nice neighborhood, $300-400,000 (Denver, Aurora, Boulder: transplants, neighborhoods, middle school)

[tpkennedy]

We are thinking about moving to Denver from Chicago, and are looking for a suburb that's not too far of a commute to downtown Denver. Our price range is $350,000 - $400,000. We also want great schools. Any suggestions?

[2bindenver]

Define great? Academics, Athletics, Musically, IB program?

I would suggest Douglas County (Highlands Ranch) Douglas County schools or Centennial/Aurora Cherry Creek Schools.

Light Rail to Downtown would cost $99 a month open in November.

[coco6]

I have four kids, two still in high school. Cherry Creek HS is outstanding, but huge (almost 4000). Incredible opportunities for self-directed kids, great sports if the kids are strong athletes. The Aurora Schools in CC district are quite different than Cherry Creek. Arapahoe High School is a great school, too; it's in the Littleton Disctrict. Great sports, strong academics, solid families. It's a more manageable size than CCHS, but a similar population feeds into the school. Very nice mature neighborhoods feed into Littleton. Much more stable community, with many long time reisdents. Douglas County seems to be more transient corporate types, with lots of California transplants. We have been here 20 years, and, personally, I would steer clear of Highlands Ranch (a large planned coummunity in Douglas County) and more toward Littleton, which is an charming town with a more settled population. do your homework about the schools - don't know if you are looking at elem, middle school, or high schoolbut they vary within each district. Lenski is a great elem school in Littleton, Powell may be the strongest middle school in Littleton, and Arapahoe and Heritage are fine high schools. I"d only send a kid to Littleton HS for the IB program. BTW, we had two graduate from Cherry Creek, and they went on to selective colleges. Great school, but it's the largest one in the state, which may or may not be what you are looking for.

[FromBroomfield]

I've heard that Boulder County schools are pretty good.