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Hello. Our family is new to Colorado... we got the hook up on a rental in Louisville so we've been there the last couple months. We were actually looking to buy in Lafayette, but there's been some change in plans and we may need to be closer to Denver than we thought. Centennial and Littleton are probably the most convenient places for us right now. Does anyone have any advice/opinions on those areas? What we love about this area (Louisville/Lafayette) is a sense of community, easy access to trails, everyone raves about the schools here, etc. I know Centennial and Littleton are much more populated... do you think there is still a good sense of community? How would you describe the schools? Our daughters were devastated when we moved from their schools in the midwest and we'd really like to be in schools that are welcoming and friendly... and maybe not gigantic and overwhelming.
Littleton is a misnomer - Littleton, the city, is in Arapahoe County and is a part of the Littleton School district. Littleton is also the mailing address for the southern part of Jefferson County and the northern part of Douglas County. Those are in different school districts.
Centennial is a part of the Cherry Creek School district.
Where is work? What else is important to you in a new community?
More accurately, part of Centennial is in the Cherry Creek school district. The western part of Centennial is Littleton school district. You won't be disappointed with either.
My husband works on Buckley. My daughter is big into dance which would be near the business district. I'm at home (artist) so I'm also looking for an art community. Most important factors are good, welcoming community (good family friendly neighborhoods) and schools... and second would be outdoor activities... trails, parks.. Not into big houses... just community.
I guess I'm looking for some specifics of the area as well... why are the schools good? (other than looking good on paper) examples? Are the teachers involved? are the areas fast paced or chill? Is there community in the aspect of... do people hang out together in neighborhoods? Are there programs for kids? Biking trails? Stuff to do other than shop?
we just got back from spending the weekend in Denver for the inspection of a house we bought in Littleton 80123 zip.
Absolutely love it. Looked at centennial, Castle Rock, Highlands Ranch, and some other areas too. But none compared to Littleton. I don't know that I liked the western parts of Littleton as much. They seem to get kind of cheap feeling, but that Centennial/Littleton area is excellent. Beautiful, well taken care of, nice homes (although they are older), nice people, lots of things to do without going far. Just can't go wrong. Schools all seemed decent and well kept. As far as teachers and administration, you just never know until you try. WE went off he word of our agent, the neighbors, some locals, and also reached out to our insurance agent, some police, etc just to see what they thought of the areas. We ultimately chose a house in Littleton because of the felling of its own city and it has its own little old downtown (we refer to it as a Hallmark Movie town) Centennial is really nice too, but starts feel a little too suburban for us personally. I think both are nice though.
I will list MY opinions of a few other cities and I am not trying to offend anyone, these are just my opinions
Castle Rock: Very suburban even though it is it's own city. Close to shopping and dining.Very beautiful out there but I can see why people would hate the commute to Denver. If you worked out there, then I would live out there. But if you work near Denver, I would move closer in. I think Castle Rock can get old and boring. But beautiful views, almost priceless really. I can see why homes way out there may fetch high dollars. If you like living in small towns, it would be nice, but if you are used to living in the metro somewhere then this could be a dull option
Highlands Ranch: hmm.... I have to be careful here. I hated it but for personal reasons. A huge neighborhood is all this is with some generic shopping centers slammed all over. The commute is fine, the people are nice. The businesses area ll clean and seems like you can get about anything you need there. Hospitals, shopping, dining, entertainment etc. Easy access in and out, but I just feel like it was a neighborhood where people come and go. I dont get the sense that too many people live there long term. I know some do, but if feels transient. I wasnt too impressed ith the housing either. You can tell they were all built in the Master Plan community phase where they throw homes up as fast as they can and anywhere they have room. Right on top of each other and the two things that bother me most even thouugh they seem little.... No mail boxes(you have to walk up the street to a set of boxes like an apartment complex) and tiny driveways... if you have a large SUV, your front bumper will touch your garage door as your rear bumper will touch the street. very close to each other and no room. The Parkway is 6 lanes wide and people fly through there. I wouldnt feel safe with my little kids riding bikes and having to cross it. And thi comment will offend some Im sure, but if it does, then you should maybe ask yourself if you are one of them. As we drive all over the neighborhood, it seemed like no one loves to take pride in their home. Some do,, but too many homes have terrible yards, the exteriors looks like they have been beat on for 15 years with no fixing up, cars parked all over, tight streets, It just wasnt as "NICE" a people make it out to be. Seems cheap, and some of those homes are expensive. but it felt like a neighborhood where people buy quick to get in and then just "LIVE" in the home long enough to let everythign go to hell and then sell it quick instead of maintaining it.
Commerce City / thornton: Just terrible traffic up there and very cookie cutter. I didnt spend enough time there to detail out specifics, but thats because it didnt take long to realize it wasnt very appealing. Very industrial feeling up there.
Lone tree: Seemed decent but again,, really just a couple of neighborhoods off the interstate.
