In The City

First off, I’m from the east coast originally and most of Denver hardly feels like a city to me. You can live minutes from downtown and have a backyard, trees and maybe even a creek nearby. I lived about three miles from the capitol building, and saw foxes regularly, and even coyotes a couple of times.

Second, in the interest of full disclosure, I will reveal my bias. I am a huge fan of public transport and/or foot/bicycle transport. Also, if I had to choose between Jerry Falwell and George McGovern, I’d choose McGovern every time. That matters in Colorado, because our political diversity ranges from the people’s republic of Boulder to the eminent xenophobe & neo-fascist congressman Tom Tancredo. If you are worried by my POV already, I’d suggest you look into Colorado Springs.

A few helpful resources:

Potter Highland

Potter Highland (just Highland on the neighborhood map) is one of my favorite neighborhoods in Denver. It has been gentrifying a bit recently, but still houses a number of funky galleries and is fairly diverse. The housing is mostly bungalows and post-war cement brick, with a few nice victorians mixed in. There are some older apartment buildings, but the new modern apartment developments tend to be really pricey. The best bet for renting is to find a duplex to share, or a bungalow if you have a few people.

Positives about Potter Highland: easy biking or even walking distance to downtown, particularly with the new pedestrian bridge across I25. Neighborhood feel, with a nice focal point at Zuni and 32nd. Getting more expensive, but it is still possible to find something reasonable. It is very close to the Cherry Creek and Platte River trails for biking, running and access to other parts of town.

Negative about Potter Highland: no good parks.

Consider nearby: West Highland (w. of Federal) – more expensive, but very nice. Sunnyside a little quieter and less funky.

Cheesman Park / Capitol Hill

This area is about as urban as Denver gets, with a number of high-rise apartments and smaller back yards. If you are cultivating the starving artist aesthetic, you definitely want to check out Capitol Hill, which still has some of the gritty uncomplicated charm that attracted the beat poets here many years ago. You can even live in the Colburn Hotel and recite Howl to your friends.

Cheesman Park is adjacent to Capitol Hill, but most of the grime has been swept away. The east side of the park features some of the nicest (and most expensive) houses in Denver. There are also a number of apartment and condo buildings.

Positives about Capitol Hill/Cheesman Park: the closest you will get to urban living without spending a million dollars on a downtown loft; a number of great restaurants, clubs and shops; close to downtown and between Denver’s two biggest parks: City Park and Washington Park.

Negatives about Capitol Hill/Cheesman Park: less safe than other places mentioned here; you can get more room to breathe in other areas for the same price.

Place nearby to consider: City Park – similar in feel to Capitol Hill, with a little less sense-of-place, but closer to the park.

Platte Park / University

Platte Park feels more like a suburb, but a very hip suburb. Lots of victorians and possibly the nicest three blocks of restaurants and shops in the metro area, on Pearl Street between Louisiana and Iowa. There are not a lot of rental properties here, but its worth a look.

University gets its name from Denver University, the region’s best private university. DU students are a little less rowdy than CU or CSU, but it is still very much a college neighborhood. That’s mostly good, with lower-priced eateries and lots of cultural happenings, but you still get hormone-and-beer parties that rage into the night. The best espresso in Colorado can be had at Kaladi Coffee on Evans, where you are more likely to hear Raoul Castro being discussed than the Denver Broncos.

Both of these neighborhoods are close to light rail, for easy access to downtown and shudder the Tech Center if you happen to work there.

Near the City

If you want a little more space to let your dog run around or to park your Jeep collection, there are a number of good options near the city. It’s hard to narrow down the choices, but there are some basic rules to follow: stay north of Hamden and west of Quebec. South of Hamden is where evangelists judge by day and scurry about with prostitutes by night. The planners of Highlands Ranch were actually inspired by Camazotz in A Wrinkle in Time. East of Quebec are Aurora and the nameless new developments out on the prairie. Aurora is “gone-by” and the new developments were built to be food sources for alien colonies. No one notices when people dissapear.

Wheat Ridge / Arvada

These are towns immediately west of Denver, and cover a pretty vast area. They both have a very suburban feel, and still boast a few horse farms. They are close to Denver, but probably require a car to get into town. The best way to get to know them is to take a full day and just drive around. You will find yourself mesmerized by rows of identical ranch houses, but then stumble upon a great little pocket neighborhood. You may also want to pay attention to proximity to the Clear Creek bike path, which provides access to downtown and runs nearly to the mountains to the west.

The commercial parts of these towns are mostly bland chain stores, but old town Arvada is actually pretty nice.

Positives about Wheat Ridge / Arvada: less expensive; a little closer to the mountains; big yards.

Negatives about Wheat Ridge / Arvada: your starving artist friends won’t want to visit you; limited access to public transport – at least until light rail is finished.

Boulder / Louisville / Superior

Boulder is pretty far afield from Denver, but worth considering if proximity to mountains and nature is a priority. Louisville and Superior are just southeast of Boulder, so are a little closer and also a little less expensive. There are express buses that go from all three directly to downtown Denver, and take between 25 to 40 minutes, depending on your starting point. All are a short drive or bike ride from Eldorado Canyon and the fabulous Boulder Mountain Park. If your ideal is to climb a 5.8 pitch before work in the morning, you will end up there sooner or later – so you might as well face up to it now.

In addition to being a university town, Boulder is home to the National Center for Atmospheric Research, and NOAA and NIST facilities. Ball Aerospace is also a major local employer. You will find yourself wondering how your neighbor manages to work on his/her doctoral thesis at night and can still kick your butt up Flagstaff.

Positives about Boulder / Louisville / Superior: unparalleled access to nature, and plenty of shops and neighbors who share your enthusiasm; a number of great sushi restaurants, coffee shops and microbreweries; on the whole, people maintain a good work/life balance; much more community oriented than Denver.

Negatives about Boulder: if you are not a left-wing vegetarian aspiring olympian, you may detect a little attitude; one of the most expensive places to live in Colorado, though plenty of students still find ways to live there.

Negative about Louisville / Superior: not all that different than a number of other recently developed areas around Denver, but farther; not a lot of rentals.

I’ve left out a lot of great Denver neighborhoods: Wash Park, Country Club, LoDo and Park Hill are worth mentioning, but fairly expensive and not a lot of rentals. Baker, Congress Park and the Golden Triangle also merit checking out, but lack sense of place, IMHO.

This guide is geared towards apartment hunters, but if you are thinking about buying, I can recommend a couple of realtors: