planning a move to denver area...help! (Arvada, Westminster: apartment, rentals)

[kenzy459]

Hi all!

I have a few questions I'm hoping to get some help with. My boyfriend and I are planning a move to Denver this summer. He'll be going to graduate school at Regis and I'll be teaching Special Ed. We will be apartment hunting soon, and I was hoping for some advice.

Where is a good, safe area that doesn't have too long of a commute to Regis? My #1 concern is safety. The Westminster area looks like it's not too far and a little more affordable but I haven't really heard much about it.

Also, how difficult is it to find a teaching job in the Denver area? I know where I'm from there is a major Special Ed teacher shortage but I also haven't heard much about this in the Denver area. Any advice/experience with this?

Thanks so much! Hope to hear from you soon!

[livecontent]

I live about 2.5 miles from Regis in Arvada. You could consider Westminster but there are many areas nearer to Regis which are nice and safe.

You could live right by Regis in the up and coming neighborhoods of West Highland or Berkeley--they are now considered the areas of choice for the new rich and housing is appreciating rapidly with new building going on all the time. It is a great area with Lakes and eclectic shopping Highlands Square in Historic Northwest Denver--Street Fair, Shopping, Restaurants, nightlife and more with nice housing also along Lowell in the Regis neighborhood.

You could go a west into the city of Wheat Ridge along West 38th--you will have quick access to Regis and shopping into the suburbs and well as just down the street from West Highland and the nice areas off of Tennyson Tennyson Street Denver - Home this is an old trolley neighborhood that is has been redeveloped and is up the road from the development of the old Elitch's Amusement Park which is called Higland Square Village Highlands' Garden Village.

You could look at Arvada which is just Northwest of Regis and there are many different neighborhoods with good shopping and beautiful safe parks and trails. It is easy to get to Regis in a few minutes through many of the side roads.

Of course Westminster--the older area of Westminster is just up on Lowell but farther north, starting at 72nd and Lowell with many older homes with some newer properties west toward Sheridan. Westminster is very large and other areas would be farther away but still doable and safe.

You have many choices to live in a nice area and still be close to Regis.

Livecontent

[Katarina Witt]

The teaching situation in metro Denver is competitive, but special ed may help you. There are a number of threads about teaching in Denver/Colorado in the index.

[kenzy459]

Thank you very much, both of you, for your help! I am on my way to becoming more informed

[tfox]

Originally Posted by kenzy459

Where is a good, safe area that doesn't have too long of a commute to Regis? My #1 concern is safety. The Westminster area looks like it's not too far and a little more affordable but I haven't really heard much about it.

There's a number of rentals right by the Regis campus that cater to students. The area around Regis is also becoming more and more a cool area in its own right, so that should be where you start looking first. It's not an expensive area right now and is fairly safe, so really there's no reason to look any further IMO.

Going away from campus, to the south is some of Denver's trendiest neighborhoods (Berkeley for example), which are fairly safe these days but a bit on the spendy side. To the east of campus, across Federal, gets into an industrial area (Villa Park) that I don't recommend. Ditto for due north of campus; you'll leave the city limits of Denver and Adams county doesn't have the resources to keep up its area, so it's quite blighted. Avoid it (there's very little housing there in any case). To the northwest, across I-76, is the suburb of Arvada, which is kept up within city limits, that would also be a good option.

Westminster is kind of hit and miss but mostly good, particularly as you get to the west of Federal, but it's quite far from Regis, so I wouldn't recommend it overall, unless perhaps you find a great deal on rent.