Colorado wisdom?

[bofa]

Yes...THAT! So sick of seeing CA license plates...grrrr. Traffic, entitlement attitude, and overall clogging of anything any place that is any good are just a few of the byproducts of the MASSIVE influx we've seen to our state over the past 10-15 years.

But I'm trying to get over it...ha.

Is that the same sense of entitlement that leads some people to believe outsiders aren't welcome?

I know you guys are half kidding... well maybe some of you... but our mind is made up. Just looking for some tips.

 

[SgnDen]

:rockthrow:

OK - Now that I am done ranting about the trashing of our state, I'll offer some input.

Get ready for full-on Chamber of Commerce download, though pardon my occasional bitterness for the changes over the years. imp:

I was born downtown, grew-up in the DU area up until Jr. High then down south to Littleton for the rest. I have owned homes in Littleton, Centennial, South Denver, Parker (when it was truly horse country) and Central Denver. I currently live in the DENVER Highlands just West of downtown (NOT to be confused with the nightmare suburbia "Stepford" Highlands Ranch).

Not sure what kind of lifestyle you seek or what your price range is so it's kinda tough to recommend. But here is my take:

1) Far South/Southeast (Castle Rock, Parker) - HUGE suburban sprawl. Every conceivable service, mall, chain restaurants, tract housing ($350k - $500k) to very very nice developments (into the millions $) and everything in between. VERY clogged roads lily white "keep up with the Jones's" type of thing. You can head East and South of Parker and find lots, but you are OUT there (1-2 hrs from Denver). Castle Rock is really very nice...with some exceptional developments to the North (Castle Pines)...in the rocks/hills/pines. But it is insular and FAR from Denver though many make the commute (nuts).

2) South (Centennial/Greenwood Village) - Between 20 and 40 mins from downtown NOT in rush hour. Greenwood Village around the Tech Center is nice but high $ and snobby. Cherry Hills area is amazing (BIG $). I raised my kids in the Centennial area not far from Park Meadows. Nice area with anything you'd every want or need if you want suburban life. The south side is generally traffic clogged (nothing like Atlanta, Houston, CA, though of course).

3) Southwest (Englewood, Littleton) - Giant range of neighborhoods from old Littleton (little houses, main street, etc) to huge "average" older neighborhoods. Inconvenient if you want to get into the city but some nice and decent priced areas for sure.

4) East (Aurora) - Stay away...period. 90% dump with far Northeast being very bad and many parts outright dangerous (well, as dangerous as it can be out here).

5) Denver City Neighborhoods - Bonnie Brae is top notch old brick homes, Washington Park very nice but overrun by some of the first surges of people from CA, etc. who sold their POS cardboard homes in CA and sucked-up beautiful old neighborhoods, often scraped-off the original home and crammed bigger versions on the lot. Very much "Buffy and Kip" with their 2.5 kids and a dog these days...cool neighborhood shop areas with good restaurants but cliquey and a 'scene' almost everywhere. Park Hill/City Park - Some really great big brick homes, a nice range, I really like the area and it has changed quite a bit over the years (nicer). Covers a broad range from older still-gentrifying areas streets to killer places in Park Hill. Hilltop - Has been really taken over across the years by $$ and has great homes like Park Hill. Cherry Creek - Trying to become the Beverly Hills of Denver. Great shopping area (Cherry Creek North). Land of plastic surgery and fancy cars for sure. Some great, great restaurants. Very very yuppie mixed with older men and women trying to look and act like they are 30. Downtown (LoDo, etc) - Lofts, big-time gentrification. Some really GREAT places (lofts, apartments) if you want to have the city life without the BS of many major cities. Some area in the Platte Valley area are really going for uber-cool artist type communities. Sketchy but cool. The Highlands (West Highland, Lower Highlands, Potter HIghlands- Great older Denver neighborhood that has not been completely ruined by transplants (sorry) who turn these cool old brick homes into their little mini mansion nightmares or cheapo looking pop-tops. Lots of gentrification happening in LoHi and massive number of great restaurants/bars. It's younger population with more than it's fair share of "hipsters"...mixed-in with old Mexican families who have been there for generations.

North (Arvada, Thornton, Westminster) - More middle of the road and working class decent areas but some pretty worn-out cheap housing.

Boulder - Very nice of course, but full of people who came from other states and drove prices out of the world, then act all indignant that others want to live there. Lots and lots of people who want to act all "down market" as they load-up their $400 worth of 'natural' foods at Whole Foods and take it out to their Porsche to drive to their $700k 2 bedroom house. Though many people who have been there forever and are in that heavy cosmic mindset. Elitist, is the term that fits these days, sadly, though.

