Dead Horse Question: Fun small town outside of Denver! (Arvada: apartment, to rent)

[buffalobirdie]

Moving to Denver from GAWD AWFUL NYC in FIVE WEEKS! So excited I can't sit still or see straight.
We will live downtown for 6 months to a year before buying a home.
We don't want to buy right in Denver. Too expensive - want more house for our $$$.

Mission: Find cute & quaint "downtown" area that is 10 - 15 miles outside of Denver where we can purchase a nice 2 or 3 br home or townhome for around 300k - I picture a main street atmosphere with some nightlife happening and a few groovey bars and restaurants some live music and fesitvals every once in awhile. Doesn't have to be jammin, but not deadsville either. People are out and about. No tumbleweeds. Want a great little town that friends and family will love to come visit. When we really want a crazy night out, we can head off to Denver (which is where we will likely work too).

On your mark, get set, GO!

[Mike from back east]

See this thread for a list of suburbs and nearby towns with some degree of quaint old 'main street' districts.

In the 4.5 years that this site has been operating, we've answered just about every topic one could imagine, so we always encourage people to use the very capable search tool provided with this software.

[thealansanders]

The only thing that comes close is downtown Littleton and for that money I don't think you are going to like what you can buy that meets the requirements nor will you enjoy the commute and parking if you work in Denver.

300k can buy you a lot of house, new or used if you are willing to deal with traffic and commute time and don't need the main street part. The west just is not built the same as the east coast through the midwest where you have big cities surrounded by smaller "spur" towns.

[Nav]

Remember, the commuting bands for Denver extend 60 miles out from city center so 15 miles out of Denver means you are still in the metro area.If you mean 15 miles from the edge of the city, then there are not a lot of places that will fit your bill. The outer 15 or 20 miles around the city is primarily made up of planned communities and suburbia. For instance, Highlands Ranch is a single community (with different sub areas) of over 70,000 residents. Lots of restaurants but not a "small town" type feel to it.

On the positive side, you might also want to try Evergreen or Idaho Springs. Both fit most of your needs but are in the mountains and some people can't handle the winter commuting. Summers and Fall are absolutely wonderful.

I would say, get a map then start googling. You can likely find some of your wants, but not all.
Nav

[Dorthy]

I would look into Old Littleton and Olde Arvada

[robertzimmerman]

I would say that if you're planning to move here and rent before buying, first of all, you're smart, and secondly, get here and start looking around. Then start asking questions. You'll get answers.

[choosing78]

I too would say check out Arvada.

[pyrotech]

Originally Posted by robertzimmerman

I would say that if you're planning to move here and rent before buying, first of all, you're smart, and secondly, get here and start looking around. Then start asking questions. You'll get answers.

I agree with this. As much as I read and researched neighborhoods of Denver to see what I wanted before I got here and looked, my mind has completely changed when I actually got here, started looking around, and started asking locals.

I limited my apartment searching to 2 neighborhoods in Denver before I got here. Now that I'm living in one of them, I've biked / walked / driven around, and found other places that I should have looked into more before moving. And now, after visiting Boulder (with surrounding towns) and Evergreen, I'm hoping to move to Evergreen to get to live somewhere with great views without the cost of Boulder.

[buffalobirdie]

Originally Posted by pyrotech

I agree with this. As much as I read and researched neighborhoods of Denver to see what I wanted before I got here and looked, my mind has completely changed when I actually got here, started looking around, and started asking locals.

You are absolutely 100% right. I need to just chill out until I can see/experience all the neighborhoods for myself. But I am so restless in my shoebox NYC apartment! I sure am enjoying Google Maps Street View to check out Denver neighborhoods in the mean time! What a great invention!

[LisaBoulder]

Originally Posted by buffalobirdie

You are absolutely 100% right. I need to just chill out until I can see/experience all the neighborhoods for myself. But I am so restless in my shoebox NYC apartment! I sure am enjoying Google Maps Street View to check out Denver neighborhoods in the mean time! What a great invention!

As the others mentioned you are absolutely doing the right thing by renting first. I know that you mentioned wanting to live outside of the Denver city limits, but if you're going to rent and look around anyway, you might want to consider some of the city's (not that "the city's") neighborhoods. To me they sound a lot closer to what you're looking for than the suburbs. Denver is so different from NY in so many ways, it may be an option for you. If this does sound reasonable, there are a lot of threads that discuss the various pros and cons. I really don't have as much first hand knowledge as some of the other posters

Also, if you could eat a black and white cookie for me before you move, I'd very much appreciate it. :-)