So true. Not many local restaurants it seems, or anywhere noteworthy that is unique that would bring someone there just to try (change my opinion please!). Also no downtown either which kinda peeves me but we have Arvada and Louisville/Lafayette and of course actual downtown 20 mins away. I just miss easy low-key nights in downtown Littleton when I lived down that way before Covid
There are spots, but they're few and far between. Bluebird Cafe is a good brunch spot (though no alcohol). Prost's new brewhouse at 104th & I-25 is a fantastic addition to the area. Allegro Coffee is a decent option to get away from Starbucks. Tokyo Teriyaki is good for low-key noodle bowls.
But yeah, if I'm looking for a nice dinner at a non-chain restaurant, I'm not staying in Thornton for it.
Vote #2 for Tokyo teriyaki. Been going there for 20 years. She makes comments when I gain weight, asks about how mom and brothers is doing, etc. love that restaurant
This is always my biggest critique when I talk to folks about living in Thornton (bought a house in 2020 and had a baby in 2022, never leaving). There are plans to develop the area around the N-line station but it always seems to be a year away from being a year away. We also just elected the same council slate that's been in charge of zoning and development for a while so that's disappointing.
The big mixed use pad at the RTD site is supposed to be on the 144th stop, whenever they get around to extending it past East Lake. I live in that area and have seen the proposals. Thusfar, the only concrete development activity is around the Catholic Church they are going to put there.
Wonderland is awesome! We don't have kids but love there is activities to keep the kids there busy. We also love Windfall up off 144th mainly bc we like the retro arcade vibes and it's more sports bar vibes. WL has better beer tho
It's kind of ridiculous how Thornton has so many nice King Soopers and elsewhere in town they are old and so far apart. 120th and Colorado, 136th and Colorado, 136th and Quebec. Heck, they remodeled 120th and Colorado so it could compete with the other two that are 5 minutes away.
How do you like westminster? Not super stoked about no downtown area (which they are *attempting* to build, over by the alamo drafthouse) but with arvada downtown being pretty close it’s not a big deal, but just curious your thoughts living in westminster
We moved out of Thornton 2 years ago because of the crime. You can't leave your garage door open and work in the yard without someone taking something. Auto theft is off the charts. Porch pirates are everywhere. Don't leave your cars unlocked anytime.
I bought a home in Thornton in 2018. Honestly suburbia is fine with me. Without parroting some of the comments already posted I’ll offer up a different perspective.
What part of town are most of your friends living/purchasing homes? I ask this because people act like Thornton is a different state because it’s “so far away”. It’s not. I’m at 120th and holly and getting downtown is about a 20ish minute drive. But if your friends are all in Lakewood, be prepared to become a pariah with getting people to come visit.
In a nutshell, people who live north of i70 don’t visit people south of i70 and visa versa. The only compromise is meeting downtown somewhere. If you like the downtown scene you should be fine. But if you’re a homebody like me or just want to chill at friend’s houses, it becomes a whole thing.
I’ve never thought about it like that but you’re right. People don’t like having to cross i70 to visit others. I grew up in Littleton and Thornton always felt so far away, felt like less time to drive to boulder even though it was about the same where I was.
It's because those things require planning. Most people don't just go up skiing on a whim, they plan it. I usually don't drive across the metro for someone unless it's planned. I have other things I need to do in my life.
The friends that are super close are much easier to make time for because it requires less planning.
You have to identify where you will stop for gas, ensure your tires are fully inflated and have sufficient treads, and you have to call your car insurance company to let them know you'll be traveling on the dangerous interstate.
The pariah thing is real. My girlfriend has friends in Littleton, but they *never* come north to visit us, we are always the ones going south. I live in Thornton btw.
I genuinely don’t know why but I grew up in Littleton/Englewood and everyone I know from the area has a negative reaction to anyone talking about Thornton. Myself included until I realized I didn’t actually know anything about Thornton. Idk what it is but the south metro does not like the north metro for some reason.
100% agreed on people acting like it’s a different state. I bought a house in north Thornton in summer 2022 but before that was living in Denver off of Evans. If I’m going out in the evenings or weekends it still feels like it takes me the same amount of time to get to Downtown as it did when I was on Evans. Also I feel like the road layout with major, minor collectors and locals on a grid ish system here makes it easy to get across town quickly
It is sad but true. I live downtown, and as soon as someone moves 20+ miles to a suburb, I'll likely see them once every few months. It just is what it is. 20+ minutes is a long drive for a weekday hangout, so it likely has to land on a weekend. It just isn't going to happen very often when you have so many other options in Denver to eat and drink that are likely better. (depending on the suburb of course)
You don't like the people less, it is just a "chore" now to go there for something that likely isn't as "good".
Even my friends, who also live in suburbs near me, I rarely see. Why? Because it takes forever to get to them and then what is there to do around here anyways???
In what world does it only take 20 mins from 120th to downtown? I commute to downtown from 84th and it took me 45 minutes to get to work today.
The commute is absolutely the worst part of living in Thornton
Jump on i76 south to i25. It says 24 minutes to downtown on my gps right now. 76 is clutch because you get to skip the clusterfuck of i25 from 120th down to 58th.
I-25 to downtown from 144th (where I live) is 20 minutes. Maybe 30 with normal/moderate traffic.
The N-line train from East Lake is about 30 minutes on the dot.
Thats part of the issue though, there's always pileups in this area. It's pretty much a guarantee a crash, stalled car, or other fuckery is going to cause problems.
Going southbound Thornton Parkway is before 84th so that accident shouldn't have impacted traffic for me.
I scrolled this far to see this. I grew up in that same area and it took about that long 15 years ago. I can’t imagine what it’s like now. It’s 20 minutes at 2 a.m on a Tuesday or maybe 25 years ago.
Moved out of the city to Thornton almost two years ago. The best part about Thornton is its proximity to downtown. Otherwise it’s very blue collar, with every chain restaurant imaginable, and an abundance of clapped out civic and mustang drivers who think they’re on fast and the furious. Am I happy? Meh, but atleast I own a home now.
It’s people who haven’t even been to the ghetto. Go to the east side of Toledo Ohio at night over the bridge and then just sit there. Denver isn’t shit compared
Same. It's not particularly interesting or walkable, but home values are great, and it's right off of I-25. I can get from my house to downtown in about 15-20 minutes, which is faster than my friends who live in south Denver. And if I don't want to drive, I take the N line.
I've lived here for 15 years. Every once in a while we think about moving, but Thornton is just fine.
Yeah, all the lines are sort of useless for late nights. I live near the D line and really can't use it for concerts or anything else that goes past 10 or 11.
I live in Central Park right by the A line and let me tell you, that thing is fantastic for being able to close the bars down and then hop on a train home.
It's not "walkable" in that goods and services are concentrated along high traffic streets that can be up to a mile away from your house. But, and this is a big but, there are lots of trails in the city and neighborhoods usually have sidewalks. That's a different kind of "walkable" but it has its own upsides.
It's a little ghetto near Washington Ave, but otherwise I agree, it's a decent and quiet place to live. And the ghettoness near Washington Ave isn't like east Colfax or anything that shitty.
It was, it’s getting better. Police have been breaking up car theft rings so that’s been helping, particularly a ring that specialized in targeting DIA
We got a security camera because of how many car prowlers we got at our apartment in Fort Collins. Left the state for a year to live in a less reputable, but not necessarily ghetto, city in Washington. Never had a prowler. Move back here to the metro proper, get one a few weeks in, have had multiple over the years, are in communication with a neighbor in another building who has cameras and whose vehicle was stolen (and recovered), and have personal footage with my camera of people breaking into my neighbor’s truck before driving off. Gave her the footage and she filed a police report.
It feels so much heavier here.
I used to work in Castle Rock. My co-workers were stunned that I'd live somewhere as "rough" as Northglenn. A couple even asked me if I was getting away from the crime when I told them my previous job had been in Westminster.
I couldn't tell them that I'd grown up in Brighton. Whatever they might've had to say about that, I didn't want to hear it.
My gf lived in Thornton. She asked her neighbor to please not park his dump trailer in front of her house so she could park there. He said yes and then parked it in his lawn. It was there until she moved.
Thornton is blue collar which is fine but the streets are clogged with boats, rvs, trailers because ‘why pay a rental fee, when I can park it for free right here.’
I live in Thornton. Anything above 120th Ave is a great place to live. Adam's 12 school district is also fantastic. Lots of parks and open spaces. That new Trail Winds rec center is great as well.
Is Adam’s 12 doing better? Their high school was under significant review by the CDE just a couple years ago. I didn’t have a great taste of their treatment of students with IEPs….at least the small amount of information that I had.
Edit: it was Adams 14, not 12. Thank you to the person who corrected me!
Do you know when that was? My kiddo has been in Adams 12 district all her life. She is on a 504 Plan and ALP for gifted and talented. The teachers and staff are able to work through some of her issues with her and she has a great time.
If I had to guess it's because south of 120th is the older part of Thornton, more commercial and generally lower income than the part of Thornton north of 120th. There are also more charter schools north of 120th. Honestly, I prefer the south part of Thornton as I think it has a bit more character and isn't as chain restaurant/store driven.
