Where to live? (Denver, Lakewood, Arvada: sales, real estate, for rent)

[ashton7711]

I posted an earlier thread, but forgot to ask if anyone could help us choose a neighborhood. My husband will be in Denver this week looking for houses, but I don't really know which neighborhoods to set appointments in. We are looking for a suburb with great schools etc. We have researched Parker, Highlands Ranch, Castle Rock etc. Any help would be awesome.

[Jerry Bckr]

You and your husband need to educate yourselves about the water for various areas of Douglas County, espcially Parker and Castle Rock. Highlands Ranch is OK, but much of Douglas County gets their waster from the Denver Basin aquifier which is rapidly dropping. The bad news is no one can tell how much water is in it and how long it will last. That's one of the reasons the Colorado Real Estate Commission has come out with a new form that the sellers must give to the buyers telling what the water source is. It's up to the buyers at that point to investigate it to their satisfaction. This is an issue that's only going to get hotter for many communities in Colorado. Google Douglas County ground water sources, to get yourself started. Unfortunately, I don't think the public is made aware of the seriousness of this situation. I just attended a class Thursday taught by a retired big wig from one of the major title companies, where he addressed the coming crisis.

As far as schools go, go to www.schoolperfomancemaps.com/co/. It will show you where schools are and how they rate. Good neighborhoods generally have good schools.

[2bindenver]

Looking for houses is personal, not general. Just like looking for a place of worship.

What are you looking for, how much are you wanting to spend, rent/buy, when is the big move, what is important, what's not?

[Katiana]

To add to the list of questions, where is work? The areas you are looking at are have great schools, but we don't know what your etc is. Those are all south metro which would be a bear if you're working up north.

[ashton7711]

My husband will be working in downtown Denver. He is in sales so he is a road warrior. For the last year his schedule has gone like this: he would run a sales meeting in Tampa Fl. on Monday, drive to Atlanta to run another sales meeting on Tuesday, run appointments in North Georgia, and be home by Sat night, just to start it over again. The commute isn't much of a problem. Right now our budget for rent is around $1,500 until we sell our house in Florida....could be a looong time! We live in the suburbs now, because of the schools. We are in our late 20's, two kids. I hate to sound like this, but we want to stay away from the snooty, yuppie parts of town. We lived in Denver for about 3 months in 2003 setting up an office, but we weren't there long enough to visit other areas. I remember that we liked Parker...we got married there and our son's middle name is Parker. How are the schools in that area? Is it laid back?

[ashton7711]

Highland's Ranch didn't suit us very well, but we liked all the parks and trails. It just felt overwhelmingly huge and impersonal...if that makes any sense. Is there any neighborhoods that are similar but with a smaller, more hometown vibe and lots of family activities?

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by Jerry Bckr

You and your husband need to educate yourselves about the water for various areas of Douglas County, espcially Parker and Castle Rock. Highlands Ranch is OK, but much of Douglas County gets their waster from the Denver Basin aquifier which is rapidly dropping. The bad news is no one can tell how much water is in it and how long it will last. That's one of the reasons the Colorado Real Estate Commission has come out with a new form that the sellers must give to the buyers telling what the water source is. It's up to the buyers at that point to investigate it to their satisfaction. This is an issue that's only going to get hotter for many communities in Colorado. Google Douglas County ground water sources, to get yourself started. Unfortunately, I don't think the public is made aware of the seriousness of this situation. I just attended a class Thursday taught by a retired big wig from one of the major title companies, where he addressed the coming crisis.

As far as schools go, go to www.schoolperfomancemaps.com/co/. It will show you where schools are and how they rate. Good neighborhoods generally have good schools.

One area I'm interested in within Douglas County looks to be served by Southgate Water District which appears to get its water from Denver. Since I believe Denver has senior water rights and gets most (?) of its water from snowmelt, is such an area likely to be less affected by water shortages in the future than areas farther south that rely on the aquifer?

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by ashton7711

My husband will be working in downtown Denver. He is in sales so he is a road warrior. For the last year his schedule has gone like this: he would run a sales meeting in Tampa Fl. on Monday, drive to Atlanta to run another sales meeting on Tuesday, run appointments in North Georgia, and be home by Sat night, just to start it over again. The commute isn't much of a problem. Right now our budget for rent is around $1,500 until we sell our house in Florida....could be a looong time! We live in the suburbs now, because of the schools. We are in our late 20's, two kids. I hate to sound like this, but we want to stay away from the snooty, yuppie parts of town. We lived in Denver for about 3 months in 2003 setting up an office, but we weren't there long enough to visit other areas. I remember that we liked Parker...we got married there and our son's middle name is Parker. How are the schools in that area? Is it laid back?

You could pretty much point and choose any suburb with the criteria listed here.

IMO there is a bit of snooty element to the suburbs you listed, but it's kind of pronounced quietly if that makes any sense. Don't get me wrong, there are some cool people in those places.....there's just a more "Keeping up with the Jones", and "I'm better than you" type feeling than the average place.

As for yuppies, they live in Denver for the most part.

Parker's schools score well, it doesn't meet my definition of laid back, and neither does the commute to downtown from there.

If you want somewhere nice and a little less mega-suburban with a shorter commute to DTD, I'd suggest places like Lakewood, Littleton proper, western Centennial, Arvada, Westminster, etc.

[rkb0305]

Originally Posted by ashton7711

I posted an earlier thread, but forgot to ask if anyone could help us choose a neighborhood. My husband will be in Denver this week looking for houses, but I don't really know which neighborhoods to set appointments in. We are looking for a suburb with great schools etc. We have researched Parker, Highlands Ranch, Castle Rock etc. Any help would be awesome.

whichever one is closer to work.