Santa Fe??? (Rio Rancho, Los Alamos, Alamo: schools, living in, restaurants)

[M.A.M.]

Hi-

I'm considering relocating to Santa Fe. I've only visited once, but loved it. I'm also open to the possibility that everything just seems pretty great when you're on a road trip.

Is there a considerable "younger" population in Santa Fe??? After reading all these posts it's got me thinking that maybe it's mostly retired people? My wife and I are in our early 30s. We are both originally from California and have lived in both San Diego and San Francisco together. We are currently living in South America and are looking to return to the States at the end of year, but want to avoid the rat race. We don't have any kids and still enjoy a couple nights our per week- especially live music. Both of us are outdoors people and my wife loves to paint.

We're looking for a pretty liberal place with an abundance of outdoor activities and nice sense of community. Maybe a place where we could even downsize to one car and keep our Spanish "alive".

Any thoughts? Suggestions?

Thanks!

[Lovehound]

I think Santa Fe would be a good place for you to consider. I'm a bit older than you but I enjoy rock 'n roll, and my visit to Santa Fe I recall live entertainment downtown, good enough to hang around outside and listen for a while. I would have gone in but I had already had my quota of alcohol, and the music sounded fine outside anyway.

[Towanda]

Hi M.A.M.

Welcome to the City-Data New Mexico forum! We're glad to have you join us, and hopefully you can get all of your questions answered.

I am older too, but I notice a lot of young people when I am out and about. From what I have observed, the city has a lot to offer in entertainment - but others who know more about it will have to tell you more.

I DO know you will have fun keeping up with your Spanish skills here.

Outdoor activities! Painting! Santa Fe sounds just about perfect for you!

May I ask you where you are located in South America? My son in law is from Buenos Aires, Argentina, and we spent a wonderful vacation there several years ago. Great place!

I am going to move this thread of yours to the Santa Fe Forum, which is a better place for it, and I think you will get more responses there.

[Devin Bent]

I am retired and frankly in certain restaurants you will see that most or many of the patrons (the men actually) have white hair. Zia Diner attracts an older group, but right across the street at Cowgirl Cafe, I see a younger crowd. And probably retired people have more time to post on this board.

However, the largest employer in town is government (including the schools) and clearly the people working there are not retirees. While a great deal has been written about the government employees living in Rio Rancho, they are a minority -- the overwhelming majority live here.

Nearby Los Alamos also adds a cross section of ages -- mostly scientists of one sort or another -- not just nuclear -- there are computer scientists, environmentalists, etc. A film studio is setting up in the County.

Then a couple of millions tourists come to town and it's not us codgers waiting tables.

And Santa Fe's strong art and music traditions draw younger people here.

There is a lot of overlap -- many of the teachers and wait staff etc are also artists.

And then every year the kindergartens fill up -- somebody is having those children -- again it is not us codgers -- I promise you.

[Towanda]

We went to a talk about the moon at our local library here in Eldorado several weeks ago.

I would say the crowd was half retiree-aged people, and half young couples with children. In fact the children were somewhat annoying, constantly interrupting the speaker (also a young man, a scientist at Los Alamos) to ask him questions.

I am thinking the group was somewhat representative of Santa Fe - lots of older people, but lots of younger families too.

I do know there is a lot of cultural stuff here for you to get involved in ... and there certainly is a great deal of outdoor activities. And a good chance to keep up with your Spanish. Maybe even a chance to get along with one car!

[Vinegaroon]

If you are young, you will find that Santa Fe is crowded with the blue hair, concha belt wearin, botox eyed, still trying to be young when they should realize they are past their prime old people. Having said that, there are an abundance of outdoor activities here, and you will eventually locate a group of people your age that you can hang out with. There is not a whole lot of live music, but there is some. The Tin Star Saloon is a good place to go dancing and hear music. The Santa Fe Brewery just outside of town is another good venue. I do notice if I stay out until midnight, even on weekends, I am one of the only cars on the road other than police. It is not a good town at all to go drinking and then try to drive somewhere. The DUI laws are heavily enforced.

[Towanda]

Originally Posted by M.A.M.

We're looking for a pretty liberal place

Well, you certainly will find that!

THAT was one of the only drawbacks we had to moving here ... and my friends in Kansas and family thought I was a little bit crazy wanting to move to Santa Fe despite my conservative beliefs.

I consider I am here on a mission.

[Vinegaroon]

Originally Posted by Towanda

Well, you certainly will find that!

THAT was one of the only drawbacks we had to moving here ... and my friends in Kansas and family thought I was a little bit crazy wanting to move to Santa Fe despite my conservative beliefs.

I consider I am here on a mission.

That is Mission Impossible. This is the land of democrats, bumper stickers and Subarus. Rush Limbaugh types not welcome.

[Towanda]

Originally Posted by Vinegaroon

Rush Limbaugh types not welcome.

Very interesting comment.

[Vinegaroon]

You'll just be engaged in a lot of political discussion if you are staunchly GOP, and you will always be in the minority. If you enjoy that, you moved to the right place. You seem like a person that has views and does not mind speaking her mind, so as long as you can defend those views on an intellectually sound basis, you'll do fine here.