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I have always wanted to move to NM, specifically Santa Fe. I'm a young male currently living in New England. What drew me to NM was the Adobe Pueblo-style homes that i definitely do not get in my neck of the woods. My question is, is NM a place for young people like me (single) to move? I don't think it would be "permanent", but rather short term, as I want to explore the country. Could I find an affordable adobe home in this area for, say, less than $150k? This land has a high cost of living, but could I do it? Or does it make more sense to rent?
Thanks
If you're planning only a relatively short-term stay, it's best to rent. On your budget, you couldn't even buy a condo in Santa Fe.
The buzz among people your age is that "there's no one to date", meaning--there's not enough of a critical mass of young people, so they tend to move away (which only compounds the problem). Still, I think you should give it a shot. It's a unique region, and there's lots to see and do in town, and outside of town, in the villages and the Native communities. Lots of unique cultural traditions. You can Google craigslist to get an idea of how much it costs to rent a small place, or an apartment.
Those Pueblo style houses are nice until the roof leaks. Then you wish builders around here had the sense to consider pitched roofs.
The roof won't leak if you have a good roofer, and attend to maintenance issues in a timely manner. If you neglect your roof, or hire the wrong roofer, your roof could not only leak, but cave in. But SF gets much less snow than it used to, so there's not much risk anymore.
Santa Fe is charming. Keep in mind, though, that only a small portion of the homes here are true adobe. They'll typically be older homes (pre-1950) or much newer, pricy construction. The vast majority of us living in sweet, brown, flat-roofed homes in Santa Fe are actually living in wood-frame or masonry homes covered in stucco.
That being said, $150K in Santa Fe could potentially get you a condo in the west/south part of town. It MIGHT get you a very small 200-500-square-foot casita in some of the older traditional neighborhoods close-in (Railyard, Guadalupe, South Capitol), but even those tend to be $150-$200K, and might not be true adobe construction.
jakabedy brings up a good point. There is adobe, a building material, and pueblo revival architecture, an architectural style.
The vast majority of pueblo revival architecture is built with conventional methods, which is to say framed with dimensional lumber studs, filled with insulation, sheathed on the outside and plaster or wallboard inside. They the architectural features of Pueblo style, flat roof, stucco, massing, portals, and vigas, but they are not adobe.
Adobe meanwhile, is a brick and not all adobe houses are pueblo style. There are many with pitched roofs and other American vernacular architectural features. Before the mid-20th century, adobe was an economical building material so it was employed in all sorts of architecture. Rising labor costs, and the building boom after WWII made conventional stick framing the build of choice.
So, if it is the pueblo revival style you are after, and not specifically adobe, you have a ton of options because real adobe is actually pretty rare, not absent, but a tiny fraction of the overall housing stock in Santa Fe and Albuqueruqe.
At $150k, you can easily get a nice, but not fancy, Pueblo revival, conventionally framed house in Albuquerque. Santa Fe is way more expensive. It is, however, only an hour from Albuquerque so you can easily experience both cities.
For real adobes, you are most likely to find them in Albuquerque in the North and South Valley where the oldest housing stock is located. There are also a few scattered throughout older neighborhoods in the downtown, EDo (East of Downtown), and even in the University and Nob Hill area.
As far as pueblo revival of any building material, it is pretty ubiquitous in Santa Fe, and found scattered throughout the city among other styles in Albuquerque.
jakabedy brings up a good point. There is adobe, a building material, and pueblo revival architecture, an architectural style.
The vast majority of pueblo revival architecture is built with conventional methods, which is to say framed with dimensional lumber studs, filled with insulation, sheathed on the outside and plaster or wallboard inside. They the architectural features of Pueblo style, flat roof, stucco, massing, portals, and vigas, but they are not adobe.
Adobe meanwhile, is a brick and not all adobe houses are pueblo style. There are many with pitched roofs and other American vernacular architectural features. Before the mid-20th century, adobe was an economical building material so it was employed in all sorts of architecture. Rising labor costs, and the building boom after WWII made conventional stick framing the build of choice.
So, if it is the pueblo revival style you are after, and not specifically adobe, you have a ton of options because real adobe is actually pretty rare, not absent, but a tiny fraction of the overall housing stock in Santa Fe and Albuqueruqe.
At $150k, you can easily get a nice, but not fancy, Pueblo revival, conventionally framed house in Albuquerque. Santa Fe is way more expensive. It is, however, only an hour from Albuquerque so you can easily experience both cities.
For real adobes, you are most likely to find them in Albuquerque in the North and South Valley where the oldest housing stock is located. There are also a few scattered throughout older neighborhoods in the downtown, EDo (East of Downtown), and even in the University and Nob Hill area.
As far as pueblo revival of any building material, it is pretty ubiquitous in Santa Fe, and found scattered throughout the city among other styles in Albuquerque.
Great distinction. I'd never thought it through like that. Thanks for sharing!
There are some intriguing new arts developments in the planning stages in Santa Fe, so don't listen to that old saw that it isn't a town for young people. Thank heavens some of the "young people" aren't listening.
Check out Meow Wolf (George RR Martin bought an old bowling alley and the arts cooperative Meow Wolf are turning it into an installation and work space.
Check out the discussion around the website santafecreativetourism
Check out the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival as well as the original Santa Fe Film Festival. The Independent one is founded and run by a great brother/sister team with an independent mind set.
Check out the Railyard Arts District
Will you be able to buy a real adobe home in SFe for 150k, no, everyone is right about that. I think the broader question is what will you do here, and where might you fit in? Some of the satellite artist towns have plenty of opportunities. I just depends on what you want.
Well, the other option for slightly more affordable housing would be to locate outside of Santa Fe, in one of the small towns: Glorieta, Madrid, Cerrillos, etc.
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