Castle Pines Colorado or Highlands Ranch (Aurora, Lakewood: rental, condo, daycare)

[Kendra292]

Hi everyone. I would love some insight and feedback. Currently we reside in far East Aurora/Centennial and are looking to relocate somewhere more central to have better access to the mountains and everything else. Would love mature trees and access to trails

We love our current area for the diversity and our large mature high fenced back yard.

We've been looking at Castle Pines (in our 575-650K price range) our concerns are:
-average age in the area is older, and we have young kids. No community center. Is this a sociable neighborhood for young families?
-With the monopoly of 1 daycare nearby we're concerned about it's quality. Few online reviews. It looks like Primrose in Lone Tree may be workable for us too.
-Quality of schools
-split rail fence, can see 5 neighbors at once. We've just never lived like that and are not sure what privacy, noise, ect will be like. This seems to be more the rule than the exception everywhere we look.
-General tone of area. We will miss being surrounded by the cultural and family diversity of our current area and we're liberal in general. All cards on the table: will it be ultra-conservative, Stepford, snobby ect?

We are a family of with 2 pre-K kids and a dog. Two working parents, Non-religious and commute to Centennial and (problematic) commute to Anschutz Medical Campus, though hours are good to miss most traffic for the medical campus.

We've also looked at Highlands Ranch and older homes in Lone Tree and Littleton. Any other suggestions would be great.

Kendra

[ponyupgrl]

Have you looked at The Meadows in Castle Rock? Don’t personally live there but know some families who do... it’s not that far south of Castle Pines and is super family oriented. Several daycare options in the area as well. You’d probably want a lot backing to open space to avoid seeing neighbors, which I think you can find in your budget.

If you end up moving in the general Douglas County area, there is a Douglas County Childcare Facebook group I highly recommend joining for daycare info.

[2bindenver]

Arapahoe at the Farm. Piney Creek?

[NorthDenverGirl]

Piney Creek has some great homes and several of them back on to open space yet there are still plenty of families around.

If you are looking to not feel isolated, have a fair sized yard and be in the middle of a very family oriented area than I would go with Highlands Ranch. You should be able to find something great in your budget in Highlands Ranch

Also, the Southwest/west side of Parker has some great neighborhoods with lots of families, very easy access to rec center, good schools and plenty of trails and parks that would fit your budget. I have 2 clients looking in that area right now and it would seem to be a good fit for what you have described.

[Kendra292]

We are going to keep looking we have concerns about the interior and windows of the house in CP in addition to the things mentioned above, so I'll look into all of those areas and into the Facebook Group.

[briancnolan]

@kendra292 - where did you decide to live? We’re looking to relocate to either HR or CP or CR, and I’d love to learn where you ended up and why. Thanks!

[2bindenver]

Brian,

You may want to start with a new thread of your own.

Tell us what you like in a community and where will you be working. Add anything you think is relevant.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by 2bindenver

Brian,

You may want to start with a new thread of your own.

Tell us what you like in a community and where will you be working. Add anything you think is relevant.

The more that people tell us the more we can help them without playing email tag all day. Here's what the TOS ask people to do:

"When asking questions about a location, give as much detail as you can, so we can zero in on the info you need. If house hunting, what is your price level or rental amount. How many BR's, Baths, square feet, lot size, etc, do you need? Pets? SFH, TH, Condo, mobile home? In-town, rural, college town, military town, mountains? Schools for children? Gated community, golf course community, active senior community? Do you need to stable a horse? Is there an RV or boat trailer to consider? The more you tell us, the sooner our regular posters can reply with specificity. Same for any other criteria you have. Please avoid open-ended requests like "I'm moving to your city, tell me EVERYTHING."

[Moonwalkr]

Try Lakewood/Green Mountain. It's not too bad getting to AMC depending on when you commute, access to green space and closer to mountains.