Making The Move To Denver (apartment complexes, rentals, lofts)

[eddiehughesjr82]

I'm a 31 year old, gay professional male making the move from Chicago to Denver in a few months. The first time I visited Denver, back in 2001, I fell in love with the city. Now 12 years later, I'm ready to make the move.

The question is what part of the city do I move to? I've been looking at the LODO, Uptown, & Capitol Hill areas. I'm leaning towards the Uptown area just because it's walking distance to downtown, but has more of a neighborhood vibe with it's tree lined streets and restaurant row. I like to go out for a drink or two from time to time, but in no means a partier. I also like to be able to walk to get a bite to eat. I'm 31, I'm past that stage in my life of late night parties, but still young enough where I want to be close to things. I looked at other area's of the city such as Washington Park and Lowry Field, which I fell in love with and so did my boyfriend. However the concern is we are both moving to the city without cars. I plan to buy one once we make the move, but he is unable to do the same thing. He will be working downtown, so I think closer to downtown the better. Being close to downtown, he is able to walk or ride a bike to work. Yes, Denver has a transit system, but us coming from Chicago, the two transit systems can't compare.

Based on the information above, any neighborhoods I might be not thinking of that fit the above criteria? Any suggestions on apartment complexes? We are looking for decent size 1 bedroom apartment, under $1,300 a month with amenities. (i.e In-Unit Washer/Dryer, and a gym on site) We've flying out soon to look at apartments. We narrowed the search down to a few complexes, Uptown Square Apts, Ballpark Lofts, Skye 2905, City Gate Apartments, The Metro Apts. Any feedback on them or others we might should look at?

I'm so excited to be finally moving to Denver. Anything I should know about moving there, feedback, or suggestions will be appreciated. Thank you so much!

[SkyDog77]

The problem with uptown is no light rail. Big gay population in uptown, not that Any of the areas you mentioned would be bad. You can't afford west Wash Park, but that would really be ideal for you if you could get close to a rail stop. With no car I would want easy access to light rail.

[LanceDenver]

There actually IS a light rail line that runs up Welton St (the D line). It has stops along Welton at 20th, 25th, 27th, and then ends at 30th and Downing.

I've heard some negative things about City Gate. I've had friends who loved living in the Ballpark Lofts though. Not very familiar with the reputations of the other ones mentioned, but there are quite a lot of choices around the area if you're looking for newer rentals that can get fairly expensive.

I would definitely suggest checking out apartments in the Capitol Hill area. There are tons of affordable rentals over there, it has a great neighborhood feel (depending on which part you're in of course), it is very close to downtown, and there are a lot of great restaurants and nightlife nearby. Just be sure to stay away from apartments near Colfax if you choose to look in that area. The only thing with Capitol Hill apartments is that many of them are smaller buildings with a small amount of units, and therefore don't have many amenities.

I lived in Capitol Hill near 11th and Pennsylvania a few years back and absolutely loved it! There are some good property management companies (Cornerstone is the one I rented from) who have a lot of available rentals on their websites as well. Hope that helps!