Simi Valley to Denver area (Aurora, Boulder: how much, homes, neighborhoods)

[simigo]

I'll be moving to the Denver area in March. I have a family of 4, two young daughters (ages 1 and 4). I don't know much about Colorado and am looking for advice on locations to live in. Office will be in Commerce City, but I don't mind comuting in order to live in a kid safe, friendly area. The research I've done suggests that south of Denver meets this criteria. Any comments on Highlands Ranch, Parker or Castle Rock? Any other places to look at?

[Deputy1]

All those areas are nice in my opinion. My wife and I moved from the OC 4 years back. The only hangup is the commute, of course nothing like California traffic, but still it can be tough at times, especially in bad snowy weather. A lot depends on budget! But if it is healthy, then consider Southeast Aurora area, Parker, Golden, Louisville, Superior! All those areas are nice. Louisville and Superior are closer and offer really nice cities with a great environment to raise a young family in!

[2bindenver]

Stay north of the city. Douglas County is nice, but it's not worth the commute.

[tfox]

Originally Posted by simigo

I'll be moving to the Denver area in March. I have a family of 4, two young daughters (ages 1 and 4). I don't know much about Colorado and am looking for advice on locations to live in. Office will be in Commerce City, but I don't mind comuting in order to live in a kid safe, friendly area. The research I've done suggests that south of Denver meets this criteria. Any comments on Highlands Ranch, Parker or Castle Rock? Any other places to look at?

Frankly, your commute will be terrible from any of those location. Sure, maybe it's worth it to you, but for me I couldn't recommend it. If you have to choose one, perhaps consider Parker, since you can take the traffic-free E-470 toll road most of your route, but this depends on where exactly in Commerce City you are (it's better if it's the eastern portion). The downside is that it's traffic free because it's the country's most expensive toll road. But in that situation I can still say take it because your time is worth something.

But, I think a much better option for you would be to stay north. For starters, Commerce City itself does have some very nice family-centric neighborhoods. The main dividing line between the run-down, industrial commerce city and the new suburban Commerce city is school district -- the good parts are in the Brighton school district (which is decent), and the bad parts are in the Commerce City school district, which you need to stay away from. One neighborhood to look at would be Reunion, which is developed by Shea Homes, the same company that developed Highlands Ranch.

If you're looking for something a bit more upscale, try Broomfield. That commute wouldn't be too terrible, you'd head straight down US-36, and then continue on to 270 or 76 -- likely your office will be somewhere along that way. Broomfield is split up into several school districts (Boulder Valley, Jeffco, St Vrain, Adams-12, but most of the schools are good).

[simigo]

A healthy budget means different things to different folks, I'm looking to spend about $1200 for housing. I'm starting to think that these areas are out of my league, Am I right on this?

[2bindenver]

$1200 for a house? A small house. Look north my dear. Commerce City, Northglen, Thornton, Brighton

[simigo]

Thank you, all very good points! One other thing we haven't taken into consideration is cost of living. What can we expect to pay for monthly utilities i.e. gas, power, cable, internet, and specially heating (something we are not used to)?

[2bindenver]

How much will you use?

[Jerry Bckr]

Here's what my utility bills were for 2009. It's me and my wife living in a 2100sq ft home with an electically heated hot tub that's only used 6 months of the year and A/C for the summer.
Gas $707
Elec $ 1018
We try not to waste enery, especially with the AC. It goes on in the afternoon and is shut off at night, with very few exceptions. Others will have different figures.

[emgalvin1]

We live in Centennial, which is pretty south, but not as far south, I think, as the towns that you mentioned.

We have a 4 br/3b 1 car garage with fenced in back yard and finished basement for $1250. I love our neighborhood. I don't think there are many kids here. Even though there's like 3 schools within 5 miles of the house. We didn't even have 1 trick-or-treater! Now that I think about it..maybe it's us

Although, I would reccommend staying North as well. I look at that traffic every morning on my way to work. It's pretty horrendous. But that's up to you how much of a commute you can tolerate.