I'm in Parker. (and have views of longs peak and mt evans from most of my house!) Much of parker has amazing, completely uninhibited views of the entire front range and downtown. Just driving along parker road, you see it.

Castle rock wins for revitalizing their downtown in the last few years. They got great divide down there, and all of a sudden it became a little hotspot. Not to say Parker doesn't have a downtown, it has for a while, but it's small.. one little block. it has 5-6 restaurants and a few bars, nice big park where we have beer fests and other events, and a farmers market all summer. But it's also easily accessible by walk or bike from just about anywhere in parker.. Not sure that goes for Castle rock.

CR on paper seems further, but depending on where you live in parker and castle rock, CR could easily be quicker to get to denver. I'm 4 miles east of 25 (with, for a while anyway, nothing in between.. a 2 lane 50mph road with no stopping), so it's quick to get there (right by the cabelas). If you're down in south pinery or east canterberry, that's a haul to get to either 25 or 470. If you're a mile or two from 25 in north CR, that's a quick out.

You def. get a bit more for your money in CR compared to Parker (maybe 10%)
Not sure how HR stacks up with Parker. Parker still has a lot of new builds though very little left, and even the little patio homes on chambers/main (detached homes, but no back or side yards, alleys) are high $600s.
Parker does have homes on lots of acreage, whereas HR doesn't I don't think. You can get a 90s little ranch on 3 acres if you can swing it.. might be $1m or more, and it will likely have amazing views since most of those homes are perched way up just east of downtown parker.

to add, I work off 70/pecos, so not far from lodo area. (lodo would be a tad closer, depending on where exactly)

anyway, I'm not the norm but I work 9-4 t/w/th & sometimes monday, and traffic is nearly nonexistent in the morning. I do 26 miles in 30-35 min. For afternoon, it's a little thick in town down towards 6th or so (although sometimes, i go 70 through that stretch.. weird), then always thick again at colorado to 285, then once I pass 225 it's speed limits to home.
afternoon is 40ish, maybe 45.
I exit ridgegate, and sometimes maybe 1 out of 5-10 days, it's coming to a quick standstill just past my exit. I imagine it's when there's a wreck between castle pines and castle rock

Thanks for all the great comments, 62. For CR, the community we would consider would be The Meadows for proximity to 25. I like the idea of Parker a lot. Really looking forward to scoping it out Thursday. We are going to look at several homes in Stonegate, as it seems to have good access to 25 and 470. Any thoughts on Stonegate?

I don't think you can go wrong with Caste Rock, Parker, or Highlands Ranch. I'd add Castle Pines in as well - lots of new builds just south of Castle Pines Parkway.

This area in general is more conservative than the rest of the metro area. I'd probably order them as Castle Rock, Parker, and HR in terms of conservative leaning.

All of these areas are going to put you in Douglas County schools, with several private, charter, and faith-based schools sprinkled throughout. Youth sports and activities are prevalent in all of these areas as well.

I'm partial to HR, but I've but here the whole time. If we move, we're looking west into the foothills after the boys are out of K-8. The only thing really missing is a good food/mini-downtown scene. CR and Parker win there, for sure.

If you end up looking in HR, let me know and I can give you some input on the neighborhoods, access, and parks/rec centers. the Firelight or Hearth areas might be nice to look into.

Def. a few good things about stonegate;
It's unincorporated, so you save on sales tax of online orders, local delivered orders like from american furniture warehouse for example, and vehicles.
You'll be 5% vs 8% which adds up with a vehicle or other large purchase. 8% of a $60k+ truck sucks ass.

Stonegate has a great community/pool area. There are like 4 pools all next to each other with a splash pad and water slides. Totally jealous of that. My little neighborhood has nothing.
https://www.svmd.org/stonegate-pool




Cons.. don't know as I don't live there.. but the houses are 90s. so many of them may be pretty dated (might be a positive in your eyes)

On the flip-side of being unincorporated, you can't vote for Parker elections, even though you basically live in and are surrounded by Parker. You would vote in DougCo elections of course. You would also pay non-resident fees for parker rec activities (which is not a big increase, usually $10 more or so for kids sports).

It's close to 25 or 470, as well as downtown parker. Great spot really.

Wow, I didn't even think about the difference in taxes or the fact its not a part of Parker. The additional rec sports fees doesn't bother me but do you know if non-residents can obtain memberships to the Parker Rec Center and Fieldhouse? The website just lists one fee and doesn't break it out by resident/non-resident. We would obviously pass on the Parker pools and just go to the Stonegate one (didn't realize it's that nice!), but it would be nice to have access to the Parker Rec Center and Fieldhouse.

