College Grad, 23 looking to move to denver in may HELP!!!!!! (Aurora: apartments, leasing)

[lastmandown]

So I've had my mind set on moving to colorado since I can remember. I started taking yearly trips from Des Moines, Iowa (my hometown) in 1999 and have probably made it out 7+ times. The trips were for snowboarding but I fell in love with about every aspect of denver and the state in general. I know the difference between what I will find IN denver vs. out west a little more in the mountain towns. I'm definitely looking for the denver (type of) scene rather than the small towns. I have a lot of classmates and friends that have moved out there or plan on doing so soon. I will be graduating from Iowa State University in May with a Finance degree and hope to be out there by august at the latest...I'd obvious prefer to have a job setup but I've been serving for 4 years and i'm confident that if worse comes to worse I can get another job at the cheesecake factor (former employee) or a place like it and make decent money for a filler job.

For reference my interests include:
MUSIC! Metal, electronic, jazz, really anything. Creating and watching
Snowboarding
I do like to have a good time on the weekends, bars or some sort of night life activity.
I seem to usually associate myself with the counter-cultural crowd mostly centered around a music scene

The main questions i have are:
1. assuming i don't have a job, where would the best place for a friend and I to live? We obviously want people around our age and we would definitely pay a premium for a nicer place, safe neighborhood, close to shopping, music, entertainment etc...
2. What is a good estimate of rent for a 2 bedroom in the places that you'd recommend?
3. What relocation advice do you have for someone in my situation.

I feel like I covered everything but if more information is needed just let me know. And I'm aware there are many discussions like this already I just really wanted a specific thread for myself. Thanks in advance!

[LoDoFreeman]

I am the same age as you and trust me, if you want to stay busy and entertained you want to be relatively close to the downtown area. If you are willing to drive 20 minutes into town, you can find well priced 2 bedroom apartments ($700-$900) in the Lakewood, Littleton, and Arvada areas. Most of Denver is pretty tame, I would just try to avoid the Highlands, Commerce City, Five Points, Aurora, and Englewood areas if you want to stay on the safe side.

Let me know if you have anymore questions!

[royhobbstn]

I've never heard of the Highlands or Englewood being included in the same group as Commerce City, Five Points or Aurora (all of it?!). They're both very safe.

Based on your description, I'd check out the Baker/Speer neighborhood around Broadway, or the Capitol Hill, Cheesman Park, City Park West areas around Colfax. Great music scenes around both. Of course, don't expect it to be as safe as Iowa, but it's not bad at all.

[KottkeKU]

I was in your situation when I moved to Denver last year (moved in Feb 1st)...

Im actually right in the Baker/West Wash Park neighborhood like the previous poster was suggesting. Its like a block south of speer, and a few blocks east of Broadway.

We chose it for the central location. i.e. its a short 10 minute car ride downtown, or a 15 dollar cab fare for two people one way. you can get to any corner of Denver in like 15 minutes, so that gave us flexibility finding a job... we could pretty much find a job anywhere in denver and have a reasonable commute. I would def. recommend you find a central location for this reason. this area is also walking distance to the light rail off alameda/broadway, so you can ride that downtown very easily. keep in mind lightrail shuts off at 2am or so, so you may need to cab it on the way home. light rail is like 2 bucks.

i would disagree with being close to downtown if you want to be in an "active" area. You could find a place in the DU (south denver) area, and find lots of activity and young people, bars, etc. Cap hill, cheesman, wash park, etc. are all very active with plenty of young people like yourself.

It doesn't really sound like you are into clubbing, dancing, mainstream, superficial nonsense. So that means no lodo. another bad thing about lodo is that it could be a nightmare of a commute if you get a job in the tech center or even farther south/east like in and around aurora. highlands i would avoid for the sole reason it is kind of secluded from south denver (where most jobs are)

I recommend Cap Hill, cheesman park, baker, du area, congress park, wash park or city park. you really cant go wrong with any of those neighborhoods. I am right in between the Baker/West Wash Park area and really love it. Im like you, go to concerts on the weekends, usually places like cervantes, quixotes, and the ones off colfax like ogden, fillmore, bluebird.

keep in mind you might not be able to find everything your looking for when renting with a budget. Id say anywhere from 750-850 a month should land you a pretty decent 2br. under that, and you maybe asking for some trouble or a bad location. most are pretty similar, so location is the most important thing in my opinion.

theres bars all over these areas too, so most likely you can throw a rock and hit a handful of bars from any one of these locations.

cornerstone is the company we are renting from now, and they have some good central locations for starting out. Our current place we rent for 795 is increasing to 850/month. all you need to pay for is electricity with cornerstone, so thats like 20-25 bucks a month. they give you heat, internet, water, sewer, trash, etc. so its pretty nice for starting out. you might want to look into some of their properties, they aren't that bad of a company.

hope this helps, lemme know if you have any other questions.

i really wouldnt worry too much about safety unless you are living on colfax.

[jbanana14]

Question 1: Everyone will have a different opinion on neighborhoods. For example, I like the Highlands area, while others say to avoid it. I live close to downtown in the uptown/capital hill area, and I would recommend it. You can walk to a lot of places and it is less expensive than downtown apartments. In downtown there is always stuff going on, sporting events, air/festivals, concerts, performing arts etc. Where ever you move, if you don't like it, you can always move again.
Question 2: It depends on where you want to live and what is available when you want to move. In the uptown/cap hill area prices for a 2 bedroom start at $1600. Downtown itself is going to be $2200. You may also want to look at condos for rent where you may have more negotiating power.
Question 3: Find a job before you get in Denver with a company that will pay for your relocation. If you can't, I highly suggest a visit to check out apartments in different neighborhoods. Include a week day in your visit, because not all leasing offices are open on the weekend.

[Scott5280]

Highland is probably the most IT neighborhood outside of Capital Hill/Lodo area for people in your age group. You can access downtown within a few minutes. While there are a variety of nice suburban areas around town they are much less geared towards the younger single person wishing to socialize. Baker/Platt Park,Wash Park,Governors Park would also be some places to explore.

[SouthXSW]

I would definitely have a job before moving. I have a friend who moved to Denver after graduating from law school and hasn't been able to find anything in that field. He went ahead and signed a 1 year lease and regrets not finding a job first and then finding an apartment. It's a tough market. I lived there and then left when a better opportunity came up elsewhere and would love to go back but won't until I have a decent job. Denver is great but not worth taking a pay cut. The good news is Denver is growing and will boom again, it just may take a couple years.

[JDBattleMC]

Yes, avoid the Highlands and all of the white soccer moms with their dangerous strollers and SUVs. Beware of the roving backs of gangs in north face vests and Oakleys, emerging from their 750,000 homes at night.

[blobbin]

Kottleku nailed it. Cap hill orp uptown are your best bets for quick acces to the things you are looking for in your price range. Most of the things you will be doing will be on colfax. I'm headed to the bluebird theatre myself tonight in fact for slim cessnas and the auto club.