Haha.

Didn't think that was going to pan out for me! I'm in!

Look what I came across today

Good find Sundevil!.. I was in there yesterday with Wayne. The build out should be finished within a week and he'd like to open around Aug. 10th with the grand opening on the 24th. Touch base with me before you go and I'll give you some promo cards for 1/4 lb. of free bbq!

Can anyone help with some local insight on Castle Pines North, Lone Tree and/or Highlands Ranch?

I'm doing some preliminary research on a possible move for our family to Denver. Wife would commute from home to downtown Denver and she likes the idea of mass transit to make her commute "stable", in her words.

Looking for a family friendly area - we've got three boys (10, 8, and 5) with another kid due in January. Youth sports, primarily baseball would be a huge plus. Parks, trails, etc. Schools are important, though we may elect to keep them in private Catholic schools.

If it helps, when/if we move, I'll gladly be down for golf whenever since I work out of the house, beer drinking, and hanging out to meet new folks. Also, while I may not be up to Sooner Born's standards, I'll also gladly put my BBQ up for consideration to fill the void left by his departure...

Thanks in advance.

Thriller,

IMO mass transit in Denver Sucks.

So to get close to taking the light rail Littleton is actually probably your best best. Lone Tree and Highlands Ranch are both nice Suburbs, but are actually a little bit of a drive to get to a "Station". I would ask what you are looking for in a house, and what you want to spend. When my wife and I moved back to Denver we both agreed on Highlands Ranch. Lots of parks, Cheap HOA and it includes the 4 rec centers.

I also like Lone Tree and Proud would be the one to talk to about that. I am just not as aware of what is available out there.

Littleton may be more cost effective for you, but it is just a bit older when it comes to the houses and amenities of the area. They are however putting in some new shopping. My sister in law refers to is as more of a "community".

Castle Rock and Castle Pines are both pretty far south, and if traffic gets bad (Not really if but when) good luck getting home. If you want stable, good schools, close to light rail my vote would be Highlands Ranch. The Mineral Station Light Rail stop is 6 minutes from my house.

I live in west Parker. New light rail station at ridgegate and 25 is going in at sometime and it's 4 miles from my house. Huge mixed use development going in as well. Not to mention Hess reservoir which will be like chatfield in a few years.

Have you looked at Parker? I live in a new neighborhood backing up to a park and it is full all weekend and weeknight with families and kids of all ages. We can hop on a bike and be on cherry creek trail in about 15 min, which at that point can get us to downtown Parker in a other 10 minutes or even downtown Denver if we were really up for an adventure. Love the easy access to highways; 5-7 minutes from either 470 or 25. And Parker has the majority of all our shopping needs, but we're just as close to park meadows area which is loaded with stuff. Downtown Parker has a great huge city pool and park, and a couple bars and restaurants with lots of events all year long.

Light rail is a solid 45 min from Lincoln, so easily 50 min from the future rail stop at ridgegate. So while its consistent, it isn't really fast. Neither if us work downtown so it's not an issue for us. But it's great to have it for sports and events downtown cause we can pretty much get drunk and sober up enough in the hour back to car for the 4 mile drive home. Above poster can confirm, but I think mineral station is maybe ~35 min from downtown? So a bit quicker. They are different lines all together.

[This message has been edited by 62strat (edited 7/22/2013 2:26p).]

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Also, while I may not be up to Sooner Born's standards, I'll also gladly put my BBQ up for consideration to fill the void left by his departure...

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If it's hot and beefy, Proud will love it.

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If it's hot and beefy, Proud will love it.

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Good luck this week, SunDevilAg! Mr. Fly got on with a construction crew here in Laramie. Doesn't look like a mid-week jaunt down to Denver is in the cards for us.

It's all good, I really appreciate the support!! I will let you know how it goes

Thriller,

I propose that, upon moving to the Denver area, you host a party that includes bbq, Colorado beer, and a performance of “Thriller” by you.
I like all the areas you mentioned. Here are my thoughts on each.

