Bennito L. Kelty
Audio By Carbonatix
The population in Erie, Colorado, is growing rapidly, but the Boulder suburb is still home to one of Colorado’s best communities to buy a home, according to a recent award announcement.
The town’s budding Westerly neighborhood, still unfinished, recently won the Home Builders Association’s 2025 Community of the Year Award, given out by Denver Marketing & Merchandising Excellence (MAME). Westerly nabbed the award from the Aurora Highlands, which touted its accolade on billboards and ads throughout the year. Other previous winners include Solstice in Littleton, the Canyons in Castle Pines and Painted Prairies in Aurora.
The Community of the Year is awarded based on the design of homes and the neighborhood, consideration of natural and urban surroundings, creative use of space and materials, architectural continuity, landscape design, marketing and overall sales success, according to the Southern Land Company, the master developer of Westerly.
So, what makes living in Westerly so great?
When news happens, Westword is there —
Your support strengthens our coverage.
We’re aiming to raise $50,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to this community. If Westword matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
“Westerly homeowners enjoy sweeping views of the Front Range,” according to SLC. “At Westerly, we prioritize walkability and open spaces, elevated architecture, quality craftsmanship and a curated lifestyle.”
The neighborhood is about 800 acres, just larger than a square mile, and close to the eastern edge of Erie, which is one of the more popular places to buy a home in Colorado right now. Homes in Westerly include single-family houses, townhomes and villas, with about fifty acres of park space and seven miles of trail running through it.
An old mining town turned Boulder suburb, Erie has one of the fastest-growing populations in the country, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released in May. The town’s official population is about 40,000 people, up from almost 39,000 last year, 35,000 in 2023 and 18,000 in 2010.
Westerly is surrounded by undeveloped land and isn’t finished. When it’s complete, the neighborhood is expected to have more than 3,000 homes, with 1,300 that still need to be built, according to SLC.
The neighborhood is set up for families with kids. Erie High School is across the street to the north, and Highlands Elementary is to the west. A middle school will open south of Westerly on a dozen acres donated by SLC to the St. Vrain Valley School District. The two other nearby schools are part of that district, as well.
According to SLC, the company also donated 22 acres and $7.7 million to the Town of Erie to create two new parks close to Westerly.
Erie’s shops, restaurants and retail centers are more than a mile west of Westerly, which is mostly surrounded by homes, parks and undeveloped land right now. According to SLC, it acquired land about half of the size of Westerly just north of the area in 2023 with plans to develop it into a low-density residential and retail “village” called North Westerly.
SLC boasts that Westerly has a “state-of-the-art” amenity center called the Waypoint that is equipped with a “resort-style” pool, water slide, seventeen-seat hot tub, fitness studio, cafe, shared work space and fire pits. Ceramics classes, yoga and wine tastings, among other events, are also hosted there. A second, larger amenity center is planned for North Westerly, according to SLC.
In Denver, SLC developed Bespoke Uptown, now AMLI Uptown, at East 17th Avenue and Pearl Street, and Centric LoHi in the Highlands, but has since sold the mixed-use properties. The company also builds neighborhoods in Texas, Tennessee and California.
