Austin To Santa Fe (Albuquerque: hotel, new home, neighborhoods)

[GreatSantaFe]

Howdy southernjedi - Your idea of starting a thread on "best places to stay in Santa Fe during the holidays" is a good idea. I've got some faves, and I'm certain you'll gets lots of suggestions. You'll find that we're not a shy bunch when it comes to offering our opinions!

[southernjedi]

Towanda-- I agree with you about rampant development. I see it here in Austin every single, friggin day. I use the word *rampant* because that's what it feels like. I know some people will be mad at me for saying this but sometimes chaotic development is not a good thing. Look what's happened to Austin and many don't want to accept it and say it but they know it.

Smcdow, are you going to Santa Fe to check it out? Maybe we should all move there and start a group called the "AustinFeos". lol

[loborick]

The live music scene in Santa Fe is great! My best friend just moved back to SF from Los Angeles and says he's heard more good music here than he did in the five years he lived in LA. I met some guys last winter at the Tin Star that had come to SF to ski and said they had heard more good music in the week they were here than they could hope to hear in Milwaukee.

[santafescribe]

You can get a good sense of what's going on in Santa Fe's music scene at FanMan Productions - fanman organizes many of the great shows in town. Michael Franti tonight....

[smcdow]

Originally Posted by Towanda

And as to your comment about Santa Fe developing and growing, I know we can't stop that from happening, but I personally do not want the area to grow and "develop". That is certainly not a priority for me.

Alas, I think that growth will happen to any city that is seen as "desirable". I expect, like Austin, that Santa Fe's growth will be slow and steady until it reaches a "critical mass". At which point things will go non-linear, and the growth becomes overwhelming. IMO, this happened to Austin around 1996. There's definitely a "before/after" delimiter around this timeframe to Austin (there is for me, at any rate). There's no telling when/if this would happen in Santa Fe, but having seen it happen to Austin, I think it's inevitable that it will happen in Santa Fe.

Don't get me wrong about Austin. The growth has changed it, but it's still a great city. There's a lot going on here, especially if you're in the twenty-something set. There are all kinds of extremely active creative communities: music, theater, cinema, writing, dorkbot, etc. Moreover, Austin has become a real place to do business. There's a huge amount of entrepreneurial spirit here, as evidenced by the very large numbers of startups. And, let's not forget the active nightlife, HUGE live-music scene, and the ever-increasing celebrity sightings. There is a LOT of energy in this town if you know how to tap into it. I can't imagine a better place in the U.S. to be if you're into all this.

Except that I'm not, really. Not any more. And this is why I'm thinking about Santa Fe. Austin used to be a laid-back "large small town", and now it's become a true urban center. To me, this is neither "good" nor "bad". I don't want to make a value judgment on Austin's qualities; I'm simply no longer interested in living in a place like this. Santa Fe seems to have the combination of size, location, and "energy" that is appealing to me. It seems to be a "large small town" with a lot going on.

Personal update: Just at the moment I'd decided to pull the trigger and start making real plans to relocate to Santa Fe, the financial crisis broke. Without going into the gory details, I've had to "suspend" my plans until things settle out in the financial world. I'm hoping that things will get going again by the end of the year. We'll see.

Thanks, everyone, for your comments.

[Towanda]

I have two reasons I would never live in Austin:

1. WAY TOO HOT. (I already spent nine years of my life in San Antonio, cursing the heat. )

2. WAY TOO MUCH TRAFFIC. The last time we went through Austin, several years ago, it took over an hour to get from one end of the city to the other. I would NOT deal with that on a daily basis.

[rybert]

Originally Posted by Towanda

I have two reasons I would never live in Austin:

1. WAY TOO HOT. (I already spent nine years of my life in San Antonio, cursing the heat. )

2. WAY TOO MUCH TRAFFIC. The last time we went through Austin, several years ago, it took over an hour to get from one end of the city to the other. I would NOT deal with that on a daily basis.

x2

Wife and I visited during Ike. Great people, food, and atmosphere.

But it was too hot and the traffic was awful... all day.

[handy dan]

Originally Posted by smcdow

Alas, I think that growth will happen to any city that is seen as "desirable". I expect, like Austin, that Santa Fe's growth will be slow and steady until it reaches a "critical mass". At which point things will go non-linear, and the growth becomes overwhelming. IMO, this happened to Austin around 1996. There's definitely a "before/after" delimiter around this timeframe to Austin (there is for me, at any rate). There's no telling when/if this would happen in Santa Fe, but having seen it happen to Austin, I think it's inevitable that it will happen in Santa Fe.

