Arvada? Westminster? Broomfield? Wheat Ridge? (Denver, Boulder: student loans, lawyers, big house)

[Ignatz]

Yet another "where should we move" thread!
What our family wants:
--Husband works mostly in Boulder and Longmont. He commutes an hour now, from Greeley, and wants to be a lot closer.
--Our son's going into elementary school soon, so we need a place with good public schools.
--A town which feels like a real town, with a town center and established neighborhoods with big trees.
--I love hustle and bustle, so for me the closer to Denver the better.
--A good running trail system is essential.
--We don't want a big house and definitely not a big yard. 2 bedrooms and a place for my husband to putter around and build a model railroad--a garage would be enough. Extra bedroom would be nice so husband could have his own space to chill in. But low maintenance is essential; with 2 full time jobs and a 4 year old, we don't have time to fix anything up! So no charming fixer-upper nor badly built subdivision home.
--Price range: low 200s.
Ideas?
Thanks so much.

[smurf_goddess]

Honestly, Boulder seems like a perfect fit, though not so much in price. If you can afford to move down there, it would make the most sense. There are other bordering towns like Nederland that might also apply.

Downtown Denver also has a good park system for running, etc., and has easy access to buses to Boulder. (I personally prefer cities, so I am a bit biased in my reply). I've never been a fan of Denver suburbs, having grown up in them. But that's just me.

[2bindenver]

Louisville?

[wxjay]

Louisville, Superior, Erie, and Broomfield would work for you.

[Ignatz]

smurf--
believe it or not, we might qualify for some kind of housing assistance in Boulder. They have a program to help people who make up to 120% of their median income buy homes. What I find weird is that no one whatsoever at their median level would be able to buy there now. I never understand median versus mean, but I guess the CU students' incomes balance out the lawyers' and doctors'.
Still, I bet we'll end up in another town- Louisville?
I do love cities...born in NYC, grew up in Baltimore and a close-in suburb of Boston and have spent my grown-up years in a series of great cities-Cambridge, SF, Austin. I sleep best in Midtown Manhattan with the windows open.

[Katarina Witt]

Originally Posted by Ignatz

smurf--
believe it or not, we might qualify for some kind of housing assistance in Boulder. They have a program to help people who make up to 120% of their median income buy homes. What I find weird is that no one whatsoever at their median level would be able to buy there now. I never understand median versus mean, but I guess the CU students' incomes balance out the lawyers' and doctors'.
Still, I bet we'll end up in another town- Louisville?
I do love cities...born in NYC, grew up in Baltimore and a close-in suburb of Boston and have spent my grown-up years in a series of great cities-Cambridge, SF, Austin. I sleep best in Midtown Manhattan with the windows open.

Median: half make more, half make less.

Mean: Add all salaries together and divide. Denominator is the number of salaries. More affected by extremes. It is hard to know just what the numbers they are using, eg students on student loans, etc.

Louisville is nice. If you like the "urban" atmosphere, there is downtown Louisville with its older homes, the shops and restaurants on Main Street and the library a short distance east. Not urban like Denver, but then neither is Boulder, really.

[roseba]

Originally Posted by Ignatz

smurf--
believe it or not, we might qualify for some kind of housing assistance in Boulder. They have a program to help people who make up to 120% of their median income buy homes. What I find weird is that no one whatsoever at their median level would be able to buy there now. I never understand median versus mean, but I guess the CU students' incomes balance out the lawyers' and doctors'.
Still, I bet we'll end up in another town- Louisville?
I do love cities...born in NYC, grew up in Baltimore and a close-in suburb of Boston and have spent my grown-up years in a series of great cities-Cambridge, SF, Austin. I sleep best in Midtown Manhattan with the windows open.

Median vs. Mean

10 guys are in a bar and they make a bet.

9 of them put in $1.
1 of them puts in $100.

The average contribution would be $12. [the average is much higher because of the one $100 contribution.]

The median contribution would be $1.00. [since the majority of those betting put in $1.]