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Hi, my husband and I are fairly new to Colorado, and we want to move to Denver. We found a house that seems like a good deal, but it's not quite in Denver. It's just across Sheridan in the tiny community of Mountain View. I was wondering what people's impressions are of this area as far as being a good place to invest. Does anyone know of any nearby redevelopment plans? How are Jefferson county schools as opposed to Denver schools? Any information anyone can provide would be helpful. I haven't been able to find much info on Mountain View by searching the web.
Hi, my husband and I are fairly new to Colorado, and we want to move to Denver. We found a house that seems like a good deal, but it's not quite in Denver. It's just across Sheridan in the tiny community of Mountain View. I was wondering what people's impressions are of this area as far as being a good place to invest. Does anyone know of any nearby redevelopment plans? How are Jefferson county schools as opposed to Denver schools? Any information anyone can provide would be helpful. I haven't been able to find much info on Mountain View by searching the web.
Mountain View is indeed a very tiny community. Most people would not even know that it exist or that it is a separate municipality. It is only a few square miles, I think from about 44th to the North and about 40th to the South and West to Fenton and East to Sheridan.
I live close to this area and driving through you would never think of it--most people consider part of Wheat Ridge. The homes are older and just south and across from Berkeley Lake. To the north is another little strange entity of Lakeside which is the shopping center and the amusement park.
The area is not the best but there will be much improvement in the future.
This area of Sheridan needs improvement around Lakeside and just east of Mountain View.
The Lakeside Mall was just sold to a new developer and there is some building on the site, as well as some small changes on West 44th just south. However, there is big empty, rotting, old, speedway on the corner of Sheridan and W44th that needs to be demolished. I can see this happening and the closing of the amusement park and when the gentrification happening in the east in the Berkeley neighborhood of Denver reaches to Sheridan.
That will happen when a new commuter rail stations is completed on West 60th and Sheridan and when the family who owns the property sells. The amusement park has had its day and there is lake in the middle, lake Rhoda that would attract developers. Any improvement in the area will be contigent on what happens to Lakeside.
I think it's an area worth looking at. So far, there's been some interest in the neighborhoods west of Sheridan due to the momentum from West Highlands and Berkeley neighborhoods. People want to live in that area, but Highlands and Berkeley are getting expensive -- this may be why you're interested in Mountain View. I think Mountain View contracts with Wheat Ridge to get all its services (like police, fire, libraries, parks, etc), so for all practical purposes as a resident it'd probably be like living in Wheat Ridge.
Some people, I think, may think living in eastern Jeffco is a convenient way to avoid problems in DPS. That might be true, if you choice yourself into other Jeffco schools. However, the local schools on that side are not really a marked improvement over their counterparts in Denver. Jefferson High School has a lot of problems, though on the other hand so does North high in Northwest Denver. Either in North Denver or in Eastern Jeffco, you're probably going to have to research options for the best schools for your kids. There are good options available, but it probably means choicing your kids into a different school than the one you're zoned for. Lakewood High School may be a good option, should you choose to live in Mountain View.
The lakeside redevelopment is a big mystery. I haven't found any info on it, so I have no idea what they have in mind, though it appears that they've completely cleared out the Target store, the Avanza supermarket and the desolate old mall that has been there. That's probably going to be razed, and there won't be any tears for it. That mall never really made use of the the lake that was there; it makes you wonder what they were thinking when they built it in the first place. On the other hand, I would hate to see the amusement part go. It is charming and is a part of Denver history, much like the original Elitch Gardens was, even if it is a little shabby today. The racetrack and the shopping center are easily expendible, however. I just wonder what's going to replace it, and hopefully there will be some public spaces that make use of the lake there.
I think it's an area worth looking at. So far, there's been some interest in the neighborhoods west of Sheridan due to the momentum from West Highlands and Berkeley neighborhoods. People want to live in that area, but Highlands and Berkeley are getting expensive -- this may be why you're interested in Mountain View. I think Mountain View contracts with Wheat Ridge to get all its services (like police, fire, libraries, parks, etc), so for all practical purposes as a resident it'd probably be like living in Wheat Ridge.
Some people, I think, may think living in eastern Jeffco is a convenient way to avoid problems in DPS. That might be true, if you choice yourself into other Jeffco schools. However, the local schools on that side are not really a marked improvement over their counterparts in Denver. Jefferson High School has a lot of problems, though on the other hand so does North high in Northwest Denver. Either in North Denver or in Eastern Jeffco, you're probably going to have to research options for the best schools for your kids. There are good options available, but it probably means choicing your kids into a different school than the one you're zoned for. Lakewood High School may be a good option, should you choose to live in Mountain View.
The lakeside redevelopment is a big mystery. I haven't found any info on it, so I have no idea what they have in mind, though it appears that they've completely cleared out the Target store, the Avanza supermarket and the desolate old mall that has been there. That's probably going to be razed, and there won't be any tears for it. That mall never really made use of the the lake that was there; it makes you wonder what they were thinking when they built it in the first place. On the other hand, I would hate to see the amusement part go. It is charming and is a part of Denver history, much like the original Elitch Gardens was, even if it is a little shabby today. The racetrack and the shopping center are easily expendible, however. I just wonder what's going to replace it, and hopefully there will be some public spaces that make use of the lake there.
