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I love Maine, especially the shore, but I don't adore the cold either. I can take it, dress for it and like snow and how bright winter can be. What I can't take is 95 degrees for over three months with only a day or two break. Placitas is hot! My dogs won't walk in the summer here and they really need to, there is very little shade.
The winters here are much milder than N.E.
One area in the south that is very good, weatherwise (in my opinion) is in the Sacramento Mountains. For example, Ruidoso is about 10 degrees cooler than Albuquerque on summer afternoons...and summer nights, and yet has winter temperatures pretty close to Albuquerque. The eastern slopes of the Sacramento Mountains get more moisture than a lot of places in New Mexico, so the Ruidoso area is relatively green...for New Mexico, that is. Most of the trees are not deciduous though.
Unfortunately, if you need any specialized medical care...Ruidoso probably wouldn't work.
You could look at the Pecos, NM area?
Only 25 miles east of Santa Fe, and just a couple miles south of the VERY green and beautiful Pecos Wilderness Area.
At 7,000 feet in altitude it does not get very hot in the summer either.
Not too sure though, about how many rentals would be in the Pecos area?
And this is where you can see NM climate stats: New Mexico
IMO it is never hot in Ruidoso. If it gets over 90 (which happens a few days in June usually), the humidity is single digits. Most of the summer it gets up to ~80, and drops down to ~50 at night.
Maybe your best bet would be just on the other side of the mountains from where you are now. Much greener and at least 5 deg cooler than ABQ. Look at Tijeras and Sandia Park. Another possibility could be High Rolls near Alamogordo.
My partner needs to get to and from the airport once a month. I drive him now - when we look around he checks for shuttles. There seem to be a few in Taos, Santa Fe, even many smaller towns.
I search about a dozen places a day on craigslist and Cedar Crest, Sandia Park and Tijeras are on the list. Jemez, Corrales. Not many rentals in those areas until you get in the $1800 range and we are not.
But I will look at your links now and thank you very much for them.
We have found a couple of really nice places in Taos, but people seem to be a little slow in getting back to us. The beauty of the area is very tempting, and being cooler but I keep getting this strange vibe about it. Do they really hate outsiders, the renters? You can get a nice house there for a lot less $ than most places we have looked.
gambit11
Have you spent any significant time in Taos? I wouldn't say they hate outsiders. but they operate on their own schedule.
I would also really check on the shuttle to the airport, when we lived there a few years ago it was unreliable at best. I know there have been changes made and new companies in the mix, but it's something to consider before making it part of your move.
Dogmama,
(my name on almost every list is "doglove")
Thank you for finally spitting it out, what I suspected.
We looked at three houses a few weeks ago. Each of the representatives asked "Why are you moving here?" and sounded like they were a little shocked. Hmmmmmm.
We made a lowball offer on one house in a very nice way. We can only afford so much so we told them that figure and they said they would consider it. Another was a flakey kind of realtor 'showing for her friend' (we keep hearing that), and she was somewhat apologetic that the house had issues, but it was pretty cheap and could be pretty nice with some work and minimal $. So I called her the next day, left a message and said I would like to talk about it further, see the house again and that we were very interested. She has not called me back in a week. I've answered about ten ads by email and no one has gotten back to me, I'm from Seattle everyone emails, but I guess I have to call if there is a phone #. I notice peeps never seem to remove their ads if they are rented also. We seem to be spinning wheels.
If they hate outsiders, who do they plan on renting their houses to? Do they like outsiders when they buy groceries and wood, etc? I never understood that mentality. How many people are really 'native' to Taos that live there? I've heard the unreliable on schedules also as to shuttle. Is everyone just stoned there?
Stoned, hehe! I don't think that's really the root of the problem, but there is a general lack of urgency. Don't get me wrong there are some wonderful people there, we had nice neighbors and met some nice people.
In general I found Taos frustrating. No PO Boxes available, check back in a month or two. No we can't deliver your propane until we inspect your home, even though we just delivered propane to the same home last month. We noticed your tire has a nail in, and even though we've had it for 6 hours in the repair shop today we didn't think we should call you and ask if you wanted your tire fixed.
I won't get started on rental houses, but we had much the same experiences as you are having.
It's a pretty place, but I wouldn't live there again.
What I can't take is 95 degrees for over three months with only a day or two break. Placitas is hot! My dogs won't walk in the summer here and they really need to, there is very little shade.
The winters here are much milder than N.E.
I don't understand why you would move to a place that's about 10 degrees cooler for your dogs. Why not just walk the dogs in the morning when it's 30 degrees cooler? It is not "95 degrees for three months" except in the late afternoons. Summer mornings in Placitas are perfect, in the 60's or lower 70's. Then it cools down nicely again in the evenings. The average July temperature in Placitas is a very tolerable 75. You are just choosing to go outside at the wrong time.
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