Santa Fe cost of living (Rio Rancho, Taos: middle-class, rentals, crime)

[redrider]

I am considering a job offer that would require relocating from Vermont to Santa Fe. My wife and I have been through Santa fe Before while working in Colorado ten years ago, but we never had a REAL good look around.
As a standard middle-class family I am wondering if considering a move there is reasonable. I mean, is Housing, utilities, property taxes, ammenities, etc. within reason? or is Santa Fe reserved for the rich as some have told me.
thanks.

[Crackerjack]

I would consider Rio Rancho. It is much more affordable and is a middle to upper middle income city. It has lots of new jobs and is a nice place to live. Santa Fe is a nice place too. Housing is expensive. Groceries and stuff like that are about the same as elsewhere. I am not sure on electric and gas bills. I just know for your money, you will get a lot more in Rio Rancho.

[Mark S.]

Santa Fe is the most expensive place in the state.

Depends on what you mean by "standard middle-class." My parents are what I would call standard middle-class (for NM), and they could not afford to live in Santa Fe.

To each his own, but if I had a choice between Vermont and Santa, I would pick Vermont. Santa Fe can get really hot in the summer, occasionally suffers drought, and the crime is bad and getting worse. But that's just me.

[ontheroad]

Strange but living in Taos and frequenting Santa Fe, I find Santa Fe, overall less expensive for day-to-day items (food, clothing, etc..)

A coffee maker I bought in Santa Fe is USD30.00 more here in Taos, and we can't compete with Trader Joe's, the Market or Whole Foods for edibles.

Rentals appear higher in Taos on a square foot basis. It is also somewhat colder up here in the Mountain so careful planning is necessary for heating costs.

I don't however think either Santa Fe or Taos are "middle-class" driven but rather tourist directed. As a result, consumer products and living are geared to those that either have higher incomes or are just "passing" through.

One of my jokes is that I won't spend $8.50 on an egg, a cheap ticket for breakfast out in Taos.

Wonder how this figures and compares to Vermont?

[redrider]

Thanks for the replies. As far as "standard middle class" I'm figuring income between $120,000 and $140,000 yearly. Crime is a concern because we currently live without any to speak of. (it is rare that we lock our house or cars while at home) We have a 4 bedroom, 150 year old farm house on five acres thats probobly worth around $180,000. For some reason groceries are high in Vermont as well as electricity (which we buy from Quebec). Fuel oil for heating as well as cord wood is expensive and one can easily pay $2,500 per year just to keep warm. The winters are long, dark and cold. January and february temps often dip -20 at night. "Spring" is usually cold and wet and of course we have "mud season" where the dirt roads around here are so deeply rutted and mucky you are garanteed a new tailpipe and, (or) a front end alignment buy the time it's over. On the upside, Summer is brief but usually nice as is fall when tourist traffic is heavy.
So I guess it's all a matter of what you are willing to trade off to live in one place over the other.

[ontheroad]

FYI, Redrider, I believe you'll find heating costs considerably lower here in NM than VT. Many heat with cord wood (about $150+/cord of mixed) to augment electric, solar or gas heat. Last winter I think I spent about that, total, for April, with gas heat and a small fireplace. However, I understand that last winter was particularly mind, and my first.

Good luck and enjoy your move!

[tlw]

Originally Posted by ontheroad

Strange but living in Taos and frequenting Santa Fe, I find Santa Fe, overall less expensive for day-to-day items (food, clothing, etc..)

A coffee maker I bought in Santa Fe is USD30.00 more here in Taos, and we can't compete with Trader Joe's, the Market or Whole Foods for edibles.

Rentals appear higher in Taos on a square foot basis. It is also somewhat colder up here in the Mountain so careful planning is necessary for heating costs.

I don't however think either Santa Fe or Taos are "middle-class" driven but rather tourist directed. As a result, consumer products and living are geared to those that either have higher incomes or are just "passing" through.

