Work in Broomfield...live in??? (hiking/running trails) (Denver, Colorado Springs: real estate, countertops) - (CO) - City-Data Forum

remy240 · 09-21-2010, 09:33 AM

Hi everyone, I may be getting a job in Broomfield. Moving from Southwestern Michigan. I recently spent a week in Colorado Springs and absolutely loved it out there. Anywhere I went there was trails and mountains. But since I now have a job offer in Broomfield I need to find a location that fits that would be closer, more like a 20-30 minute commute. I have a very active lifestyle and I want to be near the mountains and would like to be within a 5-10 minute drive of trails I can run on or hike. Denver is too big of a city for me and too far from the mountains. As for price range, I am used to Michigan where you can get a pretty nice house for about $175,000 - $200,000 (at least nice in my terms and as much as I would want). I am 30 years old, married and plan to start a family in the near future so good schools would be a nice benefit too.

What do you guys suggest for places that would fit? Is there areas around there that are near the mountains with all kinds of hiking and running trails like I saw in Colorado Springs?

To sum things up...
-Work in Broomfield
-live near hiking and running trails in the mountains (5-10 minutes)
-live within 20-30 minute commute
-not super expensive
-married and going to start a family

Thank you for any help! It will be much appreciated.

Ziasforever · 09-21-2010, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by remy240

I am used to Michigan where you can get a pretty nice house for about $175,000 - $200,000 (at least nice in my terms and as much as I would want). I am 30 years old, married and plan to start a family in the near future so good schools would be a nice benefit too.

You won't be able to find that in Broomfield even in the down economy according to my friend who currently lives in Westminster. He wanted to move his family up there from where he was at because his wife got held up at gun point in their driveway. Fixer-uppers start at $250K. Broomfield, however, is one of the nicer places to live in the spraw blob. Although, some of my friends who used to live there in the 90's moved up to Fredrick. I don't know why. I used to live in Fort Collins and commuted to downtown Denver everyday. Back then the road was two-laned both ways. It took me close to an hour to get to the bus stop at 120th and Wagon Wheel. Now it is three-laned both ways to exit 252. I don't know how much time that shaves off a commute.

Quote:

Originally Posted by remy240

What do you guys suggest for places that would fit? Is there areas around there that are near the mountains with all kinds of hiking and running trails like I saw in Colorado Springs?

To sum things up...
-Work in Broomfield
-live near hiking and running trails in the mountains (5-10 minutes)
-live within 20-30 minute commute
-not super expensive
-married and going to start a family

Thank you for any help! It will be much appreciated.

You'll have to compromise something and raise your housing budget to get close to you target.

5 to 10 minutes to the hiking trails and mountains means living in either Evergreen or Estes Park or Boulder and they are much further of a commute than 30 minutes and quite expensive. You're probably looking at an hour or so from either place. Boulder might be less of a commute but not by much.

There's no such thing as not super expensive when comparing Colorado to Michigan I am told. A friend of mine in Louisiana tells me that his mom's house in Michigan is worth less than half of what it would be down there. And, that's Louisiana, which is relatively cheap!

Anyplace in the sprawl-blob is a good place to raise a family except maybe for the area in Westminster my friend lives and I am told parts of Commerce City aren't that great either. I was surprised that happened to my friend's spouse. Other than that, Colorado is a pretty safe place to be. My recommendation would be Longmont. It has some running trails but it's not 10 minutes close to the mountains. It is affordable and you can find a starter home in your price range there.

2bindenver · 09-22-2010, 11:12 AM

I'd start my search in Broomfield. There are running trails and maybe a 10 minute commute to work. A 20 minute drive to Boulder for hiking the Flat Irons. 30 minutes to Golden, 40 to Evergreen.

If you are thinking of starting a family, what will your life be like if you are gone 10 hours a day? How would that differ if you were gone only 8.5 hours?

Idunn · 09-23-2010, 08:26 PM

To be close to mountains and some great hiking trails, Boulder would be your best choice. It is roughly 20 miles to Broomfield via fairly heavily travelled, but otherwise easy, US 36. The only real problem with such a plan is cost, with housing in Boulder being quite expensive.

Nevertheless, Boulder still offers the best options in mountain hiking near Broomfield. With that as a consideration, indeed your goal, then you might consider all possibilities more or less between Broomfield and Boulder. Towns just to the northwest of Broomfield, such as Lafayette and Louisvillle, might work for you. People working in Boulder live in these communities for precisely that reason, their lower cost, and they may otherwise prove nice enough. Broomfield itself is another consideration. An advantage would be that much less of a commute to work, which is no small thing. It could well be that it enjoys some perfectly nice walking paths.