I am leaving out a lot more drill-down in some of my favorite neighborhoods in the city (e.g. 7th Ave between Colorado and Downing - amazing and $$$$).

OK - Done...That was fun.

 

[SgnDen]

The 1/2 hour reference was more for weekend purposes. We really enjoyed the museums, zoo, and some of the downtown festivities so we prefer to be within a quick drive. Although, for the right area/house/schools I'm sure we are flexible. My wife has no intention of teaching downtown and will likely end up working close to where we plan to live long term.

Price will be a factor of course, but I've found listings and new construction that are well within our price range already so I'm not too concerned.

What don't you like about Douglas county? I think that's the area we were specifically planning to explore.

BoFa - Cherry Creek School District is the best. Check it out. By far the best.

 

[Dusty Driftwood]

My sister has lived in Boulder for about 5 years now and my wife's brother has been out there finishing his PhD in meteorology for the last 3 years at the University of Boulder. We vacationed out there about a month ago and I miss it everyday. Personally, I would move there today if I could, but we have a little one on the way and want the support system of our family here in St. Louis. At least for the first few years.
We figure we'll outgrow our current home in the next 5 years, at which time we'll decide wether we want to move elsewhere in St. Louis or make the jump over to CO. Out of curiosity, I started looking up the cost of living differential between St. Louis and Denver and the biggest thing I noticed was housing and (restaurant) food costs.
We were all over the place and our hotel was in Lakewood, which is SW of Denver. It seemed to be an ok part of town, but obviously not the nicest area we visited. I would probably choose to live North of there, which would still be West of Denver, but it would really depend on where we could find work.
And, for the record, I am relatively good with computers, what is your company/business?:naughty:

 

[bofa]

OK - Now that I am done ranting about the trashing of our state, I'll offer some input.

Get ready for full-on Chamber of Commerce download, though pardon my occasional bitterness for the changes over the years. imp:

I was born downtown, grew-up in the DU area up until Jr. High then down south to Littleton for the rest. I have owned homes in Littleton, Centennial, South Denver, Parker (when it was truly horse country) and Central Denver. I currently live in the DENVER Highlands just West of downtown (NOT to be confused with the nightmare suburbia "Stepford" Highlands Ranch).

Not sure what kind of lifestyle you seek or what your price range is so it's kinda tough to recommend. But here is my take:

1) Far South/Southeast (Castle Rock, Parker) - HUGE suburban sprawl. Every conceivable service, mall, chain restaurants, tract housing ($350k - $500k) to very very nice developments (into the millions $) and everything in between. VERY clogged roads lily white "keep up with the Jones's type of thing. You can head East and South of Parker and find lots, but you are OUT there (1-2 hrs from Denver). Castle Rock is really very nice...with some exceptional developments to the North (Castle Pines)...in the rocks/hills/pines.

2) South (Centennial/Greenwood Village) - Between 20 and 40 mins from downtown NOT in rush hour. Greenwood Village around the Tech Center is nice but high $ and snobby. Cherry Hills area is amazing (BIG $). I raised my kids in the Centennial area not far from Park Meadows. Nice area with anything you'd every want or need if you want suburban life.

3) Southwest (Englewood, Littleton) - Giant range of neighborhoods from old Littleton (little houses, main street, etc) to huge "average" older neighborhoods. Inconvenient if you want to get into the city but some nice and decent priced areas for sure.

4) East (Aurora) - Stay away...period. 90% dump with far Northeast being very bad and many parts outright dangerous (well, as dangerous as it can be out here).

5) Denver City Neighborhoods - Bonnie Brae is top notch old brick homes, Washington Park very nice but overrun by some of the first surges of people from CA, etc. who sold their POS cardboard homes in CA and sucked-up beautiful old neighborhoods, often scraped-off the original home and crammed bigger versions on the lot. Very much "Buffy and Kip" with their 2.5 kids and a dog these days...cool neighborhood shop areas with good restaurants but cliquey and a 'scene' almost everywhere. Park Hill/City Park - Some really great big brick homes, a nice range, I really like the area and it has changed quite a bit over the years (nicer). Covers a broad range from older still-gentrifying areas streets to killer places in Park Hill. Hilltop - Has been really taken over across the years by $$ and has great homes like Park Hill. Cherry Creek - Trying to become the Beverly Hills of Denver. Great shopping area (Cherry Creek North). Land of plastic surgery and fancy cars for sure. Some great, great restaurants. Very very yuppie mixed with older men and women trying to look and act like they are 30. Downtown (LoDo, etc) - Lofts, big-time gentrification. Some really GREAT places (lofts, apartments) if you want to have the city life without the BS of many major cities. Some area in the Platte Valley area are really going for uber-cool artist type communities. Sketchy but cool. The Highlands (West Highland, Lower Highlands, Potter HIghlands- Great older Denver neighborhood that has not been completely ruined by transplants (sorry) who turn these cool old brick homes into their little mini mansion nightmares or cheapo looking pop-tops. Lots of gentrification happening in LoHi and massive number of great restaurants/bars. It's younger population with more than it's fair share of "hipsters"...mixed-in with old Mexican families who have been there for generations.