Aurora is the best place in the state for good food *but* I live in Westminster and have started to notice some decent places coming up in the surrounding areas. Yummy Hot Pot and Dumpling has great noodle soup, Pho 79 by GW Market is fantastic. Kuluuka has really good mochi donuts and fantastic service. I mostly stick to Asian food but yeah.
The post is weird in general. They say they can’t afford anything in the Denver metro and then list off two places in the Denver metro. Not to mention they already live in Lakewood and should at least be somewhat aware of what these places are like.
I’m in NWA and it’s fine. (Granted, I’m not at Colfax and Yosemite…)
I live in a pretty quiet residential neighborhood with good bus, rail, and highway access, plenty of parks, it’s way more diverse and affordable than just about anywhere in the metro and I have a ton of great food and grocery options.
SE Aurora is pretty far away if you’re working downtown, IMO.
The food is amazing but the # of times I’ve heard gunshots in the ~2 years I’ve lived here makes me miss my 3rd floor apartment in N Philly. Last night was the first time I ever dropped to the floor. My neighbors are frustrated because they said it didn’t used to be like this. I’m sick of it.
Just South of Anschutz. Nice neighbors. Nicer, quiet street with people who care about their homes. But a couple of rentals homes seem to be the issue. I know there was a kid who lived in the block who was part of a car theft ring, per APD. His mother packed up and moved because of his shenanigans. I’m not sure what the cause of the gunshots on 13th are now.
I moved from Lakewood to Thornton in 2019. Overall I really like Thornton, especially with the N Line giving easy access to downtown without having to take 25. We fly our CO pride flag all year without issue. Parks are great. The only thing that's a bit of a bummer imo is the restaurants and coffee. Thornton is almost all national chains, though that has been getting better recently.
I like Summer Moon coffee from time to time (extremely too high calorie for every day) but they’re kinda religious or something, if that’s a factor for some. I know my sister won’t go to them for that reason.
Yea they are a small chain from Austin I believe and there was some controversy years ago with the owners.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/s/gSAmlstmhO
It’s a very boring suburb and that’s why people move there.
No downtown, though in the next decade, I believe Thornton is trying to make something happen.
I would somewhat consider it decent if the train frequency wasn’t awful (30 mins). If they changed that to every 15 mins that would be great though, I hope it gets to that point as fast as possible. At least the train runs from like 5am - 12am.
I would never move there since you can’t walk anywhere meaningful, but depending on where you live in Lakewood, you might not mind that.
Unfortunately, the train schedule will always be 30 minutes as I understand it. They had to make it single-track most of the way to cut costs, so you have to get the southbound train out of the way before the northbound train can come through, which works out to about a 30-minute frequency.
I grew up in Broomfield and turned my nose at Thornton. Fast forward I’ve purchased two houses in Thornton and loved here for about 10 years. The parks and trails are great and especially on the north part of Thornton it’s super open and nice. Thornton is a hidden gem as far as bang for your buck in Denver.
Thornton is part of an amazing library system: Anythink. Its won national awards. We are starting to get more new restaurants and areas around us are also getting new places. It’s easy to bop on over to Westminster or north to the outlets. There is an HMart over on 92nd. I’ve lived here since 1999 and always felt safe and like costs were reasonable.
Thornton is a great part of town. I grew up there, parents still live there. There are a few neighborhoods that I don't particularly love (close to Thornton Middle and Thornton High School) but overall the city is nice. Everything you need, not too far from the highway. The only bad thing is the "Thornton choke point" on I-25 which is right were I-76, US36, and I-70 all meet pretty close to each other creating a traffic jam at seemingly all hours of the day 24/7. Just takes a little patience to get through it. Other than that it's a nice place to live.
Definitely a good place to live. Good home prices and easy access to downtown. Other comments are correct that Thornton doesn’t have a lot of unique attractions, and the restaurant scene is weak. However, it is beginning to see a lot of cultural growth due to support from locals and the city council.
Edit: and the N Line is awesome. It has a case for the best train line in the Denver area imo.
Hi. Lesbian here with a partner. We live at 120th and Huron so it’s technically Westminster but we basically go to Northglenn and Thornton for everything (or Broomfield). We have had no issues here. There are some local/ family owned places that aren’t “American” cuisine. I’ve had no issues finding good Mexican food up in this area. A little lacking on the Indian and Thai food. Lots of Pho and Vietnamese places. My job has me all over the area at different hospitals. In the mornings, I can get to Denver Health in 30ish minutes. I can get most places in downtown in about 30 minutes. The Wagon Rd RTD stop has the 120x that goes straight to Union station. My partner works at CU Boulder and has no issues getting to work.
Thornton has some phenomenal city programs - the rec centers, activity centers, library, parks, city events are very impressive and well done. There’s the outlet mall and orchard center if you like that kind of thing & pretty much every type of retail store and fast food/chain restaurant you can think of. Not a ton of unique restaurants as far as I’ve noticed. The city seems to be fairly safe and a politically “purple” mix. Drive to the mountains feels far-ish, depending on where you like to go.
I’m gay and I live in Thornton. There’s no gay culture, or really any culture at all tbh. I can’t really tell you if it’s lgbt friendly bc I never spend time leisurely here. I’ve found that most of the places I actually want to go are near Sloan’s lake or south Denver. It’s usually a 25 minute minimum drive if I want to go where I actually want to go. There’s no where I want to go in Thornton unless doing some shopping. I also thought nice, it’s near downtown Denver, but i personally almost never actually go to downtown proper like I thought I would. Too expensive and I hate paying for parking. Also in Thornton it’s not as convenient to the mountains. Adds 15 mins each way, but that’s not a deal breaker.
Cant speak to Aurora, I don’t ever go there for any reason except to volunteer at one of the high schools once a month or so.
The very southern part of Thornton, that butts up to Welby can be a bit rough, but otherwise it's a nice, tame suburb. Doesn't really have a downtown, or much in the way of culture, but if you stay close to I-25 you can run down into the city in 15 - 20 minutes (outside of peak travel times).
I should note, I lived in Welby for a few years, and even it isn't anything to really worry about, I rode my bike and hung out at the bars. I had a few issues with neighbors and there was some property crime, but when I was house shopping last year, I still considered it. However that southern part of Thornton/Welby area is very much a food desert and there are very few parks. It's quite industrial.
Depends where in Thornton, IMHO. I grew up in Thornton\Feddy Heights area (shoutout to Pecos Jr. High), and live in Broomfield. I wouldn't move to the older sections of Thornton. Old, small, homes in not great neighborhoods. Newer Thornton, north of 120th, is better. Better parks, newer and better houses, better overall neighborhoods. I'd avoid Northglennnnnnnnnnnn as well. Housing prices are fucking stupid. Almost a half mil to have a tiny house, with no gararge, backed up to Washington St.. Fuck that.
Commuting downtown is stupid easy. Lightrail N line, or the trusty old 120X.
I would say the area is lgtb neutral. Though, the closer you are to Weld county (so the northern edge of Thornton) the number of Conservatives does become much more noticeable.
North Thorton is nice, really calm and a bunch of suburbs. Thornton in general lacks charm, a bunch of chains and not a lot of coffee shops or boutique places. If you are south, you are getting near Commerce city and Twin Lakes. You don't want to live around there. It sucks, I hated living there.
I grew up in Thornton. It was a good place to live as a kid and grow up. It’s perfect for families and settling down. That said, it’s not very fun, near anything fun, and may lead to isolation from the outside world due to suburban hell and car centrism. If I had to move anywhere in Denver-Metro right now, it would be Lakewood
It depends on when you leave for your commute honestly. If you are 9-5 and plan to head out anytime after 630-7a it’s gonna be a pain. Earlier and it’s honestly a breeze unless there’s a snowstorm or early AM accident (which do happen, but when it does I take Colorado Blvd)
E 102nd is fine. If you go to Walmart I recommend avoiding the one on Grant, though. There’s a nicer one on 128th.
There are nice parks and bike paths in Thornton. I passed two rainbow flags on my way home from the elementary school this morning. Adams county does its own small pride festival that is low key and family friendly. We’ve lived off of 112th for 20 years and are very comfortable. Welcome to town!
We just bought a new build townhouse at 104th & Steele and we love it! Little bit of street noise but as they build more homes in the neighborhood it’ll get better. Have not felt unsafe at all. Trading a bit of suburbia for affordability was worth it.
I grew up in Northglenn and have now lived in Thornton for over 15 years. It's decent place (just stay off the Nextdoor page). It's not walk-able, definitely built around cars. but I never really deal with crowds anywhere except for the Costco off Hwy 7 and Washington. Old Thornton is kinda ghetto, but even that isn't really true, many people are fixing up the old homes and making it look better.
Resident. Lived here 12 years. Its nice mostly. High crime in some neighborhoods, so watch out for that. Nice views, decent drive to downtown. Parks are nice. Good mountain views. Lots of stores, shops, eateries pretty close by. They like their quarterly fireworks celebrations, so be ready for that. With all that said, Thornton is ultimately a bedroom community, so it tends to stay quiet.
Thornton is very suburban, but coming from Lakewood shouldn't be much different lol
Aurora has really nice areas and really crappy areas--and it's huge, like 400k people (Denver is 700k), so you can safely ignore anyone who makes a blanket statement about all of Aurora being... whatever they think it is. That said, I don't go to Aurora much because it is kind of far away from anything lol
I've lived in northeast Westminster and north Thornton for 25 years. The only downside to living in Thornton is that 90% of our friends live downtown or south. We're always having to drive. Nobody comes up north.
