Best places to live in/near Denver with kids (Littleton: home, school districts)

[tfox]

Originally Posted by thedfly

I think we too have found the same problem looking for homes. Denver doesn't seem to have any older neighborhood areas that are a.)safe b.)affordable c.)kid friendly with good schools and d.)able to walk to nearby restaurants, libraries, ice cream shops, specialty stores.

I disagree. There are many such neighborhoods, depending of course on your defiition of affordable (I agree that the best neighborhoods are becoming less affordable every year, which is a shame). That said, Even Washington Park, with its high values, still will have bungalows for the OP in the 400k-500k range. While that is arguably "unaffordable", it is within the range of the OP. Many of the surrounding 'hoods around Wash Park are more affordable in terms of real estate and there are a dozen other schools in DPS that are the equal or "better" than Steele.

[klovesdenver]

Originally Posted by debbievance

You can find fabulous older homes in Littleton under $400,000. Jefferson County has great schools and the entire area is very family oriented. There are several light rail stations in Littleton as well.

We moved from Applewood, just outside of Golden, and miss it terribly- great schools, easy commute to denver and mountains etc. etc. etc...

[mommy2000]

I moved a year ago without a clue as to where to live in CO. I needed to be fairly convenient to airport and needed good schools. I wanted an older home as the home I came from, I built and had no mature trees or character. I checked in Centennial, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Westminister, Broomfield, Parker and Stapleton. If I had to do it all over again with a year under my belt I would pick the same exact area I am in.
Centennial between Arapahoe and County Line (run east west) and Quebec and Holly (north South). LOVE IT!! Great Schools, Great Neighborhoods, Nice People and Safe. Can walk or ride bike to several different places. South Suburban Parks and Rec is a great place for kids. Cherry Creek or Arapahoe County schools, mine are in Cherry Creek and I could not be happier.
Great Neighborhoods to check out, Foxridge, Willow Creek, Homestead, Heritage Greens.
These neighborhoods all have hiking paths that will lead you to beautiful parks and stores.
The commute won't be so pretty. There is the Light Rail into downtown. Without traffic it's 25 min to downtown.
Good Luck
ps I didn't choose stapleton because the school situation can get hairy. I'd want my kids in a charter school if I lived there and I wasn't willing to risk not being able to get into one.

[Dannysmum]

To Mommy 2000: Great to hear, and I'm also glad to see your reply is more recent.

[coloradomeddie]

May I suggest Centennial? I would look into the Littleton Public Schools area. There is a place called Aberdene Village that is not in a Master Planned community and walking distance to Parks, the Littleton Historical Museum and such. Light rail is a 5 minute drive. Older and nice tree-lined streets.

Homestead IS a Master Planned community - but I like it. Got the clique-pool-mom thing going - but great for kids.

Also consider looking for houses off of Orchard and University. North of Orchard is Greenwood and it is kinda pricey. But south of Orchard are some really cool houses (Look off of Franklin Street)- I am talking right off of Orchard. YOu can find some pretty cool and eclectic stuff.

Good luck.

[AceShopper]

Originally Posted by thinkingofmove

We are coming from Seattle so I'm hoping things are less expensive there.

We were deciding between Seattle and Denver and it looks like Denver might be our likely choice. Don't mean to stray off-topic, but any particular reason you are leaving Seattle ? Please send me a DM if you get a chance.

As for Denver, I am still researching the schools in the 'burbs. With Seattle, it was hard to decide on which school because all had 10 ratings on greatschools website.

And after looking at Seattle area prices (for almost anything), Denver is certainly going to feel cheaper

EDIT: Whoops! Just noticed that this thread is back from 2007 - My bad!

[sunny happy]

Hello,My husband and are 13 almost 14 year old may be moving to Denver area not sure really where to look. are son is a big time wrestler, mma sport also and football. and since me and my husband both lost are jobs we have some job offers there. but would like to make the move has easy on our son, he makes friends easy overall , but if you can find like minded kids sometimes this makes things easy on the kids.we are age 39-40 . have a boxer dog that loves walks , my husband likes biking i me more of a runner/crossfiter. we like to be in more of a open minded place , we lived in iowa for 4 years and at least where we were was a very small town mind set. have lived in St.louis area and this was nice crime areas are more in east St.louis but you have no need to go there so your fine. the zoo was great here shopping etc… we live in Madison Wi and it's ok people are a bit more cold , if you have kids and they do good in sports your ok here it's a collage town with bars in every corner , and food.i have lived in Chicago area to the suburbs are great here but living in Chicago with kids crime is high. now every place has it's pros and cons. and you make the best of it. so i guess we like to have options to do things ,but like being outdoors to! and are son being very active we need a good school but have a open mind to newbies .so we would like to stay at a max of 315 $ for a house . any suggestions would be great . more updated information would be nice since some of these are older .. thanks

