Good Neighbourhoods within range of CU-Denver (Highlands Ranch, Littleton: amusement park, condo, loan) - Colorado (CO) - City-Data Forum

Lendyn · 06-16-2009, 11:45 AM

I've been lurking on these forums for a few weeks and figured I might as well ask for advice from you friendly folks

We will be moving to Denver in the next few months. My wife will be working at the university of Colorado, Denver. We're looking for advice on neighbourhoods to check out for housing.

We're looking to buy. Budget about $275-$300k. About 2,000 sq feet and 2-3 bedrooms. We'd like somewhere not too far out in the suburbs (we've been spoiled living 10 mins from both our work places). My wife is even looking at somewhere on a cycle path (we've been told cycling is easy and well catered for in Denver). I think we've been looking at a couple of listings around Cherry Creek.

It would be great to have easy access (walking) to shops, cafes etc. but not sure how realistic that is. A garden would be nice but not essential (and nothing too big). My wife wants a house with 'character' and trees would be good too.

Anyhow, was just wondering if anyone out there wants to point us towards reasonable places to look into. Wish list might be unreasonable but might as well throw some of these things out there. We're driving in tomorrow for a week to check the place out, and may be able to form our own opinions, or at least start to narrow things down a bit on what/where we might want.

denver_hacker · 06-16-2009, 12:53 PM

Cherry Creek is pretty expensive. You might want to look at Highlands (not Highlands Ranch).

If you're open to a loft/condo, you might want to check out Curtis Park or the Ballpark Neighborhood (both around Coors Field).

Jefferson Park, near Invesco Field, is up and coming, but still a bit rough. Lincoln Park, near the light rail's 10th and Osage station, is also gentrifying. You will probably find good deals in these areas, as they're not well-established (like Cherry Creek or Washington Park). Several people I work with, all young, have picked up places in both areas in the last few months.

Other neighborhoods that have already gentrified are Platt Park and West Washington Park, which are older areas that have mom-and-pop commercial street (Old South Pearl). They're right around the Louisiana light rail stop, so you can get into downtown pretty easily - and you're close to Wash Park.

denver_hacker · 06-16-2009, 12:54 PM

PS: Most folks call it "C U Denver", not "U of C".

livecontent · 06-16-2009, 01:01 PM

You are going to have a difficult job picking the right neighborhood because there are so many nice areas that would be convenient for your workplace. The University, on the Auraria Campus, is centrally located and on a light rail corridor.

There is no need for you to go far out in the suburbs. Actually for your wants, the City of Denver would serve nicely. I would suggest looking into the Highland, West Highland, Berkeley etc. in Northwest Denver (North Denver in Denver Speak). You can easily commute by bike, car, or bus and perhaps walk from these areas. You can look at the redeveloping neighborhood along Tennyson, north of 38th. It is one of the new preferred neighborhoods. It has many older businesses and is just north of the redevelopment of Elitch's, the old amusement park. The houses around this area are craftsman style on heavily treed streets. In addition this area of Denver is near more lakes, Berkeley, Rocky Mountain, Sloan's. I would suggest all this area.

You could also look at some neighborhoods along the Southwest Rail Corridor, so you can take the train directly to Auraria. You can then in the Baker neighborhood off Broadway. Actually you can live in Englewood, near the rail station or Littleton. Now, I know that these are suburbs but these areas are very urban and are surrounded by Denver. Or you can live near the stations on the Southeast Corridor because both corridors merge before Auraria. Some good areas would be Platte Park, around Pearl, and the University of Denver area

For your budget, Cherry Creek, may be beyond reach. But other nearby, neighborhoods like Congress Park may be more affordable.

If you are looking for a Bike trail then the trails along Cherry Creek and the Platte River Greenway would work.

Livecontent

2bindenver · 06-16-2009, 01:33 PM

There are good neighborhoods all over Denver. Along the Highline Canal would be easy for biking, along light rail would be easy, all in Denver.

From Southmoor to Sunnyside to Harvey Park to Observatory Park...

DenverAztec · 06-16-2009, 09:43 PM

Since there will be days that you cannot bike to work, I would suggest an area alone the light rail lines as they will lead to the Auraria campus. This will help with the cost of parking a car as the campus is basically downtown. Best wishes to you!