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My DH and I have wanted to move to Colorado for a long time (we lived in NYC 7 years and currently live in El Paso TX). We have a young son (10 month) and are debating between Dallas (closer to the in-laws, cheaper cost of living, good schools) or the mountains (fishing, outdoors, mountains but expensive). I am currently a SAHM and would love to continue to do this for at least 6 more years so what we need to find out is whether there are any neighborhoods in the Denver metro area that have good schools, affordable housing preferably less that $260k (4 BED/2BTH). When we were in CO we liked Evergreen but I imagine it is out of the question in terms of price range. Any suggestions or should I just stop dreaming? DH gets to put in for new positions in December so we don't have long to decide. Other options in Colorado include Colorado Springs - is it any more affordable than Denver?
250k is roughly the average for a SFR in Denver's suburbs, so your desires are quite doable, although you have to remember that you are looking at the AVERAGE home value, so you'll probably have to settle for an average house rather than the nicest one on the block. School districts are very much debatable as to which is good, better, or best, but IMO there are many such that are good.
If you want a place to start looking, try the Littleton area. There are several good school districts around Littleton, including Littleton itself, Cherry Creek, Jefferson County, and Douglas County. All are well regarded.
As for Colorado Springs, yes, the average housing value there is about 40k-50k cheaper than Denver's suburbs, and you should easily be able to find a 4br/2ba residence for under $200k there, although new construction will naturally be more expensive due to rising costs of building materials. There are several good school districts there as well, notably School District 20 (which occupies the northern part of the city proper and surrounding rural areas), School District 38 (which covers some of the northern suburbs like Monument), and the Broadmoor/Cheyenne Mountain district in the southwest part of the city (the number on that one escapes me).
Thanks for keeping the dream alive Tfox!! I certainly appreciate that. Do any of those areas contain newer homes built in last 10 years or so? My searches seem to bring up very old houses or 70s styles ranches - is that what we should expect for that price range?
Do you know anything about Parker? Is that a good area for the things we are looking for?
Is Broomfield/Westminster an area we should consider or not?
Re: schools - do you know how I would be able to research school districts? I am a european expat so this is all very new to me. Hubby went to school in Oklahoma and I don't know if it varies state by state.
Sorry for the additional questions - there are just so many towns and starting out is like looking for a needle in haystack!
Thanks for keeping the dream alive Tfox!! I certainly appreciate that. Do any of those areas contain newer homes built in last 10 years or so? My searches seem to bring up very old houses or 70s styles ranches - is that what we should expect for that price range?
That's true. Most of Denver's suburbs were built out in the 1960s-1990s. New construction is available, of course, particularly in the more outlying areas. However, in your price range you might be hard-pressed to find something that will meet your needs that's new.
If new construction is important to you, then you'll probably need to look further out than my earlier suggestion of Littleton.
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Originally Posted by jfbd6805
Do you know anything about Parker? Is that a good area for the things we are looking for?
Sure, it's an attractive community and it DOES have the newer homes you're looking for, probably a few in your price range (that isn't really my hood, so I honestly don't know what homes go for around there). Schools there are good as are most of the Douglas County schools. My only complaint with Parker is that (depending on where you work), it's a little "out there," and transportation access isn't the best, at least not on free roads.
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Originally Posted by jfbd6805
Is Broomfield/Westminster an area we should consider or not?
Broomfield, definitely is a nice community as is Westminster, but I would avoid the older (southeast) sections of Westminster as there is some deterioration there.
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Originally Posted by jfbd6805
Re: schools - do you know how I would be able to research school districts? I am a european expat so this is all very new to me. Hubby went to school in Oklahoma and I don't know if it varies state by state.
This is an emotional topic. One tool to consider is CSAP scores, which is statewide standardized tests. However, take it with a grain of salt -- the high-income schools are going to do at least satisfactoraly on CSAPs but that doesn't mean that the teachers are necessarily better teachers, or if that school necessarily meets your kids' needs. With that disclaimer, there's an easy to use google mash-up called csapscores.org that will show you the state assessments data.
I wouldn't send your kids to ANY school without talking to the teacher, principal, and seeing if that's the right place for your kids. There's just too many variables otherwise.
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions individually and for providing the school website. I love how it shows where the schools are on the map. Don't worry - I take those kinds of things with a grain of salt anyway. I definitely would want to visit with the school prior to making any type of major decision.
In the older towns you mentioned are there any that have a main street/town square type of feel to them? I am a big walker and love to get my son in his stroller and shop the old fashioned way from store to store but I know that is pretty hard to find in the States.
Also, we love to walk trails and along water and, if we made the move, would want to be able to fish, bike, canoe and all that good stuff. Are these types of activities easy to do straight from home or would they involve a long car ride? My pet peeve at the moment is that I have to get my son into the car and drive just to get to a park with an infant swing ...grrr. I should clarify I don't mind a drive in order to canoe/fish but a close by park would be nice
When we lived in the NE we liked the older colonial/victorian towns in but of course they were waaaay out of our price range (hence the move to El Paso). Are there any parts of Denver metro/suburbs like that? I know Boulder has that type of area but from my research I think it is out of the question in terms of price range.
