Great place to live near Denver, but somewhat country-ish??

[waldorfknitmama]

Hey CO mamas!!!! From MN here!!!! I guess most have heard the news about IKEA comming to Cenntenial, well my DH works for IKEA, and is pretty sure it will be up and running in 2-4years and is taking a new job at that store. Anyhow, we are thinking about getting some land near the Denver/Cenntenial area to do some some small farming/homesteading. I was curious what's out there? Here is a list of things we are looking for. . .

~Small land like 1-4acres total
~good neighborhood
~Not too far from civialization, DH only wants to commute an hour or less
~Near ap freindly families, families with children and nice wide open space!
~Not too expensive here, how much does land even cost? We are open to both land with a house and cheaper land w/o a house to build on.


Tell me what's out there! Any cool places to live?


TIA!

[waldorfknitmama]

Anyone near Denver out there??

[CityParkMom]

I live in Central Denver. I don't know much about the outlying areas. There is lots of open space south & East of Denver/Centennial but I have no idea how much it runs or any good places too look. Good luck w/ the move! I am SO excited to have an IKEA nearby!

[sacredmama]

I like Lyons. Probably just under an hour NW of Denver. Very cute, crunchy town. I live in the mtns, so I don't know much about land possibilities closer to the city. Not sure what land costs exactly, but the closer to Denver you get the more expensive it is.

[Realrellim]

If he'll be working in Centennial, I'd recommend somewhere around Castle Rock, Elizabeth, Parker or Franktown. (ETA: maybe Aurora, at least if you stay toward the southern/southeastern part which would be closer to Centennial.) It's probably a little cheaper if you stay SE of the city, but you might find some good deals S and even SW of the city (S of E-470, W of I-25).

My parents live in Elizabeth on about 3 acres. I think they could have a horse, if they wanted (thankfully, they do not). It's a pretty rural area given how close they actually are to Denver. They live 30 or 45 minutes from Park Meadows, I think, though if they actually paid the toll for E-470 it would probably be faster. (I think the new IKEA is supposed to be near the Park Meadows Shopping Center.) Obviously, the further out you get, the more rural it is.

I would completely avoid anything N or NW or even NE of the city. With traffic, it would just take too long. (I live NW of the city and it takes me 1 hr 15 minutes to get to my parent's house on the SE end.)

Pricewise, it will probably be cheaper if you stay east. If you're coming from California, land and houses will seem cheap. If not, probably not so much. SW of the city is really nice, but much closer to the mountains and generally much more pricey.

[waldorfknitmama]

OMG thanks all who replied!!! We are in the planing phase, so a lot can happen b4 IKEA gets there but it's nice to know some good areas!! Thanks so much

Anyone else have some ideas on good places to live atround Denver-ish

[coloradoalice]

If he's gonna work at the new Ikea then the Parker/Elizabeth area sounds like what you would love! We hope to get a place out in Elizabeth in a couple years, we want a couple acres and that's a great place to find it!

[michray]

Parker is really nice and I think I may know someone out there who has 6 acres and a really nice house for sale, if you are interested in some info.
We live in Erie.. about 25 mins North of Denver and absolutely LOVE it. Its a smaller town and there are quite a few homes for sale, including some with acreage.
Best of luck with the move!

[tanyab]

Not sure how far this would be from the new IKEA, but Loveland / Berthoud houses I have seen seem to come with land - lots of nearby farms, horses etc. They're right off I-25 which gives direct access to Denver (after 3 years of living here I still don't know the geography of Denver very well).