Shiloh

Basalt is a great little town between Carbondale and Snowmass. The downtown area has a great feel of welcoming and a celebration of life. There are numerous shops and activities, galleries and restaurants. It is not inexpensive, as it is in the mountains, but it does seem to be more moderately priced than Snowmass. It is beautiful here with open mountains, parks, and the Frying Pan River. Who wants to go fly fishing? I do! I love it here and cannot seem to get enough of the pleasant bustle and welcoming feel of this town. They also just opened a Whole Foods, which just reinforces the welcoming, green spirit of Basalt. I want to live here due to the town's spirit, openness, and proximity to the great outdoors!

Aberdeen Dr. is a very lovely street in a wonderful community. The houses are a little older, but well kept with mature landscaping and no HOA. The neighborhood is friendly and you will probably learn that your neighbor has lived there forever. Right behind you, you have lovely open space with a walkway through it for enjoying the wildflowers, cattails, and red-shouldered and yellow-headed blackbirds. The public library is within bicycling distance. It is beautiful. Nearby, just a few blocks to the north, is a fabulous elementary school, Birch, home of the bulldogs. I grew up in this neighborhood and loved it. I also received an excellent education here. We were safe as children with a great sense of community. With that said though, many of us have grown up and not as many families with small children are as abundant, but they are still around. You will find many helpful, but older folk are still around and would love to share their neighborhood with you.

120th Street is, in general, a pain in the butt to drive down, but then, I hate driving.. anywhere. It is a major thoroughfare and may have the most traffic and congestion in Broomfield. However, it is still Broomfield where most of the side streets have negligible traffic. However, once you put traffic aside, it is great.

You have numerous businesses, eateries, restaurants, shops, service industries, grocers, hotels, convenience stores, veterinarians, and anything else you can possible think of - immediately available off of 120th. It is also an easy means to access either I-36 (Boulder Turnpike) or I-25. You will not find many houses here, but just a few blocks away from 120th (north or south) you have many lovely subdivisions and good schools from elementary schools to community colleges.

Old Town Federal Heights is not too unpleasant, despite how it may appear at first glance. As you come north on Federal it will initially appear to be a series of run-down buildings and old businesses. However, this area is in the immediate vicinity of a gem; a very large and pleasant park, called Carmenisch Park. This is a very large park with a baseball diamond and small creek that is very enjoyable to walk through and play in. Once you take time to appreciate the park you begin to notice the details in the surrounding neighborhoods. Most often, you are pleasantly surprised! We moved to just three street east of here while I was in high school and it was an improvement to our previous location. Many of the houses are not intended for the wealthy, but they are usually well-maintained with nurtured yards. You will also find many families with children that are happy to play together. Of course, there are always some folks that ruin it for many, but most people in this neighborhood take pride in their town and community.

Huron Street is a great street to live near. There are not too many houses on the main part of the street, as most places are commercial. This allows great access to stores, businesses, gas stations, schools, and restaurants. Most of the housing off of Huron is well-kept, cute, and affordable with friendly neighbors. My brother lived off of Huron St. in a quiet neighborhood between 92nd and 120th and really enjoyed it. (I cannot remember exactly where it was, but it was a very cute town home!) Additionally, there is a school that offered karate to kids after school, which we enjoyed immensely as children. My brother and I learned how to "properly" kick each other, much to my mother's dismay. There is more open space and safer neighborhoods off of Huron St. than many of the other nearby streets that receive moderate to heavy traffic. On the southern end you ave more of a hispanic community with strong ties and further north it is a looser community of various groups of people. Overall, it a great street to live near, from 88th and north of there, as I am unfamiliar with it south of 88th.

Hunter's Cover is an older neighborhood in an area that is bustling with business. You have shops, stores, restaurants, and nearly every business you can think of at your fingertips! You are very close to the highway, so there is a lot of traffic, but very little highway noise. The housing here is not super expensive but is still of good quality, albeit a touch older.
The neighborhood was fairly diverse with a nice compliment of families with children of various ages, older folks, and the apartments contained younger adults. I would have to attribute that to the nearby schools. The nearby school I know best is Northglenn High School, which is decent for your average student. I never went there but I never heard any complaints except about the "Ronald McDonald" school colors (Crimson and Gold, aka, Red and Yellow). In fact, most of the nearby high schools used their pool facilities for their swim teams.
All in all it is a pleasant, quiet neighborhood with access to anything you could possibly want, such as a library, great credit union, and all manner of businesses. It really is a great place to live if you are not the most affluent member of society or like brick homes. Besides, who doesn't want a big juicy burger from Gunther Toody's, which is just across the street?

Kimberly Hills is a neighborhood of mobile homes, in other words, it is a trailer park. As far as trailer parks go, it is not too bad. I have lived in worse. The club house and surrounding park is mostly well maintained, and the pool is very clean and highly chlorinated for public safety. The only downside to the park is that the tennis courts frequently do not have nets. There are a variety of mobile homes in the park from single, to double, and triple wides; some with well kept yards and others left in disarray. As far as the residents are concerned, you can find good and bad people anywhere and in any neighborhood. You are going to have golden eggs next to sour apples. When I lived there they allowed large dogs, cats, and other pets, which was great since we had a german shepherd. In fact, we never had any real problems living there with either neighbors, stray animals, violence, or crime. We even went Christmas Caroling for several years.
I never went to the grade school that is next to or within Kimberly Hills, but my brother did not enjoy it very much. However, the middle school, Niver Creek Middle School, has some excellent teachers. As with any low income school it focuses more on crowd and drug control (mostly weed) than excelling scholastically, but there are many superb teachers there that care very much about their students. From there you can go to a myriad number of high schools, so you can pick and choose accordingly for your children.
I have to say, growing up there I was rather embarrassed about where I lived. However, as I learned when I reached 16, you definitely have a lot of conveniences at your fingertips! You are near myriad stores, malls, restaurants, excellent medical facilities, easy access to the highway, and other cities with different social strata. Besides, a little diversity builds character! I enjoyed spending my afternoons and weekends in nearby parks, non-profit businesses like the Butterfly Pavilion, going to awesome movie theaters, or trolling in downtown Denver settings such as the Art Museum and the Bluebird Theater (~20 minutes away).

Alamosa County sits in one of the most unique and fabulous areas in Colorado. It truly is a gateway to outdoor adventures and small-town, fresh, country living. Alamosa County resides within the San Luis Valley, which allows easy access to numerous outdoor activities and is one of my favorite places to visit. For instance, if you like to climb mountains Blanca Peak, a 14'er, and Penitenté Canyon are low-fuss, accessible locations. If you prefer to soak in hot springs or play in waterfalls you can go to the slightly riské, clothing optional, Valley View Hot Springs or splash around in the Zapata Falls. If you just enjoy unique scenery, then camp within the Medano Mountain complex of the breathtaking Sangré de Cristo Mountains. However, the shining spot of heaven on earth is at your fingertips, yes, the Great Sand Dunes National Monument. This place is truly extraordinary and should be on your bucket list with its unique flora, fauna, scenery, and intermittent, pulsing stream. Outside of town you can also enjoy odd sights such as the Alligator Farm and the UFO tower. The community in this county is comprised of pleasant, small town folk, community college students, and honest potato farmers. It is even more pleasant if you can speak Spanish, but if not, then you can at least enjoy the ethnic cuisine. Tasty tamales, anyone?