Thanks again and I hope you don't mind the continued questions,
In the older towns you mentioned are there any that have a main street/town square type of feel to them? I am a big walker and love to get my son in his stroller and shop the old fashioned way from store to store but I know that is pretty hard to find in the States.
In the city of Denver there are many such Victorian main street / town square neighborhoods. Dozens of them, in fact. However, the city of Denver is expensive, and the cost per square foot for housing is many times what you'll find in the suburbs. Also, schools are hit-and-miss in Denver, and the better schools tend to be in the most expensive neighborhoods. The city of Denver also has an abundance of well-designed, spacious, and attractive parks, some with trails and water, but again, the best ones tend to be in the most expensive neighborhoods like Washington Park, for instance.
Outside of Denver, there are a few historic neighborhoods in the suburbs, though far less so than original suburbs in an eastern city. These are from old farming towns that were swallowed up by urban sprawl after WWII. "Old Littleton" is one of them, though the Littleton area spreads out for many miles beyond. However, there are intact Victorian neighborhoods in Littleton (though those houses are probably not in your price range). Another option might be "Olde Town Arvada", if you can look past the silly name. Golden, another suburb, has some of its own character and also has a very well-liked whitewater park.
In my searches I am coming across a lot of homes in Castle Rock and Lakewood - are they good considerations?
Thank so much, Jude
The short answer is that yes, I think potentially both are good choices.
Castle Rock may have a little bit of what you're looking for. Until recently, it was considered very much a separate small town rather than a suburb, and it actually even has a small town main street. There are many new subdivisions that have been built since the late 1980s there, however, so you might find the new house you're looking for, and construction continues even today. It does also have a beautiful setting, perched on a high-altitude mesa south of Denver.
The downside is that CR is quite distant from Denver, though if your job is in some of the new office parks on the southern edge of the metro area then the commute might not be that bad. The traffic is not so bad until you get to the Lincoln exit on south end of the metro area.
Lakewood is in a convenient location between Denver and the mountains, and some of the older eastern parts of the city are actually closer to Downtown Denver than much of the city of Denver is. Lakewood, as well as all of Jefferson County, is nearly completely built out and has been for at least 10 years. So, it's not the place to go for new housing, though there may be a few scattered infill subdivisions here and there, as well as at least one new subdivision planned for Lakewood's western edge. Because of the relative lack of new housing, you'll find that the average age in Lakewood and all of Jefferson County is a little older than other areas and there are more native Coloradans and fewer new transplants, though there are still plenty of transplants. Lakewood doesn't have a historic downtown, but there is a new-urbanist neighborhood being constructed as a substitute called Belmar that is becoming popular. Lakewood High School is a very well-regarded high school, considered one of the best in the area, so if you do live in Lakewood, you might consider positioning yourself to go to that school, if you anticipate your kids going to high school. Some of Lakewood's older neighborhoods on its east side, however, are not very good, due to proximity to some not-so-nice areas within southwest Denver.
Sorry I have been MIA and hadn't had a chance to thank you for your response. I just learned that my DH office would be in the Englewood area if we chose the Denver option. Are any of the towns we mentioned commutable to there? Ideally I don't want him to have too long of a commute. Is Englewood itself a good option?
Also I am an attorney (no longer practicing) but once I go back to work I have specialised in ethics and compliance work mainly for the medical device and pharmaceutical industries - do you have any insight as to whether there is a market for someone with that type of background? If you feel a seperate thread might be warranted on that question, let me know!
Finally do most houses have basements? I was just curious as to whether or not they are included in the square footage of the house or not. And we'd prefer a decent size lot ... some places I have looked at online a lovely homes but when I see the backyard I may as well have stayed in NYC in my apartment if you know what I mean!
Sorry I have been MIA and hadn't had a chance to thank you for your response. I just learned that my DH office would be in the Englewood area if we chose the Denver option. Are any of the towns we mentioned commutable to there? Ideally I don't want him to have too long of a commute. Is Englewood itself a good option?
I'm guessing your husband's office is in one of the south metro office parks, not the city of Englewood, which is one of the older suburbs. It is probably not the DTC proper, or he would have a Greenwood Village or Denver address. Perhaps the Inverness or Meridian office parks, or closeby to one of them. It's an annoying artifact that most of the south metro has an "Englewood" postal address, even though the actual city of Englewood, centered at Hampden and Broadway, might be very far away.
If it is in one of the southern office parks, then you're best off having him commute from one of the south metro cities that are not far away. The city of Englewood is not a bad option, but in relation to the office parks, the cities of Littleton, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, and Centennial would be closer. Parts of Parker, or even the extreme southern edge of Aurora might also be within easy commute of the southern office parks, depending on exactly where. And, while Castle Rock is not particularly close to the southern offices, if the office is in the Meridian area, that's about the closest office jobs you'll ever find to Castle Rock.
Unfortunately, I'm not all that familiar with your industry, so you're best off asking your last question on another thread.
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