Moving to Denver

Hi S.,
I've lived here my whole life and currently live in Parker. I absolutely love it here but it's not urban, in fact it's pretty rural in places but that's the attraction for us. A few churches I've belonged to are Ave Maria in Parker, St. Judes in Lakewood, and St. Francis Cabrini in Littleton (my personal favorite). My parents attend Spirit of Christ in Arvada and it's beautiful. Douglas County has a very good school District but a lot of schools are track (year round). We just went to track so I'm totally bummed!! Jefferson County also has good schools with a traditional schedule, although when we lived there my children attended Montessori so I don't have personal knowledge. Hope this helps!

S.,
You are going to love Denver! Here is a great web site to get you started - www.HomesNearDenver.com. It is a comprehensive search engine with updated access to all the properties in the MLS, neighborhood information, school information, market area statistics, and more. It has more search fields than the average MLS sites. You can save your searches, create an email alert to be notified as soon as new listings come on the market, email them to a friend, make notes, ask for more information, and even schedule an appointment to see the homes of your choice. You may search several times before creating a log in. The log in process allows me to provide you with better service. All you will need is a log in name and password. I won't ask you for more information than you feel comfortable providing and your information is completely private and safe. I believe in the "Golden Rule". I want to provide you with the same excellent service I would expect if you were my Realtor and I were your client. I am a trained and certified relocation specialist with over 31 years experience. "Houses are made of bricks and stone. Homes are made of love alone." I will help you make happy moves from house to home. Welcome to Colorado!

We live in a neighborhood called Stapleton. It is the best! There are tons of parks and playgrounds and it is 10-15 min from downtown, great schools. Check it out and good luck!

The Stapelton neighborhood would be very cool, very close in and lots of families, pretty expensive though, ( probably 500k for 2400sf). The Highland neighborhood is very cool right now, lots of cute bungalows and young kids, lots of restaurants and shops, it is Denver public schools and that particular area has not been known for school quality although it has become very gentrified that could change. Cherry creek is really nice, the grade school is DPS but rated very highly. This is probably one of the best areas in Denver for shopping and restaurants, lots of townhomes and more urban style living, very expensive.

If you're Catholic, you may want to check out the BonnieBrae neighborhood. They're in the St.Vincent de Paul parish which has an really great parochial school which goes from ECE up to 8th grade. You'd be walking distance to Washington Park, some great restaurants on South Gaylord, 5 minutes from Cherry Creek North and the Mall, and about 7-10 minutes from Downtown. You said you like an urban lifestyle...BonnieBrae and it's surrounding neighborhoods gives you best of both worlds. There have been a couple of other questions posted about moving to Denver on Mamasource. You may want to check out some of those responses, too. You're lucky to be moving here - it's really an awesome place!

We live in Lakewood/Morrison area and love it!!! It takes about a half hour to get to Denver where I work, but it is worth it. We are tucked in the foothills so the views are awesome and live in a nice little neighborhood where there are lots of other kids for mine to play with. There are also a lot of parks, bike trails, walking trails, etc. The one one thing I loved about Colorado when I moved here 3 years ago was that you felt like there was so much open space but shopping and stores were always close by. Good luck!

city-data.com has a relocation forum for each state and for cities within them. You can search previously posts, or post your own question. Please include specifics, though, like where you or hubby will work, and what specifics are important to you, or you'll get a bunch of smart a$$ answers back.

I know your child(ren) are young but you may want to research school districts closely prior to making your decision. Most of the locations near the city are part of DPS which is not as strong as some of the other districts further west or south. Just a thought. I know that is why I moved out of Wash. Park even though I loved it.

I definitely agree with what everyone has said about doing your research. We moved from Denver to Highlands Ranch a few months ago and love it. I do miss some of the perks of living in Denver, such as being centerly located. But, we wanted a bigger house for our expanding family and our budget, with younger families near-by for our children to play with. Our old neighborhood was close to parks, but didn't have younger children near-by. Schools were very important to us also, and ended up going private at St. Thomas More Catholic Church (PDO thru 8th grade). When we were looking at homes, we even met the neighbors in the areas we liked to get a feel for the neighborhood and what they liked about the area. We found out about great parks and great walking trails.

Good luck with your seach!

Funny most posts gave you suburban options but I like the Wash park or West Highlands area. Ten to 20 minutes from downtown. They have very old homes and great neighborhood living. Walk to restaurants, stores, schools etc. I lived in west highlands before it was popular and would recommending it either way. Good luck and welcome to Denver. I go to St Dominic's Catholic Church. Just to let you know I love it. Dominican priests are very liberal and great with their sermons.

You're a little short on info here, such as what's your budget? Do you want a country club neighborhood? Are you planning to rent or buy? Denver has a fabulous system of parks, libraires and rec centers - things that are grossly underfunded or ignored in the transitory suburbs (I'm in Douglas County, no library funding for us thank you) I'm headed back to the city myself! Bonnie Brae is a great area, you might want to check out historic Congress Park. I was there for years, some great neighborhoods, you can be walking distance to City Park with the Zoo and Natural History Museum, another direction is the Botanic Gardens and Congress Park. Cherry Creek shopping is close at hand, there are some great neighborhood shopping areas and eateries. There are a couple of Catholic Churches and schools in the area as well as the Cathedral.

Like any urban area, things can vary widely in a fairly small area, Denver has some great schools such as Steck (my kids went there until we moved to Parker, in Denver we were in an elem school with 300 kids, in Parker over 1400) and Bromwell and some horrible schools - you have to do your homework. Denver has a lot of Catholic schools, each with it's own strengths or focus, you could contact the archdioces (used to be in Cherry Creek, might still be) and see what insight they can offer. Fewer than 1 out of 7 people here grew up here, so there has been a lot of change and growth. Many of us feel alomost lost in our hometown sometimes, talk to as many people as you can to get different insights.

