Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Suburbs Vs. City. Vs...?


The time has come to start thinking of our next move. I know, I KNOW, we Just moved in right? Sure feels like it. Our two year lease is up in September, and we have started talking about whether or not we will stay here another year, or try to buy something before then. 

Here's the thing. We love our neighborhood. Like love love. It's the best. And we love our house. This little brick bungalow has so much charm, and has been perfect for our family of four. But now that we are adding another one to it, I have a feeling it's going to start feeling pretty cramped. It still does some days amazingly enough. But if size was the only issue, I think we would stay here forever!

But it's not.

The biggest issue I have with living smack in the middle of Denver: the schools around. Jaspers elementary school, which is just blocks away from our house is Amazing. Top rated. One of the best in the state. We are so incredibly happy with the education he is receiving there. I really really really don't want him to leave that school. But it's only through 5th grade. And the middle school he would go to next, also just blocks away isn't rated very good. I think like a 3/10? And the high school, I think is a 2/10. Not good. Education is very important to us. And ensuring our kids get a top of the line education is the most important thing for us in a possible house hunt. 

Yes, we could potentially stay in this area and try to choice in to a better school. But one, you can try to choice in somewhere, doesn't meant you will get in. And if you get in one year, doesn't mean you are guaranteed a spot the following year. So every year would be a gamble as to wether or not he would keep attending the same school. Problem two with that is I would have to be driving 10-20 min one way twice a day. Which would be okay if I just had one child, or just one child in school. But By then Tindra will be in school as well, and getting two (maybe three if this one is in preschool by then!?) to 2-3 different schools in opposite directions at the same time every morning and afternoon? I just don't see how it would work. And Drew is usually at work by that time, and even if he could potentially help in the mornings, that would still leave afternoons for pick up in different directions. 

So we are kind of thinking at this point, our best option is to head a little out of the heart of the city. Still in Denver, I'm not ready for true suburbia, and Drew works right in the city and all of his meetings and events are here, but if we just even head 5-15 minutes South of where we are currently, we could be in an Amazing school district (for preschool through high school) and get more for our money. Sounds like a win win right? 

I spent some time yesterday (okay all of Tindra's nap time) looking around on Trulia and just for comparison..

In our neighborhood, we could buy this house for $410,000


Cute little 2 bedroom 2 bath house. 

Or 5-6 miles away, for $450,000 we could have this house. 4000 sq feet, huge back yard, four bedrooms, three bath, and exemplary schools.




Can you see why we are even considering moving out of our dream, close to everything neighborhood? 


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6 comments:

  1. Ah, that's such a hard decision to make!
    B. just got a job an hour drive away from where we live and while the commute is fine, we are looking to move that way. Also because both our parents live in that area (yay). We'd love to move to a bigger town like the town we live in now, but we can get so much more for our money if we were to live somewhere a bit further out of town. For the boys, a big yard would be so good, but I love living close to town. What to do?
    Good luck with descision making!

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    1. That's so exciting! I would love to live closer to family. It's Such a tough choice. If it weren't for schools we would stay here and be right in the city, but I don't think I can sacrifice the kids education because i like to be right in the city ya know? Now if only the schools were All amazing!!! :) How are the schools there?

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  2. That first house is cute, but that second house is Gorgeous!! I want it

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  3. That's why I'm moving to Florida. I can't stand how expensive it is living close to NYC. I could get much more for my $$$ down South!

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    1. oh man i can't even imagine how expensive it is over there! Florida is pretty cheap though!!

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