Ron Dean and Jerry McKinney
Ron and Jerry lived in Tampa, Florida for 20 years and had only visited the beach twice, yet they made annual trips to Colorado. They fell in love with the mountains, and decided they wanted a lifestyle change.
In 2010, on a vacation to Aspen, they drove through our community on their way to the mountains to check out properties. During their vacation stay, they had decided Central Park would be their new home and contacted a realtor to show them available homes before returning to Florida.
Within a month, they were back in Central Park, made an offer on a McStain resale row home in the East 29th Avenue neighborhood, sold their home in Florida, and were on the road to their new life in Colorado. “It all happened so quick … everything just fell in to place,” said Ron.
Jerry’s job allows him the luxury of working from home (no matter where he lives), and Ron immediately updated his certification as a massage therapist and was soon employed by a spa located in the East 29th Avenue Town Center. Ron also worked part time in 2011 as a Central Park Ambassador at the Discovery Center, as part of the HGTV Green Home Global Coolness Tour.
When asked why they moved to Central Park, Ron stated that they loved the walkability aspect of the community, the town center, the proximity to their favorite mountain vacation spot, and they felt that Stapleton was comfortable.
Jerry had done his research on Central Park from afar, and during his search he realized that the company he works for was involved in creating the Central ParkDevelopment Plan, also known as the Green Book.
Although Ron and Jerry loved the location of their row home, it was always their intention to move in to a new single family home. They found that home last fall and purchased a ranch patio home by Boulder Creek Neighborhoods in Conservatory Green, Central Park’s 8th great neighborhood.
Since then, they have monitored construction on weekends and have met over 20 of their soon-to-be neighbors. This group of new friends has begun making plans for the annual community-wide Central Park block party and have scoped out whose driveways will best suit their needs for this celebration.
Ron and Jerry shared that they chose Boulder Creek Builders based on square footage available, and the number of bedrooms on the main floor. “There are fewer stairs, and maintenance of the exterior (roofing, painting, landscaping, etc.) is covered under the HOA fee,” stated Jerry.
They also mentioned that they chose Conservatory Green for the views of downtown and the mountains. “Don’t be surprised to see me standing at the edge of Prairie Basin Park staring at the awesome views,” Ron added.
Will they miss the East 29th Avenue Town Center? “Northfield will become our new town center,” said Jerry. “We already frequent many of the restaurants there, since we are there every weekend.”
In wrapping up our time with Ron and Jerry, we asked how they would convince friends to move to Central Park. Without hesitation, Ron said, “Take them on a tour … Central Park sells itself!”
