Denver, CO area ladies - sell me on your city

[theoriginalbean]

I'm fairly confident that I'm about to get an offer for a job in Denver, in the city proper. I'm 99% we want to move there from Cincinnati - we're an active family, running, biking, hiking, skiing - none of which you can do here. Well, you can run\bike anywhere, but the rest of it, not so much. We have mountain bikes and no mountains. Do you love living in the area? I'd like to be farther northwest (is that right?), closer to Boulder. I've heard to look at broomfield and arvada, but I know nothing about anything else. Walkability and schools are important, ideally I'd want to live somewhere we could safely walk/bike to parks and the grocery store. Does anything like that exist? Where should I look? If err move, we'll rent before we buy, but I still want to know what's out there. I think under the 300K range. Thanks for helping

[taratru]

All of that exists in lots of places. I'm not a huge Boulder fan, but I can't really tell you why. I like Lafayette for all you've listed.

[theoriginalbean]

I have new information to add to the equation - the office is in the Glendale area, so I think that rules out Boulder. I'll look into Lafayette, thanks!

[kams]

You'll have no trouble finding wht you're looking for, especially if you rent first & have time to explore and see which areas are your favorites.

300k won't go too far in Boulder, but there are numerous great spots in the Denver area that are lovely & within budget. Where is your job located? It's a fairly sprawling city, so you'll likely want to be close, especially during rush hour . Most of my family is still in Centennial (Parker & Arapahoe area) & off Orchard. There are some beautiful neighborhoods in the 250-300ish range. That is, however, far from Boulder.

I'm sad to have moved from CO. Everything you love is either out your front door, or a short drive away. Good luck to you!

[taratru]

Shoot. Glendale is pretty south. Lafayette is north, east of Boulder...

Parker and Castle Rock are nice.

[theoriginalbean]

I'm really just excited about the race opportunities

I'd love to do Bolder Boulder and Pike's Peak! Relocating to a more action-friendly area would really be a dream come true for both of us.

[kimsy]

I just wanted to say I'm jealous! I don't live in CO, but we spend 3-4 weeks a year about 90 minutes west of Denver. You will have no shortage of outdoor fun out there! Good luck!

[majick143]

I'm a Colorado native. I live in Castle Rock and our main stomping grounds are basically South Denver, Parker, Castle Rock and Highlands Ranch. Your money will go further if you get a little farther out of the city. There's TONS of opportunities to get outside and be active year round. It almost doesn't matter where you live, everything is close. Walking to the store and such might be a little harder in the suburbs because everything is quite spread out. There might be areas you can do that if you look though. The area I live in has a grocery store within walking\biking distance. That's about all that's that close though.
Boulder is not an area I'm a fan of. There's a lot of development in the Lafayette area but if you're commuting to Glendale, I wouldn't enjoy that drive AT ALL. I-25 is your only bet and it's nasty during commuting hours. I have a lot of friends that do the commute and it's an hour on average. Coming in from the South seems to be a little less crazy. Feel free to ask me anything, I can probably answer about any question you might have.

There's billions of things to do out here. Running galore, including some runs they do in the mountains or down the canyon. That's AWESOME! There's a lot of lakes and one lake in Boulder they do some really cool activities.
There's great things that happen downtown all the time and there's a light rail that runs from the South straight into downtown. It's a great option if you're not wanting to fight traffic or find parking, or if you plan on drinking and don't want to drive. That's also a great option if you're going to sporting events, the light rail will get you up there.
We've obviously got Football, Baseball, Hockey and basketball.... we have a big new soccer field East of Denver for the Rapids, there's very little we're missing except for maybe a coast
In terms of housing, rentals are abundant but finding a really nice home can take you some time and you'll pay for it. The buyers market has really competitive. I'm hearing peoples home are only on the market for weeks or days until they're sold.
All in all, I've traveled a ton for work and lived in a few different states and this is BY FAR the best place to live. I will never leave CO