Moving is a hassle but if you think this may be a long term move, you might want to rent for a few months and do a lot of exploring to find the area that is right for your lifestyle. Good Luck

Hi S.,

WELCOME WELCOME WELCOME! Cherry Creek school district is rated in the top 10 nationwide schools and Douglas County district is 2nd in the state. You will find a good church in every neighborhood.

What do you do for work? Where are you moving from? My husband envy's yours! He tells me everyday he wants to be a stay at home dad... problem is, I'm still nursing our 4 month old!

Anyway, my website has links you can check out. I promise we won't bug you if you register. It will just provide you some valuable information. Feel free to contact me or someone on my team, if you need any help. www.KrnetaRealty.com

There are some great mom's groups set up in different neighborhoods around the area too. I know being a working mom of 2 little ones isn't easy, but it is extremely rewarding! good luck!

Welcome to Denver! I've lived here my whole life, traveled all over the country and the world, and wouldn't choose to live anywhere else. It's a wonderful place!

Urban living- check out Stapleton and the Highland's neighborhood. If you can afford more, try Park Hill, Bonnie Brae, Cherry Hills, and Washington Park neighborhoods. Each of those is very urban and close to downtown while still being very nice and safe.

If you need advice, my hubby is a realtor with Keller Williams and can email you anything you need, including houses with virtual tours, etc. His email is ____@____.com if you'd like to get a hold of him.

I hope your move is fantastic- good luck!

J.

In my experience (we moved to Denver 2 years ago) price is really going to dictate where you live. The neighborhoods vary greatly, but prices are going down all over right now. We are on a tighter income and live in a neighborhood called Green Valley Ranch, it's about a 15-30 minute commute to downtown, depending on traffic, but it's very affordable newer homes. My best advice is get with a realtor and let them know what your wants and needs are. Oh and if you are having your baby out here, I am a doula and full of advice on good places for that!

It is hard to say without knowing what your budget is, but we love our neighborhood, Platt Park. It is centrally located with easy access to the the highway (I-25) and the light rail system to go downtown or commute to the Denver Tech Center. We close to Washington Park and are three blocks from a fabulous business district called Old South Pearl St., which has several coffee shops, bakeries, excellent restaurants, and a small farmer's market on Sundays during the summer and fall. We are not far from thr Cherry Creek North shopping district which has a large mall and several blocks of shops and restaurants. You do not get as much square footage for your $, but the charm of old neighborhoods and the convenience of the city are worth it. There are lots new homes being built as well. My neighbor is a long-time realtor for this area: Michael Craig. Other good neighborhoods are Congress Park, Park Hill, Bonnie Brae, Observatory Park, and Highlands. Hill Top is beautiful but very expensive. Get a realtor that will show you all around, not just one area!

I like Parker, Elisabeth, Castle Rock, Centennial and Highlands Ranch - Not sure about Catholic churches in those areas - but there are churches everywhere here of all denominations. I have seen alot of Catholic ones too - just can't remember specific addresses.
I have heard Cherry Creek schools are good as well.. I homeschool so I can't really help you much there..

If you are looking for private schools there are many and I think a catholic private school right down the road from me off South Parker and Arapahoe. Behind Arapahoe crossings shopping center.

These areas that I have mentioned are all south of Denver (suberbs) just about a 20 to 30 minute drive to downtown Denver. Elisabeth and CastleRock might be more like 35 or 40 minutes.. Guessing..

Hope that helps!

C.
www.AHomeCareer.com

Hi S.,
Welcome to Colorado! I've lived here all my life so I'm a bit bais. We live in Highlands Ranch and it's a wonderful community; lots of trails to bike, walk or run. All stores are very close. As for Catholic churches, it's got that too. We attend St.Mary's in Littleton (http://www.stmarylittleton.org/)which is about 10 minutes away, it's been my family's church for decades. But, there are two others actually in HR that I know are good as well, St.Mark (www.stmark9905.org)and Pax Christi (www.paxchristi.org). Good luck!

S.,

We live in SW Littleton in a neighborhood called Govenor's Ranch. It's a great neighborhood for families as well as within walking distance of the mall, schools and parks. There is a clubhouse, tennis courts, swimming pool and very good elementary school all within walking distance in the neighborhood. We love it here and have been here for about 10 years.

You are about 20 minutes from the mountains as well as about that same amount from downtown Denver - should you want to go there! :)

If you want to know more, just e-mail me. There are actually quite a few homes for sale in the neighborhood. :)

Have a great day!
C.

Welcome! You didn't mention where you are coming from, but Denver is awesome.

If you want an urban area look at the Highlands which is Northwest Denver or Washington Park (Wash Park) which is more central Denver and where I would live if we hadn't bought in the suburbs. Wash Park is an amazingly beautiful active park. And the neighborhood schools in Wash Park are good even for DPS.

My husband is a realtor and specializes in Denver AND in finding great deals. He is with Your Castle Real Estate which is locally owned and operated (not a big chain).

I currently live in Westminster (Jefferson County). The public schools are great (rated high), and I hear great things about the charter schools too. The sub division I live in (Westcliff) is geared toward moms groups and networking the kids -- walking distance to elementary and middle school. LOVE IT!

One of the neighborhood moms is active in her Catholic church. I can ask her which one she attends.

This is not a hard sale, but I am also a Realtor and would be happy to send you property information if you need it.