North (Arvada, Thornton, Westminster) - More middle of the road and working class decent areas but some pretty worn-out cheap housing.

Boulder - Very nice of course, but full of people who came from other states and drove prices out of the world, then act all indignant that others want to live there. Lots and lots of people who want to act all "down market" as they load-up their $400 worth of 'natural' foods at Whole Foods and take it out to their Porsche to drive to their $700k 2 bedroom house. Aslo many people who have been there forever and are in that heavy cosmic mindset. Elitist, is the term that fits these days, sadly, though.

I am leaving out a lot more drill-down in some of my favorite neighborhoods in the city (e.g. 7th Ave between Colorado and Downing - amazing and $$$$).

OK - Done...That was fun.

Now that's what I was looking for. Thank you. Even though opinionated, I'm sure it's warranted based on experience.

We aren't above being out of the busy areas and building in newly developed, or even under-developed areas. We built this house 10 years ago when there was nothing out here but a local pizza place and a food lion and it's grown immensely since then. It sounds like we are really going to have to explore. I think we planned 3 days during our December trip for just driving around, exploring areas, and checking out property.

Price range... $300-400k is reasonable. I'd rather not be house poor. Hell if I can get cheaper, I will... more $$ for toys and weekend fun. We aren't the keeping up with the Joneses type. We like to do outdoorsy stuff but are not hardcore, nor are we the type to overstate what we are into. We just want to enjoy life and be around decent people. Sadly that's easier said than done.

How's the area south of Castle Rock but north of Colorado Springs? Monument or something along those lines? We will check out the Highlands area... just remember, if we end up rubbing elbows at the local grocery store it's your fault. :lmao:

 

[bofa]

BoFa - Cherry Creek School District is the best. Check it out. By far the best.

That's what I've found too. They really seem to have their stuff together which is a good match for my wife. I think it's top on her list to check out so far.

 

[bofa]

My sister has lived in Boulder for about 5 years now and my wife's brother has been out there finishing his PhD in meteorology for the last 3 years at the University of Boulder. We vacationed out there about a month ago and I miss it everyday. Personally, I would move there today if I could, but we have a little one on the way and want the support system of our family here in St. Louis. At least for the first few years.
We figure we'll outgrow our current home in the next 5 years, at which time we'll decide wether we want to move elsewhere in St. Louis or make the jump over to CO. Out of curiosity, I started looking up the cost of living differential between St. Louis and Denver and the biggest thing I noticed was housing and (restaurant) food costs.
We were all over the place and our hotel was in Lakewood, which is SW of Denver. It seemed to be an ok part of town, but obviously not the nicest area we visited. I would probably choose to live North of there, which would still be West of Denver, but it would really depend on where we could find work.
And, for the record, I am relatively good with computers, what is your company/business?:naughty:

Yeah, when I worked there it was pre-bubble and housing was pretty insane then too. Overall cost of living is supposedly 3-5% higher than here. I think it might be a little higher, but doable. I agree.. I think it will come down to housing. We'll probably have to balance between budget location more than anything.

I do system testing and debugging for a large record-keeping firm. If you have SQL, ADB2, Mainframe, dev or even basic QA experience I'm sure I could find a role for you. I've been here for 3 years and am quite happy. PM me if you want to talk more about it.

 

[Burt]

I currently live in Douglas county and love it. That would be un-incorporated Douglas County. That means no city, no HOA, no mega development, just a decent lot with a nice ranch home, garage and woodworking shop. If you want to buy a lot, then build a custom home, I suggest look into property in the foothills along the front range. Bring your plow though.

 

[bofa]

I currently live in Douglas county and love it. That would be un-incorporated Douglas County. That means no city, no HOA, no mega development, just a decent lot with a nice ranch home, garage and woodworking shop. If you want to buy a lot, then build a custom home, I suggest look into property in the foothills along the front range. Bring your plow though.

