We are contemplating a relocation to the Denver area. Where is the best place to move for kids? Best School systems, family oriented communities etc. We now live in Palm Beach Gardens, FL, live on a golf course and enjoy an active life style with two small boys 5 & 8 and two dogs--tennis, golf, swimming. Would love to find a similar golfing/tennis/ club type situation in the area. We also love to ski. Any suggestions?? Many on the site love Boulder?? Would love any feedback........

I envy you... I just love Denver.
My company just bought a company in Denver. I'd love to be able to transfer to this new aquisition and live South
of Denver where the housing costs are not bad at all. We don't have school age kids, so that's not an issue for us. I accidentally ended up in Morrison and the people were so friendly there... ditto with Evergreen and Littleton.
For those who respond... how are these towns?

There are more than enough golf courses in and around denver & the burbs. Lots of tennis and many communities have rec centers with indoor/outdoor pools. I personally love and grew up in the Littleton area. You may want to check into Parker or Lone Tree which have all the ammenities you listed. There is a new community we almost built a home in called Pradera that is a golf course community with a to die for pool and rec center. Depends on your budget though too. Here's a link if you are interested: http://www.praderacolorado.com/

I agree that Littleton is very nice. As a native, I never recommend Boulder. Not bagging it, it is a nice town (I even lived there three years for school) but I would never want to live there with a family. The Littleton area is very family-friendly. You may also want to look at Highlands Ranch/Cherry Creek/Lone Tree/Parker - all have very good school systems. Cherry Creek has a notoriously very good school system. Evergreen and Morrison are also very nice. You'll get more of the mountain-type living in Evergreen/Indian Hills. Morrison stretches outside of the foothills a bit, but some areas are also in the mountain setting. You're still close to the city/suburbs in both areas. In all areas I've mentioned, you have easy access to the highway that will take you up to the ski resorts. Congrats on your decision to move. Colorado living is wonderful. For real estate, I recommend this web site - recolorado.com.

We live in southern Douglas County, south of Parker. An area called the Pinery may appeal to you & depending on your housing costs, there are different neighborhoods with different price ranges. You may look around Castle Rock also. I think it really depends on where you are working because commuting to north of Denver from south of Denver would be very unpleasant. The State of COlorado rates schools so you may want to research that. If you decide to move, I would talk to several real estate brokers here, from different areas & see what they have to say.

One more comment - we are not close to the mountains but, in good weather, at the right time of day, can get to Summit County in 2 hours. Let me know if you want more info.

What is your area? Like in terms of distance from Denver proper? Fort Collins is awesome!

I agree with Betsy. We are also in the Castle Rock/Pinery area in South Parker. All of the Denver metropolitan area plus Summit County (Breckenridge, Keystone, Copper), Vail, Boulder, Colorado Springs are within 1/2 to 2 hours. The schools are great, the community and sports facilities are outstanding and outdoor activities are year round. The area is still growing and golf courses are catching up. They are challenging and scenic-not your basic flatlands of Florida. The Pinery has both a golf club and a tennis club. And you better have dogs. They are a must in this part of town. Pay no mind to what you might have heard about the weather. It is sunny most every day and the temperatures are very tolerable. I grew up in the midwest and I wear windshirts throughout the winter. I wouldn't tell you not to consider Boulder, but I would tell you that I wouldn't. We are about 20-25 mins from downtown. All the major sports and cultural activities are easily evening activities and restaurants abound. Shopping is plentiful. I could go on but I think I already have. Come on out and send us a note if you do.

We lived in Greenwood Village for a few years and golfed in Castle Pines; lots of traffic on that highway. We were reasonably close to Cherry Creek and downtown.

The weather is sublime and I remember it fondly since we returned to Montreal.