Young Texan Couple Moving to Denver - HELP! (Boulder, Highlands Ranch: ski resorts, condos)

[longhornswin]

I am finishing my MBA in May and have possibly found a job in downtown Denver. My wife and I are in our early 30s, no kids, and have 2 dogs. We are looking for a house in the $350-400K range, 3-4 bedrooms, etc. Currently, we live outside of Austin, TX, and have beautiful hill country views and a large yard (3/4 acre lot).

After looking at various neighborhoods, we like the Park Hill area for the houses (quaint, older, individual) and the Highlands Ranch/Littleton area for the neighborhoods. The HR/Littleton area houses look crappy though, the typical "cookie-cutter" homes that probably aren't built by good home builders.

Any advice? If we're going to live in Colorado, I say we should have some pine trees and a view of the mountains/hills not someone else's backyard! We would like to live close to a park with water so my labrador retriever can swim off leash, and I can work him on retrieves.

Is the Golden area somewhere we should look? I don't want a really long commute to downtown, but I realize that we'll probably have to compromise.

Thanks!!

[tfox]

If you like the homes in Park Hill, I'd encourage you to give it a look. There's been several other threads here on that neighborhood, so it'd be worth continuing to look into. There's a number of other neighborhoods in central Denver that would provide easy commutes to your job as well as beautiful neighborhoods with views -- I'm thinking perhaps Wash Park, Bonnie Brae, Hilltop, Alamo Placita, Country Club, Country Club North, Congress Park, Cheesman Park. In north Denver you might also look at West Highlands, Berkeley, or Sloans Lake. If you like new construction you could consider Stapleton or Lowry. You SHOULD be able to find something nice in one of those neighborhoods in your price range, but prices have appreciated quite a bit in Central Denver, so it may be a stretch. There's still a broad price spread in central Denver, thankfully.

If you do plan to commute into downtown from the suburbs, Golden is a reasonable option. The commute along 6th Avenue (hwy 6) isn't too bad. Certainly if you're also considering Highlands Ranch, then it should be fine in terms of commute.

And by the way, Littleton isn't ALL cookie cutter. Unlike HR, it actually does have some history to it: look around its old downtown area.

[Dan6200alt]

tfox summed it up very nicely. Those are very good options and good places to be. Not positive, but you should be able to get in most of those areas for the $350-400 range. You won't be getting the biggest, nicest house on the block, but something nice nonetheless.

I'll just add that Highlands Ranch and Littleton are nice too, but I think they are more suited for families with kids. If I didn't have kids, I would definately choose the areas you and tfox mentioned. Especially if you plan on working downtown.

[Micktooth]

Did you think about any northern suburbs? We live in Louisville in Boulder County. A lot of dog owners (including us) and dog parks. I work downtown in Denver and it takes me 30-40 min in rush hour. Don't know if it's too long a drive for you. But there are some nice homes with views etc. up here.

[klovesdenver]

In response to your question - Golden is absolutly Beautiful- and I personally think you would like it very much- BTW the commute from Golden to Downtown, is honestly nothing- maybe 20 min.. you have 2 Major highways to access, + virtually all main roads from Wheat Ridge get you downtown without the Highway commute. Applewood is a nice area, older homes (well kept) nice big yards- Golf and Parks close, and a quick trip up into the Mountains for Skiing. Its on the top of my list for places in the Denver Area. Hope this helps-

[Dan6200alt]

Originally Posted by klovesdenver

In response to your question - Golden is absolutly Beautiful- and I personally think you would like it very much- BTW the commute from Golden to Downtown, is honestly nothing- maybe 20 min.. you have 2 Major highways to access, + virtually all main roads from Wheat Ridge get you downtown without the Highway commute. Applewood is a nice area, older homes (well kept) nice big yards- Golf and Parks close, and a quick trip up into the Mountains for Skiing. Its on the top of my list for places in the Denver Area. Hope this helps-

Golden does have a big advantage in being right up against the mountains with the easiest access to the ski resorts. Easy access to some good, close hiking and biking access too. The hills there in that immediate area, however, arent are the prettiest around IMO.

[2bindenver]

What about along Highline Canal?

How long is too long for a commute?

[longhornswin]

I want to keep the commute time down to under 30 minutes one way in traffic. I guess HR or Littleton would allow me to hop on the light rail, correct?

[tfox]

Originally Posted by longhornswin

I want to keep the commute time down to under 30 minutes one way in traffic. I guess HR or Littleton would allow me to hop on the light rail, correct?

Littleton, definitely -- it has two stations: Littleton-Downtown and Mineral on the southwest line.

HR will have its own station at Lucent Blvd when Fastracks is built out in about 8 years. Until then you will drive or take the bus to either the Mineral station in Littleton along Santa Fe, or, depending on where you are in HR, you could also drive or take the bus over to the County Line or Lincoln stations on the southeast line.

[CoAleEnthusiast]

You could live in close. There are some wonderful really dog friendly areas not far from downtown. Unfortunately, no large backyards, but Denver has a tremendous amount of green space.

In the central Platte vallyey there are nice condos walking distance from the center of downtown located on the Platte river. My dog loves swimming there. Many of the restaurants will allow you to sit outside with your dog and provide water bowls and treats.

Just above that area is the Highlands, nice small bungalows, and two-story homes.

Detailed information on these areas can be found at:
http://www.downtowndenver.com/UrbanLiving/ULProfiles.htm (broken link)

Not far from downtown to the south, there is the Wash Park/ Denver Univesity area. You have the option of taking the light rail or I-25 for a 10-15 minute commute. Great dog area. I was having coffee at small bistro here 9am Saturday, and there were six dogs and their owners sitting on the bisto's patio hanging out. Area has plenty of green space and parks.