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Hi. We've been considering a move to Boulder for years and spent a few days in Louiseville last week to check the place out. In general we really liked what we saw. We think that Louisville and Lafayette are our top choices, but we'd get a lot more house for our money in Broomfield. The houses that we liked in Louisville/Lafayette were $600k and above, while something much bigger, with more land in Broomfield could be had for more like $450. Initially I thought Broomfield would be a better choice, but I just looked at the school reports comparing the two towns and the differences appeared to be significant, with the Louisville schools looking much better. We have a 4-year old, and value education highly, so a "bad" school would be a deal-breaker. (I compared Legacy High in Broomfield to Monarch in Louisville here
http://reportcard.cde.state.co.us/reportcard/CommandHandler.jsp (broken link). Is this a fair comparison? Are the schools in Louisville significantly better than Broomfield? By "good" I mean high academic standards and achievements (not necessarily based on test scores), low incidents of drugs, violence and other infractions, a low dropout and turnover rate and a high % of kids going on to good colleges. There are obviously other criteia - these just seem like a good basic list.
Last edited by suzco; 03-27-2008 at 07:40 PM..
Reason: Correct the formatting
Hi. We've been considering a move to Boulder for years and spent a few days in Louiseville last week to check the place out. In general we really liked what we saw. We think that Louisville and Lafayette are our top choices, but we'd get a lot more house for our money in Broomfield. The houses that we liked in Louisville/Lafayette were $600k and above, while something much bigger, with more land in Broomfield could be had for more like $450. Initially I thought Broomfield would be a better choice, but I just looked at the school reports comparing the two towns and the differences appeared to be significant, with the Louisville schools looking much better. We have a 4-year old, and value education highly, so a "bad" school would be a deal-breaker. (I compared Legacy High in Broomfield to Monarch in Louisville here
While you wait for responses, You might want to look through some earlier threads that you'll find listed in the Index of Boulder Threads.
There are threads that include discussions about schools and comparisons between communities. FYI, Some neighborhoods in Broomfield are part of the Boulder Valley School District.
I don't live in the districts you're looking at (I live in DPS, much more challenging for a parent to navigate), but to me it seems like you have some excellent choices in both Louisville and Broomfield to choose from. You really shouldn't have any trouble finding some good schools in either district (Boulder valley vs. Adams 12)
Personally, I wouldn't take the relatively minor differences in CSAP scores very seriously. It's been said that CSAP scores tell you more about the parents than the school, and I'm inclined to agree. Both schools scored well, and CSAP is actually a pretty limited indicator of teaching quality -- it's nice to have the data, but there are a lot of flaws. I suppose if the differences were dramatic, that'd be one thing, but in this case, I'm not sure you should base your choice on CSAPs.
I'd think that you probably need to look at some of the other factors -- what schools would your kids be more comfortable in? What teaching philosophies and curricula are used? What type of extracurricular activities are offered?
Also, don't forget to look into charter programs that may be available in your area. You may find that one of those programs suits your child better.
Also, remember that your four year old won't be in high school for a long time. You should probably look more closely at what elementary programs are offered in those areas rather than high school, since that's such a moving target anyway. The high school your child may go to at that time may not even exist today.
I agree with tfox, esp. that your child will not be in HS for at least 10 yrs. CSAP scores, and virtually all standardized test scores, are directly related to parental SES (socio-economic status). So if Monarch (where my kids went, BTW) has higher scores than Legacy, the first thing that tells you is that parents of the kids at MHS have more money. Which makes sense, if the houses are more expensive in the MHS attendance area. Incidentally, we bought when Louisville was a fairly in-expensive place to live, so I am not bragging here. We moved to this house when our oldest was starting kindergarten; MHS was not even a gleam in anyone's eye back then (it opened in 1998, when my oldest was a freshman). Also, CSAPs do not tell you anything about how your child will do. There are kids with high CSAP scores in low-achieving schools, and vice versa. As tfox said, CSAPs are no indication of teacher quality, though I was happy with about 95% of the teachers my kids had at MHS. Legacy is a fine high school. If you have found a house you like in the Legacy attendance area, go for it.