This all of course depends on how you like to live. Me personally, My family and I want a community feel of a small town or city with active parks and rec, libraries, lakes, shopping, parades etc. No HOA, established areas with trees and sidewalks, access to everything, people that arent going anywhere so we can get to know them.
Some people just want a HOA with activities planned out for them in cookie cutter new homes that require little maintenance.
I think if you want an area where people all "HANG OUT" i would do some heavy research. We want the same. But didnt want the big fakey feeling community. We chose the established neighborhood. We will take a handful of long term quality neighbors over a mass of people that will come and go. I want to grow old next to the same people (as long as we like each other of course! LOL) but we are pretty easy people to get along with. We have moved around a lot though and always ended up in the larger communities similar to Highlands Ranch, and I firmly believe thats why we keep moving around, because we are never happy and its just as easy to move states as it is neighborhoods sometimes for us. So this time we are moving back to be closer to family and chose the older home in the established area of LIttleton to have that small city lifestyle that we grew up in . Best of luck to you and I hope some of my comments helped but dont discourage you.
Last edited by rtloucks; 07-14-2015 at 06:04 AM..
Reason: addition
You should know that many 40+ year old neighborhoods on the south end of town have homeowner associations. Established community, friendly long-term residents, and an HOA are not mutually exclusive. In fact, the reason these older neighborhoods have beautiful walking paths, maintained green spaces, pools & playgrounds, and well-kept homes is because they have had active and attentive homeowner associations from the very beginning. In any case, I'm glad you found a great house in Littleton, and I wish you much happiness in your new home. Welcome to Denver!
Last edited by randomparent; 07-14-2015 at 08:03 AM..
More accurately, part of Centennial is in the Cherry Creek school district. The western part of Centennial is Littleton school district. You won't be disappointed with either.
Correct. Everything west of about Holly St. is in Littleton Public schools. The rest of Centennial is in Cherry Creek schools. Both are excellent school districts.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rtloucks
we just got back from spending the weekend in Denver for the inspection of a house we bought in Littleton 80123 zip.
Absolutely love it. Looked at centennial, Castle Rock, Highlands Ranch, and some other areas too. But none compared to Littleton. I don't know that I liked the western parts of Littleton as much. They seem to get kind of cheap feeling, but that Centennial/Littleton area is excellent. Beautiful, well taken care of, nice homes (although they are older), nice people, lots of things to do without going far. Just can't go wrong. Schools all seemed decent and well kept. As far as teachers and administration, you just never know until you try. WE went off he word of our agent, the neighbors, some locals, and also reached out to our insurance agent, some police, etc just to see what they thought of the areas. We ultimately chose a house in Littleton because of the felling of its own city and it has its own little old downtown (we refer to it as a Hallmark Movie town) Centennial is really nice too, but starts feel a little too suburban for us personally. I think both are nice though.
I will list MY opinions of a few other cities and I am not trying to offend anyone, these are just my opinions
Castle Rock: Very suburban even though it is it's own city. Close to shopping and dining.Very beautiful out there but I can see why people would hate the commute to Denver. If you worked out there, then I would live out there. But if you work near Denver, I would move closer in. I think Castle Rock can get old and boring. But beautiful views, almost priceless really. I can see why homes way out there may fetch high dollars. If you like living in small towns, it would be nice, but if you are used to living in the metro somewhere then this could be a dull option
Highlands Ranch: hmm.... I have to be careful here. I hated it but for personal reasons. A huge neighborhood is all this is with some generic shopping centers slammed all over. The commute is fine, the people are nice. The businesses area ll clean and seems like you can get about anything you need there. Hospitals, shopping, dining, entertainment etc. Easy access in and out, but I just feel like it was a neighborhood where people come and go. I dont get the sense that too many people live there long term. I know some do, but if feels transient. I wasnt too impressed ith the housing either. You can tell they were all built in the Master Plan community phase where they throw homes up as fast as they can and anywhere they have room. Right on top of each other and the two things that bother me most even thouugh they seem little.... No mail boxes(you have to walk up the street to a set of boxes like an apartment complex) and tiny driveways... if you have a large SUV, your front bumper will touch your garage door as your rear bumper will touch the street. very close to each other and no room. The Parkway is 6 lanes wide and people fly through there. I wouldnt feel safe with my little kids riding bikes and having to cross it. And thi comment will offend some Im sure, but if it does, then you should maybe ask yourself if you are one of them. As we drive all over the neighborhood, it seemed like no one loves to take pride in their home. Some do,, but too many homes have terrible yards, the exteriors looks like they have been beat on for 15 years with no fixing up, cars parked all over, tight streets, It just wasnt as "NICE" a people make it out to be. Seems cheap, and some of those homes are expensive. but it felt like a neighborhood where people buy quick to get in and then just "LIVE" in the home long enough to let everythign go to hell and then sell it quick instead of maintaining it.
