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Hi there, I'll be moving out to Santa Fe in a few weeks, and I'm pretty excited about the move. I have been looking into apartments and one of the possible considerations that I have is being in a somewhat walk-able neighborhood, and I was hoping current residents could help me with some questions.
I see that the only two areas of town that have a high walk score is Old Town and what I believe is the Plaza area. However, I believe that the walk score only takes into to account proximity to amenities, and is not an actual indicator of pedestrian friendliness and/or activity. How's the street scene in these two areas and what and how walkable would you say these two areas are? I'm not expecting Brooklyn but something better than LA where you have to drive to go anywhere would be preferable.
Also, would you guys describe Santa Fe as being bicycle friendly? And how's the traffic and parking around the areas where shops, restaurants, and bars are concentrated?
There are, however, some serious bike trails through/around town, but if you end up off the trails and on the roads, you need to be really, really careful. Basically everybody I know who has spent any significant time in SF on a bike has had a close call/incident with vehicles.
Personally, I've been yelled at by passing cars while pulling my kids in the bike trailer. We avoid the roads as much as possible now.
Now for the good news. City government is working hard, if not as effectively as we'd like, to make the city more bike/walk friendly.
" Old Town" may be referring to Albuquerque, not Santa Fe. The high walkability scores are likely here to be in the Plaza area and the Railyard neighborhood. Santa Fe has been ranked in the top 10 bike-friendly cities. Some of our drivers are a bit crazy, but there's a good rail trail and other bike routes that can get you into the central core pretty safely.
Santa Fe doesn't have an Old Town. All of downtown Santa Fe and surrounding areas are very walkable. There are bike lanes on arterials and side streets. If you avoid the main thoroughfares, you'll be fine for biking. The area west of downtown has lower rents, and is a gradually gentrifying area, you may look into that. I don't know how ok you'll be biking in 90+ degree heat, though. Summers are long and hot.
I don't know how ok you'll be biking in 90+ degree heat, though. Summers are long and hot.
If the OP is used to living in Jacksonville, FL then I'm sure the OP will think SFe's "hot" days are perfectly mild for riding. The 0.00000000% humidity and temps that rarely ever hit 100+ will seem like nada.
I can spend days walking Santa Fe. We stay in a B&B right near the Plaza every year and I see bikes. Although there seems to be a lot of traffic, they are slow and we walk for hours. Even jay walking with no problems.
I've lived in the Railyard for a year. I wouldn't consider it very pedestrian-friendly -- the sidewalks are narrow and sometimes nonexistent, and they are extremely close to the road, which itself is very narrow. E.g., I'm not comfortable walking my dog on the sidewalks on Agua Fria. But the Plaza sidewalks are better.
As for biking, I'm consistently impressed with how many cyclists trust Bishops Lodge Road and Hyde Park Road. I'm not a cyclist, so I'm sure a lot of it has to do with confidence, but I'd never ride a bike up and down either. There's very little room, and it'd take just one careless (or drunk) driver a 6-inch mistake to send you flying.
Dont live in fear - lost of folks cycle everyday in SFe.
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