I'm looking at an opportunity in the Denver area, and was wondering where the good areas to live in are.. mostly, the best public school districts with a decent commute into the city. I have no idea where to start...

Elessar does

I've never really liked Denver itself. It always felt dirty to me, and if you look east from anywhere it looks like a wasteland. If you have an option, I would prefer to live actually up in the mountains to the west, instead of in Denver proper. For myself, I lived in Estes Park (a few hours north and west of Denver) for a few summers.

you would fit in well in colorado springs

James Dobson land? heh no, for me or for Joxur :p

I was out there for the DNC and I loved Denver. I've got a high school friend out there, and a couple of college friends and all three LOVE it out there. I've been checking out jobs there myself. That's all I got though, can't actually help you on your questions.

Squink does. I shall ask him for you.

I lived in colorado springs for 8 years. It's pretty awesome out there. I was poking fun at the CS JesusFreaks, but they really keep to themselves for the most part.

Denver is wicked fun, and they have casa bonita. Prices aren't too bad. The only thing I disliked about Denver was the traffic.

I was going to move to denver myself before getting conned into moving back to Ohio.

I would strongly recommend it or one of the subburbs like Highland Ranch or Littleton.

I have lived in Cincinnati, Colorado Springs, St. Augustine, Austin and Colorado was the best - my second favorite being Austin - but that was back in the mid 90s. Denver is just more "happening" than colorado springs.

Yeah, I have to agree with Draagun. Alot of it really hinges on income level. Highlands Ranch is good for the middle ground areas. Cherry Creek is awesome, and downtown kick serious ass depending on what you're looking to spend and you're willing to explore private/charter schools. I come from Philly, so the food is a bit to be desired, as is the whole "culture" thing, but it's catching up fairly quickly. They are always doing something tho, and downtown itself is pretty damned clean for a "major city".

Send me a PM if you like and I'll give ya my number if you've got more specific questions.

The best things about Colorado are the cleanliness, the weather, and the ability to drive 2 hours and be so far removed from the world that you can go hours without seeing another soul.

I can't stress how awesome the weather is. When I first moved out there, I thought it was going to be snowy all the time. Boy, was I wrong. So much sun and so mild and non-humid. It really just puts you in a good mood every day. I don't know that Denver is that good, but Colorado Springs had amazing weather.

It is incredibly clean out there compared to the older cities back east. Low graffiti, trash, urban blight.

Housing is pretty much in line with "normal" places. In Colorado springs I rented at nice 2bd 1.5 bath w/washer dryer, fireplace, about 1300sq ft for $695. That was a good find. There is a huge gap in the quality for price in CS. For example, we rented a 3bdrm 2bath 2100sqft house in the CS burbs for $900 - but generally 650 bucks will get you a crappy normal sized apartment in the bad part of town, or a nice studio in the good part of town. I imagine Denver is pretty much the same.

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