By Mark Samuelson

So, what does the year ahead look like for our refrigerated town on the High Plains? After 12 months of tough sledding real-estate-wise, don’t expect a thaw anytime soon…but don’t pack your bags, either. People who make a living predicting the market are saying, all things considered, you’re better off here.

Jack O’Connor, author of a market report for RE/MAX Professionals, sees chilly weather ahead for the highest price ranges, and solid appreciation for people who own homes under $250,000.

“I’m still very bullish on Denver,” economist Patty Silverstein told me this week. She’s president of Research Development Partners, consulting chief economist for the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. and for the Chamber. more »

When you drive through the town of Erie on your way to see a great looking custom ranch in an alluring neighborhood, you’ll pass right down County Line Road…Boulder County to your left, Weld to your right. “This is a town at the tipping point, coming into its own,” says Mayor Andrew Moore, who points out the new rec center, new library…new park where the Erie Lady Tigers will play. (They’ve played in the state’s 3-A division final game for all of the past 12 years, and took the title ten of those times.)

Mayor Andrew Moore of Erie, left, joins builder-owners Cat and Kirk Velarde and their Kentwood Cherry Creek agent Paula King, in front of a 5-bedroom ranch on the re-sale market at $597,000.

And don’t forget new Erie High School, on the Weld side of town on the way out to I-25. A few years back Erie was losing students, due to open enrollment. Now ACT scores, Moore notes, are way up…and the school is actually drawing enrollments from other towns. “This is so much closer to downtown,” says Kentwood Cherry Creek agent Paula King, who lives in Erie Village, where she’ll show you the 2,699-foot, 5-bedroom ranch that has another 3,000 down in the basement, with movie screening room and other goodies. It’s at $597,000…a “steal” King says…all the more so if you live in Boulder proper, where, she adds, it would be priced well over a million. more »

By Mark Samuelson

After 15 years that saw Lowry morph from air base to new urban community, you can be there today when the golden spike is set in Lowry’s vast park system: the opening of the Great Lawn, to become one of the largest parks in Denver.

The track team from Bishop Machebeuf High School gets a preview workout on The Great Lawn, adjacent to their campus, prior to today’s opening.

The Great Lawn and its adjoining parkland are close to being Denver’s largest park (that honor rests with City Park, 330 acres). By 2010, the park you’ll see today will be linked to the an even larger parcel forming the northern end of the Great Lawn, with trail links into pretty neighborhoods along Sixth Avenue and Crescent Park. Meanwhile, the south end of the Great Lawn, close to its centerpiece amphitheater, is across from Lowry Sports Park with Jackie Robinson Field…and beyond that, 200-acre Common Grounds golf course. Soon, you’ll be able to walk or ride two miles from north to south, through 800 acres, without bumping into a building. more »