Moving to Denver

[letsgetsilly]

Hello all,

I'm moving to Denver with my girlfriend. She will be attending Denver University. I'm looking for any help on suggestions as far as where to live. We will need to be somewhat near the university, but we are 25 and also would like to be in a nice neighborhood with some culture.

If you have any suggestions, including other websites to visit for more information, please let me know.

Thanks in advance!

 

[JJChicken]

Courtesy Bump

 

[Gooberlx2]

Capitol Hill or the Baker Neighborhood are your best shots. For rent, culture, and proximity...that aren't ghetto (well, parts of Baker are a little).

 

[letsgetsilly]

Any experience with public transportation in Denver? I will have a car, but am used to DC where I could take the train everywhere.

Thanks for your recommendations, ill check out Capitol Hill and Baker Neighborhoods online.

 

[EagleKeeper]

Presently working in the south Denver area.

I have driven by DU a few times.

There are busses and a light rail system in the area.
RTD

The general area around the school is clean.

 

[jme5343]

They def. have Metro busses. And they pull out in front of cars all the time. You'll learn to stay out of the right lane in downtown, never know when a metro will stop on a whim or just pull out. I can't speak to the reliability of their service or to the type of clientele they have.

 

[Gooberlx2]

The RTD buses run well. But it's not going to be like DC or NYC. The Routes are more limited in scope and frequency. The clientelle are what you'd expect: every type of person is riding, from ex-cons to doctors, especially now as gas prices rise and people look for ways to save $$$.

http://www.rtd-denver.com

It's nice that they've interfaced their schedules with google maps.

 

[olds]

OdiN is the Denver hook up.

 

[Feldenak]

Don't have much info for you...only thing I really know is a very good friend of mine teaches at Denver University.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
OdiN is the Denver hook up.

yep, PM him.

 

[OdiN]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
OdiN is the Denver hook up.

yep, PM him.

Not really...though I live in Colorado, I don't live in Denver. So I wouldn't be much help. I have heard Capitol Hill is a decent place to live though as well.

 

[Away]

You can also consider the Washington Park neighborhood.

 

[LS21]

you want to center yourself around Cheesman park and City Park... i25 on the west, MLK on the north, Colorado on the East, and Alameda on the south

capitol hill - appropriately aroudn the capitol building - is a "hot" spot, but its very very packed... dense houses and dense street parking (annoying). if you go a little bit east (ie Congress park), its a little less "busy" and less dense. and there are bus routes that run right down into town

Colfax is the main arterial way with lots of bars and restaurants that you'll have access to.

Inside the city itself, 16th street is the long mall with tons of restaurants and bars. this is all easily accessible by public transport from the bounded area listed above

i live near curtis park which is the northern end of the block, it is a historic neighborhood but has been gentrified for a while. theres a light rail that runs by there so thast convenient. no problems with parking here, so i much prefer it.

there are tons of place leasing right now. one thing to watch for is that many places dont have a) AC b) in-unit WD c) onsite/covered/reserved parking and are generally smaller. (i live in a house so none of that is a problem).

 

[syee]

Watch out for Colfax and Cheeseman Park area though. Those areas are slightly notorious for their less than squeaky clean reputation. (Colfax from City Park area to downtown for homeless folks and prostitutes, and Cheeseman Park for the "alternative lifestyle" folks who like to cruise around looking for some ass")

I've lived in the Capitol Hill area when I first moved to Denver (17th & Washington St) and it was fairly nice. It's changed a bit now and becoming more "hip and trendy". It's walking distance to downtown (and somewhat near the Civic Center bus terminal) so it's convenient if you want to just commute. It's also fairly close to downtown so you can stumble home after a long night's drinking.

If you want something close to the University, I'd suggest Wash Park (Washington Park) area. It's close to the university so you can bike it there or walk it if you want. (on a nice day). I have some friends that live out in that area (Alameda & S. Washington) and the area seems pretty nice. (although somewhat pricier than the rest of Denver) There's tons of cool little restaurants in the Wash Park area (around Bonnie Brae area, Cherry Creek, Gaylord St area) so there will be no shortage of places to see/things to do.

I'm not all that familiar with the transit system out there since I've always lived somewhere close to where i worked (downtown Denver), but when I have taken it, it's served it's purpose. I'm sure there's tons of buses that serve the University there. Just check their website (www.rtd-denver.com) to see what buses serve the U, and plan your living arrangements around the routes if you want convenience.

Have you made a trip out there to see the area yet? I think that would probably be the best thing to do so you can get a feel for what each area offers. Feel free to PM me if you have questions. I lived there for 5 years before I moved back to Vancouver (2 years ago). I'm also in Denver fairly frequently - in fact I'm heading back there on Wednesday, so I'm very familiar with the area.

 

[MotionMan]

I have family in Denver, but I have not been there since the 1970's.

My wife and I agree that if we ever had to move out of California, we would move to Colorado.

Good luck and please keep us up to date on your adventures.

