Moving to Denver Colorado and Looking for The Best Denver Suburb to raise a family?
Most likely you won’t find Evergreen or Conifer Co on any of the top 10 best places to live near Denver. Don’t let that deter you. For that matter I consider Evergreen to be a best kept secret, shhhh… don’t tell anyone. So you may be wondering what makes Evergreen Colorado such a great place to raise a family?
Evergreen is a completely different
experience and vibe than anything in Denver.
I can speak from first hand experience, my family and I live in Evergreen. My wife and I have 3 children (2 boys and 1 girl). Prior to moving here, my wife and I were researching the best place to live in Colorado. We traveled from Texas to Denver for a full week and we drove everywhere from Boulder to Colorado Springs and everywhere in between. While those areas had some nice views of the mountains, they just did not match our vision of what Colorado looked like in our minds. The first time my wife and I drove into Evergreen, we immediately looked at each other, grinned and said, “this is it!”. This charming mountain town has a lake and a historic down town area filled with art galleries, eateries and retail shops.
Click Below To View This Video on Evergreen
Why Evergreen is The Best Place Denver Suburb to Raise a Family…
Evergreen is a small mountain town so that makes for a unique living experience in the first place. Homes here are situated on larger lots or acreage and are nestled in a forest of Pine and Aspen trees which makes for plenty of room for your kids to spread out, adventure and have fun. Most homes here either have a view of the mountains or the forest rather than their neighbors house. The population of Evergreen (approx 20,000) has been growing in recent years due to the influx of families moving here. Evergreen has a small town feel which I think is great for raising a family. While people are very active here, life runs at a little slower pace. I live here with my wife Claudine and three children Greanly, Carson & Crosby.
Quality of Life…
One of the main reasons we moved to Evergreen was to have a better quality of life and to spend quality family time with our children enjoying all the outdoor activities Colorado has to offer. When my kids grew up I wanted them to remember all the times we went skiing together or camping in the mountains or the afternoon hikes we took at many of the open space parks Evergreen has to offer. Evergreen is choc full of activities that are at your fingertips. If you enjoy hiking or mountain biking there is probably a trail head within 5 minutes of your house. If you enjoy canoeing or fly fishing Evergreen Lake and Bear Creek Canyon is within minutes of your house. In the Winter, if you enjoy ice skating or ice hockey, visit Evergreen Lake where you can rent skates or a drop in hockey game. If you enjoy skiing, there are world class ski resorts within an hour of Evergreen. If you enjoy white water rafting you can visit Idaho Springs just 15 minutes West of Evergreen. If you own a horse you can ride in many of the open space parks. If you enjoy golf Evergreen has two golf courses.
There is so much to do in Colorado, once you
buy the gear, most activities are FREE.
Nature & Wildlife…
Living in Evergreen you are immersed in nature and wildlife. Evergreen is green year round with all the pine trees so it is beautiful year round. There are also groves of Aspen trees which are beautiful in Spring and incredible in the Fall when they turn gold, orange and red and completely change the landscape of Colorado.
The wildlife is truly what makes Evergreen a magical place to live.
There is a herd of over 1,000 elk that roam throughout Evergreen at different times of the year. There are deer everywhere and you will see them just about every day living here. I have had elk and deer in my back yard and some people have even had them give birth in their yards. How cool is that? There are fox, black bears, mountain lions, eagles, geese, ducks, chipmunks, and an occasional moose.
The Weather…
At 7,200 ft in elevation downtown Evergreen is about 2,000 feet higher than Denver. As a result it is cooler year round. This is a big advantage when it is 95 in Denver and it is 82 in Evergreen. The temperatures are in the 70’s to low 80’s most of the Summer so it makes for a very pleasant place to enjoy the outdoors. Winter makes for a completely different experience. Some people image we live in Narnia, but nothing could be further from the truth.
On heavy snow days It’s nice to stay home, put a log on the fire, snuggle up with a good book or watch movies with the family while the landscape transforms into a magical Winter wonder land. The amazing part is the snow typically melts within a day or two because it is so sunny here.
Evergreen is very dry and sunny so snow does typically melts within a day or two. The roads are well maintained in the Winter so getting around is not a problem most of the time.
The Schools…
The public schools have very good ratings and there are a variety of types of schools available ranging from public, charter, private to homeschools. Evergreen high school has about 1,000 students and as of 2016 is ranked 13th out of 245 Colorado High Schools. Evergreen High School is a National Blue Ribbon School, twelve-time John J. Irwin Award winner and one of Newsweek/Washington Post’s top 500 high schools.
The People…
One of my favorite things about Evergreen is the people. They are an active group but also very laid back. While Evergreen is an affluent area the people are not pretentious at all. People here don’t care where you live, what kind of car you drive or about what clothing brands you wear. I like this because I don’t want my kids getting caught up in materialism and feeling left out if they don’t wear a certain type of clothing. I love to shop at Natural Grocers in Evergreen. The clerks are always very friendly and there is very little turn-over so you see the same happy faces all the time. Another advantage with Evergreen, is it is mostly comprised of smaller businesses. The local coffee shop or eatery are mostly ran by the owners. Therefore you get a chance to get to know them on a first name basis. We have a local bus system and one day I was having breakfast at a restaurant. The local bus pulls up and the bus driver assists an elderly man off the bus and into the restaurant. He calls the man by his first name and tells him he will be back to pick him up in an hour. That was truly amazing to encounter and something only you would experience in a smaller mountain town like Evergreen. This is why Evergreen is the best Denver suburb to raise a family.
Contact an Evergreen Colorado Real Estate Agent
Shad Philips – Certified Mountain Area Specialist 303-218-6926
To learn more about any Evergreen Colorado homes for sale or to receive email notifications when homes are listed for sale in Evergreen Colorado, call 303-218-6926 or contact an Evergreen Colorado REALTOR®.
