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Littleton / SW Denver
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Another one of those 'thinking about relocating posts', did some searching and found a few threads from a few years ago. Currently living in San Diego, love it most of the time but commute prevents me from living in north county and I have deal with congestion / traffic on a pretty regular basis. Not to mention the asinine home prices.

I love the mountains, have dealt with the cold before (lived in Iowa for ~4 years) and have dreamed of moving to Boulder. Alas, current job offer to move to Littleton area instead (LMCO space systems). From the threads I found, it sounded like the consensus was riding in Denver itself sucked compared to Boulder and the foothills, but maybe that Littleton is closer to the foothills to get some better rides in.

Hoping that is true, looking for more open air and space rather than more urban sprawl and SoCal excesses. Heading out to check it out for myself in a week or two but figured I'd see if anyone has any more up to date impressions of the scene there.

thanks
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Re: Littleton / SW Denver [tgarson] [ In reply to ]
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I would not say that riding in Denver sucks. There are pockets of good throughout and the MUP system is super convenient for getting around w/o fighting traffic. I lived in Littleton and my commute to downtown Denver was ~25 miles each way with 23 miles of that w/o a single car, stop sign, or surface street crossing. I rode the Platte River Trail but the Bear Creek, Cherry Creek, Clear Creek, the 470 trails were all built with the same general idea. You could ride from downtown Denver out to Golden in about an hour, ride Lookout, then ride home pretty easily.

The best/quickest access to the hills can be had from Highlands Ranch, Littleton, Lakewood, or Golden. The Saturday group ride from Deer Creek x Wadsworth is an ass kicker and can swell to more than 100 people in January if the sun is out (weather in the area is much easier than Iowa).

If you're a tri-guy and you end up on the Southwest side, you'll also have great access to the Gravel Pond at Chatfield. You'll find 2x/week open water swims there through the summer. Running is good on pavement and there are a lot of gravel paths in the area as well.
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Re: Littleton / SW Denver [tgarson] [ In reply to ]
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Parts of SW Denver and Littleton have nearly as much urban sprawl as socal. However, from a lifestyle perspective, especially if you enjoy winter sports, Denver has a very nice, year round climate that allows for outdoor activity nearly every day of the year. Depending on where your job is, you could live very near riding and running options, and not too far from the foothills. If you are at the Waterton Canyon or Deer Creek facilities, the running and riding options are great.

Good luck with your decision. House prices are not too crazy on that end of town from what I can tell. Be sure to get a soil report if you are serious about a house as there are some neighborhoods that are very prone to settling and shifting soil.

drn92
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Re: Littleton / SW Denver [miwoodar] [ In reply to ]
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@miwoodar "sucks" I'm sure is a strong word. I'm sure it's fine / better than be expected for most cities, I just got the impression that it compared less favorably to Boulder and some of the other surrounding areas.

@drn92 appreciate the feedback. I know that these areas are all still suburbs for better or worse so it's not going to be 'secluded mountain cabin' material. I'm hopeful that the difference between the sprawl of SoCal and that of CO is that the only way you can escape it in SoCal is to move out into the desert and for me that defeats the point of living here. San Diego is famous for it's weather and coastal areas whereas all of the middle class suburbs are inland areas where the balance over the past few years has been shifting to alarmingly more 90+ degree days than not. While it may sound like a dream to someone buried in snow, being in the 90's in February is not a perk to me.

If I could have a house where I didn't have to hear my neighbors every word through my bedroom wall on the coast in SD I'd never leave, but in that case I need someone to front me about a million or two.
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Re: Littleton / SW Denver [tgarson] [ In reply to ]
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I live in Littleton and work at Space Systems and this is a great area to train in. As mentioned, right outside the gate of the plant is Chatfield State Park, which is full of folks training for tris - the gravel pond, as mentioned, is awesome for open water swimming three times a week May-Sept (Mon/Wed evenings, Sat morning), you can run on gravel or paved trails any distance you want to go, and the ride up Deer Creek canyon (2 miles north of the plant) is probably the most popular ride in the whole state, with lots of options once you get about six miles up into the foothills (lots of loop options). With the bike trail all the way around the southwest side of C-470, biking into work is doable as well if you don't live too far from the highway. This area of the state doesn't have the variety of canyon and plains rides as Boulder, but it has everything else and won't limit you in any way in training.
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Re: Littleton / SW Denver [tgarson] [ In reply to ]
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What is your family situation? I live in Highlands Ranch and think it is awesome for families. May not live here if I was single. The location to Chatfield and the foothills climbs is very nice though.

Before having a family I lived in Littleton in a condo off of Santa Fe. The Greenway bike trail was less than 100m from my garage. Chatfield was a short 20 min spin away. There's a cinder trail running parallel to the cement trail that's great for running. Easy access via light rail train to Downtown too for more nightlife options.

Formerly DrD
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Re: Littleton / SW Denver [tgarson] [ In reply to ]
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I second the other posts about the Chatfield/Waterton Canyon area. I can run from my house and be on either trail in 15min, then run as long as I want (and there are plenty of bathrooms which is a plus). Riding is very convenient too, I can be at the foot of Deer Creek Canyon in 20min and from there you can ride into the foothills or hook onto the 470 path and ride to Golden or Downtown very easily. If you ride early in the day the MUP is pretty uncrowded and you can easily blast along at 20mph for about as long as you'd want without stopping.

The 470 path can get a little repetitive especially when trying to get in 100mi rides for an IM but if you get creative you can keep it fresh. Probably the main advantage of riding in Boulder is more of it is on the road (as opposed to paths) but otherwise I find most of the Boulder rides to be pretty boring unless you're in the mountains.
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Re: Littleton / SW Denver [Broken Leg Guy] [ In reply to ]
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As far as my family situation, would be moving with my SO and dog, no kids in the picture yet. We currently live in a trendy / more urban neighborhood in SD that is pretty walkable with good access to restaurants and entertainment. We like that, which would probably lend us more to some of the more hipster neighborhoods that I would assume to be closer to downtown, but at the same time we both complain about noisy neighbors and lack of space so I'm not ruling out moving closer to the foothills. Probably most likely is we'd rent closer to the city for now then eventually buy out more in the suburbs, like everyone else.

Thanks for all the feedback from everyone. Will be out there next weekend to check it out in person.
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Re: Littleton / SW Denver [tgarson] [ In reply to ]
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i loved this area

golden= lookout mountain.. great for 20-30 min intervals

South of town = deer creek and high grade. Just awesome

Long ride = Mount Evans.. Simply awesome

there are probably 3-4 great routes from littleton to get you through the foothills, then once over those you can choose different routes. The great thing about them is that there are different gradients based on what type of day you're looking for. Longer z2/3 day go to deer creek/high grade. Shorter z2 day .. go to bear creek... Shorter z3/4 day go to lookout mountain.

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COROS Sports Science

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Re: Littleton / SW Denver [tgarson] [ In reply to ]
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Live within running distance of both plants that you might work at. We had a record Feb for snow so next week you might see more then normal and not as many people out. I would live as close to the plants as you can bc the training is solid and driving out from the city would suck ass a lot more then driving in when you wanted. My wife avg 10 mph on her commute to Lakewood today and monday in the car.

Boulder running company has branch down here as well.

If you do move make sure you sign up for races right away. Word is all the Tri's will be in boulder or north after this year bc of permitting. Boulder 70.3 fills quick too.

I have lived all over the US and I do miss the loops. I am surprised I dont see people biking down southwest of Castlerock much. Seems like the best longer ride training. Everyone seems to love deer creek but its not a constant effort with the screaming downhill.
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