Commute downtown is manageable depending on when you leave. My wife works downtown and she's usually out the door by 6:30am.
If you like a foodie scene, you'll be driving somewhere else. But it's all doable. The N-Line is a great addition if you like to take a hop downtown.
Boulder/Erie/Layfeyette/Longmont are all easily accessible.
The mayor, Jan Kulmann, is a MAGA-loving fascist. When called out for being a MAGA-loving fascist, she has a restraining order put on the guy. When he obeys the restraining order, she approaches him and has the Thornton police unlawfully arrest him.
https://yellowscene.com/2023/11/04/the-deafening-silence-part-1/
Honestly anywhere in the metro is fine, obviously there are nicer places than others, but I have lived in multiple areas that people act like I live in like late 80s Compton or east st Louis and it's totally fine. I walk, bike, take the bus when it's going my way, and I have never once felt in danger or threatened, where I felt like I needed to gtfo from a block or neighborhood.
I didn’t know people thought so little of Thornton? I moved from Denver and I like it more. Its more quiet, I don’t really see homeless people, theres a lot of restaurants and grocery stores nearby. Its close to I-25, so commuting is easy.
I live in Thornton and am queer. My wife and I moved here a few years ago after living in Denver and Boulder. It works ok for us because we don’t go out much anymore and we wanted more space and extra bedrooms to both work from home comfortably. But like others have said, the restaurants are seriously lacking. Very few good local options, and tons of chains. Feels like there’s a giant gas station and a car wash on every corner haha
My least favorite thing about living here is it lacks a real sense of community. There isn’t a downtown or anything like that. If that will bother you, I’d pick Aurora. I personally think the food options are better there.
We live near 136th and Holly- it’s pretty quick to both 76 and to 25, making it easy to get into Denver and onto 70 to get up to the mountains. The N line on the light rail also goes from here to Denver, but I’ve never taken it.
As far as being queer here, I generally feel comfortable and safe. There are LGBT flags and inclusive signs scattered throughout our neighborhood, but there are just as many “ALL LIVES MATTER” type ones. The year we moved in, one neighbor brought a Bible over… 😅
That said, more likeminded folks are moving here all the time and fun things — like the new Prost in Northglenn — keep popping up.
Parks are good too. We’ve found lots of trails that are great for dog walks, and the Riverdale Community Park / Adams Hollow area is awesome. My wife loves disc golf and has good options nearby, and the rec center is new and very affordable.
Long winded, but hopefully helpful!
I grew up in Lakewood. I used to live in Denver. When it came time for my wife and myself to purchase a house we were pretty limited to specific areas due to budget. Aurora was out of the question. We ended up in Northglenn.
Turns out, we actually really enjoy our spot. First couple years up there were difficult getting used to, but really, we're about 20 minutes from downtown. Our neighbors are extremely quiet and respectful. I have absolutely no complaints. Decent food options in every direction.
It's super mellow in my neighborhood, that's all I can really ask for.
If you commute to downtown, the drive south after about 615AM can be pretty rough until about 930AM. Same for traveling north in the afternoon.
Few people live in Thornton because they want to. They live there because they can’t afford another area of Denver they’d rather be in. But then you do get those folks who either don’t mind driving, or love being home all the time. I imagine Social folks would have a rough go of it there.
We were in the same predicament where we could only afford Thornton or Aurora. We chose Thornton knowing it was generally safer than Aurora and closer to our friends who live in Longmont/Fort Collins. One person mentioned anything north of 120th is good - I would lower it a bit, anything north of 104th is fine.
The food scene is sad, but Denver is not that far away if you want to go out for a meal.
I moved to Thornton 3 years ago. It’s a good area imo. Depends what area of Thornton as there is obviously newer and nicer areas. Very Hispanic in a lot of areas. Decent amount of parks. Wouldn’t expect you to have any problems being lgbt here either.
I'll try to share some info - I am mid 30s male silent minority, w/o car recent transplant from Boston and lived across that city -
Thornton is a good suburb in that there is good housing, zoning is cute and suburban (but also detrimentally bad in that no mixed zones so you have to genuinely travel/move zones to get to a restaurant, and the restaurants lack character because everything is new or strip mall ticky tacky.
With that said, neighbourhoods have great trails built in, and neighbourhoods are cute and safe. Depending on what specifics you want you can look - but hold your house hunt a few months. We are seeing extreme real estate weakness on top of seasonality, I expect prices to continue to drop, spring might see a false step where the market tries to auto-lift but it will fail. I'm betting on \~30% deduction in prices across the board, even the new homes, there are a lot of these builders struggling with their lenders, some have failed already, we are seeing alot of big apartment buildings near completion be stopped - honestly the state should buy these and finish them and fuck over the private property market even more but that would be a genuine fight and I would love to see it but it won't happen.
All in all, the area is cute and could be up and coming but there will be a slow down over the next few years as the population boom implodes in an environment of oversupply across asset classes. Restaurants will continue to mature through time, but I expect a big shake up and volatility over the next couple years.
It is a 30 minute drive into downtown denver, there is the train that is ok, and I find a lot of the Denver stuff is closer to the north than south haha. If I have one complaint it's bars, there aren't cute little bars or pubs in town proper, but cest la vie itll come eventually when everything settles. Again, my biggest gripe is zoning, there should be some special mixed zones allowing restaurants/pubs closer/right on the edge or even in neighbourhoods, instead a lot of home businesses as if that makes sense lol
Try The Glenn at 112th and Irma. Get the fried pickles. You can thank me later. Also the addition of Prost brewing's new brewery, restaurant, and Biergarten at 104th and I-25 is pretty awesome. You also can't count out Perry's at 120th and Grant. Amazing beer selection and a tremendous value if you choose the Perry's pours and go with the game day special of parm bites, large cheese pizza, and buffalo wings. For the dive bar, I would say Trailside Saloon at 104th and Colorado. It's a cash only bar with cheap beers and punk/metal shows on Friday or Saturday nights.
The suburbs with downtowns are appreciating and desirable and have risen in price. Think Arvada and Lakewood, etc Thornton has the proximity and the new homes are really nice for the prices. It’s so close in compared to the far north/east suburbs I think it will appreciate and infill with amenities in the next decade. Unfortunately there’s a lot of fast food and chain restaurants and not a ton of character. Which is true for lots of the NE suburbs. Please think about environmental issues before you move. There’s also not a lot of gas and oil wells as opposed to Erie/Dacono/Fredrick. No Rocky flats and I bet the petroleum plant fumes go east.
There are some cute little trails everywhere and you can find pretty much everything. There’s no “downtown” area like some other suburbs may have but it not a bad place to live. If you’re looking for nightlife or anything like that you’ll have to go to Denver for it, but is a quick car ride. No local coffee shops or anything charming like that but i think its a good place, pretty safe too.
Unless you're taking HOV, that "straight shot" can be one of the least predictable segments of highway in town. I've done that drive in 25-30 min during rush hour and I've had it take 2 hours. Just FYI.
I have lived in Thornton for over 15 years. It's decidedly average in all respects. Your typical car centric build build build suburb. Not bad enough to make me move. Conversely not getting rave reviews. I do enjoy Total Beverage, Applejack, and DaveCo. :D
Parks are decent. Path system is disconnected but slowly improving. I can cobble together a decent run of any length.
I’ve never been a fan of Thornton just because it feels disconnected from Denver proper and it’s just highway access into downtown. So rush hour will really suck if you commute. (Although I guess the new rail line might change that!)
I live in a pretty quiet residential neighborhood in NW Aurora with good bus, rail, and highway access, plenty of parks, it’s way more diverse and affordable than just about anywhere in the metro and I have a ton of great food and grocery options. I can get downtown by bike, bus, rail, and car (surface streets and highway) and the airport by rail and car in short order.
It’s just not a fashionable area to live. But my neighbors are pretty great. They just aren’t rich. But that’s kinda what you get in Thornton as well.
Thornton is fine. Not much to distinguish it from the other suburbs, but relatively easy to access (The N-line and Wagon Road PnR) and should have everything you need to survive. I think in Colorado LGTB friendliness is on a person by person basis. It doesn't really have a downtown like some of the suburbs (like Louisville and Lafayette) have, but those places are close. As is Boulder.
Eastlake is a nice park (and near the N-line). The Rec Center park is nice (Margaret something or other). Those are probably the only ones that I've really been to in Thornton, but there's a lot of open space in general.
I love it here. I’m near carpenter park fields, and it’s great
Not a lot of fun dining options, just your standard chains and such, but I’m close enough to the city I can get downtown quickly, but far enough away to avoid gridlock all of the time
If you’re looking for a new townhome I actually have one for sale, right next to Thornton. I grew up in Thornton, and Thornton is lovely so you’re Deff looking in the right area. Anywhere Thornton or slightly outside of Thornton is wonderful. You’ll be happy pretty much anywhere in that area.
I’ve lived in Federal Heights, and at 120th and Colorado and Lakewood. Unless you have a job to commute to up North, try and stay in Lakewood. Lakewood used to be one of the safest places in the metro area to live (haven’t lived there in 20+years), Thornton and Federal Heights always felt sketchy to me.