What area is considered the 'un-incorporated' area? My friends live in Lone Tree and seem very content with that area, but they are in an apartment. What you describe sounds pretty good. I haven't done much woodworking lately though. I sold most of my tools last year when we started getting ready for this move. Might be a good reason to buy new ones once we get there though.

 

[Burt]

No city, HOA development. All I have to answer to and pay taxes to is the county. By "lot" I assume you are referring to acreage? You won't find that in Lone Tree. In fact, I am about 1-mile from Lone Tree now (at work). You could find some good sized lots just east of Parker, north of Elisibeth for $400K range.
This realtor has done great for me, multiple times... Ira Cohn
http://www.metrobrokersonline.com/agents/Ira.Cohn
Tell him, Burt sent ya.

 

[bofa]

I'm really undecided. I'm guessing we will end up building new on a smaller parcel or in a neighborhood. I would love to get some acreage but that's moreso been a dream for a while and not likely to happen unless I come across a great deal.

 

[Burt]

I hear ya. Acreage is great, but much up keep and other things like drilling a well and laying a septic system in.

 

[veloindy]

This is what it looked like here today, bofa. Are you sure you want to move west? Better show the first pic to your wife!

 

[bofa]

I just did and she loved it. :bravo:

This may sound weird, but we're looking forward to the snow.

 

[SgnDen]

That's what I've found too. They really seem to have their stuff together which is a good match for my wife. I think it's top on her list to check out so far.

My s/o is a Special Ed teacher and is really in love with the tougher districts. My sister in-law is the district Psychologist for Cherry Creek. My kids went to West Middle School and it was top notch.

Douglas county has solid schools as well. Lots of competition out here for teachers. As people want to be here of course. Can't blame em.

 

[bofa]

I'm interested to see how long it takes her to get a job. Hopefully she'll have it worked out before school starts next year. If not, no biggie... but she will be bored out of her mind and driving me nuts while I work.

 

[SgnDen]

Now that's what I was looking for. Thank you. Even though opinionated, I'm sure it's warranted based on experience.

We aren't above being out of the busy areas and building in newly developed, or even under-developed areas. We built this house 10 years ago when there was nothing out here but a local pizza place and a food lion and it's grown immensely since then. It sounds like we are really going to have to explore. I think we planned 3 days during our December trip for just driving around, exploring areas, and checking out property.

Price range... $300-400k is reasonable. I'd rather not be house poor. Hell if I can get cheaper, I will... more $$ for toys and weekend fun. We aren't the keeping up with the Joneses type. We like to do outdoorsy stuff but are not hardcore, nor are we the type to overstate what we are into. We just want to enjoy life and be around decent people. Sadly that's easier said than done.

How's the area south of Castle Rock but north of Colorado Springs? Monument or something along those lines? We will check out the Highlands area... just remember, if we end up rubbing elbows at the local grocery store it's your fault. :lmao:

Ha. Yeah, I know I am coming across as a crabby old man...really not the case! (Most of the time)

Monument is not my favorite. If you are looking remote but not more than an hour from stuff, I'd look out southeast of Parker like Kiowa for land over Monument. It's pretty put there. Just explore and you'll quickly get it. There are a LOT of really great areas here!

You will do just fine in your price range too. Though some of the city hoods are getting really pricey - like West Highlands/Highlands Square (again, not to be confused with Highlands Ranch).

Check out Perry Park too. It's really unusual out there...really great rock formations, etc. It is quite a ways from most things but not bad to get to Castle Rock, I'd guess.

Enjoy!

 

[04rnr]

I hope you know how to drive on snow and ice.
20 Car Pile up P.1 - EveryPlaylist.com - YouTube

20 Car Pile up P.1 - EveryPlaylist.com - YouTube

 

[bofa]

I hope you know how to drive on snow and ice.
20 Car Pile up P.1 - EveryPlaylist.com - YouTube

20 Car Pile up P.1 - EveryPlaylist.com - YouTube

If not, I'll aim for the blue 4R on the way down. I'm sure your bumper can handle it.

 

[04rnr]

If not, I'll aim for the blue 4R on the way down. I'm sure your bumper can handle it.

lol, it will NOT, but I think you have more common sense than most that move here. just remember, we have LOTS of illegals without auto ins. and just cause you have a green light, does NOT mean others will the red light will stop. out here a red light means 3 more cars are going. be fore warned.
Again, I think you will be fine.