Pros & Cons of living in Santa Fe ??? (Las Cruces, Reserve: rental, hotel)

[acs.1979]

Hello All…

I am currently living in Portland, OR, which I like very much. However, the winters here nearly drive me insane. The summers here are wonderful, but each winter is 6 months or more of cold, dark, damp days. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind the cold once in a while, I grew up in New England… but combined with a wet climate, and very little sunlight…I find myself feeling like a corpse by the time each January ends...and winter drags on ‘till April…some say ‘till July in these parts.

Despite that, I do love Portland for its culture, its “live & let live” vibe, and the quantity/variety of its bars & restaurants. So, the thought of leaving it makes me a bit nervous. I am looking for a city that can offer me at least some of what Portland can, but with way more sunny lazy days. Can anyone give me some pointers on what is nice and what is not so nice about living in Santa Fe? Is it tough to find a job (I work in waste management & also freelance art & design) ? Is it tough to find affordable rental housing in a decent neighborhood? Does Santa Fe have a variety (or…any?) of affordable bars & restaurants that cater to it’s locals, not just tourists??? That last one may sound petty, but to me it is one of the best things about Portland…tons of reasonably priced, non-touristy bars & restaurants with great happy hours. Thanks in advance!!

[mortimer]

Go on the internet.

Reserve a plane ticket.

Come and see for yourself.

This should be a good time to see the contrast between Portland
and Santa Fe since February is pretty much the heart of the
gloomy season in the NW.

Don't stay in the center of town, but rather in a hotel outside of
there on Cerrillos Rd. Ask the people who work in the hotel and
shops and restaurants where THEY go for entertainment.

Don't ask the people in the center of town where they think
YOU should go for entertainment.

If you want to see the center of town, there are frequent busses
down that corridor.

[Vinegaroon]

Rather than describe pros and cons, I think it might be better for me to explain how I think Portland will differ for you from Santa Fe.

The culture here is fairly liberal, however in my opinion, hardly anywhere is as liberal as Portland, so it might actually be not as liberal as you are used to. I say this primarily because Portland's population is about 575,000, and Santa Fe is around 65,000. Santa Fe definitely feels more like a town than a city. So your culture will be liberal, but not city liberal.

While we have diversity in culture, it will not be as great as in Portland. There you have hispanic, chinese, japanese, black, native american and white. Here you have hispanic, native-american and white. There is almost a complete lack of asian or black folks here.

Portland has the Columbia and Williamette rivers, and plenty of precipitation. We have the dried up Santa Fe river, hardly any precipitation, and water restrictions. Gardening is easy in Portand because you have verdant soil and plenty of water. Gardening in Santa Fe is a huge challenge. The soil is rock hard and the sun beats down on your plant life all summer long. You have to learn to xeriscape. Yeah, we do have plenty of sun, but around July and August you will find yourself escaping from the blazing heat during the day and seeking shade.

Portland has a tremendous amount of parks and open spaces, Santa Fe is working on it, but has a long way to go. Portland has a large youth culture, Santa Fe does not. Portland has Adidas, Columbia, Intel and a steel company to name a few. Santa Fe has little in the way of industry or companies involved in technology.

I think if your main desire is to escape a big city and move to a town with sunnier days, Santa Fe might work for you.

[acs.1979]

Originally Posted by Vinegaroon

Rather than describe pros and cons, I think it might be better for me to explain how I think Portland will differ for you from Santa Fe.

The culture here is fairly liberal, however in my opinion, hardly anywhere is as liberal as Portland, so it might actually be not as liberal as you are used to. I say this primarily because Portland's population is about 575,000, and Santa Fe is around 65,000. Santa Fe definitely feels more like a town than a city. So your culture will be liberal, but not city liberal.

While we have diversity in culture, it will not be as great as in Portland. There you have hispanic, chinese, japanese, black, native american and white. Here you have hispanic, native-american and white. There is almost a complete lack of asian or black folks here.

Portland has the Columbia and Williamette rivers, and plenty of precipitation. We have the dried up Santa Fe river, hardly any precipitation, and water restrictions. Gardening is easy in Portand because you have verdant soil and plenty of water. Gardening in Santa Fe is a huge challenge. The soil is rock hard and the sun beats down on your plant life all summer long. You have to learn to xeriscape. Yeah, we do have plenty of sun, but around July and August you will find yourself escaping from the blazing heat during the day and seeking shade.

Portland has a tremendous amount of parks and open spaces, Santa Fe is working on it, but has a long way to go. Portland has a large youth culture, Santa Fe does not. Portland has Adidas, Columbia, Intel and a steel company to name a few. Santa Fe has little in the way of industry or companies involved in technology.

I think if your main desire is to escape a big city and move to a town with sunnier days, Santa Fe might work for you.

