Likely Moving To Denver - best places to live with kids? (Aurora: for sale, new home)

[leenah33]

Hi There! My husband has a job offer that would move our family from Kansas City to Denver area. His line of work is such that he would technically work "from home", but actually would be calling on people all over Denver (all of Colorado and Utah). So in the sense of not having an actual office to go to each day he would be working from home, but basically driving all around Denver each day.

We have two children, one going into Kindergarten and one going into 7th grade. Schools are very important to us, and we need to live somewhere that has a great public school system. Proximity to the airport would be nice, but schools come first.

As far as housing goes, we would like a 4+ bedroom house and we prefer newer houses (doesn't have to be brand new just prefer within last 10 or so years). We would like a family friendly area. We would like to keep the house price under 420k at the max (hope for much less, but I keep hearing that Denver is much more pricey than KC). Are there any ranch style houses out there (1 story houses, at least 3 bedrooms on main level of house)? When we moved to Kansas City we were surprised to find that single story houses are extremely hard to find unless they are 30+ years old.

What suburbs are the best as far as schools go? If you have any questions if I have missed some necessary info please ask! I have heard that traffic can be a nightmare, are there any suburbs that make it more difficult to get into/out of Denver? Any insight you guys have at all as far as where to live would be very much appreciated!

Thanks In Advance!

[Cupcake77]

SE Denver has the best schools. But in that price range it might be hard to get into cherry creek schools unless you moved to SE Aurora.

You can try Parker, they have really nice houses and ranches too in your price range and under. Parker is one of my favorite areas, but seems to far out there, depending on which part of parker you move to.

[Count David]

Pretty much the entire outer ring of the metro area should work for you.

I can't find any newer homes around here that are only one story.

Look at
W Arvada
Superior
Broomfield
N/NW Westminster
N/NE Thornton
Reunion (Commerce City address)
SE Aurora/Centennial
Parker
Castle Rock/Castle Pines
Highlands Ranch
Littleton

[Bradburn1]

There are many neighborhoods in Denver that would work for you, we have many great schools all over the metro area and suburbs. When people ask about neighborhoods being good for kids I think 1. Good schools and 2. Other kids! To narrow it down more, is there anything else that's important to you (other than ranch homes, hard to find in Denver for some reason) in a neighborhood? What would be your ideal neighborhood?

[Cupcake77]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

Pretty much the entire outer ring of the metro area should work for you.

I can't find any newer homes around here that are only one story.

Look at
W Arvada
Superior
Broomfield
N/NW Westminster
N/NE Thornton
Reunion (Commerce City address)
SE Aurora/Centennial
Parker
Castle Rock/Castle Pines
Highlands Ranch
Littleton

That really narrows it down.

[leenah33]

Thanks so much for all of the replies so far...please keep them coming!

Someone asked if there are other important things in a neighborhood: Ranch home is first on my list, but if not possible something with two bedrooms on main level. Do houses like that exist there? Our old subdivision in Texas had a huge pool and pool specifically for little ones and a park playground area. Basically would enjoy a neighborhood with things like that which I think tend to go hand in hand with places with tons of kids which is what we hope for. OH! Another extremely important thing to me is proximity to grocery/gas/stores. I dislike driving in the snow, so if most major stores are relatively close that would be great. Any ideas to help narrow the search some? Thanks!

[Bradburn1]

Stapleton in Denver if you want something more on the urban side but still with good schools, great parks, and lots of kids. Close to airport. If you want something more cozy but less urban, have a look at my neighborhood in Westminster (30 min north of downtown Denver) Bradburn Village, it's lousy with kids, and in walking distance to shops, grocery stores, and restaurants. Great schools. However, both Stapleton and Bradburn are very social, know your neighbor kinds of neighborhoods, if you don't want to ever speak to neighbors, they wouldn't be a good fit. Stapleton has a large number of builders, someone might have something more "ranchy". Both neighborhoods are building new homes and have newer resales. Bradburn is cheaper per sq foot, but more choice in Stapleton (it's much larger). I hate driving period--snow or not--so I love living here, if I have to drive, it's a short one to everything you can possibly think of.

[Count David]

Originally Posted by leenah33

Ranch home is first on my list, but if not possible something with two bedrooms on main level. Do houses like that exist there?

I just did a quick search, I see ranch homes in most of the areas I mentioned above. They usually have basements (sometimes walkout) too.

[leenah33]

Can someone recommend a web site to use to serach available houses for sale? Actually I don't know if that is allowed or not, so if not just disregard. Also can anyone recommend specific school districts that are great (or even districts to avoid for that matter)? Thanks!

[leenah33]

Oh and one more thing, we would not be interested at all in urban settings, definitely like the "feel" of suburbs.