MotionMan

 

[letsgetsilly]

Thanks so much for the suggestions. It is difficult to move to a new area without the slightest idea of what good and bad neighborhoods are. I think my girlfriend and I might be traveling to Denver next week just to scope things out. Although not looking forward to the trip considering the price of gas. We're traveling from WI.

Thanks again, and please keep any tips coming. I'll keep the thread updated as we progress.

 

[Xonoahbin]

Check out Parker.. good neighborhood. Little bit of a drive to DU, so I don't know if it's worth it. Otherwise, Capitol Hill is good.

 

[syee]

Originally posted by: Xonoahbin
Check out Parker.. good neighborhood. Little bit of a drive to DU, so I don't know if it's worth it. Otherwise, Capitol Hill is good.

Parker is pretty nice, but like Xonoahbin said, it's pretty far. It's very suburbia if that's what you're into. Housing is cheaper if you plan to buy out there, and it's booming. It's probably a good 30 minute drive with no traffic, and probably close to an hour with traffic. The Light rail doesn't go that far out there yet (I think the closest station is Lincoln).

Not sure if the OP plans on driving out to DU or if it's strictly commuting? Like everyone else has said, if you want to commute only, stick to Wash Park/Bonnie Brae, Capitol Hill or relatively close to downtown to cut down the distance you're commuting.

 

[syee]

ooopss....DP...

 

[Gooberlx2]

I've lived on 11th and Clarkson as well as 13th and High (directly across the street from Cheeseman park). Cheeseman is a huge park, next door to the botanic gardens. It's great for hanging out and there's a large gathering of dog owners almost every night in the summer. I will say it's only really sketchy if you plan on hanging out there at night. But all the same applies to Civic, Congress, Wash park, etc... Cheeseman gets its rep from the larger-than-usual gay population that lives in Cap Hill....including homeless and male prostitutes. There is a rather large homeless population in Denver, due to the fact that it's the only really sizable metropolitan area for hundreds of miles (meaning more shelters, tunnels and exhaust vents, and other sources of heat to sleep under).

Be sure that your girl isn't walking home alone, especially at night, from classes or work.

Heh, from WI eh? I'm originally from Milwaukee, went to univ in Eau Claire. Parts of Cap Hill will feel somewhat Bohemian, like some of Madison's spots. You could compare the LODO section of Denver with the South end lakeside restoration of Milwaukee. My suggestion is to search Craigslist for places. But for sure view any place in person before committing to rent. The quality and value of rentals varies wildly.

Berkely area (just west of I-25 on Speer Blvd), is also a progressive neighborhood. Well mixed (more Latino than anything, depending on which block), though farther from the campus, and with less to do immediately around the corner, IMO...but it'll be slightly less crowded as well, and rent is probably better. But..it's probably less safe, too.

 

[onlyCOpunk]

Hehe. I graduated from DU. Still live in Denver born and raised. And I've lived all over the place.

For her ease, and a cool young neighborhood. Stick to Wash Park. Everything "affordable" over on the south side of i25 by campus is student housing some are gems, but the majority are not.

Wash Park is by far one of the greatest younger neighborhoods. Sure you could move downtown, but those are all apartments, not to mention she would have to take the lightrail or drive to class as opposed to a bike or walking. It's a little yuppie but good places to eat and drink on Gaylord, and of course the park itself

Sure Cheeseman Park has "The Park" and a Whole Foods, but it's not as nice.

Don't listen to these other shleps, they didn't go to DU. It's an awesome campus and you'll want to live close by to get all you can out of it. Especially the Ritchie Center and it's kick ass facilities. And once Hockey season comes back, well you'll want to be able to see cheap A++ games. Also the Avalanche sometimes practice in Magness so it's a bonus, if you like hockey. Not to mention there's a light rail station right there as well.

 

[Zedtom]

I didn't attend DU, (U. of Northern Colorado), but I grew up in Denver.

The best places to live are south of Colfax and east of Broadway. There are neighborhoods near Washington Park that have apartment rentals, but home prices are high. The rents near campus are going to be similar to anywhere in southeast Denver, so you should look close to University and Evans.

Westword is the liberal alternative weekly that is the Bible for any twenty-five year old Denverite.

Westword has the info you want

 

[LS21]

go to city-data.com for forums that are specific to each city. however, many of the people there have familys and thus are suburban-centric...

IF you consider living in the suburbs (which i dont htink you will), check out the lightrail map http://www.rtd-denver.com/LightRail/lrmap.htm to narrow down places that will allow easy access to town

 

[TheSlamma]

RTD = Reason To Drive

Unless you are on Broadway, Colorado or especially Colfax I find the PT here to be pretty $h!tty and due to gas prices they are going to cut more busses.

If you are looking for a rental I'd just look right in the DU or Wash Park areas unless she is going to the campus in downtown. Then go for Capitol hill.

 

[letsgetsilly]

Good to hear all the replies, before I had nothing to go on, now I have loads of info. Can't thank you all enough.

It's going to be a tough fit for us, as I'm going to be working in the IT industry (searching for a job now) and I don't really get a feel for where most of the companies are located. We'll have to have some kind of compromise, close to school but hopefully not a brutal commute.

Any IT folks from Denver here?