Moving to Denver - Working in Centennial, where to live? (Lone Tree: apartment complex, lease)

[step33]

I'd start out in the Tech Center. There is a lot to do nearby and the light rail will get you downtown when you want to "go big". Once you get a little settled, then start looking around for what you "really want", but you'll be able to do it with a little experience and most importantly the proper time to look and learn about an area.

[davebarnes]

Originally Posted by JohnnyDenver

4 murders in Denver this weekend. 3 Related to gang activity.

Welcome to Denver.

One neighborhood in Caracas, VZ had 219 murders in 2 weeks.
Denver needs to step up its game to compete with the big boys.

[Suzatlarge]

Check with your employer. The E and F lines of RTD's light rail go out that far, to Lincoln Station. And I was told that office park has an employee shuttle to the light rail station, although I didn't get details. (I was out there a few months ago on business and asked if there was a connection to the light rail station - which was visible in the distance, on the other side of the Interstate.)

If you could make it work to take light rail to/from work, you could live anywhere within reasonable reach of those light rail lines, including downtown.

But as noted above, your workplace is really kind of nowhere. Certainly not in Englewood or Centennial. You'll soon learn that there's a large area that for postal address purposes is called "Englewood" but is nowhere near the actual town of Englewood.

[robertgoodman]

Originally Posted by JohnnyDenver

4 murders in Denver this weekend. 3 Related to gang activity.

Welcome to Denver.

Kansas City Homicides 2014: 77 (lowest in 42 years typically around 100)
Kansas City Population 2013 (estimate): 467,000
Rate per 100k: 16.5

Denver Homicides 2014: 31
Denver Population 2013 (estimate): 649,000
Rate per 100k: 4.8

We may be off to a really bad start with 12 already this year, but with roughly 20% of the year done we need to pick up the pace to get to where the OP's city usually is, or was last year.

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by Tehess

Work is:
9785 Maroon Circle
Centennial

Right off 25 but far south.
Flexible on budget but probably 1BR place around 1100-1200?
No pets.

Any idea if Washington Park is an option? Would that be like 45 minutes each way? I'd like to keep it to 30-40 minutes but you can't have it all...

With that work address I would look for an apartment in Lone Tree. There is a light rail station right there that could take you downtown, it is just a bit pricey.

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by JohnnyDenver

4 murders in Denver this weekend. 3 Related to gang activity.

Welcome to Denver.

Looks like you are looking for a job at the Chamber of Commerce.

[Timmyy]

Originally Posted by Suzatlarge

Check with your employer. The E and F lines of RTD's light rail go out that far, to Lincoln Station. And I was told that office park has an employee shuttle to the light rail station, although I didn't get details. (I was out there a few months ago on business and asked if there was a connection to the light rail station - which was visible in the distance, on the other side of the Interstate.)

If you could make it work to take light rail to/from work, you could live anywhere within reasonable reach of those light rail lines, including downtown.

But as noted above, your workplace is really kind of nowhere. Certainly not in Englewood or Centennial. You'll soon learn that there's a large area that for postal address purposes is called "Englewood" but is nowhere near the actual town of Englewood.

There is a shuttle from the light rail for all the offices in that area. There are quite a few of my colleagues that take the shuttle. It is basically the Meridian area or the outskirts of it.

[flamadiddle]

Originally Posted by robertgoodman

Kansas City Homicides 2014: 77 (lowest in 42 years typically around 100)
Kansas City Population 2013 (estimate): 467,000
Rate per 100k: 16.5

Denver Homicides 2014: 31
Denver Population 2013 (estimate): 649,000
Rate per 100k: 4.8

We may be off to a really bad start with 12 already this year, but with roughly 20% of the year done we need to pick up the pace to get to where the OP's city usually is, or was last year.

Glad you brought "per capita" into the mix. So many people just look at the raw numbers, which is why Chicago gets such a bad rap. Sure, Chicago has nearly 500 murders per year, but it also has a population of nearly 3,000,000. Per Capita, Chicago doesn't even rank in the top 25 most dangerous cities and averages around 18 murders per 100K, which is about the same as Kansas City. Anyway, Denver is certainly not a dangerous place overall.

Originally Posted by Timmyy

With that work address I would look for an apartment in Lone Tree. There is a light rail station right there that could take you downtown, it is just a bit pricey.

Yep, there's a bunch of apartment complexes along Park Meadows Drive that border or are walkable to the Lincoln light rail station. OP, you may want to take a look at those...

It's a nice area and there's a really nice mall right around the corner. Park Meadows Mall - Premier Shopping, Dining, Entertainment in Denver / Lone Tree, Colorado

[vestalvespa]

The commute to the DTC can be eased significantly if you live and work near the light rail line. But if not... it's a mess. Denver downtown rental market right now is absolutely insane. Unless you know a guy, it's getting to be like Manhattan up in here. People actually bidding on downtown properties to RENT.

I'd suggest checking out the local transit web site to see how convoluted your trip to Centennial would be every day using transit. If you can find a place near light rail, you're going to save yourself a LOT of stress and time. I commuted from downtown to Centennial and Englewood for years and it's gotten much worse. I think people underestimate the lifestyle impact a bad commute can have. Here's an RTD map for your reference: RTD

That said, I live in far Eastern Denver- almost in Aurora. It's the closest to Downtown I could afford as a buyer. But I have to say I really like the lifestyle and the community. I lived in downtown Denver for about 10 years, until last year, and while it had a lot of great amenities, I have good access to transit from my home (right off Colfax) and don't miss the downtown craziness at all. As housing gets more expensive here, homelessness is getting markedly worse, and so is the crime (as noted elsewhere here). I used to walk downtown alone, at night (I'm a woman) fairly frequently and never got a bad vibe... but not any more.

I'd suggest trying out the University of Denver area, if you want more downtowny amenities but better access to Centennial. Englewood might be even better- rents are decent and though it's a suburb, it's a very close one with a lot of charm and fun things to do in its own right(check out the Gothic Theater... lots of cool shows). And that's a straight shot via transit to Centennial, as well as downtown and the groovy South Broadway area. Littleton might be a little sleepy for a 25 year old (it was for me). But Englewood and Southwest Denver would be good options for a balance between decent night life and proximity to the burbs. Aurora is getting better and its diversity is benefitting from the relative unaffordability of Denver... lots of of the interesting immigrant communities that were represented in central Denver are now found in Aurora. It's got its ghetto charm (at least the part I live by), and as I've lived closer to it, it's started to grow on me.

A few other things you should probably know: Traffic is insane and getting worse, and the city can't build or improve the roads fast enough to support the growth (I work for the part of the city that usually does this kind of thing, and we are scrambling). There's a palpable sense of tension right now between the cops and communities of color, especially with this recent rash of gang violence. Denver isn't without its problems, and a lot of them are getting aggravated by the unprecedented and unmanaged growth of the City.

[Tehess]

After all your fantastic input, I'll be moving to the North Pole due to lower crime rates. Thanks!

But anyways, honestly thanks for the input. I'll have to look more into the light rail. 30-40 minute commute on that from Wash Park/DU area looks pretty reasonable, especially if i could catch a shuttle to my work from the Lincoln stop. I've been to the Washington Park area and it was beautiful (the 3 days i was there, i guess...) and close enough to downtown to not feel TOO suburb-ish.

Any more input is appreciated!