The Lodge at Castle Pines (Castle Pines North) -OR- Windrock & Stone Canyon (Parker) (Denver: apartment complex)

[popalina]

We have FINALLY narrowed it down to 2 places, both within our price range.

Lodge at Castle Pines: Pretty area, more convenient to the highway (husband works on Inverness near the Arapahoe airport), only 11 minute drive to his work, nice location for getting multiple different locations, larger apartment, includes garage, reviews say that there are tons of spiders there (shudder) and that some people have had mice, no view, pretentious people everywhere in Castle Pines? (I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to make friends if I wasn't carrying a Prada bag or golfing or something from the way people talk about Castle Pines. I drive a '98 VW, to give you some idea of our priorities.)

Stone Canyon: Has a playground and an open field in the back for our daughter that she would love to run around in, has 2 pools open year-round (although I don't know why I would want to swim in the winter...), supposedly a view of the montains over the community but I am having a hard time picturing that when I look at the location of our unit, 21 minute drive to his work if you avoid the toll (which we will), smaller living space by 130 square feet but has a better layout imo (only smaller by 50 feet when you consider the extra storage space it has), no garage, so close to the toll road that we will always have to avoid by taking Parker Road or some other road, lots of sex offenders nearby compared to Castle Pines, closer to Parker, seems to have more of a community feeling and lots of kids

Opinions? Experience with either? We are having such a hard time deciding!!!

[popalina]

Just give me something! Help! (lol) I just want to decide already, but we are having such a hard time. Not being able to come out and visit before picking a place is killing me. Can anyone give some insight into these areas or ideas about how we should make the choice. Just looking for ideas, illumination, food for thought.

Ugh. I can't WAIT for this move to be over and for us to spend a white Christmas in Colorado! Can't wait!

[Dreaming of Hawaii]

Having no garage would be a deal breaker for me. The last thing you want to do is scrape the ice off your windshield before leaving for work in the morning. And the one in Parker seems really close to the highway. Don't know anything about either of the areas, though.

Just be patient. Your two posts are 14 minutes apart and it's after 10:00 at night. Give people a chance to respond!

[popalina]

Thanks for the input!

I don't think I accurately expressed my self-mocking in the 2nd post (as I'd intended with the "lol"). I did not mean to sound as though I'd expected a response already, just wanted to reiterate how much this is driving me crazy. Just making fun of myself! Sorry if I came across like a jerk. And thanks in advance for anyone else who wants to overlook this and share your input.

[Count David]

I'd go for the Castle Pines one.

We've had mice. The cat plays with them until they get scared (or beat up) to death. Get a cat.

If suburban apartments have pretentious people, I'd remind them that they live in suburban apartments.

Are you factoring in traffic into your commute times? I guarantee it won't be 11 mins from Castle Pines during rush-hour. There is a gigantic bottleneck at Ridgegate Pkwy these days (and the cars stay closely packed together the rest of the way to Inverness.) You'll probably be tacking on a few mins there.

Parker Road sucks any time people are awake.

We moved out here in 2007, sight unseen into an apartment in Aurora. Everything worked out fine.

There's no guarantee Christmas will be white. But I certainly hope so!

I don't see what the big deal is about scraping ice/snow off windshields. Even when I had a garage, my vehicles didn't go in there. Push the white fluffies off (enjoy their sparkle before you do), and scrape the ice off. It takes like 5 minutes. Buy a dual brush/scraper and keep it in your car all year long.

[popalina]

"Remind them they live in suburban apartments!" lol. I'm not so much worried about the apartment complex having pretentious people as I am about the surrounding area. Seems like HUGE homes and lots of golf courses to me--- not really what we're used to. So, for example, if I try to go to a baby/mommy class will I stick out like a sore thumb? Will I have anything in common with the other people I run in to on a day-to-day basis while running around the area running errands and such? That sort of thing.

