Smith, long a proponent of sustainable living, this year has sold a number of homes to people who have moved to Golden to take high-paying jobs in clean-energy fields.

But in one case, it truly hit home – literally.

“I have two homes, and I leased one of them to a guy who has relocated from Charlottesville, Va., to take a high-paying job at NREL (the National Renewable Energy Laboratory),” Smith, the owner of Golden Real Estate Inc. told me today.

“Hopefully, he will buy it,” Smith added. “He seems to really like living there.”

Smith said that Golden may be getting more of its lion-share of jobs because of its proximity to NREL.

“I think we’re seeing more of those jobs in Jeffco than elsewhere in the metro area,” Smith said.

Not only is it close to NREL and companies that deal with NREL, but it has the type of lifestyle that many people associate with Colorado, he said. NREL, as I blogged earlier, is holding a major conference on clean-energy this week in downtown Denver. And in another blog, I reported on how fast-growing the clean-energy sector

“You can be riding your bike up Lookout Mountain practically from your backyard,” Smith said. “I sold a foreclosure in Commerce City for about $180,000. That house would have cost $500,000 in Golden. But you wouldn’t be able to look out your window in Commerce City and see the view I’m looking at right now.”

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

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