Last edited by Katarina Witt; 03-27-2008 at 05:00 PM..
Reason: slight wording change
I live on the Broomfield/Westminster border. My daughter attends an Adams 12 elementary with a school accountability rating of "average" (last year it was "high"), the teachers are great, the administration is great, and the school is great. "Average" means the elementary draws from a diverse population which has some benefits.
Other factors to consider between the different areas:
1. Broomfield does not have a "downtown" (unless you count the Flatirons mall which is nice, but not the same feel or the downtown in my neighborhood, Bradburn Village), both Louisville and Lafayette have fun little downtowns filled with unique shops and places to eat.
2. I think Broomfield has less character than the other two, a lot more "cookie cutter" subdivisions (mine isn't but I'm in Westminster : ). Still nice areas, but generic.
3. You get more for your money in Broomfield--quite a lot more (as you've noticed) and another thing to consider is location to major employment centers. Broomfield is close to both Boulder and downtown Denver, so if job changes occur in the future the commute isn't bad to either area.
4. Quite a few of my neighbor's kids attend Legacy High School and they all love it and speak highly of it.
Really, you can't go wrong anywhere in the three areas, all are nice with a good quality of life.
I agree with everything Bradburn1 has said except #2. My kids did gymnastics for Broomfield High for a total of 7 yrs (2 kids, 3 yrs apart), and I found Broomfield to have a wonderful sense of community. Broomfield HS, which is in the BVSD, is a very old program with lots of traditions going waaaay back! It was neat for my kids to be part of that continuum. We loved participating in Broomfield Days w/the team, and in fact, still go even though our youngest is now a jr in college. I've never been to the Bradburn downtown area, but FlatIron Crossing has just about everything you could need or want. The "cookie cutter" syndrome is everywhere, but Broomfield also has some neighborhoods with some individuality.
I agree that all these areas are great. I lived in Boulder and Niwot when I first came to Colorado, many years ago and I got very familiar with Boulder County which at that time included Broomfield.
In terms of public transportation, Lafayette and Louisville get good buses because Boulder County is very public transportation proactive. I know some of you will say that there are not many buses running in these areas but there are buses running to the County Seat of Boulder. In addition, in May 2008, Louisville will have a new additional bus line. Also Louisville will have a new commuter rail station on the Northwest Corridor; this will be just east of Main Street and this will have increased feeder buses to the station. Lafayette will see increase bus service with further completions of a Transit Oriented Development along their Park and Ride City of Lafayette - Redevelopment Project (http://www.cityoflafayette.com/page.asp?navid=1105 - broken link)
Broomfield is served well with buses along the I-36 corridor and this service will increase with the completion of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service. In addition the Park n Ride at 120 and Wadsworth will be moved to service the TOD for the Arista Development Arista and the Broomfield Event Center. A new commuter rail station in Broomfield on the Northwest Rail Corridor will be at 96th and Flatiron.
Broomfield, Louisville have a large extensive Call n Ride Service. In addition the Flatirons Mall area is served by a shuttle called Zip Zip Shuttle, FlatIron Improvement District, Broomfield, CO This is a nice service as it connects withe the Flatirons Park n Ride on I-36. What is nice about this shuttle it runs day and night and extends passed many businesses, including a Wal Mart. Also around this area are large condo complexes which makes living in this area easier with public transit nearby.
The nicest area for me in Broomfield is Midway between 287 and Main. It is the older area of the city. The homes are beautiful along this road with the designs from about 1960. North of Midway is the older developments which have good established neighborhoods. Midway has a nice park along side, a nice catholic church, and extends to Main St with a new large park with the services of City and County of Broomfield. And because it is a self contained city and county, services are easily obtained at one location.
I do like Louisville because of the established old town and the future location of the commuter rail station.
Lafayette is a very nice, quiet litte town with good growth potential and is home to the newest and largest hospital in the area, Exempla Good Samaritan. It sit in the southern part of the town on open prairie. There are plans for big developments near the hospital which will include senior housing.
