Your thoughts on Denver suburbs (Colorado Springs, Fort Collins: best suburbs, real estate, foreclosure)

[Jane11e]

Hi everyone,
My husband will be graduating from law school next spring, and we are thinking Denver might be a good place to start our family and his career. We have lived in Provo, Utah for the past 6 years and we love the mountains and all the perks mountains bring with them--no humidity (big one), so many recreational options (another big one), and great scenery & views. We are currently interning in Dallas, TX for the summer and love the low cost of living here, but I am really missing the mountains we are so used to. Therefore, I'm having second thoughts about making Dallas our permanent home after my husband is done with law school. The problem is that we don't know very much about Denver and so it seems like a big risk to give up a job offer in Dallas without "testing the waters" in Denver, yet we really don't have any time to do that since we'll be here in Dallas the whole summer, and then school starts in the fall. We're thinking of Denver (rather than other cities in Colorado) simply because we figure he'd have a better chance of great legal career opportunities in a bigger metro like Denver as opposed to Colorado Springs or Fort Collins. However, if he did work in downtown Denver, we would like to live in a suburb because we plan to have a growing family (currently pregnant with our first) and I would like to be a stay-at-home mom. WHAT DENVER SUBURBS WOULD YOU RECOMMEND? WHAT KIND OF COMMUTE COULD WE EXPECT FROM THOSE SUBURBS? Are the commutes dangerous in the winter when roads are icy and snowy? Are the mountains even that close in Denver? The biggest drawback of Denver compared to Dallas is obviously the higher cost of living, especially the higher cost of buying a home. HOW MUCH CAN WE EXPECT TO PAY FOR A 4-BEDROOM, LESS-THAN-5-YEARS-OLD (OR NEWLY BUILT?) HOME IN A DENVER SUBURB?

Any other thoughts or opinions on the "real deal" of Denver would be greatly appreciated. We really miss the mountains, yet we don't know much about Denver at all. Thanks SO MUCH for all of your help!

[Boxer]

Check internet real estate sites for home prices. THey vary depending on the area. You will find some good deals on the east side of the city as oppossed to the mountains in the west. We just bought in Evergreen and the prices were OK but we are coming from NYC, Good luck

[Micktooth]

My family and I moved to Louisville, near Boulder last year. We only new 2 people in the area. After only one year, we have so many great friends. We have 2 kids, 13 and 11 and they both have done well. Louisville was recently ranked as one of the best places in the entire country to raise a family. I work in Denver and it takes me about 30-40 min in rush hour. I don't think it's too bad. My family lives in Ft Worth and my wife and I used to live in Dallas. We think the Denver area is soooo much better to live in. The winters here usually aren't too bad, this past year was the exception. But if you lived in Utah, you shouldn't have any problems. The mountains are about 30-45 min west on I-70. Obviously there are so many activities for families. You shouldn't be afraid to look in any areas along the "front range" from Ft Collins down to Colorado Springs. If you need more specific info just ask. There are many people on this board who can help. You will love Colorado!

[2bindenver]

I live near light rail and expect to pay anywhere from $260,000+

[bouldercol]

Ahhh!! Beautiful Provo, Uath. Have lots of college friends there. Great town. Colorado has been my home all of my life and I wouldn't have it any other way! I grew up in Colorado Springs, but now live in Boulder where I too am looking to start a family. Denver is in my humble opinion, is the best city in the nation! If you want mountains, then Denver spares no expense.

As far as the best suburbs go, the only way to tell that is to come and visit. I mean, I could go on and on about them all, but to be honest, they are all really great. Some are not so pleasent around the edges, but most have everything that you are looking for. I love Boulder! Boulder is a city in and of itself, but without the ecoconimc might of Denver, Boulder wouldn't be what it is today. Since moving to the area, I have found that many people, like myself, have found excellent employment in Boulder, so travel is not an issue. But I know many that make the commute down to Denver everyday. I'm not sure how far it is in miles, but it has never taken me more than an hour to be in dowtown Denver from my front door.

What I love about Boulder is that it has a vibe all its own. Something that many suburbs thoughout the nation lack. The schools in this area are superb, and a local highschool sits right on the college campus making it that much more exciting to go to school. The university is almost pucture prefect! Boulder is home to the flat iron mountains, which are spectacuar. Shopping and dining are very convienent, and rival many towns its size throughout the nation. Entertainment for children and adults is eveywhere, and if you can't find it in Boudler, than Denver or Ft. Collins is bound to have it. But the best part about the city would have to be he proximity to the outdoors, which makes great family weekend getaways. I have had the moutains in my backyard my entire life, but everytime I step into one of the HUNDREDS of national parks, you feel like you are miles away from anything metro. The mountains are right at our doorstep, so if hiking, camping, fishing, canoeing, jogging, etc. are what you want for your family, than look no further than Boulder. Denver winters are not to bad usually. There is the usual, and it is aways better to leave for work a few mins. early those months to make up for it, but nothing to bad. The day to day traffic througout the year can be a bit frustrating at times. But compared to bigger cities like New York, Chicago, LA, and Pheonix, it is a walk in the park. When I moved from Colorado Springs, it was a slight wake-up call, but the majority of heavy trafic is centered in the Denver itself, not the surrounding areas.