Don't get me wrong about Austin. The growth has changed it, but it's still a great city. There's a lot going on here, especially if you're in the twenty-something set. There are all kinds of extremely active creative communities: music, theater, cinema, writing, dorkbot, etc. Moreover, Austin has become a real place to do business. There's a huge amount of entrepreneurial spirit here, as evidenced by the very large numbers of startups. And, let's not forget the active nightlife, HUGE live-music scene, and the ever-increasing celebrity sightings. There is a LOT of energy in this town if you know how to tap into it. I can't imagine a better place in the U.S. to be if you're into all this.

Except that I'm not, really. Not any more. And this is why I'm thinking about Santa Fe. Austin used to be a laid-back "large small town", and now it's become a true urban center. To me, this is neither "good" nor "bad". I don't want to make a value judgment on Austin's qualities; I'm simply no longer interested in living in a place like this. Santa Fe seems to have the combination of size, location, and "energy" that is appealing to me. It seems to be a "large small town" with a lot going on.

Personal update: Just at the moment I'd decided to pull the trigger and start making real plans to relocate to Santa Fe, the financial crisis broke. Without going into the gory details, I've had to "suspend" my plans until things settle out in the financial world. I'm hoping that things will get going again by the end of the year. We'll see.

Thanks, everyone, for your comments.

My sister and her husband moved to Santa Fe after living in Austin for almost 8 years and they seem to like it. Housing seems a little more expensive in Santa Fe and the economy isn't as diverse as Austin's economy, so I'd try to line up a job before moving to Santa Fe. I'm also not sure if things will settle down in the financial world for at least the next several quarters (maybe longer), so if you are looking to purchase a home in Santa Fe, I'd imagine it will only get more difficult to qualify for a loan.

[Vinegaroon]

Originally Posted by smcdow

Alas, I think that growth will happen to any city that is seen as "desirable". I expect, like Austin, that Santa Fe's growth will be slow and steady until it reaches a "critical mass". At which point things will go non-linear, and the growth becomes overwhelming. IMO, this happened to Austin around 1996. There's definitely a "before/after" delimiter around this timeframe to Austin (there is for me, at any rate). There's no telling when/if this would happen in Santa Fe, but having seen it happen to Austin, I think it's inevitable that it will happen in Santa Fe.

Don't get me wrong about Austin. The growth has changed it, but it's still a great city. There's a lot going on here, especially if you're in the twenty-something set. There are all kinds of extremely active creative communities: music, theater, cinema, writing, dorkbot, etc. Moreover, Austin has become a real place to do business. There's a huge amount of entrepreneurial spirit here, as evidenced by the very large numbers of startups. And, let's not forget the active nightlife, HUGE live-music scene, and the ever-increasing celebrity sightings. There is a LOT of energy in this town if you know how to tap into it. I can't imagine a better place in the U.S. to be if you're into all this.

Except that I'm not, really. Not any more. And this is why I'm thinking about Santa Fe. Austin used to be a laid-back "large small town", and now it's become a true urban center. To me, this is neither "good" nor "bad". I don't want to make a value judgment on Austin's qualities; I'm simply no longer interested in living in a place like this. Santa Fe seems to have the combination of size, location, and "energy" that is appealing to me. It seems to be a "large small town" with a lot going on.

Personal update: Just at the moment I'd decided to pull the trigger and start making real plans to relocate to Santa Fe, the financial crisis broke. Without going into the gory details, I've had to "suspend" my plans until things settle out in the financial world. I'm hoping that things will get going again by the end of the year. We'll see.

Thanks, everyone, for your comments.

You are way off base. Santa Fe is not going to reach any "critical mass", and then leap from a population of about 62,000 to almost 750,000 that Austin has in the City, and more than 1.6 million if you consider the surrounding suburbs. We don't have the land or water for that sort of expansion. We don't have a major university, and never will in Santa Fe. We don't have high tech businesses or much business at all for that matter, and I doubt we are moving towards that. Santa Fe is going to remain a small, historical little town, and the major employer will probably always be the state government.

[rybert]

Sounds great to me!

However, this kind of stuff creeps-up on you... like a frog in boiling water.