What's it like in Pojoaque? (Santa Fe, Rio Rancho: sales, real estate, apartments)

[Kwinon]

Can anyone give me some information regarding the community of Pojoaque? I am relocating to Santa Fe area, but everyone talks about the high cost of living. What is it like in Pojoaque? I am looking for an inexpensive, safe location, room for a large dog, small dog, one cat and two kittens to roam. I like to visit the city, but would rather the country quiet with scenery. What is rent like for a single family home on an acre or two with services? And also what are the winters like?

[mortimer]

Kwinon has animals looking to roam:

> I am looking for an inexpensive, safe location, room for a large dog,
> small dog, one cat and two kittens to roam.

Where are you planning to let them roam?

If outside, you'll soon need to replace them since they make wonderful
coyote food.

[6 FOOT 3]

Kwinon....I believe Pojoaque is an Pueblo so unless your Native American and of that tribe i don't think you can just move to Pojoaque. You'd have to look into Espanola to be in the area and at an affordible living....

[Julia2sf]

No, there is the Pueblo Pojoaque, but the Pojoaque valley is its own distinct area. I'm not sure that it's all that much cheaper though. Places like Jacona, Jaconita and Nambe can get pretty expensive.

The Pojoaque area spans a lot of dirt, so much depends on where in particular you're talking about. No idea of what it's like to live there. Pricewise, it's out of my league.

Might want to check out La Mesilla or La Puebla, which are further up the road by the Dreamcatcher Theater. Best I can tell, that's where you start to see a break on the housing prices.

6'3" is right. If you let your cats roam, they'll get eaten. Sooner or later. Usually sooner.

[dynimagelv]

Originally Posted by Julia2sf

6'3" is right. If you let your cats roam, they'll get eaten. Sooner or later. Usually sooner.

MMMMMMM Kitties are GOOD They taste like Chicken

[6 FOOT 3]

Originally Posted by Julia2sf

No, there is the Pueblo Pojoaque, but the Pojoaque valley is its own distinct area. I'm not sure that it's all that much cheaper though. Places like Jacona, Jaconita and Nambe can get pretty expensive.

6'3" is right. If you let your cats roam, they'll get eaten. Sooner or later. Usually sooner.

Thanks for clarifying that info Julia...as i wasn'y 100% sure about Pojoaque being just a pueblo and/or valley.

Thanks for the credit but.....Mortimer was the one who mentioned about letting your cats roam they could get eaten.....

Although i'll add that we had cats along with Labradors at my parents ranch in La Luz Canyon (outside alamogordo) as they (cats) were good at killing all the nasty pests and what nots around the place.

[Devin Bent]

Pojoaque Valley housing is generally about half the cost of 10 miles closer to Santa Fe. And the trip into the Santa Fe plaza area is only about 20 minutes with the new road (84/285).

There are three pueblos -- Pojoaque, Nambe, and San Ildefonso. They have a lot of acres, but most of the housing is off pueblo and available to anyone. It also looks to me like Pojoaque Pueblo rents its apartments to non-Indians. Not sure. You could check easily. But these apartments do not have any particular space to roam and are close to 84/285.

Your best bet for a rental with some space is a guest house on a larger property. You might even get a great view of the Sangres or Jemez moutains or a nearby barranca (cliff or bluff). Generally, you have to be a desirable tenant for one of those places.

A medium to large dog and a tough smart cat can survive outdoors unsupervised. A smart cat can always climb a juniper if coyotes show up, and that cat is great to have around for discouraging (i.e., eating) gophers and ground squirrels. Anything else is likely to end up in a coyote's belly unless you keep an eye on it. (And you will only find out that your cat was not quite so smart and tough when it turns up missing.)

The areas going east to west are Nambe, Pojoaque, Jacona, Jaconita, and Rio Rancho. The whole valley is characterized by a mix of housing -- everything from many acre estates to trailers. Cuyamunge is to the south down 84/285 and you might want to include it in the Pojoaque Valley.

Generally, the feel of the area is open, because so much vacant land is owned by the Pueblos or the federal government. Despite all the sub-areas listed above, the Pojoaque Valley has less than 2,000 people. However, the pueblos have built some fairly large casinos coming up 84/285 from Santa Fe. The area is quite up and down with many barrancas (cliffs or bluffs), so you don't really see the casinos except from 84/285.

On the plus side, the Pojoaque Pueblo has brought the full range of everyday shopping and a great wellness center to the area. GPs and a dentist are also available. Anything else go to Santa Fe or Espanola or perhaps Los Alamos.

Incidentally, the Pojoaque Valley is an unincorporated area in Santa Fe County, north of the City. Thus Santa Fe County rules and taxes apply. However, when you drive, various jurisdictions share traffic enforcement thus. Thus you might be stopped by the following law enforcement --Santa Fe County, state police, Pojoaque Pueblo, or Bureau of Indian Affairs. Of course anybody driving north on 84/285 runs a similar gauntlet with even more pueblos. If you pay a ticket from a pueblo police, the nice thing is that it doesn't show up on your record.

[Devin Bent]

City-data.com has a new forum with organized info on cities -- very good.

But you should know fyi that if you look up Pojoaque
Pojoaque, New Mexico (NM) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news
then you are for the most part looking not at the Pojoaque Valley, but instead at that smaller area within the valley that is also called Pojoaque. For the other areas in the Pojoaque Valley, some have separate listings -- some are left out. Nambe and Jacona have no listing.

Then when you look at housing sales data, you are clearly looking at data for a much larger area -- there are simply far too many sales and too high a price for that tiny area called Pojoaque. If I had to guess, I would say that the data is for the zip code 87506 and includes both the entire Pojoaque Valley and the considerably different and more expensive area which is inelegantly called Northeast of City.

I point this out, not as criticism -- but because it confused me. Thus I assume that people who don't live here might find it even more confusing. Again, I am not criticizing city-data.com. All of these areas are unincorporated without the formal boundaries of municipalities and are inherently confusing to the outsider or newcomer.

[andmarti]

Well it sounds like Pojoaque is exactly what you want. The winters are mild, you will get snow. However, you have probably arlready moved. I didn't realize the date of your post until I registered to reply to your question. Oh well, hope you found a nice place for you and your pets. But I think Pojoaque is close enough to Santa Fe if you want city life and far enough so you can have plenty of roaming space for you and your pets. It's very beautiful and peaceful.

-Dre

[Towanda]

Well, andmarti, you might be too late for Kwinon's benefit...BUT we are glad you registered at the New Mexico C-D forum...looking forward to more of your posts!