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We are considering moving to Stapleton and I was wondering if anyone could answer some questions:
1) I have heard that it is not surrounded by great areas. I know that "not great areas" is very subjective so I was wondering what that means to people. Is it safe coming in and out of there? Do I have to worry about the safety of my children? Does it hurt property values?
2) I have read that there are several builders in Stapleton. Can you rate them?
3) Anyone have any idea how long it is taking to build a house from the ground up?
4) Since Stapleton is large, do people predict the houses will hold their value and appreciate?
5) I have read that while the Stapleton schools are good, there is overcrowding because there are so many young children in the area. Do you foresee this working itself out or becoming a real problem?
6) Are there advantages to living in Stapleton vs. Bradburn Village (our other area of interest) and vice versa? I know Stapleton is closer to downtown.
Areas to the south aren't exactly great, but I've seen a lot worse. It doesn't hurt our property value. Just the other day I looked at a property value map in the Denver Post online and Stapleton was one of the areas still going up, whereas south of Montview it was way down with high foreclosures. Cross Montview and you go into a whole different market. Areas directly west of Stapleton aren't bad, and I never hear about anything going on in that area.
As for the builders, our house was built by John Laing. I would highly recommend them, and they have all new models/floorplans that look great. I hear complaints about NewTown regarding their customer service, but no complaints about the homes themselves. I've never heard anything bad about Parkwood, McStain, or Infinity. Most complaints are about KB Homes. They're a bit lower end and the outer walls are framed with 2"x4"s, rather than 2"x6" studs with the other builders. But then I know people living in KBs that are happy with them.
When we bought our house, it took about 7 months to build it and then close.
I think the overcrowding is a problem that's being dealt with. I believe part of the middle school is now grade school until things level out, and another grade school is supposed to break ground soon in the Eastbridge area, so that should help too.
I've never been to Bradburn, so I really couldn't say. I believe prices are cheaper there, but it sounds like a similar atmosphere to Stapleton.
I live in Bradburn Village, and when we were looking, we looked at Stapleton. Some of my neighbors have moved here from Stapleton also, so I've gotten their perspective. To answer your questions:
1. Yes, the areas around Stapleton are not so hot, this is one of the main reasons we did not purchase a home there. It did used to be an airport, so it makes sense the surrounding neighborhoods aren't the best. I don't think it impacts house values much if at all, as appraisers I would imagine don't use comparables from the surrounding areas (there are plenty available in Stapleton itself). I don't think really also that it necessarily increases crime, I've never heard that, as Denver in general (even most of the 'bad' areas) is pretty safe. For us it was an issue of looking at those areas every day (snobby I know), since the area around where you live is something you are going to be impacted by.
2. Some of the builders in Stapleton are also in Bradburn so I can tell you what people say here. New Town has customer service issues I agree with that, but I love their house designs (they are the cutest in my opinion) and for the most part are major issue free. McStain is an excellent builder and spoken highly of by everyone I know that has purchased one of their homes.
3. This depends on the builder and the type of home. If is a production built home this usually ranges from 6 months to 1 year (McStain is the fastest I've ever seen, they got some homes done here in 5-6 months). If it is a custom home, it can take 12-18 months.
4. Stapleton is one of the areas in Denver that is still showing appreciation even in this dismal market. It is very large with new construction, so I've heard it might take a bit longer to sell a resale home only because there's so much to choose from, but it will hold value. Bradburn has gone down a little bit in the last quarter, but that was from a few isolated homes that were foreclosed. Homes in here appreciate and sell well IF they are nicely upgraded. With demographic shifts and increases in gas prices, any walkable neighborhood would be a good investment for the long term I would think.
5. Not sure about this one but I know the schools in Stapleton are good.
6. OK, here comes a long one LOL.
Advantages to Stapleton over Bradburn Village: closer to downtown, great playgrounds, closer to the Denver Tech Center (DTC), will have direct light rail access, closer to airport.
Advantages of Bradburn Village over Stapleton: reasonable commute distance to both downtown and Boulder/Interlocken (good for techies), neighborhood is much smaller, giving it a much more "cozy" feel--everyone knows each other here it truly is like a small village. I know (and well, many of my neighbors are now my best friends) around 85% of the people in every home in here, I always have someone to call if I need help or just want to get out of the house before my kid drives me nuts! I talk to neighbors every single day and do things with neighbors several times a week (book club, ladies' nights out, etc.. etc.. you will NOT be bored here). Stapleton is also very friendly by all accounts, but is HUGE. You get more house for your money in Bradburn than in Stapleton (a difference of around 50-60K or more). Both neighborhoods stuffed with small kids so I don't think much of a difference there. Schools are similar also (except the Denver School of Science and Technology in Stapleton which is outstanding).
Every home in Bradburn is easy 5-10 minute walking distance from our commercial area with shops and restaurants, while in Stapleton currently most of the homes are more like 10-20 minutes walking (but easy biking) distance. This will change a bit as Stapleton gets more of their commercial areas built, putting more homes in easy walking distance.
The areas are similar except for their size. I get lost in Stapleton, it has really long streets. Bradburn is much cozier. In Bradburn we have lots of families with kids and we have lots of neighborhood events that involve the entire neighborhood. We're just about to start our weekly park parties, which happen every Friday night in one of our parks. The kids run around and play and adults visit, it's very nice.
I love Stapleton, I think it's a great area, but I really love Bradburn too. What it basically boils down to I think is really location--I like being close to Boulder because it's a fun town, and there are lots of job choices close to here within a reasonable commute. I like the more open spaces here on the north side of Denver while Stapleton's area is much more urban (although that has pluses too). Bradburn is much closer to the mountains for recreation, and the views of them from this area are outstanding. Bradburn has the best of the urban with the best of the suburban.
