Moving To Santa Fe... (Albuquerque, Las Cruces: real estate, rent, high crime) - Santa Fe County - City-Data Forum

la_leary · 05-22-2006, 07:05 AM

Hi,
I'm from the beautiful state of Vermont. Love the mountains, love the liberal people, but don't love the long, dark, cold winters.

I've never been to Santa Fe, or NM for that matter, but hear it is a beautiful place to be. My top criteria for relocating are: affordability (relative I know), access to outdoor rock climbing (a must), and liberal.

I'm interested in the Santa Fe area due to proximity to mountains, Taos, and greenery in general.

Anyway, I'm looking for feedback about the Santa Fe area, surrounding towns, rock climbing venues and social life in general.

Thanks for the insight!

Lisa

Mark S. · 05-22-2006, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by la_leary

I've never been to Santa Fe, or NM for that matter, but hear it is a beautiful place to be.

You should definitely visit before you take the plunge.

Quote:

Originally Posted by la_leary

My top criteria for relocating are: affordability (relative I know),

Santa Fe is the most expensive part of the state. By far. How that compares to Vermont, I don't know. Santa Fe has been a haven for artists, filmmakers, and actors for years. Lots of big Hollywood names have homes up there, and it has driven up real estate prices. Santa Fe is not an affordable place to live, in my mind, unless you are fairly well off already.

Quote:

Originally Posted by la_leary

access to outdoor rock climbing (a must), and liberal.

Rock climbing shouldn't be too hard to find, and liberal is a relative term. New Mexico in general is a really conservative place (especially compared to Vermont), but Santa Fe is considered one of the most liberal parts of the state.

Quote:

Originally Posted by la_leary

I'm interested in the Santa Fe area due to proximity to mountains, Taos, and greenery in general.

Mountains you'll have. Taos you'll gave. Greenery? Well, compared to the eastern plains and western deserts of New Mexico, Santa Fe is green. Compared to Vermont? You'll think you're in the desert. Santa Fe is really dry.

If you want to get a rough idea of what the area is like, go rent the old Lawrence Kasdan movie Silverado. It was filmed around Santa Fe. I think the Young Guns films were filmed around there, too, but sitting through those movies is kind of torturous.

I know I suffer from a certain amount of the grass is greener on the other side, but myself, I'd pick Vermont over New Mexico any day of the week. Yes, you'll get a milder winter in New Mexico, but you'll also be getting widespread poverty and high crime. The food is great though.

Crackerjack · 05-23-2006, 06:02 AM

I agree with Mark S., it is an expensive city so I hope you have the money to live there but if you have the money, it can be a great place to live. About the liberal part. I don't know what you mean by that. It you mean a democrat with a middle of the road type of belief then Santa Fe and NM are good for you but if you mean pro homosexual, pro abortion, ultra left, then NM is not in line with that as most are Catholic here and those are no-nos to the Pope. I know gays though who live in Santa Fe and Taos, so they live here and all but to think the whole state or even whole city is behind that, you will be surprised to see you aren't in the majority. Santa Fe has a lot of culture, art and such. You should rent a place, though it will be high, for a year and see if it is your forte and if not, no major harm done. If you want to live in a liberal city, Durango, Colorado is probably one of the most liberal in the area. It is just north of the N.M. border.

la_leary · 05-23-2006, 07:04 AM

Hey, thanks for the insight. I will visit at some point at least to check out the climbing. And you're right, the grass is always greener on the other side. I do like Vermont, but the weather can be sort of a downer. Long stretches of cruddy weather make me ancy. Anyway, it sounds like the key is to have lots of money and have lots of vacation homes.

camesquibel · 05-25-2006, 11:49 AM

If you do not move to Santa Fe, then you must visit in September for the burning of the Zozobra. It is one our favorite annual cultural traditions. It happens every year right before the state fair begins. We build a 30 foot puppet and light it on fire when the sun goes down. You can hear him scream when he is lit. Zozobra is Old Man Gloom and we burn him down to bring better luck.

SAF150 · 06-03-2006, 09:03 PM

well if you want greenery head 35 MI NW to Los Alamos not a cactus in sight up there and plenty of mountains.

HawgKlr · 11-16-2008, 11:05 AM

Where would YOU go in N.M.? I've got Silver City at the top of my search but seems to me population is too low @10,500. Expectations are 60,000+

We're an enterprising family consisting of labor/trade types such as window washing, housepainting, flooring, sales, house washing etc...Females are School Teacher (ESAW) and another as a Flight Attendant for Delta.
We want out of the multi-national congestion of the South...Trade jobs do well here with all the retirees...So looking for high 65+ population base somewhere out WEST.

P.S. we ALL have fair credit.

Suggestions? Thank you!

GreatSantaFe · 11-17-2008, 12:25 PM

Well, there are only 4 cities in NM with 60K+ population -- Albuquerque, Rio Rancho (76,000 - but it's really just a west/northwestward expansion of Albuquerque, Las Cruces (90,000) and Santa Fe (73,000).
There's probably a higher percentage of retirees in Las Cruces than in Santa Fe. You may want to look more into that town....or, if you like to be next door to large cities, then you might like Rio Rancho.

santafescribe · 11-17-2008, 12:28 PM

Astonishingly, I'd say you should consider Santa Fe!

You're right - you need a bunch of people to buy your services, and I'd suggest a population of 10,000 is too small - our population of 100,000 will probably keep all of your various services in high demand, especially if you show up in time, keep your promises and charge fairly. I used to work for a property management company, and I'd say the single biggest problem was finding, and keeping, people who'd do all of the above.

GreatSantaFe · 11-17-2008, 12:53 PM

Santafescribe is correct - if you expand your horizons beyond the over 65 crowd then Santa Fe would be an excellent choice IF you gain the reputation for being dependable and reasonably-priced.
Another advantage of Santa Fe is that Delta flies out of Albuquerque and there is talk that they will soon be serving Santa Fe (they were supposed to start flying out of SF this summer, but I'm not aware that they have).