Impressions of Santa Fe trip... (Albuquerque, Taos: transplants, cheap house, neighborhood)

[Wisteria]

How about a survey of who likes fish tacos? I, personally, find them disgusting (but I'm not a big fish eater, although I DO love lobster -- but in a taco??). Yuck.

[tito]

My first experience with fish tacos was in Oregon a few years ago and I didn't care for them; particularly when I saw that they were cooking them in the microwave, to me microwave food is an insult.

[paleo99]

I agree with the post regarding Santa Fe..it's an overpriced tourist town. The demographics range from rich wine and cheese liberals in their McManshions north of town to Mexican illegals on the south side, with government workers forming the small middle class of town. Besides that, the traffic also sucks way worse than Albuquerque due to the presence of only a couple of major roads going to the Plaza. I plan on leaving soon my self..and GOOD RIDDENS!

[Towanda]

And I can hardly wait to move there.

[Julia2sf]

It's always a different story when you live someplace than when you visit there. I've been in Santa Fe long enough for the kitschie tourist stuff to be little more than background noise. I enjoy being able to do a short hike up in the mountains after work. Great neighbors. On a weekly basis, I meet more folks that I like than I don't.

An eclectic mix of things to do. Catch a performance by the Precision Poetry Drill Team if you have a chance. Practically every city now has a film festival, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying the Santa Fe Film Festival every year.

I don't eat out at restaurants, unless someone else is paying! That said, there's some mighty fine dining to be had at some of the Taco Stands around town.

Is the artwork here vapid? You'd have to ask someone else. I'm probably one of five people here who doesn't claim to be an artist.

Are the public schools miserable? From friends with kids in school or who've gone through the schools, I tend to think the rep is worse than the reality. If you have a kid who's lost and not motivated, yes, they'll struggle.

Is it expensive to live here? You betcha! If I had it to do over again, I don't know that this is the place where I would have chosen to spend my peak earning years. But it's not the dumbest decision I've ever made. Maybe for someone else it would be, but then they probably don't have my dumb-decision track record. All I know is that whenever I go on trips, I'm always happy to get back home.

[tito]

" I don't eat out at restaurants, unless someone else is paying! That said, there's some mighty fine dining to be had at some of the Taco Stands around town."

I suppose that with the above statement, "Julia2sf" agrees with many people that have written in this forum, that have said that Santa Fe is an expensive tourist town. Probably Santa Fe has many things to offer to the visitor that justifies being expensive. However I don't regret not having moved to live there, because I would have been annoyed by the hordes of tourists that visit the town everyday and by the "Disney World" atmosphere that the town has to presents to the out side to keep the business going. Don't take me wrong, I love visiting Santa Fe, same way I enjoy visiting Venice, Epcot Center and Las Vegas.

[artichoke63]

Originally Posted by LLD

I think the Spanish language is one of the most beautiful in the world. I grew up in Texas and never thought anything of hearing both English and Spanish. English is the technical language of the world and most everyone for lots of other countries that wants to participate on the world stage in technology learns English.

And guess what -- countries in Europe pretty much requite their kids to learn English too in lots of the schools. They also tend to learn some conversational language of their border countries -- it's called being smart for goodness sakes!!

The Canadians haven't beome France even though Quebec is French speaking. And everytime I go to Mexico, more and more people are speaking English -- hmmmm... guess they figured it was a smart thing to do especially with all the tourism etc. I haven't heard anyone in Mexico bitching about learning English in their tourist areas though.

Spanish is part of the heritage and history of many states, especially in the Southwestern U.S. Immigrants and their descendants all over the US speak some home country languages -- I hear lots of different Asian dialects all the time.

I don't think there is any danger of English going away. The US is a melting po and nothing wrong with that! I LOVE the diversity and all the various cultures that have come here and melded into this huge soup.

LLD,

Wonderful comment. Spanish is a lovely language. Many people in the U.S. tend to be insular. In Europe and all over the rest of the world, people grow up speaking several languages in order to communicate with other cultures!

Artie

[artichoke63]

Originally Posted by cloudcroft

That's fine, some of you here have your pro-diversity views, I have my anti-diversity views.

So I'm just stating the OTHER side of the issue here for the record and for balance: Some people don't like what's happening to America (and language is only part of it, believe me).

But you know, they don't have to.

To each his/her own,

-- John D.

I find this to be a strange comment consider that our country is a virtual melting pot of Europeans who settled here well over a century ago. My family came from Ireland and Germany. How quickly we forget our roots!

[artichoke63]

Originally Posted by mdmagana

I have been living in Santa Fe for 2 years now and I am counting down the days until I can leave! It sucks!

It is a cool place to visit, but a terrible place to live! Most of the people that live here and tell you it is wonderful are locals that have never lived anywhere else, and thus have no idea what a civilized society is.

Here are my dislikes:

1. I tihnk the cost of living is very high.... and I come from Orange County, CA!

2. The New Mexico education system sucks so be prepared to deal with lots of idiots!

3. The roads suck, and suck even more so when it snows becuase they don't salt anything or have nearly enough plows.

4. If you are used to big chain stores and lots of strip malls you will be disappointed. There is a Best Buy, but no Circuit City or CompUSA. There is a Home Depot, but only recently did we also get a Lowes. There are only two Grocery Store chains in town unless you count Whole Foods. (Which I dont!) Generally, fast food places are all very, very over priced and the quality is inferior to their out-of-state or even Albuquerque counterparts.

5. For some reason the no one can explain to me (including my state represetative and senator) the price of gas here is very high!

6. The price of water is EXTREMELY high!

7. If you are not inclined to vote for Hilary in the upcoming election then you probably won't like it here. The political climate seems more liberal that San Fransisco if you can believe it.

8. Medical facilities here are terrible. There is one hospital, St. Vincents... it should be renamed St. Victims. If you value you health care you have to go to Albuquerque.

9. The Food! If you like Hot as Hell TexMex stuff you might like it here. Personally I can't stand any of the "Mexican" food here. It is very different than Mexican food in California and with few exceptions, I think it all sucks.

10. Bad Drivers! I have driven all over the country and New Mexico has the worst damn drivers I have ever seen! There is one major interchange in this entire state and no one here can seem to grasp the concept. It doesn't matter if you are on the freeway in Albuquerque, the Interstate, or just driving around the streets of Santa Fe.... bad drivers everywhere!

Those are my top 10 complaints about Santa Fe. If I was planning to stay in New Mexico I would move to Albuquerque in a heartbeat. Bad drivers aside, I like Albuquerque... the rest of the state pretty much blows as a place to live. there are lots of cool things to see and do while visiting here. Santa Fe is an awesome place to visit on a vacation... but is way to ass backwards for me to tolerate living here much longer.

Well, it does sound like you would be happiest in Orange Country !!!

[newportbeachsmostwanted]

Originally Posted by artichoke63

I find this to be a strange comment consider that our country is a virtual melting pot of Europeans who settled here well over a century ago. My family came from Ireland and Germany [LEGALLY edit]. How quickly we forget our roots!

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