One of my jokes is that I won't spend $8.50 on an egg, a cheap ticket for breakfast out in Taos.

Wonder how this figures and compares to Vermont?

Ontheroad,

Are there just simply not many choices of where to shop for groceries, staples, smallwares and other essensial items for permanent residents? Even in some pricey west coast areas I've managed to buy those kinds of things and even found good local restaurants and not gotten beaten up too bad.

Aside from the cost, what are your thoughts on other aspects of living in Taos........ people, traffic, attitudes, politics, cleanliness, culture, entertainment?

Thanks

[Logand]

Redrider,

With an income of $120 K you can easily live in Sants Fe. You will find Santa Fe much more village-like than say, Rio Rancho. Rio Rancho, while nice, is the fearureless top of a mesa. Also, the commute from Rio Rancho will get very old. You can expect to pay $350K to $600K for a really nice home on 1 acre (2500sf to 3200sf) in El Dorado, a suburb of SF. You will not see the level of crime in El Dorado that you will in SF and it is a very easy commute. It is also rural and open.

[ontheroad]

Hi, I don't think I am the best person to answer these questions because I've had a hard adjustment from the East (having lived the last ten years in NYC) and my expectations of Taos were too great.

Yes, you can buy groceries easily enough (the town has 4 markets; 2 chains, a health food market and a low-end market). I go, alternately to 3 of the 4 to find what I want and at a price I think is fair. Just a tiny example: I like yoghurt, Brown Cow. After checking around I found the high end health food store sells it at the lowest price and generally is the freshest (99c as compaed to 1.29).

Restaurants are plentiful for a town the size of Taos but choices are limited. New Mexican food represents about 50% of the choices, and not much in the way of Asian, French, etc. restaurants. One highly recommended Japanese restaurant and the promise of more to come. Spoiled in NYC, I could eat in a different restaurant every night for 365 days and probably not repeat one for about 10 years

People are generally A+--friendly, respectable and generous.

Culture is varied. Taos has about 60% acknowledged Hispanic heritage, 15% Pueblo natives (most living on the Taos Pueblo) and the rest an assortment of non-Hispanic whites. I'd say at first glance, the Anglos (non-hispanics) are heavily represented by "ole hippies" and wealthy second-homers. In my age group (plus 60, I have acquaintances that are both rich and poor, but few that are what you'd call East Coast intellectual. They are smart, very much so, and politically savy, but very "lay back." The area has about 5 political groups, and enough clout to bring in folks like Amy Goodman (Democracy Now) and be the home of Donald Rumsfield (who trys to hide when he comes to town). So, generally, the Anglos are very liberal; the non-Anglos are mixed and I am uncertain how the People would classify themselves.

Generally, the town is clean but there are always those that miss or are blind to trash cans. But it gets tidied up frequently.

Strangely, traffic for one short haul as the main road narrows into town can be a nightmare of stop and starts, but otherwise traffic is light and has many side and back roads that one discovers soon enough to get around the town-jam.

For me it is probably a mix of too high expectations, too early retirement and insufficient means to take an 8.50 egg lightly.

I've only met one other person who didn't love Taos and she is also from the East Coast (New England). One other acquaintance from California, sort of understands some of my struggles, but she's lived in New Mexico for more than ten years.

If I were younger and more out-doors in temperament, I think it would be a good match. Rafting, skiing, hiking are plentiful. Theatre is available, and the town has one first-run movie theatre.

Hope this long response is helpful.

Originally Posted by tlw

Ontheroad,

Are there just simply not many choices of where to shop for groceries, staples, smallwares and other essensial items for permanent residents? Even in some pricey west coast areas I've managed to buy those kinds of things and even found good local restaurants and not gotten beaten up too bad.

Aside from the cost, what are your thoughts on other aspects of living in Taos........ people, traffic, attitudes, politics, cleanliness, culture, entertainment?

Thanks