I'm pretty sure anyone can get season/annual passes to Fieldhouse, rec center, or racquet club. If there is no R/NR pricing scheme, it's just the same price for everyone.
H2Obrian pool is pretty crowded, def. wouldn't need that living in stonegate.

We have a lifetime fitness in parker too. One of the gargantuan ones.
There is also south surburban rec which has locations along 470 and in lonetree, in addition to all the private ones, i9, boom sports, etc etc.

Lots of rec opportunities around here.

Schall 02 said:

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And FWIW, the views from Highlands Ranch (of downtown and mountains) beat any view in Castle Rock for my money.

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You're also closer to several really nice state parks (Roxborough and Chatfield), and to some fun little towns like Conifer, Bailey and Pine. That drive down 285 is so wonderful and you'll see lots of prototype cars testing around those roads too.

Not sure what kind of church you're looking for, but I have a lot of friends that go to Brave in Englewood and Restoration Church. Those are both Englewood though.

I attend Mile High Vineyard in Arvada and love it. It's a great church body with 5 locations in Denver and each has their own worship team and pastor (no video). The man that leads the group of 5, Jay Pathak, is incredible and humble and a great leader.

There's a location in Lakewood not too far from you.

https://www.lakewoodvineyard.org/

Aggie_Boomin 21 said:

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I'm going to that one. Not really a Luke Combs fan, but I like Zach Bryan a lot so should be fun.

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They just emailed out the full schedule of events, and it's going to be a blast.

• Free show Friday night at Summit Music Hall downtown.
• Free tailgate concert next to Mile High from 2 to 5 pm on Saturday.
• Morgan Wade, Zach Bryan, and Cody Johnson are all playing with Luke Combs starting at 6pm.

The only thing that sucks is a cold front is moving on Friday, and Saturday is high 46/low 35...

Man I'm kind of looking forward to the cooldown this weekend but it'll probably end up canceling the Erie Balloon Fest. We could definitely use the moisture.

We like Red Rocks Church a lot, so we'll probably check that out to begin with.

Ended up on the list tonight for the Avs game suite
I see a Leopold on the guest list; as a whiskey drinker that might be some good conversation!

agdaddy04 said:

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Man I'm kind of looking forward to the cooldown this weekend but it'll probably end up canceling the Erie Balloon Fest. We could definitely use the moisture.

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Yeah we need lots of precipitation for sure!

Speaking of Erie, I was there last weekend on Sunday after camping on my friend's land. My girlfriend and I went to 24 Carrot bistro for brunch, and it was amazing. It's all farm to table for really great prices, and they make all their own bitters and infusions for cocktails and mocktails. I highly recommend it.

Considering you like good liquor, I have a feeling you'd enjoy their cocktail menu as well. Downtown Erie is a gem with a bunch of cool spots for how small it is.

http://www.24carrotbistro.com/

Yes, can't believe I haven't been there yet but I believe my wife has. They've definitely been trying to bring more business to old town Erie. Unfortunately lost a couple good places due to rising rents. Erie Social Club just recently opened and has good cocktails. Birdhouse is a tacos and ramen place owned by same folks that own Community in Lafayette. The strip in Erie isn't as big as Lafayette or Louisville but we enjoy it. Nice small town feel. Oh and Old Mine is a good spot and they make their own cider but they had to reduce their menu some and removed bbq because of Covid slow down.

I've got a big dilemma...I have three more days left at A Basin and they are now predicting to get 22" today thru tomorrow morning. But I also have tickets to see Luke Combs and they are throwing a huge tailgate party that afternoon.

First world Denver problems.

I'm heading to ABasin this weekend. I've got the full 5 days left. Just want to make sure roads are good before I decide when I'm going.

Probably a good 8 to 10" outside.

Hard to know. It wasn't sticking for several hours here. Still never stuck to concrete, but my grass has about 5" on it.
Just got done shaking all my trees!

We got 18-20" a little bit into the mountains. Only about 16 of it stuck. The poor aspens are looking pretty sad this morning!

I'm about to tee off up in Greeley...

Yeh the day ended up being much nicer than I expected. Lots of sun for most of it.
It barely looks like it snowed around here. Just typical shaded areas left.

NASAg03 said:

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I've got a big dilemma...I have three more days left at A Basin and they are now predicting to get 22" today thru tomorrow morning. But I also have tickets to see Luke Combs and they are throwing a huge tailgate party that afternoon.

First world Denver problems.

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Easy one: ski for 2-3 hours, and be back in Denver at 12:00-12:30.

The Colorado 9's isn't all that tough either: ski 9 runs, play 9 holes of golf, and watch 9 innings of Rockies baseball in the same day.

