What neighborhoods fit our needs? (Denver, Aurora: to rent, violent crime, house)

[parks71]

Will be coming to Denver very soon to check out neighborhoods. Please help me by recommending the ones you think would fit my needs. I dont need the "best" one but maybe your top 3-5 that fit what we want. Heres a list.

1. Good schools (they dont have the be THE BEST but good)

2. Low violent crime and safe

3. With in 30-40 minutes to where the majority of the hospitals are (both the wife and I will be working at these but have no idea which one yet) Traffic shouldnt be too much of a factor since we work 7A to 7P. We also dont mind a commute as we only work 3 days a week.

4. Close as possible to mountains and or mountain bike trails.


5. Although we are going to rent the first year, want to be able to afford to buy there if we like it, we would need 3-4 bedroom house in the 250-350k range. The lower the better.


6. This is not a must but would be nice if in a place where they are in year around school instead of 3 months off in the summer.
Thanks for any help.

I know that jobs are tough now and we wont be moving for about a year but want to do our research now. We will only have 2 times to come out and check it out so help me limit my searching

[bhcompy]

You can meet some of this criteria with Parker or Highlands Ranch. Parker has a major hospital in Parker Adventist Hospital and they cities are close enough to other hospitals imho to fit your needs. Cost wise you're right in line, and even a bit lower for a fixer or smaller 3 bedroom.

The missing point is #4, but Parker has Cherry Creek running through it which provides some nice trails to ride on and Highlands Ranch has all the open spaces with trails you can ride on. Not necessarily mountain biking, but the areas are more or less undulating hills/landscape.

[mimomof2]

Southeast zip code of 80015 is nice. We are in the Centennial part of that zip which also includes Aurora. We have been here for 1 1/2 yrs. and we love it. Cherry Creek Schools, I believe all of the elementary's are all year round. Also 80016 is nice. Good luck.

C

[David Aguilar]

Jefferson County.

[parks71]

thanks everyone, whats Jefferson county? Isnt Aurua far from the mountains? We will be off 4 days a week playing in the mountains often. Is Golden out of our price range?

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by parks71

thanks everyone, whats Jefferson county? Isnt Aurua far from the mountains? We will be off 4 days a week playing in the mountains often. Is Golden out of our price range?

Jefferson County is the county that makes up the western portion of the urbanized Denver metro. It includes cities such as Lakewood, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Golden, Morrison, parts of Westminster, etc. It does not include Aurora, which straddles Adams and Arapahoe counties (and also has a small portion in Douglas County).

Aurora isn't "far" from the mountains, it's just not as close as the rest of the metro. It wouldn't make a huge difference if you went to the mountains often and lived in Aurora.

Golden is in your price range.

[tfox]

Golden may be a bit high in price for you, but look there anyway. If you don't like what you see in that range, check out the Green Mountain area of Lakewood.

[bhcompy]

I did find housing in Evergreen in your price range when we searched last spring. Evergreen is in Jefferson County and in the mountain region, but may be too far from the hospitals for your liking.

[parks71]

How far are the closest slopes from golden vs aurua? Evergreen is about a 50 min drive to Denver? Whats your gas/electric/water bills like in Winter and summer with a 2000ish sq house with a family? Thanks everyone

[Katiana]

Golden is about 1/2 hour closer to the slopes (maybe 45 min depending on where in Aurora) than Aurora.

If you want year round schools, look at Douglas County (south) or Cherry Creek (somewhat SE). Some CC schools are in Aurora.