Denver Area Living Advice

Jaker_cc

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Feb 24, 2016
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San Antonio, TX
My gf has the opportunity to take a job in the medical sales field in the Denver area pretty soon. We are looking within 45 min of Denver. Are there any areas to completely avoid? We don't have any children so schools aren't a concern. I'm really interested in the Evergreen area, and also considering the area just south of ft Collins. If you have any suggestions I'd be happy to hear them.
 

3forks

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Oct 4, 2014
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There aren't really too many areas that you should avoid for reasons like crime.

I think the biggest factors you need to consider are how often you or your gf will have to drive into Denver or the surrounding area. Traffic is a hassle at almost every time of day now (Denver never planned for the growth its experiencing and the infrastructure to support it is marginal at best).

Anywhere you do end up living will be expensive as housing is at a premium.

Depending on where you're moving from and what your expectations are, you can be happy just about anywhere within 45 minutes of Denver.

The front range has a lot of drawbacks, but it's also one of the only places in the country with a major metropolitan area and booming economy that's got western hunting, skiing, fishing, etc.
 

vanish

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Good luck getting to Denver from Evergreen in 45 minutes. Sure, its doable on a Sunday afternoon, but throw in commuter traffic and/or snow and you can just about double that.
 

wildcat33

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Lakewood is pretty nice. The area between 6th ave and crown hill has sort of a more rural vibe than the rest of the city. Good access to highways in all directions. Arvada is pretty nice as well. Living far north and commuting to denver sounds like suicide to me. I25 traffic is horrendous. I would attempt a commute from evergreen before i looked north. Housing is tough though, you will need a pretty good budget to get in almost anywhere in Denver that is "desirable". My family is set up here pretty good, but I'd get out at the first chance I had. Weekend traffic to the mountains the way it is, I might as well be living in Iowa. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions.
 

oldgoat

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Evergreen would be great, Golden is another good bet, if you are into archery, there is a great 3d club in Golden, if you live outside the city limits of Golden it has a long wait list(multiple year wait), if you live inside the city limits you can just join when you want! Also Golden has several freeways converge in it and it's easy commute to a lot of places.
 

SunShine

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Jun 14, 2016
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My job had me doing work in Denver. I serviced 17 car dealerships in the area. So many great towns indeed, one better than the next.

Evergreen is noted for its elk. Centennial I like as well. Golden is right next to the Rockies and Coors beer. Aurora is nice. Lakewood, I can go on and on.

The area where I get eebee geebees might be Northside of Denver. Very urban and crime ridden with drugs. I stayed @ a Hilton on Zulu street and thought I need an AR to get from my car to the lobby. Lol no one spoke English either. I was very close to the Pepsi Center.

My advice is basically anything out of the Denver township itself and you’re solid. Elk and mulies everywhere.

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OP
Jaker_cc

Jaker_cc

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Evergreen would be great, Golden is another good bet, if you are into archery, there is a great 3d club in Golden, if you live outside the city limits of Golden it has a long wait list(multiple year wait), if you live inside the city limits you can just join when you want! Also Golden has several freeways converge in it and it's easy commute to a lot of places.

Yeah This would be a huge plus if I could get into golden. Both my gf and I are archery hunters. Would be a great added benefit
 

ericF

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If you want to live south of Fort Collins, you are going to have to spend a long time commuting with the I-25 traffic. That being said, Fort Collins/Loveland is a nice area with lots of amenities but with a smaller town feel. Also it is less crowded up here in FC as far as the outdoors go versus Denver. There is also a nice outdoor archery range that is right along the river which is just off I-25 in Fort Collins that is dirt cheap. So you have to ask yourself whether you want to spend more time on the commute for a less crowded area, or if the commute is not worth it.
 
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Housing costs are really inflated in the area right now. Greeley is cheap and not highly regarded. LOVELAND and Berthoud are a bit slower paced, and have a small town feel
 
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Jaker_cc

Jaker_cc

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Housing costs are really inflated in the area right now. Greeley is cheap and not highly regarded. LOVELAND and Berthoud are a bit slower paced, and have a small town feel

Loveland has a ton of great homes for rent, for way less than anything down around Denver or Evergreen. We are headed up in July to look around and try to get a better feel.
 
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I would look at where specifically she will work and go from there. If she's south Denver/Tech Center, look south or southwest, if more north Denver, maybe Louisville, Gunbarrel, or Niwot might be nice.
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2013
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There aren't really too many areas that you should avoid for reasons like crime.

I think the biggest factors you need to consider are how often you or your gf will have to drive into Denver or the surrounding area. Traffic is a hassle at almost every time of day now (Denver never planned for the growth its experiencing and the infrastructure to support it is marginal at best).

Anywhere you do end up living will be expensive as housing is at a premium.

Depending on where you're moving from and what your expectations are, you can be happy just about anywhere within 45 minutes of Denver.

The front range has a lot of drawbacks, but it's also one of the only places in the country with a major metropolitan area and booming economy that's got western hunting, skiing, fishing, etc.

^^^he's not kidding!^^^ It's slow there even on a motorcycle!
 

SHTF

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Going to depend heavily on your budget are you renting or buying a home? prices in the Denver and surrounding area are pretty high. So if you lay your budget out that may help you better.

Youll find cheaper rent and houses in the aurora area. if you go west towards the foothills littleton Ken Caryl are nicer but more expensive.

We bought in Littleton back in 2008 and got lucky as it was right after the housing bubble market crash now we have doubled in home value equity.

We are 15 mins from Morrison so its easy to get into the mountains from where we are at.
 
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Jaker_cc

Jaker_cc

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Her area would be all of eastern Colorado and part of western Nebraska, so commuting to and from Denver wouldn't be an everyday thing. She will be traveling a lot but she already does that here.
 

wesfromky

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Do you all have dogs, esp pit bull type dogs? If so, Denver and a few of the surrounding town have strict breed specific laws banning those breeds.
 
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