PeaceOut

The CU medical center is at Fitzsimons, the old Army base, at Colfax and Peoria, in Aurora. It has become a very nice campus, with beautiful facilities, and the new Children's Hospital. But the surrounding neighborhood, which used to be known for seedy hotels and hookers, has a long way to go still, in terms of housing renewal.

There are some nice suburbs north of Denver, too, I guess still considered in Westminster (?)

Good luck with your search!

PeaceOut

Forgot to mention one point. We live just east of downtown, in Denver. We seem to be in a 'banana belt' for weather. Today's hail and tornado warning was mostly south, I believe. We don't seem to get the high winds, tornados, hail, and unusual snowfall in our central neighborhood. Just sayin'. Maybe it's because we have big old trees!

Gretchen

Our kids live in Lakewood and work right downtown. They can be at work in 10 minutes. As has been said, where you work is important to where you live as far as a commute is concerned, if time matters!!
I think it will be interesting to see how quickly that Fitzsimmons area becomes gentrified. Little doubt it will happen.

PeaceOut

There is also the very well-done redevelopment neighborhood at the old Lowry Air Force Base, at the intersection of Denver and Aurora. Lots of different price points and styles for homes.

It has less a 'cookie cutter' look, because the builders were not allowed to reproduce the same house plans within a certain proximity. Also, garages were required to be built in the back of the home, usually off an alley. This avoided the look in Highlands Ranch, where the huge garages dominate the street profile of most homes. Instead, many homes have front porches.

Good little restaurants, grocery store, fitness center, etc. And centrally located in Denver. Check it out.

(BEST K-8 school you will ever find, is at Lowry: Stanley British Primary School. It is an amazing school.)

BetsyG

We live in southeastern Douglas County. As has been said, I would pick my living location based more on the job location. Commuting here can be miserable, especially in bad weather.

I have/had 3 kids go through Douglas County schools. My daughter graduated & is on a partial academic scholarship at DU (Private).I think she got a good education, some years were better than others mostly based on teacher quality. But she is a very self-motivated kid, her brothers not so much. I think they are getting an okay education. The opportunities are certainly there though in Douglas County, charter schools, IB & AP programs, etc. They are having some financial issues as I imagine many school districts across the country are. We are seeing fees increase & they may charge for bus useage next year. The cool thing for my boys was that they went to a wonderful preschool program in our elementary school so were there 9 years, still have friends from that first year in preschool. You should look at preschool programs before you decide. We are getting a new superintendent, a woman from Tucson so we will see. Have you looked at the district's website? One other thought - communication is really good with parents.

I don't know anything about Longmont but some pluses for Highlands Ranch is the recreation facilities, you will live among many young families, and there is shopping, restaurants close. Also, you are not that far from Denver & can easily get to town for entertainment, zoo, museums, etc.

We also have a great library district, storytimes, reading programs & relatively solvent compared to some districts in our area.

The town of Castle Rock is more quaint, with funky shops & restaurants but not many people live in the town itself. Again, great recreation facilities. We have played many baseball games in Castle Rock. Castle Rock may be more socially & economically diverse.

One more thought, Douglas County is pretty conservative, if that's an issue for you.

I think you should just look around & get a feel for what appeals to you.