Visiting Denver for possible relocation, what do we see? (Louisville: buying a house, neighborhood)

[RockTheGlobe]

Hi everyone... my wife and I are coming to Denver next month to visit on a scouting trip to see if we might want to relocate there from Los Angeles. Before we went, I wanted to ask if there was anything we should definitely do/see while we were there as a precursor to potentially moving to the city.

Some stats: We're both in our mid-30s, looking to have kids (so we'd ideally like an area with a good school district), have lived in L.A. for about a decade but both grew up in New England so we know what snow is like. We're both reform Jews (which means we're assimilated and eat pork, but celebrate the major holidays, so we'd like to live in an area where a reform temple is somewhat nearby and our kids aren't the only Jews in their school). My wife is a 3rd grade teacher, and I work from home and will be bringing my job with me.

Any suggestions or things we should know? Many thanks!

[Bradburn1]

Buy/Rent and what price range? Anything especially important in a neighborhood for you two other than what you listed? That way can point you to the right areas to look in.

[Mike from back east]

All sorts of things to see, museums and the like. Currently, the King Tut exhibit is here on tour.

We have a thread on Jewish areas of Denver, easy to find with the search tool.

[RockTheGlobe]

Buying a house, hopefully -- our price range is under $400K, though if we can get $300-350K, that'd be great.

As far as neighborhood, somewhere nice with good-sized houses (ideally, we'd like a 4BDR/3bath) that has good schools, is safe that our kids will be able to play in the yard without problems and will have other families with kids in the neighborhood, somewhere we can walk our dog late at night and still feel safe, hopefully there's a supermarket nearby and maybe a drugstore so we don't have to drive a half-hour if we need something. An area that has a little local flavor and local restaurants are also within driving range.

Mike from Back East: Thanks for the King Tut tip, though I was asking more along the lines of what should we see as potential future residents, not as tourists. I will look up the threads on the Jewish areas in Denver!

[2bindenver]

Fortunately for you, everywhere fits.

Now it would help us help you if you explained what you feel is important in a community and where work will be. What are your hobbies, what do you want to be close to? Or far away from?

[RockTheGlobe]

Important in a community: Safety, good schools, friendly neighbors, close to shopping/supermarkets, good non-chain restaurants.

Work: I work at home, wife doesn't have a job yet since we're very early in our process of deciding where in the country to live.

Hobbies: Going to movies, going out to eat, going to the gym or going for walks (occasionally hiking), wife likes shopping. We don't have kids yet, but are planning on them within the next couple of years and anticipate that our lives/lifestyles will change radically when that happens.

[thealansanders]

That size house at that price point is going to put you in the suburbs where unfortunately just about every restaurant is going to be a chain like they are in any other suburb of America. Also, don't expect a big yard.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by thealansanders

That size house at that price point is going to put you in the suburbs where unfortunately just about every restaurant is going to be a chain like they are in any other suburb of America. Also, don't expect a big yard.

Agree about the yard, but not the restaurants. Most burbs have a number of "hole in the wall" places in addition to the chains. See my post about Louisville for some names there.

[RockTheGlobe]

Figured we would be looking in the suburbs, which I'm definitely okay with. Any suggestions on which particular suburbs we should look at (and maybe hit an open house or two to see what the houses are like) and ones to avoid?

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by RockTheGlobe

Figured we would be looking in the suburbs, which I'm definitely okay with. Any suggestions on which particular suburbs we should look at (and maybe hit an open house or two to see what the houses are like) and ones to avoid?

Do you have a job location in mind? I think you'll know what you want to avoid by looking at it. It's "chemistry".