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I'm an artist and teacher from New Jersey. My boyfriend has a short-term (i.e. 6 months) job in Santa Fe. He is currently staying at a friend's house in Santa Fe until he starts renting his own place (a month to month rental).
We would like to spend the summer together (July and August), but I'm not a huge fan of Santa Fe. It's a fine place to visit, but I don't want to spend my summer there. I was hoping to be outside of the city, somewhere closer to (but not in) Taos, where I might take some classes at UNM. My boyfriend needs to be in reasonable driving distance to his job. We both really enjoy hiking and the outdoors.
However, because Taos and Santa Fe are such favorite tourist destinations, short term (i.e. vacation) rentals are really, really expensive. I haven't been successful finding anything like a sublet or short term rental on Craigslist. Plus, most of the rentals are in town, not outside. I've also checked the online versions of the Santa Fe New Mexican and the Taos News.
Any suggestions for where else to look to find a rental?
Also, if I gave up on the idea of taking classes at UNM Taos and was willing to live anywhere outside of Santa Fe, what areas would you recommend that are artsy, interesting, but not too touristy? (i.e. small towns) I'm familiar mostly with Taos, as I have spent some time there, but don't really know much about the areas around Santa Fe--and as my boyfriend has only been there a month, neither does he.
This is not an easy question to answer. You're right about Santa Fe -- short term rentals are very expensive and the summer is the worst because of the art fairs.
On the other hand there is simply not much in between Santa Fe and Taos -- the National Forests, BLM, and the Pueblos hold huge blocks of land off-limits for development. The open space and clean air is great, but there is not much room for towns, artsy or otherwise.
Several towns have artists, but they are teeny, and might not be too welcoming to summer residents. Chimayo is a little bigger, but has a reputation for drug problems -- I don't know. Espanola is much bigger, but is very much Walmarty, not so artsy, and has its own drug problems.
I am reduced to recommending what is called the Pojoaque Valley. Pojoaque is the biggest town, bracketed by Nambe and Jacona. It has some artists and is big enough to provide the essentials -- a grocery store, pharmacy, etc. Not really what you are looking for, though.
If you are willing to go south of Santa Fe -- then there is an obvious hands-down winner -- Madrid on Route 14 sometimes called the Turquoise Trail. Old coal mining town. It has become an art center. You could take courses at the UNM in Albuquerque or closer would be Santa Fe Community College.
Good luck
Last edited by Devin Bent; 01-21-2008 at 12:44 PM..
Reason: typos
Yes, I've heard of Madrid, and it sounds like a place to investigate. Thanks for the suggestion.
What about Dixon? I've read some interesting things about that place, but have never been there.
In the way of drug problems--what exactly do you mean? Dealing, production, gangs? I don't know exactly what you're referring to. I'm sorry to be so naive--but it wasn't something I was aware of during my travels in NM.
By drugs, I meant a reputation for production and dealing. And I definitely mean reputation -- I have seen no hard evidence.
I myself have visited both Chimayo and Espanola frequently, including at night, for shopping and dining, and have never had any problems. And I met a woman the other day who lives in Chimayo -- because Santa Fe is too expensive -- and she did not mention any problems. And I went to a party the other night held by friends who live in Espanola and who seem quite content.
Still when recommending places to live, I felt that I owed it to you to mention the reputation.
Chimayo is still a very small place and you would probably need to drive into Espanola for grocery and pharmacy. That would add to your expense.
Dixon -- I am not familiar with. It is between Santa Fe and Taos, but not on either of the main roads -- which are called the high road and the low road. I don't think there is much there, but don't know for sure.
My family and I moved to Espanola from Missouri two years ago after my husband received a job transfer. I, myself would only recommend visiting New Mexico, and not for an extended period of time. If you make a trip, I would only recommend going to ABQ, but definitely not staying, and even there you should watch where you go.
We live in the Espanola area, and it is completely different here than in Missouri, so I know it would be for someone from New Jersey. My husband is running a local business and just about every other day, he finds someone trying to sell drugs in the parking lot, or making threats against different people. Waiting for my husband at Walgreens, I have had a drunk man ask me for a ride to a liquor store, and two other times at a local grocery store, two different men have asked me for money. There are lots of tagging in Espanola, and other places in the state.
People here also don't seem to realize that New Mexico is part of America, so they speak more Spanish than English. I don't speak much Spanish, and have been told by my spanish-speaking neighbors that I need to "learn spanish because this is New Mexico and not back East". Also, if you look for a short term job while you're here, don't go to a casino or any place on tribal land. There isn't supposed to be discrimination, and yet it states on many applications, "Prefer to employ someone of Native American descent".
Therefore, I would definitely NOT recommend Espanola, and not much of the rest of the state. There is a reason it was listed #2 on AOL's list of the Most Dangerous States in America. If you do come here, you definitely have to watch out.
> My family and I moved to Espanola ... [ ... negative stuff deleted for brevity ... ] ...
Golly! I ended up deleting the whole post!
----------------------------------------
OTOH:
CMcG, trying to plan things out:
> ... I was hoping to ... take some classes at UNM.
How about
o -- Santa Fe Community College
o -- St. John's College
o -- College of Santa Fe
I don't know what classes you are interested in, but these might offer something.
> ... not a huge fan of Santa Fe ...
If you lived somewhere outside of the center - near one of the above schools, maybe you would find it more to your liking.
> ... boyfriend needs to be in reasonable driving distance to his job.
I think that's wise. Is the job in the center of Santa Fe? If so, there is limited bus service in Santa Fe. Santa Fe Trails Transit
If you live near a bus stop and work in the city center, you can save all kinds of money, parking hassles, and stress. All but a couple of the busses go into the center of town.
If you park yourself near one of the above schools, all of them have a bus line that runs from there to the city center. (the community college will require a transfer, so you should work it so the boyfriend doesn't have to deal with that).
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Madrid