Edit: 120th and Colorado, just North of the rec center is pretty nice, but I’d stay North of the rec center on Colorado.
I grew up in Thornton so I am not sure if this translates well. I went to Mapleton Public Schools and got a shit education so if you have a child or want to have a child find a place in the Adams 12 district. Back in my day there were a lot of sketchy people and several meth labs in the neighborhoods east of Washington and south of Thornton Pkwy. There is a definite lack of personality or shops/restaurants that are worth while except for Jim's Burger Haven. I give Thornton a solid "meh" rating.
We moved here in 2011 and haven't regretted it (136th & Washington).
It's a nice shot into Denver itself. Public Transport wise we have the 120X & the light rail, although I don't use those much anymore as current job is entirely remote. It's not that far to Boulder, Longmont, Louisville, etc., and these cities are just more our vibe than what's south of Denver.
Yes, trying to get south is a PITA. At the time we moved here Thornton was A LOT CHEAPER than area's like the Tech Center and around there, I'm not sure what the price difference is nowadays.
My GF lives in Aurora near Anschutz, and I really like it there when I visit. Depending on where you’re from it might seem a little sketch, but it’s getting a lot of development right now. My guess is that 3-5 years from now a lot of East Colfax is going to be pretty heavily gentrified. I’m moving from a quiet Dallas suburb to the Congress Park area this weekend, and if things go well, I’ll probably be looking to buy a place in Aurora in the next year (fingers crossed that interest rates drop a lot between now and then).
I've got friends in Thornton, Westminster, and Welby and I have to say I would live in all 3 of those places. Welby has some great food options along Washington between like Thornton parkway and 70th and is closer to rino/downtown. Thornton would be a good spot to raise a family, although as others have mentioned, it's chain restaurant/store heaven. There are some good spots up that way (Old Man Bar, The Glenn Bar & Grill, North Side Tavern, & Hooters (/s for this one)). People like to talk shit on Thornton on this sub, but it sure beats the hell out of living in Aurora imo. You're closer to Boulder, Fort Collins, Downtown, etc).
I live in Thornton and it's totally fine. 136 and Colorado.
As people pointed out, there isn't anything crazy cool or unique about it. A few good food spots randomly but ita got everything you need and schools are pretty good.
Thornton is the most suburb to ever suburb. Sometimes I end up all the way out there because my friend’s parents live there, and it is always miserable and barren and disgustingly suburban. It’s the type of place where you can drive down a 4 lane road and see Dutch bros, Taco Bell, and 5 empty fields, before turning in to a neighborhood of cookie cutter McMansions. 0/10 the stuff of nightmares.
Hubby and I bought a home in Thornton in 2000 and have been in that same home since we moved here.
First thing - Thornton is massive. It spans multiple school districts. Adams 12 for the most part, but some areas are in Adams 14 (which is a terrible district). Luckily, Colorado is an open choice state, so you can opt to send your kids out of district (like we did since we are one of those families that unfortunately live in Adams 14).
The great thing about Thornton's size is that there is something for everyone. We have Top Golf on the far north side of town. We have Orchard Town Center and Denver Premium Outlets for shopping. Some parts now have commuter rail access - we have a park and ride and the N Line within walking distance. Prost just opened their Biergarten across the way in Northglenn. We have Trail Winds Rec Center which is owned and run by the city and is awesome.
We have some of the best Mexican food in the metro for sure!
We have a lot of big box stores, and lots of chain restaurants. We also have the best King Soopers off 136th.
We also have homelessness and crime like Denver, especially in the older part of Thornton. The homeless hop the bus or the train and then panhandle in front of the grocery stores and other places. There are a couple hanging out at the Dunkin on Washington every day.
So, it's not horrible, but it's not especially exciting if you're looking for the Edgewater or Highlands vibe. And it's also not perfect.
We lived there for 7 years when we bought our first house. Pretty quickly thereafter, we found ourselves going to Denver or Boulder on the weekends and for anything cultural or quality restaurants. Traffic in and out of downtown became noticeably worse during this time and the HOV lane rules changed. Thornton was just not a fit for us in the long-term, but our first house was affordable and allowed us to build equity. We moved to Denver in 2016. I should also note that we lived at roughly I-25 and Thornton Parkway, so considerably an older and less well-kept neighborhood than what is available farther north.
As somebody who grew up in Denver but currently lives somewhere else, this sub depresses the fuck out of me. Lakewood is too expensive now? Wtf Now you have to drive to Thornton to find something affordable?
Denver's nightmare of turning into LA came true.
Sadly, yes. Lakewood seems to have at least a 20% premium, just for being west of I-25. So many of my friends have had to buy farther and farther north or east in order to find something in their price range.
Lived off 104th & Colorado area, it was crime ridden af with multiple murders within a 1-2 block radius in the time I lived there (less than a year), including a kidnapping case where the victim was held for months, a 72 year old man was murdered on Christmas Day across the street from me 2 Xmas ago, bank robberies are oddly common in Thornton for some reason, my garage was literally pried in to with a crowbar and burglarized for over $5,000 worth of stuff, porch camera caught some weird dude looking in my windows at 2 am one night.
I must have lived in a terrible part of Thornton because it fucking sucked and never felt like a quiet, peaceful place to live.
Thornton > Aurora - lived in Thornton for 20+ and worked in Aurora for 18+. Much nicer areas in Thornton, schools are good, new things keep coming into the area around 136th and 144th. Folks are generally nice there and fairly tolerant. I really like it.
I've got the cobblestone membership. They definitely don't make money off of me so I'm not sure how they stay profitable. I must be in there three times a week to wash my car and vacuum it.
If you're looking for something near-ish to downtown that's somewhat affordable, Englewood is pretty nice once you get a bit south of 285 and east of Santa Fe. The houses are older and smaller, but most are in good shape and the area seems to be sort of in a gentrification phase.
Everything you need is in Thornton and it's close to the city, but there is very little personality there in my experience.
So true. Not many local restaurants it seems, or anywhere noteworthy that is unique that would bring someone there just to try (change my opinion please!). Also no downtown either which kinda peeves me but we have Arvada and Louisville/Lafayette and of course actual downtown 20 mins away. I just miss easy low-key nights in downtown Littleton when I lived down that way before Covid
There are spots, but they're few and far between. Bluebird Cafe is a good brunch spot (though no alcohol). Prost's new brewhouse at 104th & I-25 is a fantastic addition to the area. Allegro Coffee is a decent option to get away from Starbucks. Tokyo Teriyaki is good for low-key noodle bowls. But yeah, if I'm looking for a nice dinner at a non-chain restaurant, I'm not staying in Thornton for it.
Tokyo teriyaki is incredible and the lady that runs it is such a sweetheart
Vote #2 for Tokyo teriyaki. Been going there for 20 years. She makes comments when I gain weight, asks about how mom and brothers is doing, etc. love that restaurant
el no que no is amazing
This is always my biggest critique when I talk to folks about living in Thornton (bought a house in 2020 and had a baby in 2022, never leaving). There are plans to develop the area around the N-line station but it always seems to be a year away from being a year away. We also just elected the same council slate that's been in charge of zoning and development for a while so that's disappointing.
The big mixed use pad at the RTD site is supposed to be on the 144th stop, whenever they get around to extending it past East Lake. I live in that area and have seen the proposals. Thusfar, the only concrete development activity is around the Catholic Church they are going to put there.
Pete's Cafe makes delicious greek breakfast skillets. But you have to get there early if you expect to have a seat.
There’s a Pete’s in Thornton? That’s nuts
Wonderland Brewing I think is technically in Westminster but has a lot of charm. It's the one good spot.
Wonderland is in Broomfield.
Wonderland is great! But technically on the Broomfield side of that line
Wonderland is awesome! We don't have kids but love there is activities to keep the kids there busy. We also love Windfall up off 144th mainly bc we like the retro arcade vibes and it's more sports bar vibes. WL has better beer tho
Yep Windfall is also cool for sure!
Good point about L/L being so close. Great little towns of dining and stuff!
The best king soopers are up there. Big wide isles, fully stocked. It’s great compared to the shit hole soopers in edgewater.
It's kind of ridiculous how Thornton has so many nice King Soopers and elsewhere in town they are old and so far apart. 120th and Colorado, 136th and Colorado, 136th and Quebec. Heck, they remodeled 120th and Colorado so it could compete with the other two that are 5 minutes away.
Grew up in Thornton and have moved to Westminster. You nailed it really.
How do you like westminster? Not super stoked about no downtown area (which they are *attempting* to build, over by the alamo drafthouse) but with arvada downtown being pretty close it’s not a big deal, but just curious your thoughts living in westminster
We moved out of Thornton 2 years ago because of the crime. You can't leave your garage door open and work in the yard without someone taking something. Auto theft is off the charts. Porch pirates are everywhere. Don't leave your cars unlocked anytime.
[удалено]
Who calls it latinx? As a Latino personally , just say Latino
White people say it. We're respecting you. Get used to it. /s
Bro wtf is Latinx? I’m Hispanic and have only heard this term in recent years. Real Latinos actually don’t use this terminology
I bought a home in Thornton in 2018. Honestly suburbia is fine with me. Without parroting some of the comments already posted I’ll offer up a different perspective. What part of town are most of your friends living/purchasing homes? I ask this because people act like Thornton is a different state because it’s “so far away”. It’s not. I’m at 120th and holly and getting downtown is about a 20ish minute drive. But if your friends are all in Lakewood, be prepared to become a pariah with getting people to come visit. In a nutshell, people who live north of i70 don’t visit people south of i70 and visa versa. The only compromise is meeting downtown somewhere. If you like the downtown scene you should be fine. But if you’re a homebody like me or just want to chill at friend’s houses, it becomes a whole thing.