The Avanza store moved to North Pecos about a year ago. There is a small strip of new buildings in the Parking lot of Lakeside Mall. There seems to be some construction or demolition at the old Montgomery Wards.
Across the street, I have seen some new stores opening--a store for window treatments. Usually you see this type of store in a better neighborhood. So, maybe some changes are happening.
I remember when there was a King Soopers and a Walgreens at this mall. Then they left and they did a redevelopment with Target, which just moved to Edgewater. In the last 10 years, it has been slowly turning into offices.
I think this property is prime for redevelopment because of the lake and the highway access to I-70. It will happen and will greatly change that whole neighborhood.
I do not see any new re-modelings in Mountain View and you would see in West Higland and Berkeley. I think it is still too far up on Sheridan. The development is starting to happen west of Sheridan along West 32nd. W38th which would be coming from West Highlands area of Denver. The Berkeley Development is a little slower going west and is more going north along Tennyson and street off it.
I do not think that Mountain View is all that bad. Driving down Harlan, it seems very nice and preceeds to not bad areas of Edge Water. West 44th is a very unique street in the area. It was also noted for having many fruit and vegetable markets--there are still some today. This street runs parallel with the Wheat Ridge Green Belt along Clear Creek. This is one my favorite open spaces in the area. There are two big parks that are accessible from 44th along this Green Belt that have lakes with ducks, geese, pools, ballfields, picnic pavilions.
It continues to extend west and goes under Kipling and meets the new large Wheat Ridge Recreation Center. It continues all the way till Youngfied, where there more small lakes, and preceeds under Youngfield, through Applewood all the way to Golden.
The trail runs east and connects with Ralston Creek just past Sheridan. There is a nice park accessible off Wadsworth which has heavy foilage. The trail goes east and eventually connects with the South Platte.
Pictures at
City of Wheat Ridge - Parks, Forestry & Open Space Division (http://www.ci.wheatridge.co.us/GovSite/default.asp?serviceID1=463&Frame=L1 - broken link)
A line at this site caught my eye "Long portions of the Clear Creek Trail hug the creek margin and lend the feeling of passing through an eastern forest, unusual for the arid climate of the Colorado Front Range" This is exactly how I have always felt going on this trail, it is lush and has heavy foilage in spots--like an eastern park.
Also, it must be noted that a very large Vietnamese Church, Queen of Vietnamese Martyrs, is on Harlan, directly across from Lakeside. This has been there for years and is nicely done with a big community center. I have been to the center because they had a festival with free food-----as, I have written I will go to any church for food that is why I Livecontent.
Wow, thanks for all the great info. The neighborhood with the house we're interested in does seem like a nice quiet neighborhood with well-kept houses, though they're not as architecturally interesting as many of the houses in Denver. We were also considering Sunnyside, but the houses in our price range there were either very small or needed a lot of fix up to make them liveable. I think we're going to go ahead and put an offer in on the Mountain View house, because we're sick of searching and this house has everything we're looking for. We'll be less than a mile from the Tennyson street shops and the Berkeley dog park, so those are definate pluses!
You asked about schools. People who know me on this forum know I'm not in the "I have to send my kids to the best schools" crowd, but I think Jeffco Schools are at least perceived as better than DPS. I personally think for elemenatry, most any school will serve your child well if you do some "enrichment" activities. (Note I did leave some wiggle room with that statement.) For middle and high school, you will have the many choices available in Jeffco.
I have a contract on a house in Mountain View and am asking the same questions as Allie 1999. I now live in Berkeley, just across Sheridan, near Berkeley Park.
In the same boat as many, which is I can't afford to get a bigger house in the same area. So I'm looking at Mountain View.
Allie especially- Did you get a house, and if so, how do you like living in Mountain View?
Any others- Any more information on Lakeside redevelopment, other than noting that the mall is almost completely demolished. I'm particularly interested in knowing the developer, or any plans for the development. To my knowledge, the family that owns/runs Lakeside haven't shown they have the ability to pull off a huge redevelopment like that.
I have a contract on a house in Mountain View and am asking the same questions as Allie 1999. I now live in Berkeley, just across Sheridan, near Berkeley Park.
In the same boat as many, which is I can't afford to get a bigger house in the same area. So I'm looking at Mountain View.
Allie especially- Did you get a house, and if so, how do you like living in Mountain View?
Any others- Any more information on Lakeside redevelopment, other than noting that the mall is almost completely demolished. I'm particularly interested in knowing the developer, or any plans for the development. To my knowledge, the family that owns/runs Lakeside haven't shown they have the ability to pull off a huge redevelopment like that.
Thanks for any thoughts you have!
The family that owns Lakeside is Krasner. That would not necessarily be involved in the development, even though they own the Amusement Park which is in a separate Municipality of Lakeside. Lakeside Mall is the Lakeside but has had a number of owners. The current developer has acquired the property in January 2006---Chandelle Development of Denver, per an article in the Denver Post in January 2006.
As far as the schools in Jefferson County, they are some of the best in Colorado, by far. I live in Arvada (Jefferson County), and although my daughters are grown, my grandson is in the second grade in a Jefferson County School, and I spend quite a bit of time here. You really can't go too wrong buying anything in Jefferson County -- it is one of the best places in Colorado to raise a family.
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Jefferson County, Colorado
