Denver Suburbs in the press again…

Just a quick post to let you know of yet another media blurb touching on reasons one may want to consider Denver relocation and Douglas County Colorado in particular.

According to CNN Money this month, Douglas County Ranks #4 in the nation as far as Where the Jobs Are – and they specifically make note of Highlands Ranch…  They cite a 56.2% job growth between 2002 and 2009.   Companies mentioned in the CNN article are Avaya, DISH Network and Sprint Nextel, TeleTech and there is a mention of Lockheed / ULA as well.  You can see the whole list here at CNN Money.

On a personal note I loved that the photo used in the article features Highlands Ranch’s Redstone Park – regular readers and those that know me, know this is one of my favorite places that I visit daily and have posted and mentioned it often.

Also in Colorado, Broomfield County is listed as #8 with a 50.1% job growth rate.

There was another recent article in CNN Money that mentioned Colorado areas as Best Places to Live, and Highlands Ranch Colorado was mentioned there as well.

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Steve Scheer, REALTOR®

Denver Realty Partners –

For More Info on Denver & The Suburbs:

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If you would like more information on the Denver area or more information on Highlands Ranch real estate, contact Steve at 720-849-6101.

Rescheduled Fireworks in at least 2 South Denver Suburbs

Although I was in a parking lot full of people until nearly 10:oo pm last night awaiting to see if by chance those fireworks would go off, they did not.

I did however, learn that I can see the Lone Tree fireworks quite well from where I was.

The Highlands Ranch fireworks show will launch tonight, Monday, 7/5 at 9:30 pm at Town Center at the corner of Lucent & Highlands Ranch Parkway.

The Castle Rock fireworks will also launch tonight 7/5 at Metzler Ranch Community Park between 9:15 and 9:30 pm.

So we all have one more chance to say Happy Birthday America, here in the south Denver suburbs.  And it sounds like it will be drier this time around.

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Steve Scheer, REALTOR®

Denver Realty Partners –

For More Info on Denver & The Suburbs:

Highlands Ranch Real Estate
Greenwood Village Real Estate
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If you would like more information on the Denver area or more information on Denver real estate, contact Steve at 720-849-6101.

Highlands Ranch and all Douglas County Students Will Pay for Bus Rides to School

Beginning in August, the students of the Douglas County School District will begin to pay for their rides to school, if they wish to take the bus in all of the Denver suburbs that the district serves.

For as long as I can remember, the bus has been an issue of discussion where I live in Highlands Ranch. There were years that people wished the bus had extended routes. There were years that people wanted more buses. There were years that those that lived in the neighborhoods wanted less buses. Recently we have seen times where there are fewer buses with fewer stops and more kids being driving to the stops, or having longer walks to get there. This has caused some traffic and safety issues near the stops.

The latest school budget cuts in Douglas County have left the school district incredibly short on their budget to say the least and creative solutions have had to be found to cut costs. Like it or not, the students in Douglas County CO will now pay $.50 per ride if they wish to ride the bus.

Douglas County Schools covers Highlands Ranch, Lone Tree, Parker, Castle Rock, Castle Pines, Sedalia, Larkspur, and small parts of Littleton.

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Steve Scheer, REALTOR®

Denver Realty Partners

For More Info on Denver & The Suburbs:

Highlands Ranch Real Estate
Greenwood Village Real Estate
Denver Real Estate
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720-849-6101

Back in March 2007, I wrote a post entitled Douglas County Schools: Understanding the School Track Schedule.  I wrote some others here and here on the same topic as well.  That post in particular remains to be one of the most viewed on this site – even 3 years later.  Visitors arrive on that post from all kinds of searches such as Douglas County track system, Highlands Ranch B Track, Douglas County Schools schedule, Colorado school track system and many others similar terms and phrases.

For those unfamiliar, the track system was arranged quite some time ago now to deal with the growing population, especially family & children, in Douglas County – it was an excellent solution during the years that Douglas County was one of the fastest growing counties in the nation.  Basically the kids were divide into 4 tracks in a school – A B C & D and one track was always “off-track” (on vacation) while others were in.  This allowed the elementary schools (did not pertain to middle & high schools) to house 25% more kids at any given time and a year round schedule led most tracks to be 9 weeks on & weeks off.  It was such as successful program that other school districts followed suit such as some schools in the Cherry Creek School District.

Fast forward to the school year that is just ending and the next just beginning.  Things have changed in Douglas County.  Due to a variety of factors – some which may include slowed growth rates and budget cuts – many schools in Douglas County, Highlands Ranch in particular, are no longer – or will no longer be on the track system by next year.  There are a few exceptions and you can see a full list on the Douglas County School District web site. These schools that are not on the track system will either be on a traditional / conventional school schedule or what is called a modified calendar.  Here is a full look at the calendar for this year for both traditional and tracks (this year’s is not published yet.)

I have heard mixed reviews from folks that have recently made a change or about to.  Feelings range from very positive, generally from those enjoying a full summer off – to disappointment – some people have grown to love the year round schedule and have enjoyed vacationing at off peak times of year.  Whatever the case may be, that’s where the track system stands today.

Douglas County School District covers Highlands Ranch, parts of Littleton, Lone Tree, Parker, Castle Rock, Castle Pines North, Castle Pines Village, Sedalia and Larkspur.

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I was just at Murdoch’s this weekend.

This store has been near my house in Highlands Ranch for years and for whatever reason I have never been.  Somehow my kids have, they wanted to know if I brought them home candy.  They were all too familiar with the rows of bright bags of candy that are at the front of the store.

Before today I thought it was only a farm and ranch store, which it has plenty of that. I was surprised to find tools, clothes, gardening supplies and of course, farm and ranch supplies.

I went to Murdoch’s to see if they had dog treats. Boy do they. I found lots of pet supplies, toys and treats! My lab is hard to buy for, he tends to chew right thru even the toughest dog toys. However, I did find one for him at Murdoch’s that I think will work. I even got him some of his favorite pig and sow ears.  By the way, the lady at the checkout told me that if you bring your dog in with you, they get a free pigs ear! What a nice treat.

Murdoch’s even has little turkey chicks for sale. Very cute, I took a picture of them here. If you live on horse property or just larger acreage, Murdoch’s is a very cool place to go get your supplies.  And if you have children like mine who love candy, bring them along, they’ll be in heaven.

Murdoch’s is close enough to my Highlands Ranch home that I plan on walking there next time through the trails in Highlands Ranch with my dog.  He’ll love to visit.

By the way, my pup has already half destroyed his new indestructible toy!  I think the only toy for him may be a bowling ball.

Steve Scheer, RE/MAX Masters, Inc.
Real Estate in Denver & The Suburbs

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Steve Scheer is a REALTOR® in the Denver area – serving Denver Colorado and the south suburbs including Denver, Highlands Ranch, Greenwood Village, Cherry Hills Village, Littleton, Lone Tree, Centennial, Parker, Englewood, Aurora, Castle Pines North, Castle Pines Village, Castle Rock.  Steve is a Denver native and has been licensed in CO since 1994.

If you would like more information on the Denver area or more information on Denver real estate, contact Steve at 720-849-6101.