South Lakewood (Denver, Sheridan: low income, condo, townhouses)

[Pesare]

Just wanted some opinions on the area of Lakewood close to the intersection of Sheridan and Yale. They have some nice homes there, but the neighborhood around it doesn't seem that great. School system is Jeffco high school Bear Valley.

[davebarnes]

Home

Thraemoor was THE upscale neighborhood on the west side when it was built out in the early 60s.

South of Thraemoor is Denver which has been/is changing from old/dead anglos (who bought the houses when new) to younger hispanic families.
East is more Denver and definitely downscale.
West is a 1/2-section that was owned by Vernon "Moose" Taylor (he died recently and I enjoyed meeting him).
North is middle class Lakewood. Pleasant.

[davidv]

I grew up in the area and it definitely has changed, however, I would not hesitate to move back.

Lakewood exists north of Yale and west of Sheridan. Everything south of Yale and east of Sheridan is Denver.

The townhouses on the NE corner are nice enough and have few problems. The condo complex that is north of Yale is low income housing and pretty well known to the Lakewood police, but there really isn't a spillover into the surrounding neighborhoods.

The Thraemoor neighborhood (built mostly in the 1960s) has very nice houses, big lots, and great views of the mountains. Most of the houses have been remodeled and/or updated.

Just north of that is Lakewood Estates (built in the early 1980s). The houses are decent sized, but the lots are much smaller.

Overall, the area is safe and clean. The Harvey Park/Harvey Park south neighborhoods (the area west of Sheridan) is working class, and is actually on the rise.

Bear Valley (south of Yale) is the same. It used to be a "blue ghetto" back when Denver city employees were required to live inside of Denver. After that requirement was repealed, there was a period of decline, but it, too, is back on the upswing.

Bear Creek (not Bear Valley) High School is a good, solid high school. The entire school was rebuilt about 5 years ago, so the facility is beautiful. It is a transition school - the high school to the north (Alameda) is terrible, and the high schools to the south are very good. Many people in the area will apply and get into D'Evelyn Jr/Sr High school which is just 1/2 mile south of Bear Creek HS. It is a magnet college prep junior/senior high school. You cannot get into it for the next school year, and there are strict requirements to getting in. However, it is the best public high school in the Denver area.