Front Range - Where to live?

Planning to make the move from California next year. We can basically choose where we want to live and, so far, are considering downtown Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins. We're looking for an apartment/condo in an interesting neighborhood, within walking distance to groceries, restaurants, cafes, and other daily necessities. Accessibility to running/biking paths is also a plus. We don't want a house, so nothing in suburbia or on a cul-de-sac. Suggestions?

Price would dictate how close you get to all of those in those places....

1 word for Boulder and FoCo.....University.

University = Taxed Housing

Great places though!!!

The Spire in Denver is uber-centrally located. I spent a lot of time in there getting it ready for occupancy, its pretty damn nice; but can't talk much about the value though. Lots of both old and new condo's in the Central/East Denver area. But beware the oldies; lots of times young folks invest w/out knowing how much their HOA can cost if something major (like the main boiler for example) needs repair/replacement. An $80K project split between 20 units to keep the heat on can be an unexpected blow.

Check out BelMar in Lakewood....it would be everything you want at a far greater price than downtown....yet only 5 miles from downtown....

I have lived all over Denver and Colorado.

Resort towns you are looking at about $1,000 min. a month for a smaller apartment.

College Town- same, right around $1,000

Downtown Denver- about $1,200-1,800

Denver Metro- $800 and up

The rental market here is strong...so in the city you see a fine line of what $1,000 gets you....much below that and it seems to be a whole different ball game.

I guess it all depends on what your needs are for amenities as well. If you only want to pay a couple hundo's a month, then there are lots of places for you my friend!

The highlands neighborhood (and some of the smaller sub-neighborhoods within the highlands) is great. I've lived near Jefferson Park (near the Broncos stadium) for the better part of 6 years and love it. Close to downtown, little bit cheaper, easy access to I-70 and I-25. You also still have that community feel as opposed to the more urban nature of Lodo or Uptown.

Where are you going to work? I love living in Boulder; lots of trails, easy access to climbing, fun town. I did want to move to Denver, however with my job in Boulder I just wasn't willing to make the commute. The Denver/Boulder area is great for bikes and almost everything seems walkable/bikeable and you'll totally get in the groove of driving less. I like the Highlands area of Denver personally.

Each place will have it's negatives as well. Boulder has the college which is plus and minus and can be touristy and have a wierd sense of mentality (aka the "bubble". Denver can be crowded, hot and infiltrated with moustache wearing hipsters, but with a TON of great things always going on. Expect lots of traffic especially whenever there is a sporting event. Foco is a great town with climbing nearby, but you are kind of isolated IMO.

I'd come out and take a look and see what makes you feel at home.

We live in Westminster now, about a half hour from both Denver and Boulder, and much cheaper than either. We're trying to convince ourselves we can afford Boulder in the near future. That said, Westminster is kind of suburban strip mall hell.

I like what I've seen of Denver, but I'm not sure I'd want to live there as a climber, if you end up fighting traffic it can take a significant amount of time to get in an out of the city.

Not a huge problem for longer outings, but it makes a quick post work jaunt to Eldo or the like less practical.

Good suggestions. We'll definitely be coming and checking out multiple places before making any decisions. But it's nice to have a few places to focus our attention on. Cost isn't that big of a consideration...finally finished with residency and making real money.

Why Colorado? Bend is better :)

A bazillion miles of world class mountain biking, literally out your door.
Skiing 25 minutes away with no crowds or epic drive
A lifetime of cragging (sport and trad) at Smith and Trout Creek
No front range crowds to deal with
60% cheaper cost-of-living than Boulder/Denver
A beautiful, big river flowing right through town (all year) for water sports

Only bummer... no real "mountains" close by. But Washington isn't too far....

We considered both and are totally psyched we chose Bend.

ps. Bend is on the dry side of the Cascades and gets 30% less rain than Boulder!

SlowTrad wrote:close to skiing...it has it all - in the right amounts.

The quality of that skiing is still up for debate though... Continental snowpack and lots of traffic. Lots of better places to live for skiing but boulder does have a lot else going for it.

