Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi, I'm a single mom moving to Denver. I'm 42, he's 17; and I'm feeling a little lost about finding a good neighborhood for both of us. I would pick something quiet and upscale or trendy/artsy -- but I don't want him to feel bored, or left out, or completely out of his element.
When your kids are young, it's easy to just pick the best school district and look for lots of activities, green open space, and safe neighborhoods. Teenagers have a lot more autonomy and would rather get around on their own.
If you were seventeen and you lived in the Denver area, where would you want to be living? The city is fine, I'd be happy with that, but what neighborhoods are relatively safe and interesting to be in for a kid that age?
My parents moved us to Denver in 1968 when I was turning 14.
We lived in the Southern Hills neighborhood and also Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed
We won't go into my angst, the main reason I am telling you this is so you'll know that I have an inkling of what your kid feels (though 17 is worse.) Obviously Denver has changed a lot since then, but we raised two boys of our own there, moved away in 2005.
I don't know what you can afford. Are you going to rent permanently, or for a year or so?
Some people swear by the suburbs, but that is not the recommendation you are going to get from me.
I agree with you about relatively safe and interesting, and actually there are plenty of green spaces in Denver proper.
Basically my parameters suggest: north of Hampden, east of Broadway, or west of Monaco. I honestly am not sure what my northern boundary would be. I had friends at 23rd and Decatur.
We lived in a more affordable section of Country Club called Country Club North. This is the East High school district, zipcode 80218. Downtown was minutes away, shopping was within walking distance.
South of there is Wash Park East and Wash Park west, also Belcaro and Cory.
Nearer to CC are neighborhoods such as Capitol Hill, Congress Park, Alamo Placita, Baker.
Across Colorado Blvd, to the west, is the Hilltop neighborhood--rather ritzy.
Immediately south of Hilltop is Virgina Vale.
Northeast is Park Hill (my brother and his wife and two teens live there.) East is Montclair, and Stapleton and Lowry.
I think my kids had friends in just about all of these neighborhoods except for Baker. Before they were driving, I had to take them places, or maybe they took the bus or rode their bikes, but (aside from competitve soccer) nothing was ever too far away.
This is probably overwhelming, but perhaps other people will chime in and help you narrow your choices.
Blue Willow Plate alluded to something I would like to address. My parents moved from suburban Pittsburgh to a much smaller college town in Pennsylvania when my brother was 17. My mom was rightly concerned about his adjustment to a move for his senior year of high school. She talked to a counselor (or someone) at the new high school who told her they would basically find the same type of people in the new town as they found in the old one. In other words, if they felt the people in the old place were mean, etc, that's the kind of people they would find in the new place. And vice versa. My bro did get through the year, found some friends who were similar to his friends back in the Pittsburgh area. He probably made a different college choice than he would have made had he stayed in the Pgh area, but that was OK too.
My first thoughts when reading the title of your post were similar to what BWP said. Kids of that age tend to find the city very interesting, and there are a lot of nice city neighborhoods in Denver. East High is well-regarded.
I think I got the answer I was looking for from you. I'm worried about moving him already: sticking him in some subdivision for his senior would be horrible -- I think it's much harder to make friends out in the suburbs and much easier for a kid to find himself with a computer for a friend.
My son is a very easygoing type and never seems to have trouble making friends wherever he goes. I just don't want to completely ruin his chances in that regard by picking a place that seems safe and fantastic for me and specifically rotten for him.
We're going to be moving to Denver permanently. If I moved to this place East High with him in a few months, would this be a neighborhood I'd want to stay in when he jetted off to college in a year or two, or would it be better to rent for a year and examine my options after that?
I think I got the answer I was looking for from you. I'm worried about moving him already: sticking him in some subdivision for his senior would be horrible -- I think it's much harder to make friends out in the suburbs and much easier for a kid to find himself with a computer for a friend.
My son is a very easygoing type and never seems to have trouble making friends wherever he goes. I just don't want to completely ruin his chances in that regard by picking a place that seems safe and fantastic for me and specifically rotten for him.
We're going to be moving to Denver permanently. If I moved to this place East High with him in a few months, would this be a neighborhood I'd want to stay in when he jetted off to college in a year or two, or would it be better to rent for a year and examine my options after that?
Thanks so much for your help!
Well, everyone is an individual, but yes, I think you'd like living in the E. High attendance area, also probably South High area. I always recommend renting at first, to get a feel for the area. It's all "Chemistry".
I am going to go against the earlier opinion and present the opposite view. You don't give enough information here regarding where you are coming from, whether it was city, rural, suburban, etc. and what your 17 year old likes to do to give a good recommendation on where to go. All the views presented so point to the city but without info on you teen it no slam dunk that the city is the place that I would go. My experience has been that teens I know want to do things that aren't specific to the city (ie they can't go clubbing yet or maybe some other activities that are 18+). I just wanted to present some information on what might be found attractive outside the city. Keep in mind if you come from an urban background the previous posts would steer you to good places. Also keep in mind that renting will give the option to meet their needs for a year or two and then go somewhere you want to go.
