Considering RELOCATING to New Mexico (Albuquerque, Santa Fe: transplants, travel, work)

[DearElle]

Sounds like NM is quite beautiful!...mountains, climate, and dessert (read "Transplants to Albuquerque" thread). Sounds like my kinda place. I can hardly wait to check it out with my husband! We are considering relocating so when I realized Albuquerque and Santa Fe are reasonably close, I got to thinking that situating ourselves somewhere in between could be even better. That way we could access both cities for work/business, relatively well. Would anyone have some good suggestions of some "NICE" areas/suburbs that we could investigate? Any ideas or input would be welcomed. Thanks!

[ABQSunseeker]

Hi DearElle,

If geography and the word "NICE" are going to govern your choice, I'd highly recommend Placitas. It's a very nice suburb just north of Albuquerque. Only about 8 miles from the northern boundary, or 15 or so from downtown. Unless you choose to live well into Placitas, much of the village is within very easy striking range of Albuquerque and Santa Fe along I25.

Placitas is almost completely residential, with mostly new housing on larger lot sizes and with stunning views of mountains and mesas. I'm moving there myself next spring.

Good luck with your move to NM. I moved here myself from NY and never look back. Great living out here.

[Towanda]

Hi DearElle,

Welcome to the C-D New Mexico Forum. We look forward to your participation here!

AND .... we will be interested to see what you decide as far as possibly moving to New Mexico. A visit here should give you an idea whether you like it well enough to relocate here.

I moved here less than two months ago, and I absolutely love it here so far!

[ziaAirmac]

DearElle, welcome! We've talked about the possibilities of splitting the difference between the two towns before, especially for couples that had work in both places. As a local, I'll second ABQSunseeker's recommendation of Placitas for this purpose. A beautiful area, just off of I-25 and with a RailRunner stop just down the road. For a little less money, and more local conveniences you could also look at Bernalillo, just below Placitas on the other side of I-25. Beyond that it gets rather thin though. There's a small, rural community called Algodones nestled between the Rio Grande and I-25 and then it's high desert until you hit the La Cienega/Galisteo area near Santa Fe.

I'd like to throw in another possibility though. Consider that the communities are connected by a major highway posted at 75mph and a soon to be finished high speed rail service. Also, gasoline...like land...isn't getting any cheaper. Why build in an automatic commute to entertainment/shopping when you could be walking to many of your daily needs by committing to one place or the other and still be able to visit the other community regularly. Just a thought.

[cliffdweller]

Hi Elle

I am moving in January from New Jersey to an active adult community - Alegria - in Bernalillo. I don't know your ages but if this is a possibility for you, I would check it out. It is a new community--my home is being built--and just beautiful with great views of the Sandia mountains, direct access to the Bosque and lots of amenities and activities. Good luck! I can't wait to get out to NM and call it home!!

[honu1]

I echo that Placitas and Bernalillio would geographically be close to what you are looking for. I honestly didn't spend much time in Bernalillio aside from driving to the Jackalope, so can't comment specifically on that area. I did visit Placitas numerous times and thought it was quite lovely.

[nmguy]

I live in Placitas and spend some time in Bernalillo. I like hiking in Placitas and eating an occasional breakfast or lunch at El Piñon.

Places I like in Bernalillo include:

* The Range Cafe
* Las Casitas Cafe
* Abuelita's Restaurant
* Ta-Ma-Gro Hardware Store
* T&T Market (excellent meat dept.)
* Jackalope (for taking visitors)
* Railrunner (for traveling to Santa Fe in Dec.)

[ABQSunseeker]

Good to know Nmguy. Where is Las Casitas Cafe, and El Pinõn?

[nmguy]

If you're headed north in Bernalillo on the main street --Camino del Pueblo-- you'll pass The Range, then Abuelita's and finally, Las Casitas. They're all on the same side of the street, and they're all solid restaurants.

I'd put El Piñon in the same category. It's on the main road in Placitas --Hwy. 165-- about four miles from I-25 in the shopping center on the west side of the road that includes, The Merc grocery story and First Community Bank.

Originally Posted by ABQSunseeker

Good to know Nmguy. Where is Las Casitas Cafe, and El Pinõn?

[Tim Rankin]

Originally Posted by ziaAirmac

I'd like to throw in another possibility though. ../..Why build in an automatic commute to entertainment/shopping when you could be walking to many of your daily needs by committing to one place or the other and still be able to visit the other community regularly. Just a thought.

Elle, I would 2nd this thought.

The residential options between Santa Fe and Albuq are somewhat limited, although not non-existent. You have La Cienega just south of SF, and Placitas just north of Albuq - both kinda expensive. Bernalillo is an option too.

Ultimately though, if you are attracted to the city life that both SF & Albuq have to offer, I would recommend Zia's idea. We lived in ABQ's far northeast heights, and taking Tramway to I-25 N, it was only about 50 min. from our front door to Santa Fe's central plaza.