Louisville/Lafayette/Broomfield area is extremly nice area to live. Oh, I do not want to forget the nicely developed areas of Westminster that adjoin these areas. Just to note that Bradburn, the new Urban development. on 120 is nice looking little communty which I have come to appreciate and it borders large open space that connect to Front Range Community College on 112 and extend to the big park systems of Westminster. In addition, there will be my favorite all around value store located across from Bradburn--Walmart, at the old Barber Turkey Site.
Yea, Boulder is nearby and close for the amenities of that city, but farther enough away that you can get away from the, well, ah, the too rich environment--it is like chocolate cake--a little is nice, but eat the whole cake and you can get sick.
Livecontent
Last edited by livecontent; 03-27-2008 at 08:33 PM..
Thanks for everyone's great repsonses. I wasn't referring to CSAP scores, as I know they're not always a good reflection of a school's "quality". I'm more concerned with the dropout and attendence rates and the number of drug/alcohol/violence incidents. Of course - a "good kid" can prosper in a "bad school" (and I'm NOT saying this is a bad school), but I think that the less negativity the child is exposed to the better.
Again, thanks for the informative responses - it sounds like all of these are great places to live and I hope to be joining you all there soon!
Thanks for everyone's great repsonses. I wasn't referring to CSAP scores, as I know they're not always a good reflection of a school's "quality". I'm more concerned with the dropout and attendence rates and the number of drug/alcohol/violence incidents. Of course - a "good kid" can prosper in a "bad school" (and I'm NOT saying this is a bad school), but I think that the less negativity the child is exposed to the better.
Again, thanks for the informative responses - it sounds like all of these are great places to live and I hope to be joining you all there soon!
You are right about that, but do keep in mind your child is only 4 yrs old! As someone said, s/he might be assigned a different high school altogether, perhaps one that hasn't even been built yet! And you can always open enroll. For the record, I do not think Legacy is a bad high school. In some of these schools, not saying it is true of Legacy, there are groups of high-achieving (some say over-achieving students) and groups of less motivated kids, and rarely do the twain meet. So even if there are more drug/alcohol violations, your kid probably won't be involved in that crowd. And if s/he is, s/he can find it anywhere!
Well, I'm possibly moving back to the area for career reasons. Lived in Westminster for 4 years a few years back.
There's just one thing that bothers me about Louisville, and possibly Erie and Fort Collins. The crappy location of the landfills.
Apparently crap from the Marshall Landfill, which the Flatirons Mall is practically on top of found it's way into the drinking water in Louisville. Which means every single thing connected to the water supply... that's every house, every building... everything has been contaminated by sewage and chemicals. Think about it. Every pipe, every washing machine, every house, everything ever touched by tap water. All "dumpified" with "unstabilized sewage". Oh great.
Reference this document: http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/pdfs/Marshall5yrIssuesSummary.pdf (broken link)
As a result, you might as well say, living in Louisville is the same has having dump filth in your house and place of work, and by extension everything you are working to pay for. Including you body. Kind of sux IMHO. Such a beatiful place and it's essentially just one big waste site. Then add in the Waste Transfer station in downtown Boulder on Valmont, the landfill in Erie and the on on the front range by Fort Collins (whereby the downslope wind blows the crap into the whole town) and it's all polluted.
I don't know who engineers this sort of crap, but seems to me landfills ought to have a 10 mile radius around them of nothing. Painfully stupid how us human beings muck everything up.
P.S. You probably don't want to go into Coal Creek nor Boulder Creek either. See page 8 here. Millions of gallons of "effluent" per day "discharged" therein:
Basically all those scenic streams have been turned into the same thing as the water out front of the Bellagio... treated wastewater. I.e. a sewer.
See Page 11 for sections of the creeks not meeting "fecal e. coli" standards.
See Page 13. Boulder is drinking Nederland's treated wastewater.
Last edited by JMadison; 03-31-2008 at 02:21 PM..
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It is the older area of the city. The homes are beautiful along this road with the designs from about 1960. North of Midway is the older developments which have good established neighborhoods. Midway has a nice park along side, a nice catholic church, and extends to Main St with a new large park with the services of City and County of Broomfield. And because it is a self contained city and county, services are easily obtained at one location.
--it is like chocolate cake--a little is nice, but eat the whole cake and you can get sick.