If you visit Bradburn, I encourage you to get out and walk around. Talk to people and see what they think of the neighborhood (you'll get an earful LOL, we always joke that people here are so enthusiastic about the neighborhood we freak visitors out ha ha).
Last edited by Bradburn1; 04-25-2008 at 08:34 AM..
I'd have to agree with you Bradburn! I too prefer the home styles of New Town. I don't think John Laing builds in Bradburn, but their new models are looking better with more detailing. Not that their previous designs were ugly, maybe just a little bland, IMO.
I'd say it boils down to price and location to decide between the two. Either place is a great place to live.
Wow - thank you for all the information. Is Bradburn itself in the middle of big open spaces? Do you feel there is civilization around you (other than the village itself)? I like the idea of smaller and cozier, I just want to feel like there are things around me too.
No, Bradburn's not isolated in the least, there's tons of great stuff around it, BUT, you get the best of both worlds because on the south and east side, Bradburn is bordered by city owned open space (meaning it will stay as open space forever) with tons of biking/hiking trails that go through all of Westminster, from that open space there's a trail that goes to the Westminster library and Front Range Community College directly from Bradburn.
Bradburn has a great shopping center (that's not part of our development) to the west which includes tons of great shops and restaurants (Chipolte, Starbucks, Eintsien's, Chinese restaurant, IHOP, Wendy's, and a ton more) and this fall we are getting an organic grocer called Sprouts (the first one to open in Colorado, they are based in Phoenix) in there as well, that center is easily walkable from Bradburn also. This is addition to our commercial area in the neighborhood itself which has lots of restaurants, a gallery, dentist, a great pub, a yoga studio and much more to come (2 new buildings going in this summer). The closest other grocery store is a 5 minute drive to a very nice King Soopers in a shopping area that also has tons of great stuff in it. We are also very close to one of the nicest malls in Colorado, the Flatirons mall which is an upscale mall with tons of shopping around it (15 minute drive from Bradburn). There are other nice neighborhoods and more retail right around us.
Everything pretty much you would ever want or need (except more non chain restaurants, but that's a 20 minute drive to Boulder or downtown) is a 5-10 minute drive from here including some awesome parks (and there are 9 awesome pocket parks in the neighborhood itself), elementary, middle, and high schools, TONS of shopping, lots of restaurants, loads of businesses (we even have a dentist in Bradburn itself, I went there yesterday--5 minute walk, was awesome), churches for everyone who desires to attend one (also, there's one in Bradburn), great daycare places (including one in Bradburn itself) etc... There's even an ice skating rink 5 minutes from here and a fabulous 24 screen movie place. Also a close Super Target and Cosco (pretty much everyone here shops at both places lol).
How close is Bradburn to being built out? I think Stapleton is something like 7 years from buildout, so a negative, to me, is the constant construction. At least everything in my neighborhood is done. Well, except for the town center. That's a big reason we bought where we did, so we could walk to stores and businesses.
The residential portion of Bradburn is around 2/3rds complete. I'm not sure how long it will take to finish because we have a bunch of custom lots in here and those are sllllooooowww. I expect it to be around 80% finished in 2-3 years, but a few lots to take longer. If I had to guess, I would say at least 5 years for total residential build out.
The commercial area is about 1/4 finished, it's taking much longer than our developer planned on because of the economy and because they are pretty particular about what goes in here. Right now there are 3 live/work buildings, a daycare center, a church, and 3 buildings of retail/commercial in our commercial area. There are 2 new buildings going in this summer (including a smokin' 4 story, 60 foot modern building with retail first floor, awesome view condos above), but after that, there are still around 10 buildings or so on the plans (retail, office, and some residential space). Once our downtown is finished it will be awesome (what's here already rocks), but I think it will take a long time (5-7 years) before the commercial area is totally complete.
Are there any houses 3000 - 3500 sq feet in Bradburn or Stapleton? What I've been seeing on-line is mostly under 3000. Can you give me a ballpark figure of how much such a house would cost in these areas? Do these houses generally have basements (which are hard to find here in Atlanta).
The only negative Bradburn may have over Stapleton (or Lowry I suppose) is the depreciation you can expect to see over the next few (up to 10?) years which is trending towards higher numbers the further you are from the urban core.
There has been some explosive growth in that area over the past decade as the suburbs pushed into what are really now exurbs north of 120.
The Bradburn location is particularly nice as aformentioned if you are working in the northwest region of Denver. Not so nice if you are spending time in the city proper or the tech center to the south.
Stapleton allows access to most areas of the city, but 70 can load up quickly, 270 (west only from Quebec turns into 36 at I-25) seems to be jammed at random times almost every day.
Stapleton as a concept is urban in-fill. You find a diverse is somewhat socio-economically cleansed neighborhood (owing to the single family homes seeming to start around 500,000 these days) with a ton of children. I would venture to guess that this high ratio of children indicates someone managed to understand that young couples who own condos in the city don't want to move from the urban core when they start having children, but also don't want to live in a house that will slowly and methodically suck the life and money out of them every weekend for years while they repair it (sound familiar to anyone else?).
Bradburn village is different in that the area is already heavily developed in a suburban sense. They are answering the needs of people who realize that getting in the car to get a gallon of milk is just plain wrong.
Also, McStain builds nice homes and they have a bunch currently on the market that remain as unsold inventory, some going back months. If you do end up looking at a McStain be prepared to have the worst sales experience of your life...
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