Relocating to Denver area....need advice:) (Boulder, Longmont: fit in, homes, neighborhood)

[mama02]

My family and I live in Dallas and want to get out of what my husband calls "the concrete jungle"!! I have a twelve-year-old and an eight-year-old. We need to be close to Denver, for my husband to work. I am a teacher and will be looking for a job in the town we are living in. I have got until next spring to plan for this move, but need help?!?!
Here are the things we are looking for:
1. Great schools
2. Small town feel-but not too small (I would love a town with a quaint downtown area.)
3. Close enough to shopping so I can get my shopping fix when needed
4. Homes around $300,000 with friendly people, walking trails, neighborhood pool, etc.
5. A fitness/rec/community center closeby so I can get my workouts in
I know it is ALOT to ask for, but I feel like it has got to be out there in the great state of COLORADO!!
Thanks in advance for the help and suggestions!

[Jerry Bckr]

You don't have a lot of choices, but I'm going to suggest Castle Rock, Longmont, Louisville, Golden, Littleton, and possible Brighton. Of course, your definition of a "quaint" downtown area is up for debate. Do you plan on walking to your quaint down town area? If you do, it will limit your choices. You may have a hard time finding many homes in Golden at your price range. Brighton is a community that's experienced a lot of residential growth in the last dozen years, but it has a blue collar down town. Longmont has a great downtown area but may be too far out. Littleton has a smaller downtown area, but is actually a small sub city surrounded by metro Denver. It does have good proxcimity to bike and walking trails, especially along the South Platte River. Castle Rock would also be a good choice. It's an easy commute to Denver along I-25.
Most of these areas would fit your needs (Brighton may be a stretch), but not sure what your mental picture of housing is like. Most of these areas would not offer what you would probably be looking for in housing that's a walkable distance.

[2bindenver]

How close is close to Denver?

[mama02]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

How close is close to Denver?

Close enough for my husband to drive to work?!?!

[mama02]

I have read that Broomfield doesn't have a "downtown" area, but how does it fit in my list of "wants"??

[mama02]

What about Erie? It looks like a great small town? Is it too remote?

[Nav]

If you want to stay on the South side of Denver, Then Castle Rock fits the bill. If you want to go a bit to the east, then you Parker will also meet your criteria. From the sounds of your request, you still want to be in suburbia, aka tract housing type planned communities. Both places have plenty of homes available due to the housing bust. One thing you will find immediately is that housing prices in Denver are a LOT higher than Dallas. 300k is the starting point for most communities. The 4k sq ft place in Dallas for 300k will shrink to 2500 including the basement. with a zero lot line lot. At least this applies to the southern half of Denver. To the North around Brighton, things are much cheaper.
(Brighton is flat and no scenery, Castle Rock is to the south with mountain views and rolling terrain. Parker is a bit hilly and kind of in between.)

As for your "close to town"...The outer commuting bands Denver stretch roughly 50 miles from City center. An hour drive is not unusual. Castle Rock is only 15 minutes south of the Tech Center and is a real easy commute. There are also commuter buses that run from Castle Rock to Downtown operated by FREX. Light rail doesn't run to Castle Rock, but you can pick it up around Lincoln Ave, which is about 10 minutes from Castle Rock.
Both towns have historic downtown areas. Both are in Douglas county, which rates at the top of the school districts. Personal Opinion: Castle Rock is a more conservative and small town type place. Parker has grown to be another Burb of Denver and the people tend to be pretentious and rude sometimes. Parker also has lousy "California type" drivers...blinkers...never heard of them....wont think twice about cutting you off so they can slam on the brakes to make a turn to get to starbucks.... You know the type.

Over all you probably be happy with either. If you dont want tract housing, you will need to push your price range up to 400k to get something on an acre on Parker or 450k for an acre in Castle Rock. Plus you will have to be OK with going 5 miles out of town and giving up most of your amenities.

Nav

[mama02]

Thanks so much! I will check into both towns.

[Katiana]

Originally Posted by mama02

I have read that Broomfield doesn't have a "downtown" area, but how does it fit in my list of "wants"??

This is true. However, it has a great sense of community and meets all your other criteria.

Originally Posted by mama02

What about Erie? It looks like a great small town? Is it too remote?

It has no downtown, or much of any other kind of shopping, has a rec center, a small library, and is qute a drive from Denver.

[chilicheesefries]

Originally Posted by Katiana

It has no downtown, or much of any other kind of shopping, has a rec center, a small library, and is qute a drive from Denver.

Erie has a short stretch of main street that last time I was there doesn't have a whole lot of anything there except dust! Lots of new developments around but it is a good drive to Denver. If you worked in Broomfield or Boulder might be somewhere to consider.