Best area in Denver to raise a family

[katiereaney]

Our price range is anywhere from $400000-$900000.....i am just wondering if Wash Park will be all right when the kids are in middle/high school. Are there any other areas like Park Hill, Hilltop that are a little less $$ but just as good.
Thanks so much!

[SheridanL]

Anywhere you like would be good. Stay in the Cherry Creek School District. That is my best advice!

[Moonwalkr]

Originally Posted by SheridanL

Anywhere you like would be good. Stay in the Cherry Creek School District. That is my best advice!

While that's where we are and happy with, it's a little sprawled out and probably not urban enough for the OP. If you have small kids then Stapleton is probably a good option.

[steveindenver]

I'm not sure Park Hill is going to be any cheaper than Wash Park, in fact I'd say it is going to cost more on average.

http://www.denvergov.org/Portals/144/documents/DENVER_NEIGH_Map.pdf (broken link)

Hale, Montclair, Country Club and Hilltop come to mind as viable areas given your criteria. If you can't get into the Science and Tech school as a high school I would rate East above George Washington (both serve these areas depending on exact location) with the exception that GW has a well rated IB program. Bishop Machebeuf is another option if you go the private Catholic route and want to stay local, and it is in general terms not that expensive, around 9,000 last year.

[tfox]

Originally Posted by katiereaney

Our price range is anywhere from $400000-$900000.....i am just wondering if Wash Park will be all right when the kids are in middle/high school. Are there any other areas like Park Hill, Hilltop that are a little less $$ but just as good.
Thanks so much!

Wash Park is zoned for South, which gets mixed reviews, though in my opinion it's good. That said, everyone agrees that East and possibly GW are both better than South. So, you might want to consider a neighborhood zoned for East instead. Congress Park might be a good choice. Country Club north is also nice.

With your price range, you have LOTS of options in Denver.

As for Park Hill and Hilltop, I'm not sure they're less money than Wash Park but arguably as good in their own way, and are worth looking into as alternatives to Wash Park.

[istayindenver32]

As a resident of five points, schools in the north side of the city are predominantly hispanic and schools in washington park are mostly white. You should put your kids in a washington park school because thare is a lot of problems with crime and violence in the northeast and northwest portions of the city. So stay away from montbello, park hill, five points, whittier, cole, east colfax, regis(neighborhood), or the eastern part of highlands.

[katiereaney]

Thanks for all the advice. My only concern with Stapleton is that it's not urban enough, or is it? How far from the city is it? The schools do look great there. We want to really feel like we are in the city....but want the luxury or safety and good schools.

[Mr. Answers]

Originally Posted by katiereaney

We are looking to move to Denver and have two small children. Our needs are: we are looking for an urban lifestyle, family friendly area and good public schools nearby.
Is this possible in Denver or should we just stay in Fort Collins?

Stay in Fort Collins. It--and not Denver--has been rated the best place to raise a family by several publications for a reason.

[katiereaney]

The only thing about Fort Collins is that it's too small. I know it's been rated best place to raise a family, BUT, i want to be in a bigger city.