Tom Fralich wrote:Planning to make the move from California next year. We can basically choose where we want to live and, so far, are considering downtown Denver, Boulder, and Fort Collins. We're looking for an apartment/condo in an interesting neighborhood, within walking distance to groceries, restaurants, cafes, and other daily necessities. Accessibility to running/biking paths is also a plus. We don't want a house, so nothing in suburbia or on a cul-de-sac. Suggestions?

As someone who has lived in all of the places you've mentioned, I'd recommend either Boulder, Highlands, or Golden. While I have met a lot of really nice climbers from Fort Collins, I think it's a true college town, and feels a little suburban if you're out of the college scene.

If access to climbing and lots of trails is important to you, I'd suggest Boulder or Golden. Golden is smaller, but less pretentious, and closer to Denver. It's also closer to Clear Creek, which has better sport climbing than Boulder Canyon, in my opinion. While it doesn't have a ton of restaurants, there are a few amazing casual places (D'Deli has the best sandwiches ever). Golden is also closer to skiing than Boulder or Denver, if you're into that sort of thing.

Boulder definitely has more options for restaurants than Golden, but still pales in comparison to Denver in the culinary department. My favorite things about Boulder are the trails, the fact that you have most everything you need in a small area (you can bike pretty much anywhere in town), and the fact that almost everyone is well-educated and athletic. It's awesome that you can always find someone to climb with. My least favorite things about Boulder are that it can be pretentious (especially the restaurants) and a decent percentage of people take their sports way too seriously. Boulder is where I currently live, as I generally think that the positives outweigh the negatives.

Before moving to Boulder, I lived in the Highlands in Denver (not Highlands Ranch, which is suburbia). I loved the neighborhood. It's farther from the mountains than Golden or Boulder, but has a really cute downtown, and is about a mile or two from downtown Denver. If you live in "LoHi" (only realtors say this), you'll be really close to downtown, and in an area with tons of fun new restaurants, etc. Other Denver neighborhoods that I like are Cheesman Park, City Park, and Washington Park (this area doesn't have as many condos). Denver tends to be a little bit less expensive than Boulder, and has more big-city amenities and diversity (not really ethnic diversity, but people have more varied interests). Good luck!

The Golden Triangle neighborhood of Denver has a lot going on too and meets your criteria. Boulder and Golden are both places for folks who like quiet evenings on the patio. Central Denver has the cultural elements you'd expect in being an urban environment that the sleepy little villages cannot match. Don't be a villager yet, live!

Golden---
It is the greatest litlle town. A real western feel yet only 12 minutes to Denver on highway 6, and the new light rail will be finished in April going from Golden to Downtown. Loads of hiking, biking, climbing, shopping, wining and dining all within walking distance.

Delta Bravo wrote:Boulder and Golden are both places for folks who like quiet evenings on the patio.

Ha! This comment will most likely offend some...but thanks for the post.
Finally got a good laugh on mp tonight.

+1 for Golden

Tom,

I work as a residential real estate agent in Denver and would be happy to be a resource. I just wrote an offer today for a fellow climber from MP on a Denver home and always love to help out fellow climbers.

Cheers,

David
david [at] mile high property guy [dot] com
720-440-2340

Mike McKinnon wrote:Boulder no - unless you can afford to live with the 1%.

That's actually one of the least true things I've ever heard. Their is a large contingent of normal hard working people in Boulder. We live here for the mountains, the climbs, the biking and haha the beer. I'm not rich and I bust my ass to pay my bills.

I don't take that stereotypical statement offensively, but it's quite untrue. The 1% don't even live here quite often...we are paying their mortgages!! I don't even know any rich people.

Mike McKinnon wrote: Golden yes. Boulder no - unless you can afford to live with the 1%.

couldn't disagree more. this is clearly coming from someone who lives in golden and has never lived in boulder.

it is very easy to live here and not even be close to the 1%. of course, if you are, it makes it a helluva lot easier. it all depends on where you live in downtown boulder. at any rate, golden is great, but boulder is great too.

Scott McMahon wrote: I don't take that stereotypical statement offensively, but it's quite untrue.

+1

I'm house shopping now.. All you guys that say golden is cheap must not have looked at house prices recently. Boulder and Golden are almost one in the same...

Eldo