However none of these options, save Boulder, will put you 5-10 minutes from the tailhead of a mountain path. Even from Broomfield, it would not be overly onerous, and you might possibly find yourself there in 30 minutes or less. Although at times looking for a place to park. In certain areas of Boulder you could dispense with that, just walk out your door and literally be on the trail in 5 minutes. Proximity matters in such things. The easy hike you would make from out your door might well be delayed for another time when considering the drive from farther away.

Thus the trade-offs, and what one values more. But in choosing Colorado you've moved just that much closer to such a reality, if in nothing else the consideration that real estate will cost more than in Michigan.

choosing78 · 09-25-2010, 10:53 AM

Have you visited the area yet? The reason I ask is that almost every suburb has plenty of walking and biking trails. I like to suggest Broomfield (where I live) to people because of its proximity to Denver and Boulder. Its a good location to feel out the area. You might find yourself happy to be midway between Denver and Boulder. When we first moved here we wanted to be closer to Boulder and the mountain trails but now we find we are spending more and more time in Denver. We take advantage of our local trails and open space on the weekdays and head out to the mountains on the weekends. I disagree with the person who said you can't find a house in Broomfield for under 250k. Yes a house under 200k will probably need work but the cosmetic kind, most of the housing is mid 80's and newer.

Katarina Witt · 09-25-2010, 01:00 PM

There is actually a fair subset of housing in Broomfield older than mid-80s, and some of this "cosmetic" stuff costs a lot of money. Still, I agree that looking in Broomfield first would be the wisest course of action. To be 5-10 min. from the mountain trails would mean west Boulder, for sure, and it's pricey there compared even to the rest of Boulder.

I also disagree that Louisville and Lafayette are "nice enough" and that people live there primarily b/c they are cheaper than Boulder. Many people live in these communities b/c they like them and want to live in them. More than "nice enough", they are very nice on their own. Different than Boulder, but not inferior.

remy240 · 09-25-2010, 08:02 PM

Thank you for all your responses.

Yeah I figured the housing was going to be a lot more expensive than what I am used to. But I am preparing myself for that shock.

I have not "visited" that area yet. I drove through it briefly. I was in Colorado Springs for a week and only made it in that area one day. And I didn't get to check out even close to everything I wanted to. I guess what I am trying to find is an area that is similar to Colorado Springs in a sense. The hotel I stayed in (basically on Centennial and Garden of the Gods Rd), was like 5 minutes from Garden of the Gods, and was about 15 minute drive to Gold Camp road, and Barr Trail. And it there was a bunch of other trails around there that I didn't get a chance to check out. Is there a large mountain trail network in the Boulder area? I drove thru boulder and ended up on a road through the mountains and all the pull-offs where just next to a huge cliff. It didn't look like any good hiking trails or running trails. I probably just went down a bad road for that and I did not even see a fraction of Boulder.

I would be ok with a 15-20 minute drive to the mountain trails, I don't have to be 5 minutes away. Its just a nice idea, but not the reality. I really would like a short drive to work, so maybe living in Broomfield would be a good option.

Choosing78 why are you spending more time in boulder? Is it because you like the big city life? I just ask because I actually don't like big cities and I don't see myself spending more time in Denver than the mountains.

Katarina Witt · 09-25-2010, 09:09 PM

My daughter lives near Garden of the Gods park, and there really isn't anything like that in Boulder County. Chautauqua is the closest thing to GOG in Boulder, and it really is not the same. You will have to contend with a different geography than COS.

choosing78 · 09-25-2010, 09:24 PM

I assume you meant Denver? We both have jobs in downtown Denver. So it's easy to meet up for happy hour/dinner etc. Also we're avid sports fans so this time of year we will be heading into Denver for hockey, basketball and football. Then there's other events like last week's great american beer fest, there's always some show or concert or something going on at the convention center. Don't get me wrong most weekends in the summer we were camping next to some 14er but we kind of enjoy having the best of both worlds. I like going to new spots so I think even if I ended up living next to a mountain I would end up driving somewhere else every weekend anyway to find some new place. Like I said before there are tons of running/biking trails all over. Boulder is sooo expensive. Even Louisville and Lafayette are expensive. Broomfield, Westminster and Arvada still have reasonably priced homes. Some people will say you can't touch a home under 250k, those are usually the people who couldn't fathom having to change flooring, paint a wall, not having granite countertops and "need" a 4 bed and 4 bath home for 2 people.

Idunn · 09-25-2010, 10:10 PM

There are a fair number of good mountain hiking trails accessed from the western edge of Boulder. You might begin with this page which describes their 'Open Space & Mountain Parks,' as well as map of the trails (see link for 'Circle Hikes Guide' pdf). Also note that second page of this pdf provides brief descriptions of the various hikes, as well as elevation graphs:
OSMP Trailmap Overview