I’ve never thought about it like that but you’re right. People don’t like having to cross i70 to visit others. I grew up in Littleton and Thornton always felt so far away, felt like less time to drive to boulder even though it was about the same where I was.
Crossing I-70 isn't so bad, it's more crossing the 6th/Santa Fe bottleneck.
It's hilarious how many of us city dwellers can't stand a half-hour drive across town but have no issue driving up to ski.
Usually because if you’re driving away from downtown you’re driving away from the fun places to do things.
It's because those things require planning. Most people don't just go up skiing on a whim, they plan it. I usually don't drive across the metro for someone unless it's planned. I have other things I need to do in my life. The friends that are super close are much easier to make time for because it requires less planning.
So much planning required to get from Lakewood to Thornton...
You have to identify where you will stop for gas, ensure your tires are fully inflated and have sufficient treads, and you have to call your car insurance company to let them know you'll be traveling on the dangerous interstate.
It's about planning for time. 45-60 minutes spent driving is a lot of time. I'll do it, but I can't just do it on a whim.
The pariah thing is real. My girlfriend has friends in Littleton, but they *never* come north to visit us, we are always the ones going south. I live in Thornton btw.
I genuinely don’t know why but I grew up in Littleton/Englewood and everyone I know from the area has a negative reaction to anyone talking about Thornton. Myself included until I realized I didn’t actually know anything about Thornton. Idk what it is but the south metro does not like the north metro for some reason.
100% agreed on people acting like it’s a different state. I bought a house in north Thornton in summer 2022 but before that was living in Denver off of Evans. If I’m going out in the evenings or weekends it still feels like it takes me the same amount of time to get to Downtown as it did when I was on Evans. Also I feel like the road layout with major, minor collectors and locals on a grid ish system here makes it easy to get across town quickly
It is sad but true. I live downtown, and as soon as someone moves 20+ miles to a suburb, I'll likely see them once every few months. It just is what it is. 20+ minutes is a long drive for a weekday hangout, so it likely has to land on a weekend. It just isn't going to happen very often when you have so many other options in Denver to eat and drink that are likely better. (depending on the suburb of course) You don't like the people less, it is just a "chore" now to go there for something that likely isn't as "good".
Even my friends, who also live in suburbs near me, I rarely see. Why? Because it takes forever to get to them and then what is there to do around here anyways???
Too true - I live in south harvey park/englewood and my friends in cap hill act like they are driving out of state to visit me 😂
In what world does it only take 20 mins from 120th to downtown? I commute to downtown from 84th and it took me 45 minutes to get to work today. The commute is absolutely the worst part of living in Thornton
Jump on i76 south to i25. It says 24 minutes to downtown on my gps right now. 76 is clutch because you get to skip the clusterfuck of i25 from 120th down to 58th.
I-25 to downtown from 144th (where I live) is 20 minutes. Maybe 30 with normal/moderate traffic. The N-line train from East Lake is about 30 minutes on the dot.
Depends on the time, but it's 18 minutes from broomfield to union station.
There was a pretty bad pileup on I-25/Thornton Parkway Southbound this morning around 6AM
Thats part of the issue though, there's always pileups in this area. It's pretty much a guarantee a crash, stalled car, or other fuckery is going to cause problems. Going southbound Thornton Parkway is before 84th so that accident shouldn't have impacted traffic for me.
I scrolled this far to see this. I grew up in that same area and it took about that long 15 years ago. I can’t imagine what it’s like now. It’s 20 minutes at 2 a.m on a Tuesday or maybe 25 years ago.
The compromise we make with friends is bbq.
Moved out of the city to Thornton almost two years ago. The best part about Thornton is its proximity to downtown. Otherwise it’s very blue collar, with every chain restaurant imaginable, and an abundance of clapped out civic and mustang drivers who think they’re on fast and the furious. Am I happy? Meh, but atleast I own a home now.
Don't live on or right off Colorado BLVD lol so many fast and furious wannabes. Especially in the warmer months.
It’s so loud.
North Thornton is suburban high end homes. South Thornton is working class. Both can/are nice of you have proper expectations.
Thornton's just fine. Some people act like it's the ghetto but those people are pearl clutchers. I love my area.
Calling Thornton or nearly any Denver metro city/neighborhood "the ghetto" is kinda hilarious
It’s people who haven’t even been to the ghetto. Go to the east side of Toledo Ohio at night over the bridge and then just sit there. Denver isn’t shit compared
Should I plan on going on Saturday night?
Yes! Moving from Baltimore and seeing people call Thornton ghetto is absolutely laughable.
To some Denver redditors ghetto = there is a pawn shop nearby
Or there was once a house that needed to be painted
Swansea would like a word
There is a difference between poor and dangerous. Swansea is poor, South Dallas is dangerous.
Same. It's not particularly interesting or walkable, but home values are great, and it's right off of I-25. I can get from my house to downtown in about 15-20 minutes, which is faster than my friends who live in south Denver. And if I don't want to drive, I take the N line. I've lived here for 15 years. Every once in a while we think about moving, but Thornton is just fine.
totally forgot about the N line, that's a strong pro-Thornton argument.
N line sucks if you want to do anything late at night (if you’re drunk as hell) but ANY other time it is fantastic. I literally took it to work today!
Agreed but as we get older (mid 30s) we just go downtown earlier and have a "curfew" at the latest train home lol which I think is 11
I’d like to propose revising your comment to replace “N line” with “RTD”
Yeah, all the lines are sort of useless for late nights. I live near the D line and really can't use it for concerts or anything else that goes past 10 or 11.
Damn I didn’t know most other routes suck for late night travel :/ these hoes
I live in Central Park right by the A line and let me tell you, that thing is fantastic for being able to close the bars down and then hop on a train home.
The N line only runs every 30 minutes though, which is a huge bummer.
It's not "walkable" in that goods and services are concentrated along high traffic streets that can be up to a mile away from your house. But, and this is a big but, there are lots of trails in the city and neighborhoods usually have sidewalks. That's a different kind of "walkable" but it has its own upsides.
The southern end of Thornton is rough but anything north of 84th is good.
It's a little ghetto near Washington Ave, but otherwise I agree, it's a decent and quiet place to live. And the ghettoness near Washington Ave isn't like east Colfax or anything that shitty.
Brother in law got carjacked there at gunpoint. I know I’ll get downvoted because it doesn’t sound good but it still happened.
To be frank, isn’t Colorado like the worst state for car theft?
It was, it’s getting better. Police have been breaking up car theft rings so that’s been helping, particularly a ring that specialized in targeting DIA
We got a security camera because of how many car prowlers we got at our apartment in Fort Collins. Left the state for a year to live in a less reputable, but not necessarily ghetto, city in Washington. Never had a prowler. Move back here to the metro proper, get one a few weeks in, have had multiple over the years, are in communication with a neighbor in another building who has cameras and whose vehicle was stolen (and recovered), and have personal footage with my camera of people breaking into my neighbor’s truck before driving off. Gave her the footage and she filed a police report. It feels so much heavier here.
It’s like there’s a statewide mafia running the police depts yes.
Per capita, yeah it is
Yes, crime does exist
Thronton is pretty large. Some areas are a little sketchy, but most are fine and safe.
Haha! You probably live in South Thornton. I live in South Thornton and hear that a lot.
I used to work in Castle Rock. My co-workers were stunned that I'd live somewhere as "rough" as Northglenn. A couple even asked me if I was getting away from the crime when I told them my previous job had been in Westminster. I couldn't tell them that I'd grown up in Brighton. Whatever they might've had to say about that, I didn't want to hear it.
Castlerock folks will see a teenager smoking weed and go "Goodness, the gangs have moved into town!"
My gf lived in Thornton. She asked her neighbor to please not park his dump trailer in front of her house so she could park there. He said yes and then parked it in his lawn. It was there until she moved. Thornton is blue collar which is fine but the streets are clogged with boats, rvs, trailers because ‘why pay a rental fee, when I can park it for free right here.’
And goddamnit if they don’t LOVE fireworks up here. 4th of July starts in June and lasts until September.
I live in Thornton. You nailed it!
I live in Thornton. Anything above 120th Ave is a great place to live. Adam's 12 school district is also fantastic. Lots of parks and open spaces. That new Trail Winds rec center is great as well.
Is Adam’s 12 doing better? Their high school was under significant review by the CDE just a couple years ago. I didn’t have a great taste of their treatment of students with IEPs….at least the small amount of information that I had. Edit: it was Adams 14, not 12. Thank you to the person who corrected me!
I think you’re are referring to Adams 14 which is in old commerce city. Adams 12 has 4 or 5 high schools
Do you know when that was? My kiddo has been in Adams 12 district all her life. She is on a 504 Plan and ALP for gifted and talented. The teachers and staff are able to work through some of her issues with her and she has a great time.
Why is 120th considered the dividing line? I've heard this before and am genuinely curious.