Thank you for your in depth and well thought out response. It sure beat "buy a plane ticket" lol. I guess the moral of the story is that you can't have everything, and/or the grass is always greener (make that browner on yours...j/k) on the other side. My ideal city COULD be smaller than Portland, but I know I would not deal well in a true "small town". 65,000 is smaller than I usually prefer, but it is not so small that it would be intolerable I suppose. Some of it is all in community feel...though Portland has 500,xxx people, it still manages to feel like a small town......with lots of different neighborhoods. On the other hand, in say, South Florida, even the suburbs feel like massive cities because of poor planning, traffic, and general angst among its citizens.

Ironicly, most plants that I have here that like a lot of water, I kill. I do far better with cacti & succulents...another reason I am strangly interested in a dry sunny climate. Also, though I never had them before, I have developed allergies here in Portland...most probably because of all the moisture & mold spores in the air. I could be wrong, but isnt a high & dry climate like SF supposed to be gentle to allergy sufferers?

[acs.1979]

On another note, if anyone out there is able to post a good comparison of SF, ABQ, and maybe say, Las Cruces...(or anywhere else you find relevant) I would love to hear it...

[Towanda]

Vinegaroon gave you a very nice in depth answer, with lots of reasons to like both cities, and a comparison of both. Excellent material for you.

However, there is nothing wrong with mortimer's advice to buy a plane ticket. That is the best advice I think you will get.

If you want to see if you might like it in Santa Fe, you absolutely need to come here and check it out for yourself. It is not a great idea to completely rely on other's opinions.

Santa Fe is not for everyone. I don't see how you will know which side you fall on if you don't come here and check before making any decision.

Just my opinion.

[acs.1979]

Originally Posted by Towanda

Vinegaroon gave you a very nice in depth answer, with lots of reasons to like both cities, and a comparison of both. Excellent material for you.

However, there is nothing wrong with mortimer's advice to buy a plane ticket. That is the best advice I think you will get.

If you want to see if you might like it in Santa Fe, you absolutely need to come here and check it out for yourself. It is not a great idea to completely rely on other's opinions.

Santa Fe is not for everyone. I don't see how you will know which side you fall on if you don't come here and check before making any decision.

Just my opinion.

When it all boils down and a move is imminent, yes, anyone planning on doing such would be wise to bite the bullet and spend a week or two in the location they are intent on. However, City-Data.com would be a pretty dull web site if everyone simply answered questions with "buy a plane ticket" To me, that is a given. However, I did like his suggestion about talking to people NOT in the center of town.

[Vinegaroon]

Originally Posted by Towanda

Vinegaroon gave you a very nice in depth answer, with lots of reasons to like both cities, and a comparison of both. Excellent material for you.

However, there is nothing wrong with mortimer's advice to buy a plane ticket. That is the best advice I think you will get.

If you want to see if you might like it in Santa Fe, you absolutely need to come here and check it out for yourself. It is not a great idea to completely rely on other's opinions.

Santa Fe is not for everyone. I don't see how you will know which side you fall on if you don't come here and check before making any decision.

Just my opinion.

I think that opinion has some validity. I think however visiting might also give one a false impression of Santa Fe, and also when was the last time you visited a place and left thinking you knew the true nature of the place? I think that people come to this forum wanting to know what people think of the place who have lived there a few years and have had time to form an accurate opinion. I would not expect to be able to spend a week in Boston and form an accurate opinion of that city. I would most likely only get a taste of it. So sure, visit here, but I think that answer has its flaws.

[Towanda]

Vinegaroon,

I was saying the best thing to do is BOTH.

Take the good advice and listen to the opinions of people who live here .... AND come and see the city for yourself before you make a huge decision.

I didn't have the luxury of going to an internet site and asking people's opinions. My decision was based on many visits here and gathering first-hand impressions ... none of which I considered "biting the bullet" I might add.

[mortimer]

acs.1979 pointed out:

> .... if everyone simply answered questions with "buy a plane ticket"

I started out my answer with that because it doesn't matter how
many answers you get, without getting on the ground here, not
only will you NOT know anything, you won't even be able to ask
the right questions for you.

I moved cold and knowing nothing about the place, but I scouted
it out via multiple road trips from Ohio.

I also subscribed to the local papers for more than a year
before the move.

> To me, that is a given.

You would be surprised how many people don't get-that-given.
All kinds of dorks spam multiple forums with "tell me everything"
posts without doing some reasearch.

If anyone is seriously considering moving, a plane ride is a
trivial effort.

> However, I did like his suggestion about talking to people NOT
> in the center of town.

Good. I thought that bit was especially good.

I'm not qualified to discuss much of the differences between Santa Fe
and Portland having only visited Portland.

However, I *am* confident that if you light out for Santa Fe and
plop down in the Plaza area, you'll leave having no idea whether
the place is for you.

Sure, stop in there, but scout out the outlying neighborhoods.

Vinegaroon pointed out:

> So sure, visit here, but I think that answer has its flaws.

Taken as the only answer, yes it does. It's the job of the OP
to sift through all the bits that matter to them.