Older suburbs are another place to get away from the 'subdivison' of the newer areas. Englewood, Northglenn, west Centennial, Arvada, etc. offer good neighborhoods that don't have that cul-de-sac feel. Suburban schools in general have better sports programs if that's what your teen enjoys. Not sure if it's the fad today still, but suburban malls are better for 'hanging out' and would offer a good place for employment. Moreover, surrounding libraries offer very good materials selection and resources and many are better in my opinion than Denver (exceptions being Denver main which is a pain to get to and to get around because of its size and the Schlessman branch). If your teen likes ice hockey or field hockey, suburban areas offer greater access. As for making friends being harder in the suburbs, that may or may not be true, but it doesn't sound like a problem.
In any case I just wanted to present some general 'qualities' that suburba areas around Denver have that may or may not be of interest. I've specifically not wanted to focus on any single suburb. Just giving an overview.
Last edited by chilicheesefries; 07-20-2009 at 12:00 AM..
I think I got the answer I was looking for from you. I'm worried about moving him already: sticking him in some subdivision for his senior would be horrible -- I think it's much harder to make friends out in the suburbs and much easier for a kid to find himself with a computer for a friend.
My son is a very easygoing type and never seems to have trouble making friends wherever he goes. I just don't want to completely ruin his chances in that regard by picking a place that seems safe and fantastic for me and specifically rotten for him.
We're going to be moving to Denver permanently. If I moved to this place East High with him in a few months, would this be a neighborhood I'd want to stay in when he jetted off to college in a year or two, or would it be better to rent for a year and examine my options after that?
Thanks so much for your help!
It's great that your kid is easygoing, our younger one is too, which helped when we moved him at 16. (It would have been a different story with his older brother.)
East High's boundaries cover a bit of territory; I have a feeling you probably could find a place you like.
But can you come out and take a look? You don't have to lock in to East High. I loved it, my kid did too, but that's just us.
Chilicheese makes a good point that we don't really know where you are coming from (or what you can afford). Also, *established* suburban communities such as Littleton or Englewood do have a lot to offer--or you could go out to Jefferson County.
I recommended Denver proper to you because of your mentioning safe, upscale, trendy/artsy.
IMHO the heart of Denver is where it's at for anyone who likes to go to concerts, indie movies, galleries, museums, the Botanic Gardens etc but does not want a trek.
This is *not* to say that all 'burbs are a wasteland, but as an example, my boys used to just ride their bikes to Denver's Main Library.
I could walk to the Esquire theater or to the Cherry Creek Mall.
You actually could live downtown if you wanted to, but that might be a bit too urban.
I think you should rent at first no matter what, but that's just my opinion.
I know moving is a pain in the rear end, we sure did a lot of it when we first got out here, but I am glad we waited to buy.
As Katiana says, it's all chemistry.
Any of the neighborhoods west and southwest of downtown, they are older, established neighborhoods with yuppie-type people in their 30s and 40s, more of the "artistic" trendy types.
Chilicheese makes a good point that we don't really know where you are coming from (or what you can afford). Also, *established* suburban communities such as Littleton or Englewood do have a lot to offer--or you could go out to Jefferson County.
I recommended Denver proper to you because of your mentioning safe, upscale, trendy/artsy.
IMHO the heart of Denver is where it's at for anyone who likes to go to concerts, indie movies, galleries, museums, the Botanic Gardens etc but does not want a trek.
I was reading the OP as wanting safe, upscale and trendy/artsy for herself but for now settling for what her 17 year old would enjoy. That would involve renting for a year or two where her teen would best fit in and then once they were in college she would have the option to move into her type of neighborhood. If she can find one right now that fits both bills that would be great, but I couldn't tell from what she had said what her teen would like!
The heart of Denver is good for getting to those places easily no question. The argument that us surbanites have is that we believe we would rather live in our neighborhoods and make the trek (20 minutes from where I live) once a week or whenever we want to go somewhere downtown. The question we ask ourselves is would we go to those types of places more often if we were closer to them - the answer for me is no, that's just something I like to do once in a while. We still have good access to downtown and have better access to what we want, so I wanted to give OP info about what their teen might want that is better found in suburbs that might sway her decision.
My son is a typical teen, but he's not too sports oriented. He mostly likes computers, music, the internet, etc. In a lot of ways he and I are similar and he's pretty sophisticated but he still obviously would rather be with people his own age than hang out with mom.
Thanks for mentioning the suburbs. I wondered about Arvada -- Denver is a big place and there is no way I could get enough insight on my own without your help!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
