Parker Co Particularly Old Town Parker: Town and Country Townhomes (Denver: real estate, to rent) - Colorado (CO) - City-Data Forum

azsunrise · 03-02-2009, 09:40 AM

Can anyone tell me the atmosphere of Old Town Parker? This is one of the places we are considering moving to. Is it kid friendly? How are the schools? What is the majority of the population? Safe? Difficult commute to the airport? What are the pros and cons of the area? I need as much input and feedback in trying to research it.
Thank you.

Count David · 03-02-2009, 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azsunrise

Can anyone tell me the atmosphere of Old Town Parker? This is one of the places we are considering moving to. Is it kid friendly? How are the schools? What is the majority of the population? Safe? Difficult commute to the airport? What are the pros and cons of the area? I need as much input and feedback in trying to research it.
Thank you.

Old-town Parker? You mean the thumbprint sized downtown area? It's cute, but if you are driving through, don't blink, because you will miss it.

-Parker is the near-definition of "kid-friendly".
-Schools are good I suppose, I don't have any direct experience with them; they score high if that's what you mean.
-The majority of the population is human, mostly fair-skinned humans. (probably 90% or so)
-Safe.
-More difficult than a commute to the airport has to be. If you are going to work at the airport, living in Parker IMO would be a pain. The most direct route would be E-470, and that costs $$$.
-Pros: Mostly new (if that is a pro

), all fresh, safe and clean.

Jack in the Box. Some nice dudes at a ski shop down there. Would be a much prettier area if it weren't for all the ugly housing tracts.
-Cons: Mostly new. It's FAR from the rest of metro Denver. Pretty homogeneous. Long commutes. Suburban sprawl.

If you can, go there sometime, that will help you make your decision easier. Parker is definitely not my cup of tea, but IMO is second only to Castle Rock when it comes to natural beauty (among Denver metro cities/towns). I can only imagine what the area looked like before all the darn people moved in.

azsunrise · 03-02-2009, 06:31 PM

Thanks. I guess I should clarify myself when I ask what most of the population is ... are they young working families, retiree, or ??? I guess age bracket is what I am looking for?

Is Old Town Parker far off from the rest of Parker?

Are there no other routs to the airport area?

maciesmom · 03-02-2009, 06:36 PM

"old town Parker" is right in the middle of Parker....
Parker itself is full of young working families, pretty homogenous, generally good schools, very family friendly. Commute to the airport area could be a pain. You'd either have to take E-470 as mentioned ($$$) or 225 which is a PIA during rush hour....

BTW - no one calls it Old Town Parker...that must be from some real estate brochure. It's just downtown Parker. It's literally about 2-3 blocks long.

azsunrise · 03-02-2009, 07:02 PM

Hubby would be making the commute. He would be working from 4:30 am to 2:30 pm.

The term Old Town Parker is from realestate info. I wasn't clear if this part of Parker was isolated from the rest.

I am currently out of state and can't make it in for another month to check it out. I just want to see if it is something that we might want to consider. We are looking for well performing schools and it seems hard to find. We want to rent to make sure that wherever we are will be a fit for us.

I read that there is a new water park there for the summer months. What kind of shopping is around. How far to Southlands mall?

vegaspilgrim · 03-02-2009, 07:03 PM

Most of Parker is solid middle class families with little kids, church going territory. Downtown Parker is an exclusively kid friendly ice cream shop/ candy store kind of main street with a playground/park nearby. Other than a handful of old homes leftover, it's not really a residential area. However, it's pretty close to the Canterbury golf course subdivision. The Pinery (far southern Parker) is a lot wealthier than the rest of the area, a little bit older of a population. Pradera (in between Castle Rock and Parker) is kind of a retirement/active adult kind of community, unofficially. Cottonwood (far north end of Parker) is one of the oldest subdivisions in Parker (and by old, we're talking 1980's) and is a tad "grittier" than most of Parker, feels more like a subdivision in Aurora than the rest of Parker.

maciesmom · 03-02-2009, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vegaspilgrim

Most of Parker is solid middle class families with little kids, church going territory. Downtown Parker is an exclusively kid friendly ice cream shop/ candy store kind of main street with a playground/park nearby. Other than a handful of old homes leftover, it's not really a residential area. However, it's pretty close to the Canterbury golf course subdivision. The Pinery (far southern Parker) is a lot wealthier than the rest of the area, a little bit older of a population. Pradera (in between Castle Rock and Parker) is kind of a retirement/active adult kind of community, unofficially. Cottonwood (far north end of Parker) is one of the oldest subdivisions in Parker (and by old, we're talking 1980's) and is a tad "grittier" than most of Parker, feels more like a subdivision in Aurora than the rest of Parker.

Very good description of Parker.....

azsunrise · 03-02-2009, 07:13 PM

so, is Cottonwood not a good idea? When you say grittier, is it still safe?
I know very little about Aurora ... I just know that it is huge and varies vastly from one part to another. So, when you compare it to Aurora, I am not sure what that means .. sorry.

maciesmom · 03-02-2009, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azsunrise

Hubby would be making the commute. He would be working from 4:30 am to 2:30 pm.

The term Old Town Parker is from realestate info. I wasn't clear if this part of Parker was isolated from the rest.

I am currently out of state and can't make it in for another month to check it out. I just want to see if it is something that we might want to consider. We are looking for well performing schools and it seems hard to find. We want to rent to make sure that wherever we are will be a fit for us.

I read that there is a new water park there for the summer months. What kind of shopping is around. How far to Southlands mall?

By "water park" they mean community pool with some added goodies (a couple of nice, tall enclosed slides and sprinklers etc. It's nice but don't be thinking of a huge water theme park....

Southlands is pretty close but the easiest way to get there is E-470 which is a pretty pricey addition to shopping. There is a back way though.

Park Meadows is also very close. Parker has a Target, Walmart, Kohls, BB&B, a movie theater, supposedly they will be soon getting a bowling alley and batting cages? The new fieldhouse includes a climbing wall and an indoor soccer arena as well as indoor roller hockey and several basketball courts. Youth sports is very big. A bike and walking trail winds through most parts of Parker. All in all a very nice place to live.

maciesmom · 03-02-2009, 07:22 PM

Parts of Cottonwood are fairly nice and parts are pretty rundown. One of those neighborhoods where you might see a neat, well kept home but right next door there are several oil stained driveways, screens hanging off, the house needing paint or painted an unusual color, unkempt yards. Just depends. As far as "safe" ? It is still Parker - which is generally a pretty safe place to live.