Littleton - Columbine Hills/Knolls - Family Friendly? (Denver, Broomfield: houses, neighborhoods)

[Angitay]

Hello! This is my first time on this board. We currently live in a great family-friendly neighborhood in Broomfield. We know a lot of our neighbors and there are a lot of kids around the same age (3-8 years old). Unfortunately we have a teeny-tiny yard (basically a patio home) and my husband now commutes down to C-470 & I-25. So we have started considering moving further south to the Littleton area. We are looking the Columbine Hills and Columbine Knolls neighborhoods. The borders that we are looking at would be Bowles-Platte Canyon-C-470-Wadsworth.

We really like the homes specifically in the Columbine Knolls (south?) neighborhood but it doesn't look like there are many families with kids in this area. In fact, my grandparents used to live there 10 years ago and I recall it being all older people. Does anyone live in the neighborhood or know anyone who does and can confirm the demographics? We definitely don't want to move anywhere where our daughter won't have any other kids nearby. We drove around the area and didn't see many people out and about, but the few that we saw were older.

Any other neighborhood suggestions? I would like to stick near light rail access as I work downtown. Our max price would be ~$300K.

Thanks!

[2bindenver]

plenty of kids in columbine area - I use to live in Columbine Knolls South II - especially close to the elementary schools.

[knail]

Another alternative may be closer to I-25 and C470. It would be in Centennial with Littleton Public Schools that have a great reputation. There are some neighborhoods that would fit you price criteria and some even have community pools and tennis courts which is a great way to raise children and meet neighbors. It would be a quick commute for your husband and very easy access to the light rail for you.

[AunaKC]

We are relocating to Denver and those were the areas we had narrowed our housing search down to. With our situation we had a small window to look at houses and we needed to make a decision. So we expanded our search a bit into eastern side of Littleton and into Centennial as well as the Columbine area because there was just not a ton of houses avaliable in the Columbine area. The third house we walked into we knew it was the one, but of course we saw 17 more houses just to be sure. LOL In the end this house is around the area of mineral and broadway someplace I was not intially even considering. Though we have not moved in just yet (long story), I feel like it is a great place/location so far. It is 5 mins (if even that to the light rail station) 20 mins to DTC, and few mins to 470. I still love the other area it just did not workout for us and I am really pleased with our location that we ended up at. So maybe open up your area just a bit you might be surprised with what you find.

[davidv]

Originally Posted by knail

Another alternative may be closer to I-25 and C470. It would be in Centennial with Littleton Public Schools that have a great reputation. There are some neighborhoods that would fit you price criteria and some even have community pools and tennis courts which is a great way to raise children and meet neighbors. It would be a quick commute for your husband and very easy access to the light rail for you.

School district boundaries converge in this area, but I-25 and C-470 is in Douglas County and is served by Douglas County School District.

As a general rule:

- Homes that are south of County Line Rd are in Douglas County and children go to DCSD schools.
- Homes that are north of County Line Rd and west of Holly are in Littleton/Centennial and children go to Littleton Public Schools
- Homes that are north of County Line Rd and east of Holly are in Centennial and children go to Cherry Creek Schools.

All are good districts, but if you are looking for a specific school district, you need to make sure where you are, especially for Cherry Creek Schools which has fewer school of choice opportunities.

[infinitylove]

I grew up in the Columbine area and also work in this area. I think it is hard to say if there is a specific demographic in this area. My parents street (Columbine Hills) is starting to get older. They have been there 25 years. My in-laws street (Columbine Knolls South) is also older some with original owners. But, in both neighborhoods as the older generation leaves younger families move in as with most neighborhoods. It might be a little harder to get into Columbine Knolls South as your budget is somewhat on the lower end of this area, but Columbine Hills, Columbine West and maybe parts of the original Columbine Knolls would work. I have seen plenty of kids in both areas but might depend on the particular street. Columbine Knolls and Columbine Knolls South both go to Normandy Elem. which is one of the best in Colorado. I think this is a great place to live, however, it is bit far from downtown depending on your tolerance level, but a doable commute for both of you.