Denver area pugs... what's your "best of all worlds" area to live in the metro?

[AeroSKI5150]

Following unexpected job impacts, my goal of living closer to skiing in the coming years may present a chance to relocate to Denver for a new opportunity. Curious for those of you who are locals with jobs tied to the city (downtown area), where in the metro area do you live and how is that for both commuting and daily life (back when daily life was 'normal', of course) vis a vis getting up to whatever mountain(s) are your faves taking into consideration all that goes with I-70. Alternately, all other factors being equal, where might one consider the "best" spot for all of the above, in your experiences? West/Southwest seems the most obvious, but perhaps also the most congested for exactly that reason... and do prefer suburban/bordering on rural to city living (yard/kids/dogs/etc.) anyway, thanks for any insights!

 

[SBrown]

Where would you be working? Downtown Denver or elsewhere?

 

[AeroSKI5150]

Where would you be working? Downtown Denver or elsewhere?

Hi - yes, at least a few days a week into the downtown area, roughly around the 16th St Mall area it appears.

 

[doc]

I work (well, least for while anyway given the markets) in downtown Denver, a block off the 16th St. Mall, and live in Evergreen, in the foothills west of Denver about 4 miles off I-70. My commute is about 25.5 miles, and takes 29 minutes (pre-6:30 am-post-6:30 pm, or anytime during COVID time) up to 42 mins (during non-COVID rush hours). My personal view is I get a lot more out of my 2x 29-42 min investment in commuting than those living in far north, far east or far south suburbs of Denver; I have a decent amount of property with open space right out my door, in the mountains with biking, hiking, fishing and other outdoor activities galore, and lots (if not too much) local wildlife. Raised my kids here, and they loved it. Major downside is that the restaurants and night life in the area suck (when they were open), and going down to Denver for that is a major investment. I leave very early in the morning (and drive with some spirit) to ski, usually weekends, so, without I-70 traffic, 35 mins to Loveland, 53-55 mins to Mary Jane parking lot, and 1:03-1:05 to East Vail exit. With traffic, very different story.
Your criteria suggest you ought to look in the Golden area, on the very west side of the Denver suburbs nestled against the foothills with a good sense of community, a small-town feel with distinct visual and cultural boundaries (unlike most closer 'burbs where you can't tell where one ends and the other starts), decent local schools, one educational anchor tenant (Colo School of Mines) and one beer-oriented anchor tenant (Coors), bunch of great brewpubs, and close to Red Rocks amphitheatre.

 

[coskigirl]

I was going to suggest Golden or Morrison area as well. With Golden you could conceivably take the lightrail, there is a ton of outdoor things to do in Golden and close by with various open space options, Bear Creek Lake state park, and the Denver mountain parks. Plus you're close to I-70 for the run to the mountains.

 

[AeroSKI5150]

Great, thanks for those suggestions. I had been looking at the Lakewood/Morrison area as well just going by the map. Seeing a show at Red Rocks has always been on my bucket list. Spent countless hours staying and skiing all over Summit County, but Denver proper was mostly a blur from the airport and back, never had a chance to explore within. Golden sounds worthwhile as well.

One of the reasons I left Boston after 15 years was getting away from a soul-draining commute (avg. 70-90 minutes for less than 10 miles in and out of the Back Bay... whether by car or train/subway, worse in the winter of course).

Looks like I'm in for a shock in housing prices for sure; Charlotte vs. Boston has certainly spoiled me in that regard.