Why did you vote for the Castle Pines one? I have to say the "swarms of spiders" that people complain about is really making me hesitant. Spiders have their biological purpose, and I respect them for that, but they just need to fulfill that purpose some place other than in my apartment. Also, the Parker one seems to have more area for my daughter to play outside... Ugh! Can't decide!!!

Thanks for the response! Any other insights, anyone?

[Prodigal Native]

Originally Posted by David Aguilar

Parker Road sucks any time people are awake.

I've been gone for 16 years now - it's good to see some things don't change.

There's no guarantee Christmas will be white. But I certainly hope so!

I always hope for the same thing; it is to the point that I am frequently blamed for wishing the cold and snow into existence when I am there for Christmas.

I don't see what the big deal is about scraping ice/snow off windshields. Even when I had a garage, my vehicles didn't go in there. Push the white fluffies off (enjoy their sparkle before you do), and scrape the ice off. It takes like 5 minutes.

Maybe it is because I grew up with the cars outside (garages were for storage/workshops), but I always considered it just business as usual to scrape the windshield. You go out a couple of minutes early, start the car (or now days, use the remote start), turn the defrost on high (don't forget the rear defrost too), and scrape for 30 seconds or so. If there is enough snow that you need to really brush the car off as opposed to giving it a quick wipe, well, there is probably enough snow on the roads that you will have a slow drive so you need to be leaving early anyway and nobody is going to get in a twist because you are an extra minute or two late.

Buy a dual brush/scraper and keep it in your car all year long.

Right before I left Denver I found the best brush/scraper I had ever used - the plastic handle was thicker than most so it was very sturdy and easy to grip, but best of all it had a brass scraper that got the stubborn ice off quicker and easier than anything else I had used.

I didn't need it much in Tucson, but one night we had a freezing rain. Everyone else was trying to use their wipers (which were frozen to the windshield, of course) or credit cards or such, but I pulled my scraper out and had all the windows cleared in under a minute.

I had to stand around for 10 minutes as they all passed it around so everyone else could use it. It was funny to see several people genuinely amazed that I would have such a device in my car. Of course I was amazed that people here were totally cool with lizards hanging out on their houses during the summer, so I suppose it is all relative.

[Luvs2Trvl]

Stone Canyon, from what I have seen, seems to have several complaints about the management office on multiple websites. For some reason I thought you were looking off Jordan Rd. Stone Canyon is a little secluded in terms of location. You can either enter by the Hospital on Crown Crest which has a round-about and people trying to get to the hospital, restaurants and gas station. The other entrance is by Costco. The traffic on Parker Road can be HORRENDOUS, people speed like maniacs and there have been some bad accidents occasionally on this stretch of road. I think you could be happy in Parker but I don't think that's the best place to pick.

Not sure what your budget is but have you considered renting a condo through a management company? Here's two links to a place off Jordan and E-470:
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/17...67455582_zpid/


http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/17209-Wilde-Ave-UNIT-308-Parker-CO-80134/67455227_zpid/#{scid=hdp-site-map-bubble-address}
Honestly these places are newer, nicer, pool, playground, better access to husbands work (all he has to do is drive Jordan to Bronco's Parkway), easy access to grocery, rec center and schools.

The Castle Rock location looks decent enough, it is close to I-25 but like another person pointed out, the traffic on I-25 really can get bogged down at Ridgegate through Castle Rock so don't count on 11 minutes. I think there is a grocery store and gas station right there which is good and easy highway access. In my opinion you aren't going to really feel like you are in a town so much as a subdivision on the edge in between Castle Rock, Lone Tree and Highlands Ranch. Yes there are plenty of soccer moms in CO but I don't think you'll feel out of place at all. The rich snobs are living in multi million dollar houses, hang out at golf clubs, send their kids to private schools and you'll probably only notice them when driving past their gated subdivisions. As for the spiders, you aren't going to avoid them anywhere in Douglas County (Parker or Castle Rock). We have a single family home and see some nasty ones occasionally, usually outside and garage only. If they are too big a problem then you call an exterminator. If you can find a place with a garage I would get one, this is NOT CA, you are going to wish you had a garage in the winter.