Los Alamos or Santa Fe or ? (Taos: home, university, living in)

[NC_newcomer]

I'm native New Mexican (yes, some of us were really born there!) and after 30 adult years of living in OR, NJ, NC, and TX I'm ready to move "home." (I no longer have family in NM, but that's irrelevant. I grew up there and it always feels like home in northern NM.)

Santa Fe is probably now out of my price range for housing (mid $300s for a small home in a safe relatively central area), but I want to be in northern NM, in a town of "manageable" size (ie less than 200,000 people) and with an educated population (and restaurants and an economy to meet their desires). Usually that means a college town, but I'm wondering: what would Los Alamos be like for a self-employed, outdoorsy, mid-50s PhD female? Would there be an interesting and congenial community? Or is life there all organized around families, children, youth soccer and church (as in my current NC location.)

Thoughts? crime? housing costs? Other ideas for a "university town" feel in northern NM?

[Idunn]

I would think Los Alamos would fit all your criteria well. Certainly lots of PhD's there. It might feel somewhat insular to you; I've never lived there but would guess the primary interests those engendered by government work. So a question of how you feel once on the ground, and the vibe.

Taos might suite you better. Not exactly a college town, although a branch of the University of New Mexico there. But the general ambience certainly more liberal and laid back than Los Alamos. Since you were considering Santa Fe, you might consider Taos a smaller, less expensive version. In the years I lived there, many Taosenos considered Santa Fe far too big and chic. Superficial. And some other terms not as complimentary. It is certainly a place with an ambience all its own.

Otherwise, perhaps you might find a place on the periphery of Santa Fe that falls within your budget yet with good access to the aspects of Santa Fe you desire. Perhaps with some searching you might even locate something small and cozy even within Santa Fe.

As you surely know, each will be different.