Hi mary,
What you are looking for is possible to find, it just depends on your price range and specifics of the home you would like. One thing you noted was that you were looking for wooded lots and views. It depends on what you mean by wooded, and also what you mean by view. Some homes have amazing views of the mountains or city view, I assume you mean mountain view. Finding a home with all three (acreage, wooded, view) is not impossible but will be very pricey. Most of the suburbs are very family friendly and there are several good school disctricts in this area. Areas north and south of Denver/Boulder could have more acreage and the Denver metro area has an abundance of trees, so an older area would have more mature trees. Being within an hour of DIA should not be too much of an issue, but be sure to check out the E-470/Northwest Parkway route which isn't cheap but we make the 35 mile trip to DIA in about 30 minutes with it!
It seems that you have a lot to decide before even looking at homes. I would recommend
http://www.city-data.com since there are many people from all over who can give you great, honest advice on where they live.
On another note, I am also from the Chicago area... grew up in Champaign and moved to Chicago (Evergreen Park, Ravenswood, and LIncoln Park) as a kid and went to college there. Let me tell you, the weather is much better here! We've also got two children under age 5 so if you have questions about that and schools, don't hesitate to ask. Also check out my website for some useful resources.
Best Regards,
Jenny Lane
- Tue May 27 2008, 20:35