Stapleton (Denver, Aurora: best neighborhood, crime, houses)

[otown native]

So my girlfriend and I have been seriously contemplating making the move to Denver from Orlando over the past few months, and amongst our researching she found this site about a "utopia" kind of community just outside of downtown Denver called Stapleton. So I was wondering, is the place legit?! Or is it more so a wannabe ideal kind of neighborhood?

We have a place outside of Orlando here called Celebration that was supposed to be that utopia community, but I don't think it worked out like the way they planned.

Just looking to get some insight.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by otown native

So my girlfriend and I have been seriously contemplating making the move to Denver from Orlando over the past few months, and amongst our researching she found this site about a "utopia" kind of community just outside of downtown Denver called Stapleton. So I was wondering, is the place legit?! Or is it more so a wannabe ideal kind of neighborhood?

We have a place outside of Orlando here called Celebration that was supposed to be that utopia community, but I don't think it worked out like the way they planned.

Just looking to get some insight.

I live in Stapleton... have never been to Celebration, but I've seen it on TV. It's my understanding that Celebration is more a community unto itself, whereas Stapleton is more just another neighborhood within Denver that they've built on more of an urban model rather than suburban.

Personally I love it here, and it's the best neighborhood I've ever lived in. People in Stapleton tend to be 30s to 40s, have babies/young kids, ourtdoorsy, liberal, and social. Obviously not everyone fits that exact description, but probably the majority do. Also many gay couples live in Stapleton, a fair number with kids. It's semi-racially diverse (maybe 20% of residents aren't white?), within 15 min. of everything in central Denver.

I wouldn't call it Utopia, but it works for us.

[Bradburn1]

I've been to Celebration, have friends in Stapleton, and live in another new urbanist community in north Denver, Bradburn Village. Stapleton is similar to Celebration in that it is mixed-use, has neotraditional architecture, and is pedestrian oriented. Stapleton is larger, and is surrounded by other neighborhoods, and does a much better job of having a mix of housing types and price points than Celebration.

I'm unsure what you mean by "utopia" but if by that you mean very friendly and community oriented, Stapleton fits the bill (as does Bradburn).

[cityboy2010]

Umm...Stapleton is actually about 60-70% non-white...not sure where you got the 20% from. It's a great neighborhood, but surrounded on (almost) all sides by very bad ones, so sometimes the gang issues and crime spills over onto the border of the neighborhood.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by cityboy2010

Umm...Stapleton is actually about 60-70% non-white...not sure where you got the 20% from. It's a great neighborhood, but surrounded on (almost) all sides by very bad ones, so sometimes the gang issues and crime spills over onto the border of the neighborhood.

I live in Stapleton and it isn't that diverse by a long shot. Of non-whites in Stapleton, probably Asian is the largest group.

[thealansanders]

Umm...Stapleton is actually about 60-70% non-white...not sure where you got the 20% from. It's a great neighborhood, but surrounded on (almost) all sides by very bad ones, so sometimes the gang issues and crime spills over onto the border of the neighborhood.

This is wrong. I can't fathom how someone could think as much. Denver as a whole is around 65 percent Caucasian. If what you are writing was true, and it in no way is, Stapleton would be a real stand out in the Denver area.

I would guess Denverian is about right based on my experience. The area does have some socio-economic diversity but by and large the buyers are more affluent than their suburban counterparts owing to the generally higher prices and mostly higher taxes, white, english speaking and educated.

The area is surrounded to the north by a highway, which is not much of a neighborhood. To the east by a hospital and a park which again is not much of a neighborhood, to the south by east Denver and west Aurora which has experienced some real price gains as a result of Stapleton. To the west you have what was traditionally the "hood" since white flight in the 60's in an area called North Park Hill. You also have my neighborhood to the west, south park hill, where at least on my street you are not getting into anything with more than 2 bedrooms for less than 700k, hardly a ghetto and since we abut North Park Hill in a more real way and somehow have managed to avoid these supposed "gang spill-overs" for the past decade I have lived here I don't really see any issues.

Is Stapleton a utopia? I could not say, but I do like their parks, tennis courts and well built houses. Quite a few nurses and doctors in our building have moved their for the convenient access to most of the major metro area hospitals.

[denverian]

Originally Posted by thealansanders

This is wrong. I can't fathom how someone could think as much. Denver as a whole is around 65 percent Caucasian. If what you are writing was true, and it in no way is, Stapleton would be a real stand out in the Denver area.

I would guess Denverian is about right based on my experience. The area does have some socio-economic diversity but by and large the buyers are more affluent than their suburban counterparts owing to the generally higher prices and mostly higher taxes, white, english speaking and educated.

The area is surrounded to the north by a highway, which is not much of a neighborhood. To the east by a hospital and a park which again is not much of a neighborhood, to the south by east Denver and west Aurora which has experienced some real price gains as a result of Stapleton. To the west you have what was traditionally the "hood" since white flight in the 60's in an area called North Park Hill. You also have my neighborhood to the west, south park hill, where at least on my street you are not getting into anything with more than 2 bedrooms for less than 700k, hardly a ghetto and since we abut North Park Hill in a more real way and somehow have managed to avoid these supposed "gang spill-overs" for the past decade I have lived here I don't really see any issues.

Is Stapleton a utopia? I could not say, but I do like their parks, tennis courts and well built houses. Quite a few nurses and doctors in our building have moved their for the convenient access to most of the major metro area hospitals.

All pretty accurate. I love Park Hill too... just driving through it and looking at the houses. One thing I like about Stapleton is that you do experience a lot of diversity, jut going to any of the Stapleton shopping areas due to the surrounding diversity. That's probably why I find it odd when people say Denver isn't diverse.

[cityboy2010]

Originally Posted by thealansanders

This is wrong. I can't fathom how someone could think as much. Denver as a whole is around 65 percent Caucasian. If what you are writing was true, and it in no way is, Stapleton would be a real stand out in the Denver area.

Umm...Denver's actually around 50% non-Hispanic white. Look it up. There's no way Denver is that white, ha. Just saying (unless you're including the suburbs as Denver). And what's that supposed to mean, "if it was true, Stapleton would be a real standout in the Denver area?"

[thealansanders]

Umm...Denver's actually around 50% non-Hispanic white. Look it up.

Denver is actually around 70 percent white. Multiple years of data.

http://www.metrodenver.org/demograph...ethnicity.html
Ummmm.

[chilicheesefries]

Originally Posted by thealansanders

Denver is actually around 70 percent white. Multiple years of data.

Metro Denver
Ummmm.

Well that's data for 'Metro Denver' and cityboy2010 is talking about the city of Denver which is in fact about 50% white so double-umm (sounds like a kind of bubble gum)