Lone Tree: I’ve lived here for about 2 years, and I really like it. I live right by a great golf course (Lone Tree Golf Club), and I’m within 5 minutes of some really good stores and restaurants (Park Meadows). The roads, parks, trails, and landscaping are all kept in amazing shape. If you move from Texas, one thing you’ll really like is that everything tends to be maintained much better in the Denver area. I’d say Lone Tree is one of the most upscale areas of Denver, though the people are still pretty nice. I assume schools are great here. Lone Tree is connected to Highlands Ranch, and it is 10 minutes or less to Castle Pines North and Denver Tech Center. I’m a 3-4 minute drive from the Lincoln light rail, which is then a 45-minute train ride to downtown. I try to avoid light rail unless it’s a snow day because I can drive to my downtown office in under 25 minutes if I beat traffic.

Highlands Ranch: Highlands Ranch is probably 100k population, whereas Lone Tree is in the 10-15k range. There is a wider range of neighborhoods, and there are some good “town center”/restaurant & shopping areas. There are good rec centers, parks, and trails. I like Highlands Ranch a lot, and I technically live about 2 minutes from it.

Castle Pines North: Nice area, and close to some really good golf course (though mainly exclusive or really expensive)….. Castle Pines Country Club, Ridge at Castle Pines North, Red Hawk Ridge, and Bear Dance. CPN gives you more of an “out there” feeling, kind of like you’re out in the wild more. CPN is 5-10 minutes from Castle Rock and not much further from Lone Tree depending how close you are to I-25. Castle Rock has a great outlet mall, but is sub-par as far as food options and nightlife. There is not many options for food/nightlife in CPN either. Still, I really like the area and could see myself moving out there when I get older.

Parker: Parker has more of a Texas vibe than anywhere I’ve been in the Denver area. I went to a block party in Parker last Summer, and it was cool. Some cool dudes drinking beer and hanging out, but the women were all about gossip and trying to “one-up” each other. I know this is not much to go on… just an observation. There are some good golf options, but I find it to be lacking in food options and nightlife.

Also, we need to have a Denver TexAgs happy hour to kick off football season. I've been meaning to hit up Great Divide for a while now.

Who can meet up downtown after work sometime to drink beer?

I could get down with that

I agree Parker is close to a TX area. That's why my wife wanted to move here I think it's a lot like Tomball. Small town feel, people with land and livestock, still connected to big city (though much closer than Tomball is to Houston), and we have a better downtown area than Tomball, which was all antiques and run down stores.

I agree Parker doesn't have anything to compete with Park meadows area, but we're still only 6-7 miles from that area.


Oh yeh and we got a Cabela's! Well, LT did, but it's 4 miles from my house and I'm in Parker.

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Also, we need to have a Denver TexAgs happy hour to kick off football season. I've been meaning to hit up Great Divide for a while now.

Who can meet up downtown after work sometime to drink beer?

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Totally up for this! I work next to Coors, so Great Divide is an easy meet up spot for me.

FYI, ProudAggie02, my username is different now, but I'm one of the guys you emailed when you were moving here. Would love to finally meet up with you and let you buy me that beer you probably owe me for all the help!

What is the single life compared to Houston/Dallas? I'm 28, male, good job/career. Could live wherever.

They don't call it Menver for no reason. It's even worse in the mountain towns.

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Oh yeh and we got a Cabela's! Well, LT did,

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I was pretty pissed off about this at first (not as pissed as I was about IKEA, but fairly mad), but now I'm actually looking forward to checking the store out. I haven't hunted in years, but I've thought about it & this might push me to hunt next year.

What's really going to suck for me is the new Charles Schwab campus being built at Lincoln & Park Meadows.

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FYI, ProudAggie02, my username is different now, but I'm one of the guys you emailed when you were moving here. Would love to finally meet up with you and let you buy me that beer you probably owe me for all the help!

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Hey Kitch- I hope all is well. I definitely owe you a couple beers.

If we can get enough people to commit to a date, maybe we can line something up for next week. Who can make it on Tuesday 8/27 or Thursday 8/29?

