We love Santa Fe (Albuquerque, Bernalillo: townhouse, neighborhoods, to buy)
Santa FeSanta Fe County
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We were both born and raised in the SF Bay Area, and spent the last 27 years stuck in Lodi, Ca..Travelled to a lot of cities the last 5 years (Bellingham WA., Ashland Or., Asheville N.C., St. Augustine Fl., Ft. Collins Co., amongst others) looking for our semi-retirement home, and we landed here 4 months ago. We are in heaven. We bought a small, 1300 sq. ft., townhouse just above Ft. Marcy Park. Almost every day we walk the dog. And everyday we feel like pinching ourselves as we stroll thru the Plaza with people from all over the world, down a narrow street that makes you feel as if you're in another country, in another time, or up the arroyo that borders our home and seeing the snow-capped mountains against the perennial bluer than blue sky. We feel as if we won the lottery.
I realize that we're still in the honeymoon phase, but this is gonna last, I know it. And that's coming from a pretty cynical guy. I've read, on this forum,that Santa Fe is full of rude, elitist, liberals that can't drive. That apparently suits us just fine. On the other hand, I've also read realistic, even handed opinions of both Albuquerque and Santa Fe on their respective forums, and it's those (too numerous to mention) posters I sincerely thank for helping nudge us towards N.M. and specifically, Santa Fe.
Thank you City-Data forum posters, Big Time! M&J and our Golden Boy
Plus, you were able to experience SF at it's most magical time..... luminaria time! One of my favorite things to do is come down from our place in the mountains to see the luminarias, stroll Canyon Rd.
---Thanks Bongo, different strokes for different folks, but we can't imagine that most people wouldn't enjoy the hell out of this place. This week-end, for example, you can catch the Russian Nat'l Ballet performing Swan Lake, or if you're not into that you can walk across the street to Evangelos and groove to Soulman Sam. From piano bars to punk there seems to be something here for just about everybody as far as nightlife. Well, maybe if you're 20-something it might be lacking a bit.
I've narrowed down my last move (I'm hoping) to SF or Eugene and was glad to see that you love SF. I'm going to get more info and any that you can give would also be much appreciated.
Wow, your experience sounds like ours. My husband and I are looking for another area and have settled on SF. We just listed our house, so we're not there yet. Would love to keep reading about your experience there. We're coming for a visit in February. Any tips you could send would be appreciated!
Placeseeker - we also looked at Eugene and liked it.
Hey P-seeker & K-Girl, Eugene was on our list too. We liked it despite the rather dreary downtown. The Pacific N. W. is spectacular, we especially liked Bellingham, Wa.. But we eventually came to the conclusion that the weather was not for us. You need to come to Santa Fe and spend some time. We first visited in April of '09 for a week and my wife knew this place was for us pretty much right away. We went home and read every thing we could on Santa Fe and Albuquerque including the City-Data N.M. forums. We visited twice more to be sure, and here we are.
-- I don't know what it is you guys are looking for, but if you are looking for a place with many of the big city amenities; art galleries, museums, entertainment, restaurants. But without the crime, traffic, crowds, or hustle and bustle that those cities have. Santa Fe might be it. I don't mean to imply that this city doesn't have any of those issues, just a lot less. It has a kind of laid back "manana" attitude that isn't for everyone.
K-Girl, bring some warm clothes as we're 7000 ft. alt.. Make sure you walk some of the old neighborhoods like off of Canyon road or on Palace street east of the plaza. Just checking out some of the old doors and gates is interesting for us. If you see an older (58) guy with a short good-lookin' Italian girl and a handsome golden retriever, be sure and introduce yourself. FYI Brett Dennen is playing at The Lensic on Feb. 18, if that interests you. Happy to answer any more specific questions either of you have. Later, I'm off to see my first ballet.
.....Livin' where people go for vacation is not a bad thing at all, MT
MT - Sounds like we have some things in common. Although I call myself Kundalini Girl here, I'm really older - your age exactly! Kundalini Woman just didn't have a ring to it. LOL. And, beyond that, I'm half Italian!! My mom was from Italy and all her family is still there (I've visited twice and it was such a treat.....an amazing experience). None of them speak English, and unfortunately I never learned Italian. We had to have a translator (a friend of the family).......it was so cool -- really wonderful.
I've been to SF, but it's been a long time. It sounds right for us because of all the things you mention along with outdoor things to do. We love good food, the beautiful ambiance of the town, the nearby skiing, hiking, etc. I used to own a place in Telluride, which is not NM, but I've been around that part of the U.S. a lot.
Anyway, thanks so much for all your feedback. If you're going to be out and about any of the days we're there, let me know and maybe we can say Hi. I don't know our schedule because we'll really be pounding the pavement to narrow down exactly where we want to buy property once our house sells.
Thanks for all the feedback about SF - it's been very helpful!
If you see an older (58) guy with a short good-lookin' Italian girl and a handsome golden retriever, be sure and introduce yourself.
We're living down the hill from you - Bernalillo about a third of the way from ABQ to SF - and have been here about a year. Is your golden like all the others and never met someone he didn't want to say hi to (and maybe go home with)? We lost our golden girl earlier this year but she was certainly that way. We'll keep an eye out for you all in our visits to SF.
Rich
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