Willow Park

Willow Park is an older, established neighborhood that has mostly single family homes. The homes here cost less than the average price for a home in Colorado by about $30,000. The neighborhood is boxed in by busy streets on all sides, with Florida Avenue being the least busy of the four. Since Mississippi Avenue leads directly to the onramp of I-225, this is a major street for traffic and it is frequently busy. Both Sable Blvd. and Chambers Road are also major roads that travel through Aurora, so they are typically busier streets as well.

The schools in this area are a mixed bag. Most parents give high marks for the schools but the state testing standards show a different picture. They have been rated at a 2 on a scale of 1-10, which means a lot of improvement is needed. I was in the high school, Gateway, recently and felt it was overall a nice facility. The main gymnasium is really large and seemed to be well maintained, as did the other areas I visited.

While this seems to be a quiet little community, it is bordered by noisy streets and businesses. There is a KFC and a King Soopers within the boundries which make it convenient for residents. There are also numerous places for shopping and dining nearby. Anything you could possibly want is located very close by. While there aren't any hospitals in the neighborhood, there is the Medical Center of Aurora, located just on the other side of the highway and down a little ways. Two new hospitals are only about a 15 minute drive from here as well.

Several of the neighborhoods near to Willow Park have been experiencing increased crime in recent years.