[davidv]

First of all I will suggest that you find out where your jobs are first and then look for something relatively close by. Living in Louisville (great town) and working in the Denver Tech Center would be a long and arduous commute.

Some of the best high school wrestling programs are in the northwest area (Arvada West, Pomona [Arvada], Broomfield), or in the southeast area (Ponderosa [Parker], Legacy [Parker]).

[livecontent]

This thread has many great suggestions of good neighborhoods. It appears many people are happy in many diverse areas--that is nice to hear. Everyone has their own great place to champion.

You are working downtown. You have said you find using public transit, especially rail, as desirable and you have stated that you would like your commute to be close to 30 minutes and not over an hour. You want good schools. Your husband would not like a planned community. You like older established neighborhoods.

Since downtown is very available with public transit, then work from there. Look at the public transit site, RTD, and determine the acceptable times to get to these good neighborhoods that have been suggested.
RTD

Be sure to think ahead to 2016 and think about the coming of all the new rail lines and the BRT along I-36, all under the Fastracks projects RTD Buying a home near a prospective new rail station can give you a good property appreciation when the line is completed.

Highlands Ranch too far for most areas as with Centennial, very good choice, because you would have to drive or bus to the rail downtown. Highlands Ranch is a planned development, not a city. Lone Tree is well served by rail and could get you downtown under 60 minutes. It is mostly upper class housing and has much shopping nearby but with heavy traffic.

Living in Denver is a good suggestion for transit time, established neighborhoods but some think the schools are not up to par but I disagree because it depends on the neighborhood and there are some really great neighborhoods. Denver is not all that dense in all areas and many areas have a suburban feel as in Southmoor, as an example, which does have a rail station. It is also the best choice for getting downtown in under 30 minutes from some neighborhoods, not all. Some old suburban areas to the west are actually closer to Downtown Denver.

Stapelton is a planned community and some feel that still needs some maturing. Also, it is contiguous to some problem areas of Denver.

There was one poster that suggested Lakewood and Belmar in particular and that could work going downtown as there is a new rail line through Lakewood. Great Schools, established neighborhoods. This poster also suggested Littleton--another great area, good schools with rail station in the old town area. All could be under 60 minutes of public transit commute.

No one seems to suggest Aurora as it is close but many consider the close in areas as problematic and the best areas are far to the South, making it too far but rail is coming down 225.

Now I come up with my areas that I champion. Downtown Denver is much closer to the old western suburbs so I would look to those area. Older areas of Lakewood, Wheat Ridge, and Arvada. Lakewood now has new rail. Arvada will be getting rail completion in 2016. These areas are also well served by local and express buses that can get you downtown quickly to Union Station (Market Street Station closes in May) and is the best bet for getting downtown within 30 minutes from a suburbs. All have good established neighborhoods with well regarded Jefferson County Schools.

If you choose not to use public transit, you could easily and quickly drive to downtown Denver from many of the north part of the western suburbs, especially Wheat Ridge and Arvada, through multiple side streets and avoid the the heavily traveled highways.

One suggestion was Applewood. Absolutely one of the best areas to live where Lakewood, Wheat Ridge and Golden come together. Yes, parts of Golden can work also. The bus public transit commute could be longer from this area but below 60 minutes.

No one has suggested the northern suburbs in Adams County. Just on the basic of time, it could take more as it would require longer bus commute and running in difficulties on the heavily traveled I-25 corridor. However, a rail project has just broken ground to be completed in 2018 but goes through mostly new developments in Thornton and a part of Northglenn.

So, that is my take on the whole situation. Of course, I want to advocate Arvada but I wanted to be fair or at least to appear to be objective.

Livecontent

[davebarnes]

Find Colorado's best schools

JEFFCO Public Schools - District School Map

The biggest problem you will face is lack inventory for sale.
We are almost at a record low.
See it a 0800 on first day and make offer by 0830.