Help me please- (Denver, Aurora, Lakewood: crime, public schools, university)

[heidiruss]

My husband is in his last year of a surgery residency and would like to move to the Denver area. After doing some research I am more confused than ever. There are so many areas to look at that I need some help narrowing it down. He has not found a job, but there seems to be plenty of options in his field so we are wanting to find the area we are interested in and then start the job hunt.
About us:

We are a young couple with two children (one school age) so schools are very important to us. We would like to stay in public schools if possible.

We are very active- running, biking, swimming, golfing, boating, basically anything outdoors.

We would like to live in an area that everything is close (shopping, dining, activities), but still have a little space.

I want to feel safe. The area we live now is VERY safe and I love it. I do not want the stress of always wondering if something going to happen. I know crime can happen anywhere, but I want a quite place when it comes to crime.

Last, we do not want to live in Denver, but close enough that if we wanted to travel into the city it would not be a big issue. If you could please give me your thoughts I would appreciate it more than you would know! Thanks.

[davidv]

It would depend on where his job is. Hospitals in the area tend to be located in clusters:

1. St. Anthony Central (Level 1 trauma) and Lutheran Medical Center are on the West side of the Metro Area (Lakewood/Wheat Ridge).

2. St. Joseph (building a new facility next to its old facility), Presbyterian/St. Luke's, National Jewish, and Rose Medical Center are a couple of miles east of downtown. Denver Health Medical Center (Level 1 trauma) is just south of downtown.

3. University of Colorado Medical Center, Children's Hospital, and Aurora Medical Center are in western Aurora along I-225.

4. Porter's Hospital, Swedish Hospital (Level 1 Trauma), and Littleton Adventist are located in the South Central area of the Metro area.

5. Sky Ridge Medical Center is in the far south part of the metro area at I-25 and C-470.

6. North Suburban Medical Center and St. Anthony North are both in the north suburbs in Thornton.

Living in Centennial or Greenwood Village near I-25 might offer the best access to the most hospitals as it has easy access to the South metro hospitals (Sky Ridge, Littleton, Porter, Swedish), the Aurora hospitals (CU Medical, Aurora, Children's). Harder to get to but still relatively easy would be the East Denver Hospitals (Rose, St. Joe's, Pres./St. Luke, National Jewish). These areas would fit all of your other criteria.

[McGowdog]

Or what if they lived in the North Westminster/Arvada/Broomfield area and he worked at St. Anthony's North?