherry Creek. Lots of athletes, tv news anchors and people with serious moo-lah.

[Swedish Nurse]

Okay, you all have offered great info. To clarify to help the direction, my husbands office is in Lakewood. I'm a nurse, so I could work anywhere but Swedish is my preference as my colleagues in the Medical Center have said it's a good hospital. Although I'd love some advice on that as well if you want to give it. I am a labor and delivery nurse and lactation consultant. I love it, but would love to get involved with a more natural birth friendly hospital.

Our price range is $300K or less, preferably less. However, we need at least 1500 square feet to not feel crammed into a house and we want a large yard as we have 4 small dogs (toy poodle, 3 cavalier spaniels) and we would like to be able to throw them a ball without accidentally lobbing it into the neighbors yard. That is why the couple of acres idea. Also, as it stands now when I stand at the kitchen sink I can see into my next door neighbors bathroom and they don't have frosted windows! So, a little space between the houses would be good.

The reason for the private schools is that my son is very advanced academically. He is 5 years old and in 2nd grade. We have found that our options have been to place him in a lower grade with kids his age and force him to be bored with the material (but be in a SOCIALLY acceptable setting) or be in an older grade and be challenged academically but be socially awkward. We found Montessori education which places kids in 3 year age groups (ages 6, 7 & 8) and allow the children to learn material at their own pace. So, he can be on 2nd grade math and 4th grade reading, etc. The only other scenario we know of that allows this flexibility is home schooling. So, given his circumstances we figured private school or home school were our only options. If you know of something different in Colorado please let me know.

Anyway, all the advice is helpful and I'd appreciate any more insight you can offer.

[livecontent]

Swedish is one of the best hospitals in Denver. You may have to look a little more carefully at your residence of choice because most, if not all, the municipalities, have restrictions on the number of dogs that you can have per household--a restriction of three dogs. The Denver Metro area is not a cheap area for housing with large lots; $300,000 is not going to buy you much. You may have to consider additional modifications of your wants.