Ideal family neighborhood (Denver, Aurora, Lakewood: apartment complexes, rentals, houses)

[bkh89]

I am a 40 yr old single mother of two looking to relocate somewhere near the Denver area. My ideal neighborhood would have the following characteristics (in order of importance)
1. extremely safe area
2. good schools
3. professional job opportunities
4. Uncongested suburban feel or small town outside of Denver
5. especially green,wooded or lake area.

While I would love to keep my commute to a minimum, safety of my family comes first. Any suggestions to help me narrow my search would be appreciated. Thank you

[Mike from back east]

Hard for us to help you much with such a vague set of requirements.

We really need to know type of work, especially the location of work, and your rental / buying budget.

[bkh89]

Work would be in an administrative type setting. Rental budget would be a max of $1200. If it makes it easier to give suggestions, ignore the employment criteria.

[davidv]

Here are two possibilities:

1. Cherry Hills Village. It is safe, has great schools, is near the Denver Tech Center, and has a rural feel to it with many houses having large lots and trees.

2. Bow Mar. It is safe, has very good schools, has houses with large lots and trees and a community lake. It is further away from job opportunities.

I think that you would be just fine in either place. They are very idyllic places to live -- as long as you can pony up $1,000,000 for a house.

But then, you never specified price.

[davidv]

Originally Posted by davidv

Here are two possibilities:

1. Cherry Hills Village. It is safe, has great schools, is near the Denver Tech Center, and has a rural feel to it with many houses having large lots and trees.

2. Bow Mar. It is safe, has very good schools, has houses with large lots and trees and a community lake. It is further away from job opportunities.

I think that you would be just fine in either place. They are very idyllic places to live -- as long as you can pony up $1,000,000 for a house.

But then, you never specified price.

Originally Posted by bkh89

Work would be in an administrative type setting. Rental budget would be a max of $1200. If it makes it easier to give suggestions, ignore the employment criteria.

Never mind...

[davidv]

You won't get much for $1,200/month.

You especially won't get an abundance of areas that are green and/or wooded.

You also won't get uncongested suburb or small town. They don't really exist in Denver.

You could get the rest, but probably not all at the same time, so...

1. Most of the Denver suburbs are safe, so you are okay there.

2. Best school districts are: Cherry Creek, Boulder Valley, Littleton, and Douglas County. Boulder Valley is the extreme northwestern part of the metro area. The other three are in the southern/southeastern part of the metro area.

3. Most jobs are in the downtown area or the Denver Tech Center.

[Mike from back east]

While waiting for others to reply, you can look at padmapper.com for possible rentals. Be sure to set the filters for rental max, BRs and Bathrooms.

I did a quick search on $1200/month, 2-4 BRs and 2baths and came with a good hundred hits; some SFHs, many apartments.

Westminster, Northglenn, Thornton are all on the north side and worth a look.

On the west side, Arvada has a few and has a new light rail line that runs into downtown Denver.

Schools are generally good across the area, with Denver Public Schools considered the lesser district.

Most areas are safe, the areas of Aurora that directly border the east side of Denver being considered sketchy.

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Originally Posted by bkh89

Work would be in an administrative type setting. Rental budget would be a max of $1200. If it makes it easier to give suggestions, ignore the employment criteria.

It is really hard for us to "ignore the employment criteria", unless driving two to three hours a day doesn't bother you. But, there are so many places in the Denver metro area that meet your criteria, that you should find work first and then let us help you find a place to live. No reason to look for a place to live in the Cherry Creek School District, for example, if you end up finding a job in Westminster. That commute would be a killer.

Perhaps you could concentrate on finding the best school for your kids (do some forum searches) then see what jobs are available within a reasonable distance. At least that way you could start to narrow down your search and we can help with input on what we think of the area.

As others have said, most places around the metro area are safe.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by bkh89

5. especially green,wooded or lake area.

Kentucky
Tennessee
Minnesota

[blackmet]

Originally Posted by bkh89

I am a 40 yr old single mother of two looking to relocate somewhere near the Denver area. My ideal neighborhood would have the following characteristics (in order of importance)
1. extremely safe area
2. good schools
3. professional job opportunities
4. Uncongested suburban feel or small town outside of Denver
5. especially green,wooded or lake area.

While I would love to keep my commute to a minimum, safety of my family comes first. Any suggestions to help me narrow my search would be appreciated. Thank you

Judging by #'s 4 and 5, you have Evergreen tastes, but a Northglenn budget. Green, woody, lakefront, uncongested areas aren't easily available in the city or surrounding suburbs, and tend to run a major premium.

The good news is that 1, 2, and 3 are all doable. Most of the school districts are acceptable...Denver Public, Adams 50, and Mapleton are probably the worst ones, but almost all the others have at least some pretty good schools.

Off the top of my head, I would say to consider the western part of Lakewood. Good schools, safe, some apartment complexes with availability in your price range, a fair amount of parks and recreation (including Bear Creek State Park nearby), and the possibility of only having to drive to the light rail station if you work downtown or in the DTC. There's also a small hub of professional office style jobs in the Denver West area, near I-70 and Denver West.