Went today to A-Basin and glad I didn't go yesterday. Talking to some of the workers, they reiterated how much of a **** show it was. One lady said it took an hour and a half for her to get there and it normally takes 20 mins. Also, with it being the only mountain open and only two lifts open, lines were obviously slow moving.

agdaddy04 said:

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Went today to A-Basin and glad I didn't go yesterday. Talking to some of the workers, they reiterated how much of a **** show it was. One lady said it took an hour and a half for her to get there and it normally takes 20 mins. Also, with it being the only mountain open and only two lifts open, lines were obviously slow moving.

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Left Arvada at 750 and got in the lift line at 10am. It was rough waiting in line to park and waiting in line for the two lifts. Ski patrol was cracking down hard for rope jumping. No music or parties. It was better after noon but I left at 1. Not really worth the trouble.

My buddy was at winter park and it was just as bad.

At least the Luke Combs concert was fun. Cody Johnson stole the show though.

Out of the whole weekend, the free Whiskey Jam concert Friday night at Summit downtown was the best. But Dan do I love Denver for all the fun activities here.

NASAg03 said:

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agdaddy04 said:

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Went today to A-Basin and glad I didn't go yesterday. Talking to some of the workers, they reiterated how much of a **** show it was. One lady said it took an hour and a half for her to get there and it normally takes 20 mins. Also, with it being the only mountain open and only two lifts open, lines were obviously slow moving.

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Left Arvada at 750 and got in the lift line at 10am. It was rough waiting in line to park and waiting in line for the two lifts. Ski patrol was cracking down hard for rope jumping. No music or parties. It was better after noon but I left at 1. Not really worth the trouble.

My buddy was at winter park and it was just as bad.

At least the Luke Combs concert was fun. Cody Johnson stole the show though.

Out of the whole weekend, the free Whiskey Jam concert Friday night at Summit downtown was the best. But Dan do I love Denver for all the fun activities here.

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Were you not around for the july 4th skiing a few years ago? any big snow event like this is going to be a **** show with minimal trails open.

The Lost said:

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NASAg03 said:

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agdaddy04 said:

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Went today to A-Basin and glad I didn't go yesterday. Talking to some of the workers, they reiterated how much of a **** show it was. One lady said it took an hour and a half for her to get there and it normally takes 20 mins. Also, with it being the only mountain open and only two lifts open, lines were obviously slow moving.

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Left Arvada at 750 and got in the lift line at 10am. It was rough waiting in line to park and waiting in line for the two lifts. Ski patrol was cracking down hard for rope jumping. No music or parties. It was better after noon but I left at 1. Not really worth the trouble.

My buddy was at winter park and it was just as bad.

At least the Luke Combs concert was fun. Cody Johnson stole the show though.

Out of the whole weekend, the free Whiskey Jam concert Friday night at Summit downtown was the best. But Dan do I love Denver for all the fun activities here.

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Were you not around for the july 4th skiing a few years ago? any big snow event like this is going to be a **** show with minimal trails open.

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I had long awaited the July 4th when I could ski a couple runs, raft clear creek, and get nine holes in that day. Wife decided she wanted to go see her twin sister in Wichita for the 4th.

Kadri with the nice mic drop at the end.

"For those who hate, that was for them."

Nazem Kadri spoke to the panel about his performance tonight in St. Louis and dealing with the threats he received after Game 3 pic.twitter.com/w88yIGm7Yf

— NHLonTNT (@NHL_On_TNT) May 24, 2022

Who is sending him death threats and why??

agdaddy04 said:

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Who is sending him death threats and why??

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St Louis fans. Kadri has a bad reputation overall and now two years in a row he's taken out a Blues player. Last year he received an 8 game suspension for a pretty cheap hit to Justin Faulk. This year he ran into their goalie Jordan Bennington and took him out for at least the series. That hit seemed pretty incidental and Kadri received no discipline but has reportedly had threats made against him. He's also Muslim so that brings the crazy level by the fans up IMO.

The hit this year wasn't all on Kadri, the Blues player also collided with the goalie.

We'll guys, we're officially Coloradans (almost)! Got a house in Stonegate under contract. It's great, other than North facing (I know). Good thing the wife loves to shovel snow. We're excited to get up there.

AggieLandman04 said:

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We'll guys, we're officially Coloradans (almost)! Got a house in Stonegate under contract. It's great, other than North facing (I know). Good thing the wife loves to shovel snow. We're excited to get up there.

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That just means you get to enjoy your back deck on mild winter days.

Get a fire pit and a nice seating area. We use ours a lot.

AggieLandman04 said:

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We'll guys, we're officially Coloradans (almost)! Got a house in Stonegate under contract. It's great, other than North facing (I know). Good thing the wife loves to shovel snow. We're excited to get up there.

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Looks like this process went pretty easy for you. Is the competition still pretty stiff? We may be headed that way soon so curious how aggressive our offers need to be.