Like I said, Denver metro has so many things to give to a growing family that it is hard to choose the best. Like Micktooth stated, Louisville is another GREAT area! The downside to anything in Denver, the price. Housing here is very expensive. It is not uncommon at all for houses to reach into the 500K area. Boulder being one of the most expensive. But with the high quality of life, and family values it is easy to see why homes prices have rise as much as thet have.

If you have anymore questions feel free to drop a private mesage and I will do my best to share everything I know about all the great locations in Colorado. Good Luck!

[jazzlover]

Jane11e,

I am told that Denver is one of the most competitive areas in the country for attorneys looking for jobs (and I have worked with a number of attorneys who are based in Denver). That makes sense to me--a lot of people share your dream of living there.

I am not a fan of Denver metro or its suburbs, and I grew up there way back when. Too sprawled and too populated with people whose only goal is life is accumulating "stuff"--a hedonist's paradise. If that's what you're into, Denver is OK, I guess.

If you're more into having kids that don't turn into little consumer mall rats, I think that there are better places--and you lived in one of them--Utah. I am not LDS, but I do think their communities have a much stronger family ethic than most communities in Colorado.

As for commuting in Denver, it may be easier than some places, but the people I know who do it everyday still think it sucks. Light rail has helped for people who work downtown. Yes, driving can be a pain when the roads are bad in the winter--which, thankfully, isn't that often.

Others will extoll Denver's virtues to you. No doubt, there are much worse places. For me, I only go there when I have to. Otherwise, I avoid the place like the plague.

[tfox]

To answer your question, the median home price in the Denver area, the last time I checked, was at $235,000.00 This will depend very much on exactly which direction you choose to go. There are a few suburban enclaves with median prices well in the millions, while the foreclosure-hit Adams and Weld county subdivisions are going to be far less than that today as a median price.

I suggest you do some research to see what is important to you. Schools? Proximity to the mountains? Proximity to employment centers? House size and/or newness? Affordable home prices? These are all tradeoffs you have to make. You cannot have everything in one home.

As for your desire for new housing, you have to consider that the close-in locations have already been built on, for the most part. Newer housing tends to be in more distant, less convenient locations, although there are some exceptions. This becomes part of your trade-off calculations.

[hello-world]

Originally Posted by jazzlover

Jane11e,

I am told that Denver is one of the most competitive areas in the country for attorneys looking for jobs (and I have worked with a number of attorneys who are based in Denver). That makes sense to me--a lot of people share your dream of living there.

I am not a fan of Denver metro or its suburbs, and I grew up there way back when. Too sprawled and too populated with people whose only goal is life is accumulating "stuff"--a hedonist's paradise. If that's what you're into, Denver is OK, I guess.

If you're more into having kids that don't turn into little consumer mall rats, I think that there are better places--and you lived in one of them--Utah. I am not LDS, but I do think their communities have a much stronger family ethic than most communities in Colorado.

As for commuting in Denver, it may be easier than some places, but the people I know who do it everyday still think it sucks. Light rail has helped for people who work downtown. Yes, driving can be a pain when the roads are bad in the winter--which, thankfully, isn't that often.

Others will extoll Denver's virtues to you. No doubt, there are much worse places. For me, I only go there when I have to. Otherwise, I avoid the place like the plague.

a strong second on this. a hedonists paradise in a seemingly increasingly cartoon-like, often soul-less or characterless way. and competitive, for sure, with so many people of the types wanting in on that for whatever reasons.

[kristinapril]

Loved your question as we are in the same situation. We live in Longview, TX and my husband is currently looking for work in the Colorado Springs or Denver area because we LOVE the mountains. When we visit the area for vacation we always stay outside of Denver in Westminster. It SEEMS to be like what Frisco, TX is to Dallas and we like it. Everything seems very clean and new and somewhat upscale and all of the people we have come in contact with are friendly(of course we are tourists). I too am a stay at home mom. My search for homes had not lead to anything. Just by looking on the internet, homes are at least 3x what they are here. I want to actually look out my windows and see the mountains and I haven't had any luck yet finding anything like that yet. I did contact the Westminster school district questioning their test scores and they responded very politely the same day and gave me all of the information that I asked for. I will be checking back your post to see if you receive any more information because the post that I listed did not receive any information that actually helped me. I wish you the best of luck on your move.

[Katarina Witt]

You can access all sorts of information about public schools on the Colo Dept of Ed website. I do not know it, you will have to google it. My personal opinion is that Broomfield is a bit "nicer" than Westminister, good schools, sense of community. But then, I never lived in Westminster (nor Broofield but live near it and am familiar with it), so I could be wrong. Housing is not cheap anywhere here. If you get a west view, you can see the mtns from just about anywhere in the metro area. You will have to look at houses to know for sure.