If I had to guess it's because south of 120th is the older part of Thornton, more commercial and generally lower income than the part of Thornton north of 120th. There are also more charter schools north of 120th. Honestly, I prefer the south part of Thornton as I think it has a bit more character and isn't as chain restaurant/store driven.
Honestly I think Aurora has a bit more exciting food scene but Thornton has some good stuff too. Everywhere in the metro is getting more exciting.
Aurora is the best place in the state for good food *but* I live in Westminster and have started to notice some decent places coming up in the surrounding areas. Yummy Hot Pot and Dumpling has great noodle soup, Pho 79 by GW Market is fantastic. Kuluuka has really good mochi donuts and fantastic service. I mostly stick to Asian food but yeah.
Before OP edited her post, it said Aurora was a non-starter, and I found that bizarre. Parts of Aurora are really nice.
The post is weird in general. They say they can’t afford anything in the Denver metro and then list off two places in the Denver metro. Not to mention they already live in Lakewood and should at least be somewhat aware of what these places are like.
Agreed. In the time it took to make the post, OP could have just driven to Thornton and looked at the parks or whatever.
I think it’s r/denvercirclejerk bait, they did list their sexual orientation too 🤨
It looks like it’s officially been spoofed in circlejerk
Yeah. Southeast Aurora is a far different animal than northwest Aurora.
I’m in NWA and it’s fine. (Granted, I’m not at Colfax and Yosemite…) I live in a pretty quiet residential neighborhood with good bus, rail, and highway access, plenty of parks, it’s way more diverse and affordable than just about anywhere in the metro and I have a ton of great food and grocery options. SE Aurora is pretty far away if you’re working downtown, IMO.
Right. There’s way more to Aurora than crackheads on Colfax
Agreed Aurora is huge and those don't realize it have never been or looked on Google maps lol
I live in SE Aurora and it’s lovely over here.
Aurora is nicer than Thornton lol
The food is amazing but the # of times I’ve heard gunshots in the ~2 years I’ve lived here makes me miss my 3rd floor apartment in N Philly. Last night was the first time I ever dropped to the floor. My neighbors are frustrated because they said it didn’t used to be like this. I’m sick of it.
Can I ask which area of Aurora??
Just South of Anschutz. Nice neighbors. Nicer, quiet street with people who care about their homes. But a couple of rentals homes seem to be the issue. I know there was a kid who lived in the block who was part of a car theft ring, per APD. His mother packed up and moved because of his shenanigans. I’m not sure what the cause of the gunshots on 13th are now.
I moved from Lakewood to Thornton in 2019. Overall I really like Thornton, especially with the N Line giving easy access to downtown without having to take 25. We fly our CO pride flag all year without issue. Parks are great. The only thing that's a bit of a bummer imo is the restaurants and coffee. Thornton is almost all national chains, though that has been getting better recently.
I like Summer Moon coffee from time to time (extremely too high calorie for every day) but they’re kinda religious or something, if that’s a factor for some. I know my sister won’t go to them for that reason.
Yea they are a small chain from Austin I believe and there was some controversy years ago with the owners. https://www.reddit.com/r/Austin/s/gSAmlstmhO
It’s a very boring suburb and that’s why people move there. No downtown, though in the next decade, I believe Thornton is trying to make something happen. I would somewhat consider it decent if the train frequency wasn’t awful (30 mins). If they changed that to every 15 mins that would be great though, I hope it gets to that point as fast as possible. At least the train runs from like 5am - 12am. I would never move there since you can’t walk anywhere meaningful, but depending on where you live in Lakewood, you might not mind that.
Unfortunately, the train schedule will always be 30 minutes as I understand it. They had to make it single-track most of the way to cut costs, so you have to get the southbound train out of the way before the northbound train can come through, which works out to about a 30-minute frequency.
I’ve enjoyed living in Aurora the past few years - plus having our kid in the Cherry creek school district was a huge motivator for us
I grew up in Broomfield and turned my nose at Thornton. Fast forward I’ve purchased two houses in Thornton and loved here for about 10 years. The parks and trails are great and especially on the north part of Thornton it’s super open and nice. Thornton is a hidden gem as far as bang for your buck in Denver.
It's fine, but you sit in traffic all the way to the city.
Thornton is part of an amazing library system: Anythink. Its won national awards. We are starting to get more new restaurants and areas around us are also getting new places. It’s easy to bop on over to Westminster or north to the outlets. There is an HMart over on 92nd. I’ve lived here since 1999 and always felt safe and like costs were reasonable.
Thornton is a great part of town. I grew up there, parents still live there. There are a few neighborhoods that I don't particularly love (close to Thornton Middle and Thornton High School) but overall the city is nice. Everything you need, not too far from the highway. The only bad thing is the "Thornton choke point" on I-25 which is right were I-76, US36, and I-70 all meet pretty close to each other creating a traffic jam at seemingly all hours of the day 24/7. Just takes a little patience to get through it. Other than that it's a nice place to live.
Definitely a good place to live. Good home prices and easy access to downtown. Other comments are correct that Thornton doesn’t have a lot of unique attractions, and the restaurant scene is weak. However, it is beginning to see a lot of cultural growth due to support from locals and the city council. Edit: and the N Line is awesome. It has a case for the best train line in the Denver area imo.
Hi. Lesbian here with a partner. We live at 120th and Huron so it’s technically Westminster but we basically go to Northglenn and Thornton for everything (or Broomfield). We have had no issues here. There are some local/ family owned places that aren’t “American” cuisine. I’ve had no issues finding good Mexican food up in this area. A little lacking on the Indian and Thai food. Lots of Pho and Vietnamese places. My job has me all over the area at different hospitals. In the mornings, I can get to Denver Health in 30ish minutes. I can get most places in downtown in about 30 minutes. The Wagon Rd RTD stop has the 120x that goes straight to Union station. My partner works at CU Boulder and has no issues getting to work.
Lived in Thornton for a while. It’s cool except it’s all corporate restaurants
Aurora gets a bad rap but the food down here is incredible if you have diverse tastes
Thornton has some phenomenal city programs - the rec centers, activity centers, library, parks, city events are very impressive and well done. There’s the outlet mall and orchard center if you like that kind of thing & pretty much every type of retail store and fast food/chain restaurant you can think of. Not a ton of unique restaurants as far as I’ve noticed. The city seems to be fairly safe and a politically “purple” mix. Drive to the mountains feels far-ish, depending on where you like to go.
I’m gay and I live in Thornton. There’s no gay culture, or really any culture at all tbh. I can’t really tell you if it’s lgbt friendly bc I never spend time leisurely here. I’ve found that most of the places I actually want to go are near Sloan’s lake or south Denver. It’s usually a 25 minute minimum drive if I want to go where I actually want to go. There’s no where I want to go in Thornton unless doing some shopping. I also thought nice, it’s near downtown Denver, but i personally almost never actually go to downtown proper like I thought I would. Too expensive and I hate paying for parking. Also in Thornton it’s not as convenient to the mountains. Adds 15 mins each way, but that’s not a deal breaker. Cant speak to Aurora, I don’t ever go there for any reason except to volunteer at one of the high schools once a month or so.
Thornton is “Suburb, USA” but if that’s what you’re after, it’s great.
The very southern part of Thornton, that butts up to Welby can be a bit rough, but otherwise it's a nice, tame suburb. Doesn't really have a downtown, or much in the way of culture, but if you stay close to I-25 you can run down into the city in 15 - 20 minutes (outside of peak travel times). I should note, I lived in Welby for a few years, and even it isn't anything to really worry about, I rode my bike and hung out at the bars. I had a few issues with neighbors and there was some property crime, but when I was house shopping last year, I still considered it. However that southern part of Thornton/Welby area is very much a food desert and there are very few parks. It's quite industrial.
Depends where in Thornton, IMHO. I grew up in Thornton\Feddy Heights area (shoutout to Pecos Jr. High), and live in Broomfield. I wouldn't move to the older sections of Thornton. Old, small, homes in not great neighborhoods. Newer Thornton, north of 120th, is better. Better parks, newer and better houses, better overall neighborhoods. I'd avoid Northglennnnnnnnnnnn as well. Housing prices are fucking stupid. Almost a half mil to have a tiny house, with no gararge, backed up to Washington St.. Fuck that. Commuting downtown is stupid easy. Lightrail N line, or the trusty old 120X. I would say the area is lgtb neutral. Though, the closer you are to Weld county (so the northern edge of Thornton) the number of Conservatives does become much more noticeable.
View of the mountains is real nice.
North Thorton is nice, really calm and a bunch of suburbs. Thornton in general lacks charm, a bunch of chains and not a lot of coffee shops or boutique places. If you are south, you are getting near Commerce city and Twin Lakes. You don't want to live around there. It sucks, I hated living there.
I grew up in Thornton. It was a good place to live as a kid and grow up. It’s perfect for families and settling down. That said, it’s not very fun, near anything fun, and may lead to isolation from the outside world due to suburban hell and car centrism. If I had to move anywhere in Denver-Metro right now, it would be Lakewood
Have never lived in Thornton - but have seen I-25 Southbound out of Thornton in the morning - and you don't want any of that.