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What is the single life compared to Houston/Dallas? I'm 28, male, good job/career. Could live wherever.

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I can’t speak for Dallas, as I’ve only visited there a few times. But I lived in Houston for 5 years. I can’t speak (from experience) for the single life in either place because I met my wife the day I moved to Houston…. Haha.

Denver is a lot nicer, and I’m confident in saying this extends to single life. You have a ton of skiing options within 1-2 hours, tons of other outdoor activities, and there is always some sort of beer fest/concert/outdoor festival from May to October. If you like beer, Denver is hard to beat. What I’m saying is there are tons of opportunities to meet people. The bar scene is really good.
As far as talent, Denver is underrated. Compared to Houston, there are way, way more women that are in shape and above-average looking on a percentage basis. I’d say like 2-3 times as many in the 7-8 range. In terms of 9-10s, I’d say it’s a toss-up. It really is amazing at how many women are in great shape here. I would think there would be a lot less stuck-up types here, as people are generally very fun-loving and laid back.

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They don't call it Menver for no reason. It's even worse in the mountain towns.

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Says the guy who currently resides in Menneapolis, Mennesota.

Waynes Smoke Shack - True Texas BBQ - opens this Wednesday in Superior marketplace by buffalo wild wings.

Grand opening this Saturday. If you like getting down on some good BBQ this is your spot.. you won't be disappointed!

Thanks Proud. Looking at a software sales job or two up there.

Definitely not ignoring them either. Good to know though.

I was going to say what proud said.. figured someone would chime in though.

Def. a higher % of good looking, in shape women here. Go to a Target or Kohl's, you've never seen so many pairs of yoga pants on a well deserving behind. Hell my wife even started wearing them after moving here

Proud do you know what's being built at SW corner of Lincoln and Chambers? (or how to find out?)

[This message has been edited by 62strat (edited 8/20/2013 10:19a).]

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Who can make it on Tuesday 8/27 or Thursday 8/29?

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I likely can't, due to work, but could do any day the week after.

Tuesday 8/27 would work. Rather not do Thursday because I'm gonna be watching the SC - NC game and others.

How about Wednesday, September 4th?

[This message has been edited by proudaggie02 (edited 8/21/2013 11:04a).]

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Proud do you know what's being built at SW corner of Lincoln and Chambers? (or how to find out?)

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I don't know.

Sept 4th

Cool with the 4th

That gives us 4 for September 4th, assuming ABKitch can make it.

Anyone else? 62strat, pedro, etc??

See you gents September 4th! Did we set the time yet? I'll see if I can get a few other Ags who may not TexAgs to join us!

Thanks for all the replies. After a few weeks of complete silence from my wife's company - **** just got real this afternoon.

Very good chance at least the rib moves to Denver before the end of the year. We'd likely finish up the first half of the school year here and I'd bring the kids up closer to January.

We were in the area as a family as part of a business trip/vacation. We stayed downtown, but the kids and I drove through the Ken Caryl, Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, and Stapleton (a bit) areas for a while. We ended up a couple of times at Park Meadows area for dinner or lunch.

Home prices look like we'll be in for a bit of sticker shock or maybe an adjustment of what we can get for the same money here in Amarillo. On the flip side, property taxes appear to be much, much less.

We didn't make it to Parker and I think that Castle-anything will be off our list just because she wants to be a bit closer. We didn't do anything north of town at all. Parker and maybe Broomfield, Aurora, and Littleton will be on the list for the next trip up there.

And if it all works out, I'll definitely host a BBQ/beer drinking party. Not sure about performing Thriller - though I imagine after several beers I could be talked into just about anything.

Oh, and PS - I hated Colorado Blvd while we were there. Maybe it was just a bad week, but that traffic reminded me of some of my worst Houston memories.

Colorado Blvd is the worst street in North America.

I'm in Texas sept 3-8.

Wife just scored suite tickets to broncos next week first broncos game for me.


[This message has been edited by 62strat (edited 8/21/2013 10:32p).]