NYC young married couple with soon to be child interested in moving to Denver...please advise (Highlands Ranch: house)

[hopers]

Hello!

My husband and I have made the decision to relocate from NYC after 8 years of being up here. The cost of living is outrageous when you factor in an upcoming child.

We are originally from different parts of Texas, but we enjoy the NYC atmosphere.

Husband = RN
Wife= ex-professional ballerina, now professional ballet teacher

LOVE the outdoors, artistic communities, nightlife, sociable people.

We love the 'idea' of Denver but want insiders opinions.

We would want to purchase a house in the best possible school district that fits our budget. (200-300kish) Plus we want a safe neighborhood but one that has great restaurants, bars, and younger 30's people with kids.

Our other options are Austin & Dallas, but wife is more in love with idea of CO.

Thank you for all opinions for relocation and areas with best school districts (can be a suburb as long as it's fun and easy to meet great people!)

[shukertj]

Hi Hoper,

There are many Denver suburban communities with school districts generally regarded as excellent--Cherry Creek, Littleton, and Douglas County are among a few of them. Denver Public Schools also has many high achieving schools; you can research the statistics of each Colorado school on Greatschools.net. Numerous threads on here discuss this topic if you do a search on it. Lots of luck with your upcoming adventure (and baby)! : )

[ironlady]

As a native Texan and former Angeleno, I the first thing I will say is that your going to miss that "NYC atmosphere" in Denver (or Dallas and maybe Austin). When my husband and I moved from Los Angeles to Denver, I felt like "someone had turned my white noisemaker off." You know the 24 hour whirling buzz of the city? Not in Denver and definitely not in Dallas. When walking in downtown Denver, I always felt like Denver was trying to be a city but couldn't quite pull it off. The thing about Denver, though, is that the Rockies take the edge off the silence a bit. And Denver is stocked with great museums and cultural events, though they will not be on par with or similar to what you have in NYC. But I'm guessing you know that.

Given your affinity for the atmosphere of NYC, your vocations, and your desire for good schools, I'd say stick with the area around Cherry Creek or some of the other downtown neighborhoods near Wash Park. Since it will be a few years till your little one (congrats!) is in school, you might just want to stick to these first (although I've heard good things about Stapleton). Then, as you get to know the city a little better, you can pick the neighborhood or suburb that suits you. I'd avoid Littleton or Highlands Ranch at first. It was a little lonely out there ... but I guess that's a good thing when you're trying to write a dissertation???

And if you really want to dive in to the culture of CO and still be near urbanity, check out Golden, CO. You'll get to experience exactly why Coors brews their beer there.

Good luck!