Village East

I actually find Village East a difficult place to write about. To me, the rating depends on which area of the neighborhood you're in. For years, at the northwest corner of this area was The Buckingham Mall. This mall was there for years, but as the years went by it began to lose it's vibrancy and became a bit run down and had a depressing feeling about it. It was eventually torn down and gradually replaced with many stores and restaurants that are there now. While this area has been revitalized, there are still areas around it, such as Rangeview, which still have the run down feeling. Along East Mississippi Avenue are some apartments that are not appealing to the eye. They have little windows, no balconies, and no nice common areas around, but the sign out front touts free wi-fi for residents. This seems a small benefit to living in such a drab place. Although there are apartments such as this, the neighborhood itself has some nice single family homes inside the boundaries. In other words, you have to dig a little deep to get to the better part.

While there aren't any medical facilities in the neighborhood itself, the Medical Center of Aurora is just a few blocks away. There is also an emergency center and within a ten minute drive there are two other options for hospitals. There are a couple of parks in the neighborhood for kids to play at, and nearby is the Utah park which is bigger than most and offers an indoor swimming pool.

While this neighborhood lies within the coveted Cherry Creek School District, Overland High School is the lowest rated of all the Cherry Creek Schools. Although it has at times gotten a bad rap, I have a friend who's daughter goes to school here and is very happy with it. She is active in sports and feels there is really good school spirit.

One negative about this neighborhood is that it is bordered by busy streets on all sides. Both Havana and Mississippi are roads that can be busy all day long. For the most part, the noise from traffic doesn't seem to reach into the neighborhood as it does on the outskirts of it.