Santa Fe, NM vs Flagstaff, AZ vs St. George, UT, vs Las Cruces, NM (state, better)
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Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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After a year in the Southwest, I really have grown a liking to Flagstaff and would jump at the chance to live there if given the right opportunity. Very beautiful area, charming downtown(though small), and for an outdoor enthusiast like me it has a cornucopia of recreational opportunities from very close by alpine mountain peaks and forests, red rocks of Sedona, to the Grand Canyon, Lake Powell and Southern Utah National Parks and the urban/metro amenities of Phoenix only a few hours away.
I do love Santa Fe as well and spent 3 months there when I first got to NM, would be an easy second choice. Las Cruces, though has an impressive and scenic mountain valley setting and the charming village of Mesilla, just doesn't have enough to stimulate me full time overall and has a pretty weak downtown. I haven't been out to St. George yet but I doubt it carries the same level of vibrancy as Santa Fe or Flagstaff.
Sante Fe, absolutely out of the four hands down. Santa Fe is one the most unique american towns anywhere.
I love the area surrounding Flaggstaff, the largest ponderosa pine forest in the country, but . . . why live there with its winter cold and snow totals, when you have Sedona, not far away with a bit more mild winters.
Las Cruces and St. George not really on my radar - although St. Georges proximity to Zion is cool.
I also could see myself living in Prescott, AZ or Taos, NM. Basically Santa Fe-Taos or Sedona-Prescott would be my two areas to live in the southwest.
Santa Fe blows Flagstaff's doors off. It's not even close. Flagstaff has always seemed pretty average to me, I have never seen what is so great about it. Santa Fe is a very unique global destination. Much more interesting place.
Santa Fe blows Flagstaff's doors off. It's not even close. Flagstaff has always seemed pretty average to me, I have never seen what is so great about it. Santa Fe is a very unique global destination. Much more interesting place.
See imo Flagstaff blows Santa Fes doors off. Its all opinion
Santa Fe blows Flagstaff's doors off. It's not even close. Flagstaff has always seemed pretty average to me, I have never seen what is so great about it. Santa Fe is a very unique global destination. Much more interesting place.
Couldn't agree more. SF is in a class by itself.
I like Las Cruces too. Good place to retire to, great climate and those Organ Mtns are awesome
I think it's important that in all fairness, one should refrain from posting on a city they don't know about. I live in St George and have been to Flagstaff. I can provide a basic rundown on the two, but more on St George...St George city had a population of about 75,000 and metro of about 145,000 in 2012. Its climate is similar to Las Vegas and typical of the Mojave Desert in which it lies at an elevation of about 2800 feet. Culture/economy is based on tourism, outdoor recreation, year-round golf and beautiful desert scenery, many of the city's up-scale suburban neighborhoods provide the feel of Vegas, Tucson or Scottsdale with the stucco and tile roofed homes to contemporary desert landscaping with palm trees and cacti.
It lacks nightlife and diversity in entertainment/music scene, but is becoming big in the arts scene and has a Downtown Farmer's Market, an enclosed mall of over 60 stores anchored by Dillards, Barnes, Sears and JCP, and shopping districts throughout to include Target, Kohl's, Lowe's, Home Depot, Costco, Kmart, Best Buy, and 3 Walmart Supercenters to name a few national chain stores.
I can't go in depth on Flagstaff other than it has a totally different climate, colder, high elevation mountain area, and the city/metro is smaller than St George (see Wikipedia)
Last edited by tylerhaynes3; 09-29-2014 at 12:13 AM..
I actually have spent time in all 4. I was underwhelmed by Santa Fe. I was expecting much more scenic views. I like St George and its proximity to road trip destinations. I used to live in El Paso and would travel to Las Cruces frequently. While its a nice city at the foot of the beautiful Organ Mountains (now a national monument), its probably last on this short list.
See imo Flagstaff blows Santa Fes doors off. Its all opinion
I agree with this. I visited Flagstaff for the first time this summer and its EASILY more appealing than the other two cities. I didn't expect it to be so "green". Santa Fe is grossly overated. Other than the Plaza, theres not much else appealing about the town. Las Cruces doesn't feel like a college town at all and it can be boring; but I'd much rather live there than Santa Fe. It has more amenities and the fact that its close to El Paso is a plus.
I agree with this. I visited Flagstaff for the first time this summer and its EASILY more appealing than the other two cities. I didn't expect it to be so "green". Santa Fe is grossly overated. Other than the Plaza, theres not much else appealing about the town. Las Cruces doesn't feel like a college town at all and it can be boring; but I'd much rather live there than Santa Fe. It has more amenities and the fact that its close to El Paso is a plus.
I couldn't agree more with this statement! Santa Fe gets a lot of press and hype from celebrities, tourists and folks that don't actually live there year round as this artsy and glamorous mecca of Southwestern culture but the reality is it's over rated, over priced, and simply just full of itself. And really, once you get outside of the plaza area, which really isn't all that big, it's pretty much just the regular type of street grid and strip malls with gas stations, fast food joints and other randoms businesses you'll find in any other town or small city in America. And as for the scenery, it's more or less the same type of scenery you'll find everywhere in New Mexico, Santa Fe hasn't cornered the market on it.
The thing on c-d that I really don't get is when I see people attempting to compare or place Santa Fe on the same level as cities like NYC, DC, Mexico City, etc. which is ludicrous, I mean, a little history aside, Santa Fe, is a sleepy little "hick town" in comparison, in other words, there is no comparison.
Other than that, I admit, you can definitely do much worse as far as places to live in New Mexico. Personally, I wouldn't really be all that interested in living in any of the places mentioned, but I like Flagstaff the best of all of them. I've never been to St George that I can recall, And I haven't been though Las Cruces since 1989 and don't recall it being all that exciting
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