"New Urban" around Denver vs. Footshills (Lakewood, Arvada: lease, condo)

[CHI-SF-DEN]

Hello,

Forgive the long post, but want to provide as much detail as possible. My fiance and I recently relocated from Chicago to Denver back in December. We are currently living in LoHi, and while we love being in the city, we are looking at longer term options once our lease is up next May. We are really debating between sticking closer to the city, or very near suburbs to maintain the urban and walkable environment we love, or getting further out and buying a home with a large lot closer into the foothills.

If we stay in or closer to the city, here is what is important to us:
Walkability - close to a variety of non-chain restaurants
Schools - no kids yet, but in the plans
Public Transportation - we still plan to spend a good amount of time in downtown, and would love to leave the car behind
Safety - I'm on the road 4 days a week, and need a place my fiance feels safe

We have ruled out:
Any south suburbs - my fiance commuted to the DTC the last 6 months and the commute on 25 = no good - not interested in anything south of Colfax and east of Sante Fe
Anything further north than Westminister
Old homes with very seperate living spaces (as we have seen in many older homes in Denver - we want an open floor plan were kitchen and family room flow together)

Commutes: My fiance will be starting a new job in Wheat Ridge, right near I-70 and Ward. I travel via DIA pretty much every week, but work from home otherwise. While I would prefer to be within a 30 min drive to DIA, I could push to 45 to an hour given that I make 2 commutes a week and she makes 10

Home Price and Size: 4 bedroom (or 3 with option to finish basement) - Price $375-450 depending on location and amenities

On our shortlist now is Stapleton, some areas of Lakewood/Wheat Ridge, and Arvada. We would be interested in hearing about other areas that are similar to the Stapleton concept, such as Bradburn.

As far as true suburban move, we have looked at and are considering west arvada (Westwood Mesa, Leyden Rock, etc..) - but it may be too far from the airport, and the lots aren't as big as we would like if we are sacrifcing urban amenities. Going this route we want a view, a yard, and easy mountain access.

[stricklandia]

I have next to nothing to add to this conversation (other than to suggest maybe Golden? not "New Urban," but some walkable areas), but am commenting as a means of subscribing/watching this thread, because our needs seem to be very similar to yours.

[woob]

Are there any walkable, non-chain restaurants in Stapleton?

edit- only advantage would be being close to the future rail to DIA.

[Bradburn1]

Stapleton will have more house buying options for you than Bradburn, and it's a decent commute to both locations you need. Bradburn's main advantage over Stapleton is it's true walkability to many shops and restaurants. Every house is a 5-15 minute walk to our downtown and our soon to open Whole Foods. Non chain restaurants in Bradburn: Exchange Tavern, Early Bird (exceptional), Zen Asian Bistro. Hoping for more when WF opens. In Stapleton most single family homes are not in reasonable walking distance to shops and restaurants, and the neighborhood is very large. Bradburn is highly walkable from every home and is much smaller, more "village." I find Stapleton's size to give it a touch of sprawl feeling. You will get slightly more house for the price in Bradburn.

Otherwise they are pretty similar: very social and friendly, lots of kids, lots of neighborhood events, nice design, good schools, low crime. Right now our housing stock in your price range is very limited, none listed in your range right now, but you could get what you are looking for here if you were willing to wait.

[CHI-SF-DEN]

Woob and Bradburn1 - Thanks for the responses. We have the same concern re: Stapleton's dining and shopping options. On the south end there are very few walkable restaurants, and while there are stories of more retail comming, I don't see how they could put it anywhere other than the fringes of the community, since all the in-fill has been filled with resedential leaving no room for much else. North of I-70 is more walkable with the Northfield shops, but it is a much different "walkable" then true community/neighborhood retail. Crossing major intersection and goliath parking lots takes away from the ejoyment factor of a walkable neighborhood.

Bradburn1 - I've found your insights on several other threads to be very helpful. Many thanks.

[Texas Ag 93]

I live in Stapleton and have been here for just under 2 years. Until reading some of Bradburn1's posts, I was not familiar with that neighborhood at all; but I like the way he describes it.

Honestly, I do not consider Stapleton to be all that "urban", "walkable", a "good mix of housing and retail" or any of the other terms that tend to get thrown about. To me, it is just a large, sprawling suburban neighborhood that happens to be within the city limits, relatively close to the urban core. I do love its central location, commute to the Med Center, great schools, green spaces and parks. The shopping at the Town Centers is decent, but other Stapleton area shopping (Northfield, Quebec Square) are misses in their design and retail offerings.

And, I don't know much about the inventory in your price range, but I have always heard that the average selling price for Stapleton homes was about $550K. Before we closed on our house, we rented a furnished condo for 2 months, and the unfurnished homes we looked at for rent in the 350-400K range left a lot to be desired.

[davebarnes]

Stay in Wheat Ridge.
Buy a house and renovate it.
I live in the Berkeley neighborhood of Denver and have become a fan of Wheat Ridge (east of Wads, south of 43rd)

[CHI-SF-DEN]

Davebarnes - Thanks for the recommendation. Do you have a suggestion regarding western and southern boundaries to stay in the prime area?

Thanks.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

Stay in Wheat Ridge.
Buy a house and renovate it.
I live in the Berkeley neighborhood of Denver and have become a fan of Wheat Ridge (east of Wads, south of 43rd)

The demographics of Wheat Ridge are not conducive to young couples.
Wheat Ridge (city) QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau
Fewer kids, almost twice as many seniors as the Colorado average. Not saying a young person can't live around seniors, but the businesses in the area always skew to the demographics, and if they have kids, there's often not the support for schools in an area with few kids and lots of oldsters.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by Katiana

The demographics of Wheat Ridge are not conducive to young couples.

The seniors die every day.
Complete turnover coming to WR in the next decade.
Many young people are looking at WR (east of Wads) or in Edgewater because Denver is just too expensive for them.
WR is putting money into making 38th Ave better for retail.