Commerce City / thornton: Just terrible traffic up there and very cookie cutter. I didnt spend enough time there to detail out specifics, but thats because it didnt take long to realize it wasnt very appealing. Very industrial feeling up there.
Lone tree: Seemed decent but again,, really just a couple of neighborhoods off the interstate.
This all of course depends on how you like to live. Me personally, My family and I want a community feel of a small town or city with active parks and rec, libraries, lakes, shopping, parades etc. No HOA, established areas with trees and sidewalks, access to everything, people that arent going anywhere so we can get to know them.
Some people just want a HOA with activities planned out for them in cookie cutter new homes that require little maintenance.
I think if you want an area where people all "HANG OUT" i would do some heavy research. We want the same. But didnt want the big fakey feeling community. We chose the established neighborhood. We will take a handful of long term quality neighbors over a mass of people that will come and go. I want to grow old next to the same people (as long as we like each other of course! LOL) but we are pretty easy people to get along with. We have moved around a lot though and always ended up in the larger communities similar to Highlands Ranch, and I firmly believe thats why we keep moving around, because we are never happy and its just as easy to move states as it is neighborhoods sometimes for us. So this time we are moving back to be closer to family and chose the older home in the established area of LIttleton to have that small city lifestyle that we grew up in . Best of luck to you and I hope some of my comments helped but dont discourage you.
I think this is pretty spot on about Castle Rock and completely echos what I felt about Highlands Ranch (at least the older parts - the newest parts of Highlands Ranch are better and a bit less "cookie cutter"). I personally have loved everything about western Centennial. Much of Littleton is similar. Again, older (70's and 80's) but very well maintained and they did a great job of planning these neighborhoods back when they were built, especially with the connectivity to the awesome trails systems that run along the creeks and the Highline Canal, neighborhood shopping areas, interconnected parks, etc. The new Southglenn is quite awesome. Love the fact that you have a library, theater, restaurants, and many stores all in one place and love the "Main Street" feel even if it's obviously not as authentic as a downtown Littleton (still a pretty short drive away if you want the real thing".
I think Cherry Knolls and The Knolls are two of the best neighborhoods but of course the prices reflect that. You won't likely find anything in there that doesn't need some work/updating for under $400k. But what a great sense of community. Love that you can walk to most of the schools and there are neighborhood garage sales on certain days in the summer where the whole neighborhood comes together. Lots of people walking the trails and watching kids play sports at Cherry Knolls Park (plus DeKoevand is a few hundred yards down the path. Very nice.
Highlands Ranch: hmm.... I have to be careful here. I hated it but for personal reasons. A huge neighborhood is all this is with some generic shopping centers slammed all over. The commute is fine, the people are nice. The businesses area ll clean and seems like you can get about anything you need there. Hospitals, shopping, dining, entertainment etc. Easy access in and out, but I just feel like it was a neighborhood where people come and go. I dont get the sense that too many people live there long term. I know some do, but if feels transient. I wasnt too impressed ith the housing either. You can tell they were all built in the Master Plan community phase where they throw homes up as fast as they can and anywhere they have room. Right on top of each other and the two things that bother me most even thouugh they seem little.... No mail boxes(you have to walk up the street to a set of boxes like an apartment complex) and tiny driveways... if you have a large SUV, your front bumper will touch your garage door as your rear bumper will touch the street. very close to each other and no room. The Parkway is 6 lanes wide and people fly through there. I wouldnt feel safe with my little kids riding bikes and having to cross it. And thi comment will offend some Im sure, but if it does, then you should maybe ask yourself if you are one of them. As we drive all over the neighborhood, it seemed like no one loves to take pride in their home. Some do,, but too many homes have terrible yards, the exteriors looks like they have been beat on for 15 years with no fixing up, cars parked all over, tight streets, It just wasnt as "NICE" a people make it out to be. Seems cheap, and some of those homes are expensive. but it felt like a neighborhood where people buy quick to get in and then just "LIVE" in the home long enough to let everythign go to hell and then sell it quick instead of maintaining it.
I am curious what area of Highlands Ranch you drove through and looked at. I know if we let our yard go or the paint looks terrible we get hit by the HOA. That is a big reason for the HOA, to help keep the area nice and values up on top of all the other stuff it provides.
I don't know why anybody would ride their bikes on a parkway that is 6 lanes wide especially with all the trails we have here.
I do agree about the cookie cutter houses but I don't mind them.
Most of the people in my neighborhood have been there for a decade or more.
I agree, to each their own. As I mentioned some people prefer that. We prefer more large trees and bigger lots. A mailbox in our front yard, Long driveways etc.
We drove all over Highlands ranch. Obviously the newer the homes the newer they look, but they just show their age. It's hard to explain, but it just wasn't for us. It felt like large detached townhome community.
Im not trashing it. I think it's just hat we have lived in so many communities like that in the past and never enjoyed it for so many reasons. They never feel like a place we could grow old in. They feel like a place to grow up in and then move on.
I know many people though that love it there so in sure it has its qualities too
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