Best Place to live West of Denver

[80skeys]

Mike is making a generalization that is, for all practical purposes, true. Castle Rock is in the I-25 corridor he mentioned. Yes it's hill country, but basically I-25 marks the start of the prairie lands.

Originally Posted by Nav

This is totally untrue. Once you get south of lone tree (south Denver) on I-25 there are mesa's and rolling hills, many covered with forests. Castle Rock, Franktown, Elizabeth are all communities situated in hill country. The "open prairie" described above really applies to the land north of Lone tree all the way up to the Wyoming border. North of denver the land is flat, but south, its like living in the mountains without the snow. This is one of the reasons the property values are much higher to the south.

I would recommend Franktown or ELizabeth. Your price range may be a bit too low for acreage in the areas you mentioned, but you might be able to find something in Franktown, and you will be able to find something in Elizabeth. Even in Elizabeth, you are only 30 minutes to the Park meadows mall in Lone tree so you are not that desolate like you would be in the mountains.

Nav

[Nav]

Originally Posted by SheridanL

I have NEVER done this before but,......Elizabeth? No way!!
I lived in Aurora (Centennial now) and,..dated a guy there back in the day AND,...I felt like I was in a lonely OLD town in Kansas! Freaked me out!!
When you travel on the road from there to the city..well...it seems like FOREVER!!! Maybe it has changed A LOT in the last 9 years but....hmmmm. Seriously I would have to be a little bit hesistant...don't flame me!! Maybe update me. "K"?

No Flames, just corrections

The entire southern half of Denver has changed a lot in 10 years. Look at Parker...its almost a clone of highlands ranch. tract housing as far as the eye can see.

Elizabeth too has changed a lot even in the last 3 years. Main street still has the buildings built in the 1890's so it maintains its historic charm, but the rest of the area is slowly being developed. With the spread of Parker basically up to hilltop road, its only a matter of time till Elizabeth feels the impact of suburbia. Luckily for now, its still made up of a lot of nice homes on acreage properties. There are a few older subdivisions in town, but the majority of places are more spread out. This is why real estate prices are still holding strong for the majority of places, with $300k-$400k being the entry point. (there are a few exceptions for the places in town) A new super walmart opened in Elizabeth a few months ago to compete with the Safeway built a few years back.
As for location, you are 20 minutes to castle Rock, 25 minutes to Southlands Mall in Aurora, 30 to Park meadows mall, and 35 to the Denver tech center. As for the road being desolate, Hwy 86 is a very busy road bordered by subdivisions, estate homes and a few ranches, but by no means would I call it desolate.
Is Elizabeth for everyone, definitely not. But for those who like nature, a little bit of land and want a more traditional conservative community then it fits the bill nicely.

Nav

[plaway1]

......could you please tell me about the area near Panorama Park in 80017 zip as far as neighborhood? I see it has a violent crime score of 6 (3 being National average) and I'd just like some corroboration or??????
Thanks in advance.

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by plaway1

......could you please tell me about the area near Panorama Park in 80017 zip as far as neighborhood? I see it has a violent crime score of 6 (3 being National average) and I'd just like some corroboration or??????
Thanks in advance.

I don't know what this has to do with "best places to live west of Denver", since that zip is in Aurora, but I'll give it a shot.

You got that stat from Sperling's Best Places I assume? Throw it out.

That park is near Mississippi and Buckley, a completely survivable area.

[inthemid]

Thanks for all of the comments. We are mainly looking West and SW of Denver area. I would love to have some space and that mountain feel without being too remote. We have even considered Pine and Bailey but I think that might be a bit too far out. Most of our focus is within a 10 mile range around Evergreen. We have also increase our $, looking around $600,000 to $1mil.

My husband would be happy in a subdivision, I only want to be in one as long as my neighbor is not too close. When I first met my husband he lived in Parker and I remember thinking how crazy it was to buy a big house so close to another big house in a neighborhood where all the homes look the same - like living in the twilight zone. I guess you can tell that I've lived in the country...but close enough to town to enjoy it.

[80skeys]

Look in the Littleton foothills. Not the main town itself, but look at the houses up the mountains (which have a littleton address.) I'm talking about the area up Deer Canyon road. With the price range you specified, you can get a nice home with some acreage up in a beatiful mountain setting, and yet be only a 15 minute drive to the main area of Littleton.

[steveindenver]

This is why real estate prices are still holding strong for the majority of places

? Elizibeth has seen a 100,000 dollar or so "adjustment" in the past three years and a corresponding decline in the number of sales. I don't have the NOD data for 80107 handy but I would venture to guess that like all exurban drive until you qualify areas it is running much higher than average.

So far as I can tell both north and south along with east are flat and ugly high desert. Flat is a relative term in any direction, ride a bike sometime and you quickly realize there is in fact elevation change everywhere.

[Scott5280]

Look into the Conifer area..it's only getting better and prices will hold stronger than most of the metro, Another area that has held it's value as well as any central Denver hood is Ken Caryl Valley. Away from it all, yet jump on c-470 close. You can thank me later.

[KateG7669]

Congrats on moving to CO!!! Some western areas that you should look into for sure are Golden, Arvada, Wheatridge and Lakewood. All of these areas offer beautiful land and views of the mountains. I am going to have to agree with SheridanL about Elizabeth, it's east of Parker and a little more out in the country so unless that is what your looking for it's pretty far out there!

[colorado2mama]

Originally Posted by KateG7669

Congrats on moving to CO!!! Some western areas that you should look into for sure are Golden, Arvada, Wheatridge and Lakewood. All of these areas offer beautiful land and views of the mountains. I am going to have to agree with SheridanL about Elizabeth, it's east of Parker and a little more out in the country so unless that is what your looking for it's pretty far out there!

I completely agree. Some places in Highlands Ranch may also fit your bill. Have you looked into Green Mountain, Central City or Genesee (granted it is kinda of out there too)? I would agree with another previous poster as far as moving here and renting while you actually spend some time in each area you are looking into. Good luck, I am sure you will grow to love Colorado after you spend a few years here, just my family and I did.