Has anyone moved from California to the Castle Rock area? How do you like it? Any suggestions for a safe family city?

[2bindenver]

DTC is roughly Quebec on the west, Belleview on the north, Peoria on the east and County Line on the south.

It's on the south east side of Denver,and the west side of Arapahoe County.

[davebarnes]

What is with all these people looking for "safe"?
Do they think that greater Denver = Compton?
Are there crappy and unsafe pockets in "Denver"? Yes.
But, don't they do any research before asking such idiotic questions?

[ca-ut-??]

@formercalifornian, I am actually more interested in knowing where you were from in the bay area....

I miss the south bay so much, particularly the food!

We used to live in Cupertino/Santa Clara area and there were restaurants galore.

[ucbedge]

Yes!

My wife grew up in the Inland Empire. I grew up in Orange County. We both lived/went to college at UC Berkeley (where we met) for four years. After college, we lived in Long Beach for five more years before moving to Colorado. So we lived in both Nor Cal and So Cal prior to coming to Colorado. We're both around 30 years old, no children, but hoping to start a family within the next two years.

Unlike many people, we consciously wanted out of California - mainly because of the insane price of real estate. Don't get me wrong - I think California is great. I just dont think it's worth the cost-of-living price premium compared to other areas in the country. We looked for homes in Sacramento, Portland, and Denver. We immediately fell in love with Denver - specifically the south and west areas of town.

When looking for homes, we looked mainly in Littleton, Parker, and Highlands Ranch. We ruled out Parker for two reasons: 1) long commute to I-25; and 2) the "feel" of the city - pockets of neighborhoods surrounded by lots of nothing.

In Littleton, we really liked Grant's Ranch. We almost bought a home there in fact, but couldnt reach a settlement with the seller's. In retrospect, I'm very happy we didn't buy there because of the commute to I-25. Both my wife and I work where C-470 and I-25 meet. There can be lots of traffic in this area - particular C-470.

Instead, we chose (and still live) in the very southern part of Highlands Ranch. Put simply, we love it. If you like master-planned communities with a flavor of California, you'll like Highlands Ranch (which is why some people on this board hate it). We have HOA-run gyms which are super-nice and are free to HR residents (you pay via reasonable HOA dues). Schools are good, I hear....although we don't have personal experience with them. The commute to I-25 and the Tech Center is manageable (I would NOT want to commute to downtown Denver though). And we have tons of managed open space here with trails and wildlife. From our front lawn, we often see coyotes, fox, and elk.

Three things come to mind that I dont like about Highlands Ranch:
1) We wish I were closer to I-70 and the mountains since we're avid hikers.
2) Everything is a chain here. We miss small, good, family-run restaurants in particular.
3) In certain parts, homes can be very close together without much of a backyard. Our lot is .25 acres - so we're lucky - but I'd still like more space between us and our neighbors.

If we were to move again, I'd consider three areas:
1) The foothills/west end of town ONLY if I managed to find work out there. I refuse to commute from the west end to I-25.
2) Castle Pines North
3) A place near Roxborough State Park with a large lot that's still not too far from C-470. There are some beautiful homes/areas down by Sedalia that I would like.

Good luck!

Edit: one thing that about living in the Castle Rock/HR area that slaps me in the face this time of the year is the snow. Our house sits at 6,000 feet and I'd say that on average, we get 20% more snow from a storm than downtown Denver does. It's definitely not a deal-breaker by any means. Just remember if you move here and the weatherman says "expect 3-6 inches of snow," Denver will get the 3 inches and Castle Rock will get the 6 inches. :-)

[carrob]

ucbedge,
Coming from a warm climate, did you adjust well to the winters and unpredictable weather there? Any other regrets about leaving California behind? How do you compare the people/culture? Much more conservative?

[David Aguilar]

Originally Posted by carrob

ucbedge,
Coming from a warm climate, did you adjust well to the winters and unpredictable weather there? Any other regrets about leaving California behind? How do you compare the people/culture? Much more conservative?

This applies to me as well (I'm from CA).

-you adapt to the weather
-missing the "me"/friends/family/food part of CA
-more bland people/character
-not necessarily more conservative, the area is full of transplants so you get a bit of everything

[denver_hacker]

Another transplant here - moved to Denver from Mountain View for a startup in downtown Denver about 10 years ago. My wife and I wanted to get out of the Bay Area after growing up there and be someplace different, and also to have the option of living off of one person's salary. Now we have two kids and love it here in D-Town!

We've been in south Denver proper the whole time in Colorado, mainly because when we moved here that was a good commute point for me downtown and my wife in the DTC. Plus there are cool old neighborhoods with funky commercial shops and restaurants (Wash Park, Platt Park, U Park, etc). 95% big box shopping and chain eating is not to our liking, and in general I don't like neighborhoods built after 1970 - I like mature landscaping, homes with character, and I'm not a HOA kind of guy. It does mean we don't have the square footage we'd get for the same price elsewhere, but the quality over quantity approach has worked for us so far. It also means we don't have immediate access to large open space or parks, but that's a tradeoff we're ok with. When we outgrew our first house in Denver, we shopped with the Denver Public Schools boundary maps in hand. Our kids are doing quite well and we love the school.

I miss some things about the Bay Area...the ocean, San Francisco, the weather, the Redwoods, the food scene, the music scene, the jobs at companies that change the world...I see it now as a great place to visit but not where I'd want to raise kids. People who hit the startup lottery are living in a warped world with $3M homes and Ferraris, and people who haven't been that lucky are killing themselves to pay for the $1M house with a so-so school. Plus, my kids have to have someplace to aspire to, right?

[ucbedge]

My wife and I are fiscal conservatives but pretty liberal on social issues. I hate to see my tax dollars being wasted but I'm okay with people living whatever life they feel like living without judgement. We live in Douglas County...which is probably one of the most conservative counties in the state if not the nation....and I feel like we pretty much fit in. Really, I think anybody would fit in as long as youre not looking for a hip, extremely diverse, urban lifestyle.

Regrets:
1) Most of the restaurants here are chains. I miss good restaurants.
2) Family lives in CA
3) I hate driving in the snow

Like I said though, my wife and I wouldnt move back to CA even if we found an equivalent home for the same price. It's just too nice here.

The weather: California has arguably the best weather in the world. No matter where you move, the weather will be worse. In Denver, the weather is quite nice for about five months of the year (summer and early fall) and pretty comparable to California (except for the summer thunderstorms that occur maybe once every four days or so). I find spring windy and winter cold. I hate hate hate driving in the snow, but I find I usually only have to do that about 10 days per year. 10 days of out 365 days is a small price to pay....but those 10 days sure do suck.

Here's the biggest adjustment we had to make regarding the weather: you have to plan around it to some degree. In California, you basically do whatever you want, whenever you want, regardless of the weather forecast. Here, if you know a major snowstorm is heading your way, you may adjust your plans so youre running errands before or after. In the summer, you're always aware of pending thunderstorms while hiking and will adjust plans as necessary. Ppl here are always conscious of the weather forecast, unlike California.

Originally Posted by carrob

ucbedge,
Coming from a warm climate, did you adjust well to the winters and unpredictable weather there? Any other regrets about leaving California behind? How do you compare the people/culture? Much more conservative?

[denver_hacker]

Originally Posted by ucbedge

3) I hate driving in the snow

The right set of tires makes all the difference, regardless of driveline.