City or Suburbs??

We are renting a tiny house in a nice area in the city of Denver. The one problem with it is it is tiny. We are constantly bumping into things and a majority of our things are in boxes in our one car storage facility. We have been house hunting and just can't decide where we want to live. Many people want to live in the city of Denver because it is convenient and there are many nice areas. The problem is that people are scraping homes and building million dollar houses in many areas. We can't afford one of the bigger million + dollar homes and let me tell you that the market is saturated with them. Every street you drive on in the city there are enormous brand new homes for sell.

We love the convenience of living in the city and it is close to James's work. He just walks down the street to get on the bus and it is only about a 15 to 20 minute bus ride. We also have kind of established ourselves in the area, meaning we have new doctors, favorite restaurants, and stores. The city is nice but not as good for James to go biking. Also, the Denver public schools are okay but you have to really do research to make sure the neighborhood school is good.

The idea of living in the suburbs is appealing. It is less expensive and we would be able to get a larger house with a view of the mountains. There are many great school districts in the suburbs. The only problem is that it wouldn't be close to James's work. I have the tough commute this year because I am commuting to the suburbs and traffic is not fun. It usually takes me 30-40 minutes in the morning and 40-60 in the afternoon (on a good day). The traffic around Denver is icky and when it snows it is miserable. I had a horrible drive the other day but James's ride on the bus didn't really take any longer. I am hoping to stay at home for a few years when we have kids so I'm not really concerned with my drive. I don't want James to have to commute very far. Most of the suburbs we are looking into are around 20 miles away from downtown Denver and it may be more difficult for James to ride the bus. Then he would get stuck in traffic and come home exhausted.

Anyone have any insights? We do love the city but the suburbs would be nice too. It's hard to decide between an older, smaller home with character or a larger, newer home in the suburbs.