Aurora, Colorado

What are the people like in Aurora, CO?

I grew up in Aurora since 1969. It was mostly prairie land back then with the only place of employment for miles around being Hughes Aircraft (now Buckley Airforce Base). My dad was an electrical engineer for them. With it being a new housing area, there were no established trees to be seen making Aurora the butt of many jokes. 6th Avenue used to be a two-lane road and Aurora had a small town feel. These days it is bustling with traffic and people. Aurora-ites are very proud of their city. They are friendly, neighborly and helpful. I can honestly say it’s one of he best cities I have ever lived and my husband and I are planning to go back to live when we retire. Love the Aurora police too!

Do you like living in Aurora? Where and why?

If you're looking for access to transit Aurora isn't going to be super friendly. For what you're looking for I'd recommend Sheridan, or central Littleton (Near Broadway and Littleton blvd) or some of the more diverse neighborhoods in Denver. Look at Baker, Lincoln Park, Overland Park, Cole, or anywhere along Colfax. The only neighborhood I would say can be really unsafe at times is Lincoln Park, and even then it's nothing compared to most midwest cities.

Sheridan is going to be the most affordable neighborhood, and although it's not super dense it has a light rail station, pretty accessible bus routes, and a fair amount of parks. I do recommend enrolling your kids in a neighboring school district though as Sheridan schools are notoriously underfunded. Littleton is only 10 minutes away though, and they have great schools although they aren't very diverse with the exception of Littleton High School.

Do you like living in Aurora? Where and why?

Good on diversity. Poor on walkability- there are parts of Aurora that are not at all walkable, some even lack sidewalks entirely. Public transport is… I mean, there's the 15 bus that goes up and down Colfax, and some lightrail stations, but it's not that great. Schools I have no idea, don't have kids. Cost of housing is a little higher than Denver for rentals, but lower for purchases. Most neighborhoods are either older fixer-upper homes, or have an HOA. Dunno what your experience with an HOA is, but the only thing they do well is suck up money.

As far as safety, Aurora gets shit on a lot by other parts of the metro, but it's pretty safe, especially the further you get from the urban core. That also makes the walkability and transport issues worse, though.

I'd strongly suggest whatever neighborhoods you look at, visit at night as well. There are quite a few that are great in the daytime, and total shitshows at night. The city of Aurora has done a really poor job of developing some derelict areas, especially the further west you go on East Colfax (towards downtown Denver).

Do you like living in Aurora? Where and why?

I lived there until October of last year. I lived a few blocks off of Colfax (close to Airport) so it was easy to hop a bus as needed. I didn't find the walkability very convenient personally. Aurora is pretty spread out so unless you live right near places you will be shopping, etc., there can be a decent commute time if you are relying on public transportation or walking. For example, if I wanted to come from where I used to live to downtown (where I live now), it would take about 60 min minimum, usually 75 minutes or so. If I wanted to go to the mall about 35-40 min total.

I feel like the cost of living in Aurora has grown over the years and I've heard it called a "wanna-be little Denver" in reference to rising rental rates. But I think anywhere you go in CO these days the cost of living is up there. It was affordable to me when I lived there but given that I didn't have a car the commutes got really old after a while.

I always felt pretty safe where I lived and never experienced any crime or scary moments myself.

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