Roxborough Park or Ken Caryl Valley (Highlands Ranch, Littleton: middle-class, real estate, manor house)

[MonkeyMama]

Hello. We are moving to the Littleton area this summer. From a distance, we like the Roxborough Park and Ken Caryl Valley areas in Littleton. My husband works at Lockheed Martin. We have two toddlers. We love the outdoors, desire a yard with a garden, want relative proximity to city stuff but not too close, great schools, and so forth. Can anyone tell us the pros and cons of the areas I've mentioned and compare the two? Any information will be helpful. Thank you!!

[2bindenver]

I had a c-d poster look at Rox, Trailmark, K-C, and south Jeffco before landing in a nice remodeled tri level in Ken Caryl, in November.

Your decision is personal. Look around, try out the views, the parks, the housing styles and see what fits you and your family.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Are the rumors of Roxborough's serious water problems true?

[TFRO]

We are in the exact same situation (moved with LM with young kids) only we've been here 2 days now. I've found that you really just have to get here and drive around. I know, that doesn't help. My advice is to come visit! We moved cold turkey and are feeling pressure to get out of temp. housing.

[2bindenver]

Wow. I admire the guts it took to move your whole family without the benefit of a real place to live.

If you have been here for three days, I bet you are starting to get oriented.

I moved here 21 years ago. Heard on Monday that we were moving. Left Saturday, got here Sunday. He drove straight through. He started work on Monday. Neither of us had ever been here before.

If you don't mind, tell us what you are looking for and why - I bet the nice folks here can give you some good suggestions.

[formercalifornian]

Originally Posted by MonkeyMama

Hello. We are moving to the Littleton area this summer. From a distance, we like the Roxborough Park and Ken Caryl Valley areas in Littleton. My husband works at Lockheed Martin. We have two toddlers. We love the outdoors, desire a yard with a garden, want relative proximity to city stuff but not too close, great schools, and so forth. Can anyone tell us the pros and cons of the areas I've mentioned and compare the two? Any information will be helpful. Thank you!!

If your gardening efforts include vegetables, you're going to find it tough in either location. Neither area gets enough hours of full sun for vegetable plants to produce much. Plus, the deer and other creatures will eat much of what you do get. Even flowers have to be protected vigorously.

I don't have any firsthand experience with Roxborough, but I have family in the valley behind the hogback. Winter weather can be a bit more severe than the rest of the metro area, but if you like snow, that might be a plus. It's an affluent area, so be prepared. I live in a nice area, too, but there's something about the valley portion of K-C that I find somewhat off-putting. That said, the community seems to be fairly tight-knit, and there are social activities like "Buffalo Days" to bring people together. My extended family has lived in the valley for over twenty years, and they love it there.

There is a stable for boarding horses, good hiking, and a nice restaurant in the Manor House, or at least there was last time I checked. Restaurants seem to come and go in that location. Chain restaurants, a large King Soopers (grocery), and other necessities can be found right outside the hogback on K-C Blvd. Houses range from about $350k to multiple millions, and there are pretty strict CC&Rs.

As I understand it, the community of homeowners bought a good bit of the open space to protect it from future development, and that seems to have helped keep property values stable. Houses don't seem to stay on the market very long in the valley, at least compared to the rest of the metro area.

I am not aware of any water issues facing K-C Valley, but don't take my word for it. Definitely check it out. There's a real estate agent who frequents C-D occasionally and who lives in K-C, but his name is escaping me right now. I'm sure he could give you the scoop. Let's hope he checks in.

Access to Waterton Canyon is great from either location.

Ken-Caryl schools are Jefferson County, although the mailing address is Littleton.

[TFRO]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

If you don't mind, tell us what you are looking for and why - I bet the nice folks here can give you some good suggestions.

I think the draw from afar to the areas of Roxburough and KC valley is that they are a little different and seem to personify Colorado with their proximity to the mountains and their rock formations jutting out of the ground. When you are in the middle of Highlands Ranch you could almost be anywhere, USA. Of course some areas do have amazing views and I'm trying to search out these areas in particular. Also, since I feel more apt to spend the weekend driving into the mountains to hike rather than taking a trail through a flat-ish green belt area, I'm thinking it's best to stay as far west as possible. Any suggestions?

[formercalifornian]

Originally Posted by TFRO

...since I feel more apt to spend the weekend driving into the mountains to hike rather than taking a trail through a flat-ish green belt area, I'm thinking it's best to stay as far west as possible.

If you choose K-C, the Massey Draw trail will take you right up to the ridge line. No driving required. Some climbing is required near the top, but the view is well worth the effort.

Photo link

[MonkeyMama]

Thank you for the feedback on my original thread. Some friends recommended the Roxborough Park area because they said it is unique. That it seems to be, but I don't really think I could take the distance from city life with two little ones! We're probably headed for the KC Valley. Great information about it provided here, so thank you! The interesting thing about coming from California to Colorado is the major price and size differences in housing. For what we paid out here to get an 1100 sq ft house will get us a mansion in an exclusive area there, apparently. We are so not the rich folks, but it's very entertaining to think of living somewhere that people might perceive us that way. We pretty much the poor folk on the coast!

[formercalifornian]

Originally Posted by MonkeyMama

Thank you for the feedback on my original thread. Some friends recommended the Roxborough Park area because they said it is unique. That it seems to be, but I don't really think I could take the distance from city life with two little ones! We're probably headed for the KC Valley. Great information about it provided here, so thank you! The interesting thing about coming from California to Colorado is the major price and size differences in housing. For what we paid out here to get an 1100 sq ft house will get us a mansion in an exclusive area there, apparently. We are so not the rich folks, but it's very entertaining to think of living somewhere that people might perceive us that way. We pretty much the poor folk on the coast!

If you can afford a mansion in Ken-Caryl Valley, then you are indeed wealthy. The extravagant houses in K-C top a million or more. The ones under $500k aren't going to look much different from a middle-class house in California and have about 2000 to 2500 sq. ft. on a fairly small lot. That's a nice house, no doubt, but it's hardly a mansion, so don't get ahead of yourself. While Colorado housing is definitely more affordable than California, it's still not cheap. Not by a long shot.