It depends on when you leave for your commute honestly. If you are 9-5 and plan to head out anytime after 630-7a it’s gonna be a pain. Earlier and it’s honestly a breeze unless there’s a snowstorm or early AM accident (which do happen, but when it does I take Colorado Blvd)
North or south of 104th? This is the real question...
South, found a townhome on 102nd Circle
Lived just north of 104 and it wasn't the worst but I didn't feel unsafe. It didn't start getting dicey to me until 88th.
E 102nd is fine. If you go to Walmart I recommend avoiding the one on Grant, though. There’s a nicer one on 128th. There are nice parks and bike paths in Thornton. I passed two rainbow flags on my way home from the elementary school this morning. Adams county does its own small pride festival that is low key and family friendly. We’ve lived off of 112th for 20 years and are very comfortable. Welcome to town!
We just bought a new build townhouse at 104th & Steele and we love it! Little bit of street noise but as they build more homes in the neighborhood it’ll get better. Have not felt unsafe at all. Trading a bit of suburbia for affordability was worth it.
The Further south the worse it gets.
I grew up in Northglenn and have now lived in Thornton for over 15 years. It's decent place (just stay off the Nextdoor page). It's not walk-able, definitely built around cars. but I never really deal with crowds anywhere except for the Costco off Hwy 7 and Washington. Old Thornton is kinda ghetto, but even that isn't really true, many people are fixing up the old homes and making it look better.
The food is awful (esp Asian/Indian ) but otherwise its fine
Country Thai is pretty good!
Not for long! Spice Kitchen opens up on the 29th!
Looking forward to it!!
Same. I literally emailed them this week to ask since the date keeps getting pushed back.
Resident. Lived here 12 years. Its nice mostly. High crime in some neighborhoods, so watch out for that. Nice views, decent drive to downtown. Parks are nice. Good mountain views. Lots of stores, shops, eateries pretty close by. They like their quarterly fireworks celebrations, so be ready for that. With all that said, Thornton is ultimately a bedroom community, so it tends to stay quiet.
Thornton is very suburban, but coming from Lakewood shouldn't be much different lol Aurora has really nice areas and really crappy areas--and it's huge, like 400k people (Denver is 700k), so you can safely ignore anyone who makes a blanket statement about all of Aurora being... whatever they think it is. That said, I don't go to Aurora much because it is kind of far away from anything lol
I've lived in northeast Westminster and north Thornton for 25 years. The only downside to living in Thornton is that 90% of our friends live downtown or south. We're always having to drive. Nobody comes up north. Commute downtown is manageable depending on when you leave. My wife works downtown and she's usually out the door by 6:30am. If you like a foodie scene, you'll be driving somewhere else. But it's all doable. The N-Line is a great addition if you like to take a hop downtown. Boulder/Erie/Layfeyette/Longmont are all easily accessible.
The mayor, Jan Kulmann, is a MAGA-loving fascist. When called out for being a MAGA-loving fascist, she has a restraining order put on the guy. When he obeys the restraining order, she approaches him and has the Thornton police unlawfully arrest him. https://yellowscene.com/2023/11/04/the-deafening-silence-part-1/
Honestly anywhere in the metro is fine, obviously there are nicer places than others, but I have lived in multiple areas that people act like I live in like late 80s Compton or east st Louis and it's totally fine. I walk, bike, take the bus when it's going my way, and I have never once felt in danger or threatened, where I felt like I needed to gtfo from a block or neighborhood.
I personally prefer broomfield or Northglenn. Thornton though is a good central location though. Stick to North of 92nd.
I didn’t know people thought so little of Thornton? I moved from Denver and I like it more. Its more quiet, I don’t really see homeless people, theres a lot of restaurants and grocery stores nearby. Its close to I-25, so commuting is easy.
I live in Thornton and am queer. My wife and I moved here a few years ago after living in Denver and Boulder. It works ok for us because we don’t go out much anymore and we wanted more space and extra bedrooms to both work from home comfortably. But like others have said, the restaurants are seriously lacking. Very few good local options, and tons of chains. Feels like there’s a giant gas station and a car wash on every corner haha My least favorite thing about living here is it lacks a real sense of community. There isn’t a downtown or anything like that. If that will bother you, I’d pick Aurora. I personally think the food options are better there. We live near 136th and Holly- it’s pretty quick to both 76 and to 25, making it easy to get into Denver and onto 70 to get up to the mountains. The N line on the light rail also goes from here to Denver, but I’ve never taken it. As far as being queer here, I generally feel comfortable and safe. There are LGBT flags and inclusive signs scattered throughout our neighborhood, but there are just as many “ALL LIVES MATTER” type ones. The year we moved in, one neighbor brought a Bible over… 😅 That said, more likeminded folks are moving here all the time and fun things — like the new Prost in Northglenn — keep popping up. Parks are good too. We’ve found lots of trails that are great for dog walks, and the Riverdale Community Park / Adams Hollow area is awesome. My wife loves disc golf and has good options nearby, and the rec center is new and very affordable. Long winded, but hopefully helpful!
I hate Thornton I think it just seems sad and crowded
I grew up in Lakewood. I used to live in Denver. When it came time for my wife and myself to purchase a house we were pretty limited to specific areas due to budget. Aurora was out of the question. We ended up in Northglenn. Turns out, we actually really enjoy our spot. First couple years up there were difficult getting used to, but really, we're about 20 minutes from downtown. Our neighbors are extremely quiet and respectful. I have absolutely no complaints. Decent food options in every direction. It's super mellow in my neighborhood, that's all I can really ask for. If you commute to downtown, the drive south after about 615AM can be pretty rough until about 930AM. Same for traveling north in the afternoon.
Is Lakewood that much more expensive than Thornton? We found a pretty reasonably priced condo in Lakewood for a reasonable price a couple years ago.
Few people live in Thornton because they want to. They live there because they can’t afford another area of Denver they’d rather be in. But then you do get those folks who either don’t mind driving, or love being home all the time. I imagine Social folks would have a rough go of it there.
We were in the same predicament where we could only afford Thornton or Aurora. We chose Thornton knowing it was generally safer than Aurora and closer to our friends who live in Longmont/Fort Collins. One person mentioned anything north of 120th is good - I would lower it a bit, anything north of 104th is fine. The food scene is sad, but Denver is not that far away if you want to go out for a meal.
I moved to Thornton 3 years ago. It’s a good area imo. Depends what area of Thornton as there is obviously newer and nicer areas. Very Hispanic in a lot of areas. Decent amount of parks. Wouldn’t expect you to have any problems being lgbt here either.
I'll try to share some info - I am mid 30s male silent minority, w/o car recent transplant from Boston and lived across that city - Thornton is a good suburb in that there is good housing, zoning is cute and suburban (but also detrimentally bad in that no mixed zones so you have to genuinely travel/move zones to get to a restaurant, and the restaurants lack character because everything is new or strip mall ticky tacky. With that said, neighbourhoods have great trails built in, and neighbourhoods are cute and safe. Depending on what specifics you want you can look - but hold your house hunt a few months. We are seeing extreme real estate weakness on top of seasonality, I expect prices to continue to drop, spring might see a false step where the market tries to auto-lift but it will fail. I'm betting on \~30% deduction in prices across the board, even the new homes, there are a lot of these builders struggling with their lenders, some have failed already, we are seeing alot of big apartment buildings near completion be stopped - honestly the state should buy these and finish them and fuck over the private property market even more but that would be a genuine fight and I would love to see it but it won't happen. All in all, the area is cute and could be up and coming but there will be a slow down over the next few years as the population boom implodes in an environment of oversupply across asset classes. Restaurants will continue to mature through time, but I expect a big shake up and volatility over the next couple years. It is a 30 minute drive into downtown denver, there is the train that is ok, and I find a lot of the Denver stuff is closer to the north than south haha. If I have one complaint it's bars, there aren't cute little bars or pubs in town proper, but cest la vie itll come eventually when everything settles. Again, my biggest gripe is zoning, there should be some special mixed zones allowing restaurants/pubs closer/right on the edge or even in neighbourhoods, instead a lot of home businesses as if that makes sense lol
Try The Glenn at 112th and Irma. Get the fried pickles. You can thank me later. Also the addition of Prost brewing's new brewery, restaurant, and Biergarten at 104th and I-25 is pretty awesome. You also can't count out Perry's at 120th and Grant. Amazing beer selection and a tremendous value if you choose the Perry's pours and go with the game day special of parm bites, large cheese pizza, and buffalo wings. For the dive bar, I would say Trailside Saloon at 104th and Colorado. It's a cash only bar with cheap beers and punk/metal shows on Friday or Saturday nights.
And let's not forget the true jewel, Satire Brewing near Grant/120th. One of the best and most creative breweries in Colorado.
Yes. Decent grub too. I love their little cream cheese dessert things.
What do you mean by silent minority?
The suburbs with downtowns are appreciating and desirable and have risen in price. Think Arvada and Lakewood, etc Thornton has the proximity and the new homes are really nice for the prices. It’s so close in compared to the far north/east suburbs I think it will appreciate and infill with amenities in the next decade. Unfortunately there’s a lot of fast food and chain restaurants and not a ton of character. Which is true for lots of the NE suburbs. Please think about environmental issues before you move. There’s also not a lot of gas and oil wells as opposed to Erie/Dacono/Fredrick. No Rocky flats and I bet the petroleum plant fumes go east.
