Placitas -- Too far from Abq? (Albuquerque, Santa Fe: house, living in, shopping center)

[nmguy]

I'm wondering whether Placitas is too far from Albuquerque or whether folks think it's a reasonable distance.

I'm talking about the part of Placitas just off of Hwy 165 and west of the Homestead shopping center.

[_yb]

Not far at all. What do yo have a 15-20 minute drive to Abq depending on the flow of traffic?

[joanie55]

Originally Posted by _yb

Not far at all. What do yo have a 15-20 minute drive to Abq depending on the flow of traffic?

Absolutely correct. It's a zero headache commute. And Placitas is beautiful.

[mortimer]

It depends on how you value your time. Placitas is beautiful, but
from Homestead shopping center to Tramway is a little more than
ten miles/minutes if there is no traffic.

It's a 15-20 minute commute if there is no traffic and if you are
commuting to somewhere that is right off the freeway.

As most commuter threads here point out, if you have commuted
anywhere else in the US, a Placitas commute would be nothing
and would always start and end peacefully.

If you worked in Rio Rancho or Northern parts of Albuquerque, it
wouldn't be much of a commute, but you also have a built-in extra
drive any time you wanted to go shopping or dining where your
shopping or dining could not be accomplished at Homestead.

I suppose if you worked downtown, using Railrunner would be an
option, but probably not. As long as you are already in your car,
stopping and waiting for the train would not be practical ( and
there is that driving in Bernalillo bit ).

joanie55 says that "It's a zero headache commute." If I were you,
I'd drive that commute at the time you are going to be commuting
both ways just to make sure. I've been on that stretch of I-25
at times that gave me a headache.

I can definitely see the appeal for living in Placitas. If you are
a skiier, it is an easy drive to the Sandia and Santa Fe ski areas
- relative to someone living in Albuquerque. There are a lot of
places to explore and hike in close proximity. You can see the
Milky Way and bird noises are the dominant background sound.

[Tim Rankin]

I don't think it's too far, it just depends on what your priorities are. You could live close-in to Albuq, and have a better variety of entertainment options, along with a slightly better chance at meeting neighbors.

Or you could choose Placitas, with the amazing scenery and starry skies, and still be within 20 min. striking distance to the city.

Probably the biggest question is regarding the commute, as has already been mentioned.

[trailtramp]

Too far??? Having come from SoCal where a 15 mile drive takes 45+ minutes, its cake living in Placitas. The commute is a breeze. All the traffic getting off I-25 heads into Rio Rancho.

We live just past the fire station (4.7 miles) up the 165. I work on Paseo at Wyoming. Total drive time takes me about 22 minutes from garage to garage. That drive from our home down to the 165 with its panoramic views gives me a big grin every morning. And best of all, in the late afternoon as I pass by Sandias and Cibola Natl Forest to the south, I know I am in enchanted country. On clear nights, which are about 80% of the time, I can see a zillion stars and smell the pinon. The west end of the 165 will shave off about 5 minutes of drive time into the city.

On the one or two nights a week we want to be in the city we just stay there after work or drive down. Considered Sandia Hts when we first came, but it just didn't have the same feel and you pay alot more for what are mostly much older homes. Its a subjective decision, everyone feels differently, but I wouldn't trade Placitas for anything!

[ABQSunseeker]

I heartily agree with all the Placitas partisans. I've just moved here myself. I live in the western part of the village and the commute from my house to the freeway interchange is only 8 minutes. Then it is a clear shot (usually) down I-25. Very soon I-25 will be widened from here to Tramway.

I used to work in NYC where my subway commutes to work took at least 50 minutes each way. So, yes, it all does depend on your perspective.

One drawback is that local traffic on 550 tends to be heavy and unpleasant. Hopefully that road will receive necessary redoing.

But the tradeoffs to any longer commute are immense as everyone has been saying. The scenery is just remarkable, and very typically New Mexican at its best. There is something very special here that draws you in.

[nmnita]

like others have said, what is too far? what are you used to? Even given some bad days, 20 minutes would be the longest..

We used to laugh at people who complained about Albuquerque traffic, yes, in the 7 years we were there it got progressively worse, but after spending our younger days is Los Angeles, Dallas, Washington DC and the bay area, Abq was a joke...

Nita

[Tim Rankin]

Originally Posted by trailtramp

That drive from our home down to the 165 with its panoramic views gives me a big grin every morning. And best of all, in the late afternoon as I pass by Sandias and Cibola Natl Forest to the south, I know I am in enchanted country. On clear nights, which are about 80% of the time, I can see a zillion stars and smell the pinon...

Nice, trailtramp. My commute to our NE Heights home used to take 8 min, but I would have traded it in for the 20 min. commute to Placitas, based solely on your description!