What suburbs have green grass and mature trees? (Denver, Lakewood: transplants, 2015)

[Orghiplove]

From browsing Zillow, it seems that most homes have brown grass, some artificial, and a few have actual green grass. Is the green grass seasonal, specific to certain suburbs, or dependent on owners constantly watering their lawns? If it’s the latter of the three, how expensive does the watering become?

[blondmoray]

Yes, green grass is seasonal and dependent upon owner upkeep. Currently, all grass is brown, but will be green in the warmer months. You will find an occasional AstroTurf yard, but I would not say that they are common. Denver is very, very dry, so the grass will not be green without watering. Cost varies by location, size of yard and frequency of watering.

In drought years, local municipalities may put restrictions on watering, which can result in not-so-green grass.

In general, the closer you get to central Denver, the more mature the trees. Denver's inner-ring neighborhoods have very mature trees.

[davebarnes]

Lawns and trees must be watered.
Total precipitation in a normal year is 15 inches. About 1/3 of the northeast USA.
Total precipitation in 2020 was just 7 inches.

We live in Denver on a tiny 3000 sqft lot.
Actual lawn area is 500 sqft.
A sprinkler cycle (about 3 times a week) is 500 gallons each time. Or about 5000 gallons per month June thru October.
About $45/month in cost. We turn our sprinklers after Mothers' Day to avoid a freeze.

Real data from our house

[Gorges]

If you want green, Denver may not be the place for you. It can be quite brown and many transplants are turned off by it. If there are a lot of spring storms in May and June, it can be green for a while, but after that, green lawns will be dependent on the sprinkler systems and water here is fairly expensive. Our lot is right at 1/4 acre and our summer water bill averages $100/month.

Older neighborhoods will have more mature trees.

[Mike from back east]

My water bill in COLO SPGS for 2015 averaged $55/month for household use for two adults and to water 2500 sq ft of lawn and shrubs for six months of the year. I'm sure rates have gone up since.

Here in Phoenix I have no grass, just astroturf, cactus, plants and rocks; our water bill is about $100/month for the house and two adults.

Water is not cheap in the west and will continue to be a political football between western states.

Anyone who wants a lot of green should stay in the eastern half of the USA.

[sheerbliss]

Denver is brown in the winter. If you're used to a lush, green environment, it's going to look brown to you in the summer, too.

Trees don't grow as tall in Denver as they do in the south and much of the east. If you're looking at older neighborhoods, the trees are as big as they're going to get.

Even most xeriscape plants need to be watered to thrive there. I used to water my xeriscaped front yard 20 minutes once a week; lawns can be maintained with watering for 20 minutes three times a week. Despite the semi-arid climate, there were parts of town that required lawn. Even in Englewood (which, when I was young, was a place you might go to get your car painted or shop at the surplus store), a finicky neighbor was ***ing and moaning to the city about my "yard full of weeds."

[vunderbar]

Most of the neighborhoods with tall trees (they do exist) are older and more expensive. Denver makes homeowners responsible so only the more well-to-do neighborhoods will have them -- tall trees require trimming, keeping disease at bay and often watering/feeding.

Grass has to be watered in the summer. The predominant winter colors in Denver are brown (trees, lawns, brownish red brick) and blue - of the sky.

That said, there are many tree-line neighborhood parks in Denver where the grass is watered. Moving here from California, Denver in the summer seemed lush to us. It won't necessarily to folks from the East. And it certainly won't seem lush in the winter!

[davebarnes]

As an Easterner you need to understand:
1. Every tree you see (with a minuscule selection of riparian cottonwoods) and every plant and every bit of grass is because of human provided water. The only natural condition is wind swept prairie just like in the movies.
2. There is no taper off where one town/city ends and another begins. Either the boundary is invisible (that is, buildings) or the boundary is a drop off to prairie dogs. There is no vegetation softening the boundaries.
3. Some cities lack "town centers". Wheat Ridge and Lakewood for example. Highlands Ranch is a huge non-city with no center.
4. The whole concept of unincorporated county land. County government is quite meaningful here.
5. School systems are huge. Denver and Jefferson County are 70K+ students. Cherry Creek is 55K+.
6. There are invisible boundaries everywhere:
a. school districts
b. municipal
c. fire
d. water and sewage
e. parks & recreation
f. postal
g. HOAs
7. All roads are straight lines running N, S, E, W. Curved streets are an unknown art form.
8. All roads are wider than you are used to.
9. You can see to the horizon. I can see Pikes Peak—which is 66 miles away—from the roof of my house.
10. Natives have no idea what direction they are driving if they cannot see the foothills/mountains to the west.

[sheerbliss]

Originally Posted by davebarnes

As an Easterner you need to understand:

10. Natives have no idea what direction they are driving if they cannot see the foothills/mountains to the west.

You can navigate by the sun, too, which you can almost always see during the day. I agree with the rest of your comment, though.

If you've seen suburban Albuquerque on Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul, it looks very much like suburban Denver.

[COcheesehead]

Highlands Ranch has a town center

https://sheaproperties.com/retail/de...ch-town-center