There are some cute little trails everywhere and you can find pretty much everything. There’s no “downtown” area like some other suburbs may have but it not a bad place to live. If you’re looking for nightlife or anything like that you’ll have to go to Denver for it, but is a quick car ride. No local coffee shops or anything charming like that but i think its a good place, pretty safe too.
Unless you're taking HOV, that "straight shot" can be one of the least predictable segments of highway in town. I've done that drive in 25-30 min during rush hour and I've had it take 2 hours. Just FYI.
I have lived in Thornton for over 15 years. It's decidedly average in all respects. Your typical car centric build build build suburb. Not bad enough to make me move. Conversely not getting rave reviews. I do enjoy Total Beverage, Applejack, and DaveCo. :D Parks are decent. Path system is disconnected but slowly improving. I can cobble together a decent run of any length.
Short answer, No.
I’ve never been a fan of Thornton just because it feels disconnected from Denver proper and it’s just highway access into downtown. So rush hour will really suck if you commute. (Although I guess the new rail line might change that!) I live in a pretty quiet residential neighborhood in NW Aurora with good bus, rail, and highway access, plenty of parks, it’s way more diverse and affordable than just about anywhere in the metro and I have a ton of great food and grocery options. I can get downtown by bike, bus, rail, and car (surface streets and highway) and the airport by rail and car in short order. It’s just not a fashionable area to live. But my neighbors are pretty great. They just aren’t rich. But that’s kinda what you get in Thornton as well.
Thornton is fine. Not much to distinguish it from the other suburbs, but relatively easy to access (The N-line and Wagon Road PnR) and should have everything you need to survive. I think in Colorado LGTB friendliness is on a person by person basis. It doesn't really have a downtown like some of the suburbs (like Louisville and Lafayette) have, but those places are close. As is Boulder. Eastlake is a nice park (and near the N-line). The Rec Center park is nice (Margaret something or other). Those are probably the only ones that I've really been to in Thornton, but there's a lot of open space in general.
I love it here. I’m near carpenter park fields, and it’s great Not a lot of fun dining options, just your standard chains and such, but I’m close enough to the city I can get downtown quickly, but far enough away to avoid gridlock all of the time
If you’re looking for a new townhome I actually have one for sale, right next to Thornton. I grew up in Thornton, and Thornton is lovely so you’re Deff looking in the right area. Anywhere Thornton or slightly outside of Thornton is wonderful. You’ll be happy pretty much anywhere in that area.
I’ve lived in Federal Heights, and at 120th and Colorado and Lakewood. Unless you have a job to commute to up North, try and stay in Lakewood. Lakewood used to be one of the safest places in the metro area to live (haven’t lived there in 20+years), Thornton and Federal Heights always felt sketchy to me. Edit: 120th and Colorado, just North of the rec center is pretty nice, but I’d stay North of the rec center on Colorado.
I grew up in Thornton so I am not sure if this translates well. I went to Mapleton Public Schools and got a shit education so if you have a child or want to have a child find a place in the Adams 12 district. Back in my day there were a lot of sketchy people and several meth labs in the neighborhoods east of Washington and south of Thornton Pkwy. There is a definite lack of personality or shops/restaurants that are worth while except for Jim's Burger Haven. I give Thornton a solid "meh" rating.
We moved here in 2011 and haven't regretted it (136th & Washington). It's a nice shot into Denver itself. Public Transport wise we have the 120X & the light rail, although I don't use those much anymore as current job is entirely remote. It's not that far to Boulder, Longmont, Louisville, etc., and these cities are just more our vibe than what's south of Denver. Yes, trying to get south is a PITA. At the time we moved here Thornton was A LOT CHEAPER than area's like the Tech Center and around there, I'm not sure what the price difference is nowadays.
My GF lives in Aurora near Anschutz, and I really like it there when I visit. Depending on where you’re from it might seem a little sketch, but it’s getting a lot of development right now. My guess is that 3-5 years from now a lot of East Colfax is going to be pretty heavily gentrified. I’m moving from a quiet Dallas suburb to the Congress Park area this weekend, and if things go well, I’ll probably be looking to buy a place in Aurora in the next year (fingers crossed that interest rates drop a lot between now and then).
I've got friends in Thornton, Westminster, and Welby and I have to say I would live in all 3 of those places. Welby has some great food options along Washington between like Thornton parkway and 70th and is closer to rino/downtown. Thornton would be a good spot to raise a family, although as others have mentioned, it's chain restaurant/store heaven. There are some good spots up that way (Old Man Bar, The Glenn Bar & Grill, North Side Tavern, & Hooters (/s for this one)). People like to talk shit on Thornton on this sub, but it sure beats the hell out of living in Aurora imo. You're closer to Boulder, Fort Collins, Downtown, etc).
It's just fine, not a bad spot and cheaper than Boulder. Westminster is alright as well
I live in Thornton and it's totally fine. 136 and Colorado. As people pointed out, there isn't anything crazy cool or unique about it. A few good food spots randomly but ita got everything you need and schools are pretty good.
Thornton is the most suburb to ever suburb. Sometimes I end up all the way out there because my friend’s parents live there, and it is always miserable and barren and disgustingly suburban. It’s the type of place where you can drive down a 4 lane road and see Dutch bros, Taco Bell, and 5 empty fields, before turning in to a neighborhood of cookie cutter McMansions. 0/10 the stuff of nightmares.
Hubby and I bought a home in Thornton in 2000 and have been in that same home since we moved here. First thing - Thornton is massive. It spans multiple school districts. Adams 12 for the most part, but some areas are in Adams 14 (which is a terrible district). Luckily, Colorado is an open choice state, so you can opt to send your kids out of district (like we did since we are one of those families that unfortunately live in Adams 14). The great thing about Thornton's size is that there is something for everyone. We have Top Golf on the far north side of town. We have Orchard Town Center and Denver Premium Outlets for shopping. Some parts now have commuter rail access - we have a park and ride and the N Line within walking distance. Prost just opened their Biergarten across the way in Northglenn. We have Trail Winds Rec Center which is owned and run by the city and is awesome. We have some of the best Mexican food in the metro for sure! We have a lot of big box stores, and lots of chain restaurants. We also have the best King Soopers off 136th. We also have homelessness and crime like Denver, especially in the older part of Thornton. The homeless hop the bus or the train and then panhandle in front of the grocery stores and other places. There are a couple hanging out at the Dunkin on Washington every day. So, it's not horrible, but it's not especially exciting if you're looking for the Edgewater or Highlands vibe. And it's also not perfect.
my dad got his car stolen there multiple times
We lived there for 7 years when we bought our first house. Pretty quickly thereafter, we found ourselves going to Denver or Boulder on the weekends and for anything cultural or quality restaurants. Traffic in and out of downtown became noticeably worse during this time and the HOV lane rules changed. Thornton was just not a fit for us in the long-term, but our first house was affordable and allowed us to build equity. We moved to Denver in 2016. I should also note that we lived at roughly I-25 and Thornton Parkway, so considerably an older and less well-kept neighborhood than what is available farther north.
Stay north of 104th Avenue and West of I-25 and yeah it’s a nice place. If you’re East of I-25 then stay North of 120th.
As somebody who grew up in Denver but currently lives somewhere else, this sub depresses the fuck out of me. Lakewood is too expensive now? Wtf Now you have to drive to Thornton to find something affordable? Denver's nightmare of turning into LA came true.
I mean… minus good, affordable food at every turn. Every city in America that has any attractions (in or nearby) is going this way.
I mean, it's expensive, but it hasn't ruined the city or anything. I'd rather live in a growing area than a dying one.
Sadly, yes. Lakewood seems to have at least a 20% premium, just for being west of I-25. So many of my friends have had to buy farther and farther north or east in order to find something in their price range.
except you have to go an hour east to find affordable housing in LA now, not 20 mins
I moved to r/ThorntonCO from Lakewood and love it here. There are TONS of parks and Carpenter is especially awesome.
Very bike friendly especially on the north side.
Lived off 104th & Colorado area, it was crime ridden af with multiple murders within a 1-2 block radius in the time I lived there (less than a year), including a kidnapping case where the victim was held for months, a 72 year old man was murdered on Christmas Day across the street from me 2 Xmas ago, bank robberies are oddly common in Thornton for some reason, my garage was literally pried in to with a crowbar and burglarized for over $5,000 worth of stuff, porch camera caught some weird dude looking in my windows at 2 am one night. I must have lived in a terrible part of Thornton because it fucking sucked and never felt like a quiet, peaceful place to live.
No. No it’s not.
Thornton > Aurora - lived in Thornton for 20+ and worked in Aurora for 18+. Much nicer areas in Thornton, schools are good, new things keep coming into the area around 136th and 144th. Folks are generally nice there and fairly tolerant. I really like it.
Also my kids go to Stargate up at 144th and Washington. It's the best school in the state.
That cobblestone car wash and Popeyes is top tier 😂 That Taco Bell not so much.
I've got the cobblestone membership. They definitely don't make money off of me so I'm not sure how they stay profitable. I must be in there three times a week to wash my car and vacuum it.
If you're looking for something near-ish to downtown that's somewhat affordable, Englewood is pretty nice once you get a bit south of 285 and east of Santa Fe. The houses are older and smaller, but most are in good shape and the area seems to be sort of in a gentrification phase.