5280 Magazine – May 2018

(Grace) #1

104 |^5280 |^ MAY 20^18


From top: Courtesy of Elizabeth Cryan Photography; iStock; Steve Simon; Courtesy of Overland Golf Course

CHEAPENING


THE EXPERIENCE


We all wish for houses in safe, fun
neighborhoods with great schools—just
like we all wish eating raw cookie dough
with a spoon would give us six-pack abs.
Unfortunately, buying in an affordable area
means sacrificing something. Here, the
pros and cons of living in four of Denver’s
least expensive ’hoods. —Shane Monaghan

Indian Creek
$282,729

Montbello
$285,448

Mar Lee
$291,033

Ruby Hill
$308,958

MONTBELLO

INDIAN CREEK

DENVER
AURORA

MAR LEE RUBY HILL

I-25

I-225

I-70

Violent crimes dropped
a startling 42 percent
from 2016 to 2017. The
overall rate, however,
remained around
average for Denver.

The overall rate remains
close to or lower than
average for all types of
offenses, though crime
did tick up four percent
last year.

Montbello’s rates hover
near the city average,
but they’ve been
falling: Crime dipped
by eight percent from
2016 to 2017.

Indian Creek isn’t just
comparatively safe; it
has one of the lowest
crime rates of any
neighborhood in
the city.

Rip tee shots at nearby
Overland Golf Course
and attend 50 free
concerts a year at
Ruby Hill Park’s Levitt
Pavilion, a new outdoor
music venue.

Garfield Lake Park—
with its tennis courts,
0.6-mile running trail,
new bike path for kids,
outdoor pool, and
playground—is one of
the city’s most pleasant
green spaces.

Pick up a hobby and
splurge on the HBO
cable package. This
place is a fun desert—
though it is just south
of the Rocky Mountain
Arsenal National
Wildlife Refuge.

There’s not much—or,
really, anything—in
the way of nightlife.
(But Comrade Brewing
Company’s delicious
beers reside just south
of the border.)

The houses here cost
less than those in
nearby Harvey Park and
Platt Park, but that’s
likely because more
have siding rather than
brick exteriors.

Mar Lee won’t rival
Congress Park for
quaintness; 1950s-style
single-story homes fill
the neighborhood, and
strip malls line busy
Sheridan Boulevard.

Montbello could appeal
to expanding families
because the properties
are, on average, about
2,000 square feet—800
square feet larger than
homes in most of Denver’s
other “affordable” ’hoods.

A cyclist’s paradise,
Indian Creek offers
quick access to the
Cherry Creek Trail as
well as a number of
bike shops, including
Alchemy Bicycles.

Godsman Elementary
and Schmitt Elementary
received high marks, as
did Strive Prep-Ruby Hill
and Strive Prep-Federal
(both are just outside
the area).

Force Elementary,
Charles M. Schenck
Community School,
and Denison
Montessori met DPS
expectations; Johnson
Elementary received
lower marks.

Maxwell Elementary
met DPS’ expectations;
Marie L. Greenwood
Elementary, McGlone
Elementary, and John
H. Amesse Elementary
did not.

For the 2016-’17 school
year, DPS gave the
area’s only school,
Rocky Mountain Prep
Creekside Elementary,
high marks.

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NEIGHBORHOOD
AVERAGE SALES PRICE SCHOOLS CRIME FUN MISCELLANEOUS
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