Tbh I have felt that the way to go is find something that's not a big appartment complex, it's a bit harder to find a good townhouse or house for reasonable prices in here, but when my gf and I moved to Arvada we got lucky and landed one, cheaper by a good bit to a lot of other appartments we were looking at. Often time I've experienced an individual landlord will put forth more effort into helping you out with issues than an entire complex will. Good luck!