Broomfield vs Louisville/Lafayette

[coloradocutter]

Also don't forget Peak to Peak charter in Lafayette? I live in northwest Broomfield. Some of my neighbors kids go to P2P which is ranked nationally as one of the best schools in the country in a (for what its worth US News Report). This survey was looking at high schools only and Boulder High and Monarch didn't make the list. I don't know what the cost is but just throwing it out there.

My neighbors who go to Broomfield High are very happy - better athletics they say than P2P.

I grew up in rural North Carolina, so I just think its hilarious what people think are bad schools in Colorado....I ended up going to great college and law school but my school would have been ranked worse than low, I am sure. Visit the schools talk to students and parents.

I love living in Broomfield. I actually think that Lafayette is the iffier location especially for elementary schools. That's what my realtor said anyway. We wanted to live in Louisville, but we couldn't justify the increase. Our house would have cost us 200k more there. We have a mountain view, live on open space and love this community and its resources.

[tao]

We just bought a house in Broomfield in December - in the Willow Park subdivision which is a bit on the border of Broomfield and Westminster - and we love it here! At first I wanted to live in Superior then we looked at Louisville but in the end we picked Broomfield and it was the absolute best decision! We have a beautiful big house, really, really nice neighbors, and we're close to everything. We're really happy here.

In terms of housing costs nothing beats Broomfield - you get WAY more house for your money. The house we have is 3300 square feet with 5 bedrooms/3 and a half baths and a 3 car garage. Our formal living room, formal dining room, and master bedroom all have beautiful bay windows. We have a pretty big lot (about 9500 sq. ft) and a wonderful 45 foot deck plus plenty of lawn space. I can't say enough how happy we are with our choice. The house in the end cost $331000. It's a Richmond American Homes Eclipse model which are well in the $400000 range in Superior. I don't know if Richmond built in Louisville but we looked at some houses there and compared to Broomfield you get very little house/lot space for your money.

[Albyonfloats]

We live in Louisville and our kids attend Monarch K-8. We chose this area for the schools and were specifically targeting a K-8 school so all 3 of our kids could be together that first year after we moved here. The school is wonderful, but like all schools, not perfect. We also looked at Aspen Creek K-8 in Broomfield, primarily for the better value in home price there. The key is how it "feels" to you when you visit. We visited Monarch, Aspen Creek and Eldorado (in Superior) and for whatever reason, Monarch just felt right. So far the kids have been happy and we picked our location in Broomfield in order to stay within BVSD and open enroll into Monarch.

I can tell you that the Boulder Valley School District is one of the best in the state (Monarch High rates in the the top 5% of schools nationally according to International Baccalaureate rankings) but a lot of the schools that rate highly don't exactly make a stellar first impression. Monarch and Aspen Creek are both good schools but Broomfield has a quirky real estate market and Aspen Creek is a small area to try and live in to stay within the school's boundaries. (West of Sheridan and North of 136th.) Louisville is a great town, but EXPENSIVE. You pay for the name (ranked #3 Best Place in America to Raise a Family, Money Magazine) but not as much as you'd pay to live in Boulder. Broomfield is a good compromise, just do your homework. There are some great deals but some areas are dropping dramatically in price. We are moving there next month but it took an exhaustive search and a lot of patience to find the right deal for us.

Besides schools, different developers have different ideas about what makes a neighborhood, some have community/rec centers with lots of small parks and walking/biking trails, and some have less. We found a gorgeous house in an exclusive neighborhood that was an absolute steal as far as value goes, but there wasn't a park within 2 miles of the place and nowhere for kids to socialize without a country club membership. So our perfect home wasn't in a perfect neighborhood for our situation. So ask about community rec centers and other things so the kids have things to do other than disappear into other peoples homes. Most developers that cater to young families will put in parks and other meeting places to encourage people to get out of their homes and socialize.

I would highly advise that you not be afraid to be picky. It's a buyer's market out there and if you do your due diligence you can find some great values, just write down a list of wants and don't wants in a home/community and keep it with you so you don't wind up compromising just because it's a good deal. Our realtor told us, "Most people don't shop for houses for the way they live, they shop for what looks nice(r) than what they had." We took that to heart and pulled out of a deal for a different home and are so glad we did because we found a better floor plan in a better neighborhood (for us) because of it.

Good luck and trust your instincts.

[Katarina Witt]

I agree with much of the above, but Monarch does not have an International Baccalaureate program. In the BVSD, Fairview High in Boulder and Centaurus High in Lafayette have IB programs.