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Something to ponder - the average home price in Taos is over $325,000 and the average income is around $23,000. The seasonal residents have inflated the prices. There are no decent paying jobs, other than the state and the schools which are cutting salaries and hours at the moment. Unless you come here with money, the only way to afford a home is to have a very successful business, which is also tough because the only people with money are only here a few months per year.
Combine that with the intense isolation (and isolationists) that you rightly fear and you are "heading for trouble".
Tao is expensive and will only get more expensive because of transportation or the lack thereof. That is partly because of the mountains but even more so it is due to the politics of Northern New Mexico. And it is part of the politics that nobody talks about it.
The logical place for a decent highway to Taos is up the High Road from Santa Fe, but what do you have? A road that is studded with stop lights and left turns and curb cuts and useless interchanges. Little Pojoaque alone has four stop lights, one strangely designed interchange, and some curb cuts and left turn lanes that each serve a single business. Then there are a couple of stop lights, a planned useless interchange, and you hit Espanola which has so many stop lights that the traffic is worse than going through Santa Fe.
Then it is better for a while -- there are no people -- until right south of Taos which is a nightmare in ski season. There was discussion of a bypass for that section, but the powers that be in Taos vetoed it.
I live 40 miles from Taos, but haven't been there in more than a year. Unless you are a skier it is hard to justify fighting the traffic. And if you are coming from the Santa Fe area, you are going through Rio Arriba County with all its drunk drivers so certainly don't make the trip on a weekend after 6 PM.
The state is rebuilding the road slowly but they are making it worse. Everybody with any influence gets a stop light or an interchange so they can sell their land for a profit.
So of course everything in Taos is expensive. It is expensive to ship it in. The situation has got to be bad for business in Taos, but nobody talks about it. I suppose if you live in Taos, have money, and are opposed to growth, then you might think it is ideal.
And.....I don't think Farmington has the "hum" like Taos does.
LOL I think we ALL heard the hum in Taos back in the '70s!! But retrospectively we now know it was just the humming in our brain cells LOL
I can remember 20-30 years ago talk about building a road from SF to Taos, not the high road which would require going thru the mountains, but up onto the mesa across to the gorge bridge. Too big an undertaking.
I would never consider the commute from Espanola to Taos. The canyon along the Rio Grande by Embudo is not the best commute in the winter, not to mention the rest of the long stretch.
For me part of Taos' charm has always been its isolation. We have a home on the high road and have always just as soon gone down into Taos as gone down into Santa Fe or Espanola. There are some wonderful people that have lived in Taos for decades, just good down-to-earth folks getting by.
Real estate prices are high, especially for the size home to accommodate a large family like yours, Deviantlore. Is the job a done deal or still in negotiation stage?
Real estate prices are high, especially for the size home to accommodate a large family like yours, Deviantlore. Is the job a done deal or still in negotiation stage?
NOTE: The OP began this thread in August, 2007, and hasn't replied since!!
Not sure why people revive threads as old as this one was?
NOTE: The OP began this thread in August, 2007, and hasn't replied since!!
Not sure why people revive threads as old as this one was?
I would say that it was done so because everything in the thread
is still just as valid today as it was in 2007. It's better than starting
a new thread so that people using the search function have to wade
through multiple threads just to get some information.
I didn't even notice that it was that old until you pointed it out.
As for the OP, I would guess that deviantlore got a clue and decided
that one would need an extra $75k/year or thereabouts to live an
equivalent lifestyle that a $50 wage would pay in Farmington.
Hi, I am a recent grad of NMSU in Las Cruces, I got a great job offer in Taos, NM. I want to know how the living is out there my pay annually for this job will be 30,500 dollars a year, this is the highest paid job offer I have gotten so far. I went up there this week and I really liked it up there but I am not sure if I want to move up there. I will be moving by myself a female in my twenties. How safe is it up there? Are there any good safe communities to live, and what can I do on my spare time besides skiing up there? I just want strong advice from local people in order to make a better choice.
I love Taos & have a place on the high road to Taos. If you have a job that's a great paying job for your field & want to move to Taos, why not? I moved to the town of Taos when I was your age (back in the olden days LOL) & found it a great place to be young and free. Like any place now-a-days one must be careful of one's surroundings anywhere. I think a small rental right in the town of Taos would be convenient. Taos has good restaurants, bars, book store, hiking, etc.
We lived in Taos for a few years and loved it.
The winters are pretty cold but theres lots of skiing.
Summers are fun too.
I don't know about being a woman alone in that area.
My wife had some problems on occasion.
Decent paying jobs in Taos are hard to find but if you
have a good one lined up than go for it.
Good luck.
$30K a year is good pay for Taos. You should be able to find a decent place to rent on that money. However, if excitement is what you crave then Taos, might not be your cup of tea. Life moves in the slow lane up there. I almost moved there from Santa Fe and for about the same money you were offered. I would have done it if it wasn't for my #$@# hole of a house that I couldn't sell nor rent out to cover the mortgage. I doubt I'll ever have a chance like that ever again.
I have lived in Taos for the past 15 years and I LOVE IT. Yes, it's isolated and can be expensive, but it's also amazing! It takes me only 3 minutes to get to work, I don't need air conditioning and the people are fantastic... Throw in a couple hundred tourists every weekend, along with beautiful galleries, museums and you got the perfect place in Northern New Mexico...
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hummmmmmm......
