Denver Area

[NinjaPoodle]

I've got a friend possibly moving to Denver. Anyone know the Denver area and safe neighborhoods there?

Muchas Gracias

[knight_shadow]

I'm sure someone else will chime in, but I'd have your friend check out City Data. I'm a member there and there are a lot of helpful threads for people moving to different cities.

[AXOmom]

I lived in Denver (well- Metro Denver) from age 7 to 18 and still have friends there, but I am middle aged now, and haven't been back in awhile, so please take this info with a grain of salt and realize it might be dated.

When I lived there, and I think this is still the case, the best neighborhoods were in the far south/southeast end of town. This would be Cherry Creek, Aurora, Littleton (south/southwest), and southern/southwestern Jefferson County (which includes part of Littleton). That territory now stretches down to Castle Rock almost to Colorado Springs.

I am not as familiar with the north side, but when I lived there, Arvada, Thorton, and Broomfield were pretty decent as well (this are pushing up near Boulder which is BEAUTIFUL, expensive, and where CU is located).

Generally, we avoided Denver city schools like the plague (although I had friends who went to them and survived just fine), but this may have changed, and there was an old money area in Denver near South High School, that was quite nice. The name escapes me. Things may have changed. At the time I was there if you were going to live in Denver proper, and you had kids, Bear Creek which is partially in Denver and partially in Lakewood were your best bet.

If he/she wants to live in the city, LoDo and 5 Points have been radically revamped since I lived there, and are supposedly very "urban trendy". This is a 180 shift from my days.

Hope that helps. Maybe someone is lurking around who lives there now or more recently than me and can give you some updated advice.

[Benzgirl]

I travel on business to Denver several times a year and stay in Littleton. It seems very safe to me and the hotel where I stay is on the rail line. A high school friend lives in Littleton and loves it.

My cousin lives in Greenwood Village, which is next to Littleton. It's beautiful, but all I can say is her house is $$$$$$$$. She used to live in Conover, but it was too far from the city and her twice daily trips to drop the kids at prep school.

A former co-worker, his wife and 5 kids live in Cherry Creek and he can't stop talking about how much he loves the community.

[excelblue]

I grew up in the area -- age 2 to 15 in Westminster.

Yeah, the advice you got here so far is rock solid.

Best areas are far south of the city (eg. Cherry Creek, Centennial, Castle Rock) as well as to the northwest (eg. Westminster, Arvada, Broomfield, etc.). If you keep on going northwest, you'll reach Boulder, which is also extremely nice but also expensive.

Overall, though, I'd say the whole area is quite safe compared to several other metro areas.

[WCsweet<3]

Littleton is pretty nice. There are a lot of newer developments popping out there like Highlands Ranch. Also Ken Caryl seems great, but I haven't spent a ton of time there.

My godsister moved to Littleton to start her family. My godmother moved to Highlands Ranch after she retired. Ken Caryl is where my boyfriend's mother moved. All three love their areas.

The advice above are all pretty good. My only thing is that Cherry Creek can be really expensive.

Calling Pearlbubbles...

[NinjaPoodle]

You guys, THANK YOU!! I've forwarded all this information to my friend and I hope it helps her and a BIG THANK YOU to BAckbOwlsgIrl! You've been MOST helpful!

[pearlbubbles]

You rang WCsweet?

I just noticed this thread, so I'm sorry; I've been out of town. I moved back down to Denver after graduating in May from Boulder, but I was raised in suburbia from age three, so let me see what I can do for you.

The nicest areas to live in for families are definitely all in the south metro Denver area. Englewood (west of Sante Fe), Littleton, Centennial, Cherry Creek, Greenwood Village, Parker, Highlands Ranch/Lone Tree, and the newer parts of Aurora (I'd personally avoid anything that gets past Parker/Quincy and E-470).

Anything near 36 (but not in the area directly surrounding it) is nice as well, depending on how far north your friend can be of Denver. Westminster, Broomfield, Thornton, Lousiville, Boulder, and Longmont (though probably a bit too north) are all nice places. Even further south I'd recommend Castle Rock.

Fort Collins and Colorado Springs are also both nice, safe areas (though I do not know them as well as the areas I've already mentioned), but aren't really viable suggestions within driving distance of Denver (they're about an hour away without rush hour traffic).

The best public school districts in the area are Cherry Creek, LPS, JeffCo, and Highlands Ranch. Boulder is nice if you're looking for alternative education (it's a more "radical" teaching style as opposed to the others I listed which are the liberal style). To my knowledge, all of these districts also have some sort of charter school affiliation.

Of the areas listed, the more expensive ones are going to be Boulder/Longmont, Cherry Creek, Greenwood Village, and Highlands Ranch. Cost of living/the housing market have remained stable in Boulder since around 2005, if I remember correctly, so there's that. Highlands Ranch has gotten a bit more affordable though, so that's nice.

If family and schooling isn't a concern, I would definitely shy away from the suburban areas I mentioned. The areas to live are either right around the Denver Tech Center or right in the heart of downtown. The DTC area has lots of new trendy apartments that are awesome and there's tons of fun little bars in the area. I wouldn't get too far out of the area though, because then you mostly get into the highly priced housing area of Parker/Cherry Creek depending on what side you go to (but it's definitely a safe area). As far as downtown itself, you want to stay as close to the city center as possible, preferably in the pocket created by 25, 70, and Broadway/Lincoln that makes LoDo.

I know this is a week late, but I hope this information will still be useful to your friend, NinjaPoodle. If either of you have any more questions, feel free to send me a PM. I could go on and on and on about Denver, but I'm not sure what else other than safety and proximity to Denver is important to pass on.

[NinjaPoodle]

Thank you PearlBubbles! I'll forward my friend the info.