Moving to Denver area...

Loopyseven

Hi ladies!  

My H is considering a job on the west side of Denver with a company starting a new branch out there in a few months.  I don't have an exact location I don't think it's been chosen yet- but it'll be in a western suburb or western outskirts of the greater Denver area.   

We'd be looking to buy a house if it works out.  We like older properties - century homes, victorian style, wood floors, fireplaces, front porches.  H is extremely handy so we could do a fixer upper without any problems.  We are getting ready to start a family and want to stay put for a while so a good school system is a must.  We love hiking and camping and skiing, eating out at nice restaurants, sports games and some of the "city stuff" too.  

Can any of you think of any neighborhoods that might suit - or a website we can use to learn more about the neighborhoods in general to get a feel for it?  

sakana1840

Sloans Lake is a lot like that

a lot of the victorian style homes are in the center of town and very expensive. everything in Denver is within a half hour drive to I-70, the major route to the mountains

there are 300+ parks in the metro-area, so anywhere you move, you'll find something like that

megandken

Yahoo!  Denver is awesome!  I live in Whittier, which is a transitional neighborhood with houses generally about 100 years old. Many houses around here would be great investments, especially with a little elbow grease. I absolutely love it but I also researched our particular block well ahead of buying.  Some streets are, um, interesting, in our neighborhood.

Most of City Park area (south and west of the park) is still affordable and likely a good investment.  Personally, if I were you, I'd get a 6-month or month-to-month lease in Capitol Hill or nearby and check it out before you buy.

I grew up in Denver Public Schools and I turned out alright.   Nowadays, DPS has open enrollment, which means you can find some excellent schools with some research...

I've lived in the western suburbs as well.  I prefer where we are now- I just like having easy urban access while maintaining a neighborhood feel.  Just personal preference.

Another area to consider is the Highlands (just west of I25).  Not to be confused with Highlands Ranch- 2 totally different places.

Feel free to PM if you want!

sakana1840

oh, i forgot about the highlands.......which is quite pricey, but older and on the west side of town

Loopyseven

Thanks!  I'll be doing some research over the New Years holidays!  I appreciate your suggestions .

DNAtime

I dibs Highlands. I love it. Its on the west side of Downtown denver so its an easy commute to western suburbs. I also really like downtown littleton its super cute and on the west side as well .But its definitely the burbs.

arrabelle

welcome to co!  you're going to love it.  ditto downtown littleton, sloans lake, the highlands, edgewater.

i work in jefferson county and i drive around a lot.  jeffco is just west of denver, is a long skinny county that runs up and down the front range.  

if you're looking at western suburbs and you don't really want to be close to the city, golden is a super cute option.  the geography is gorgeous, you shave 20-30 minutes off your ski commute and you're not too far from central denver but you're out of cab range.  morrison is gorgeous, the old town is cute and you're close to red rocks.  there are some little pockets of arvada that i think are nice also - old town arvada is adorable, but very easy to get to from I70.  the light rail is expanding out that way with stops being built in lakewood/arvada, but i'd check out the website for details if that's important to you.

in the city my faves would be: city park west, platte park and the highlands.  platte park is just south of I25 but before you get to englewood/littleton - look at a map and check out the areas between s. broadway and pearl street.  kind of $$$ but fabulous.

definitely rent for a few months if you can!  have fun!