Crime Rates are Decreasing in Parts of Denver and Douglas County

Denver and many surrounding suburbs are becoming safer places to live. According to the 2006 Denver Neighborhood Crime Report, overall crime in the City of Denver declined 10% between 2005 and 2006. In addition, some of the Denver suburbs are seeing decreases in crime rates.

• Overall, there were approximately 46,000 reported crimes in Denver, which averages out to around 43 crimes per 1,000 residents.

   

• Bear Valley, Kennedy and Washington Park were among the Denver neighborhoods that saw the biggest decrease in crimes from 2005 to 2006. Washington Park saw a 31% decrease in crimes during the period including a 31 % decrease in the number of burglaries and auto thefts. A few Denver neighborhoods did not fare well in the report including Sun Valley, Five Points and City Park. These neighborhoods posted the largest crime rates per 1,000 residents in Denver.

   

• Douglas County continues to be a very safe place to live. YourHub.com reports that Douglas County saw a 14% decrease in violent crimes during the first half of 2007 compared to the same period last year. This conclusion is based on statistics from the Castle Rock Police, Lone Tree Police, Parker Police and the Douglas County Sheriff’s office. Both Castle Rock and Parker have seen slight reductions in violent crimes this year.

   

• In late 2005, the 12th Annual Safest Cities Award recognized Centennial, located in Arapahoe County, as the 25^th safest American city.

   

Low crime rates mean only good things for the local real estate market. For more information on specific crime rates or other safety issues in your Denver area neighborhood, please contact TeamCox Realtors.

A Rundown of Denver High Schools' 2007 Average ACT Composite Scores

The Colorado Department of Education released a report today of the 2007 Colorado High Schools’ average ACT composite scores. Since this is a very important indicator of educational quality, TeamCox Realtors combed through the data to determine the top ten highest scoring high schools in addition to the top scoring school distircts in the Denver metro area. The Boulder Valley School District fared very well with the 2007 ACT test.

Top Ten Denver Area High School Average ACT Composite Scores*

1. ‘D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School (Jefferson County) - 26.2

2. Peak to Peak Charter School (Boulder Valley) - 23.2

3. Fariview High School (Boulder Valley) - 23.3

4. Cherry Creek High School (Cherry Creek) - 23.2

5. Denver School of Science and Technology - 23.6

6. Boulder High School (Boulder Valley) - 23.2

7. Mountain Vista High School (Douglas County)- 22.5

8. Monarch High School (Boulder Valley) - 22.4

9. Arapahoe High School (Littleton) - 22.2

10. Denver School of the Arts - 22.0

Which Denver area school districts fared the best? Here is the rundown:

1. Boulder Valley School District - 21.9

2. Littleton Public Schools - 21.7

3. Douglas County School District 20.9

4. Cherry Creek Schools - 20.5

5. Jefferson County Public Schools - 20.0

6. Adams 12 Five Star Schools - 18.3

7. Aurora Public Schools - 16.0 (tied with DPS)

7. Denver Public Schools - 16.0 (tied with Aurora)

For more information on this report or to see how your favorite high school fared, please visit the Colorado Department of Education’s website. If you have questions about Denver area schools or regarding Denver real estate, please contact TeamCox Realtors at 303-400-6060.

* Please note that this list includes only high schools in the Denver metro area. There were higher scoring high schools in other parts of Colorado.