Santa Fe, New Mexico: What They Don't Tell You (House: sale, cliquey)

[NMHacker]

Originally Posted by pkennedy1990

The reason why it might seem that New Mexico has a high level of PhDs per capita is exactly that: the state has just hovering around 2 million "capita" to count. The level of poverty "per capita" is extraordinarily high, too. Also, the percentage non-whites is only a slight majority because the total population is so low. Keep in mind the low population in one of the largest states in land area before considering "rates" of anything.

And most of the PhD's work in Los Alamos - as there are very few State government jobs which either require nor desire any college education higher than a Bachelor's.

There is a high amount of PhD's at Sandia and the associated DOE groups also.

[Poncho_NM]

Originally Posted by pkennedy1990

Now factor in the difference in cost of car ownership (keeping in mind that nowhere in New Mexico except Albuquerque do you just HAVE to smog your car just to get its Plates) and again, viola, who's the winner......

Emissions testing is required of motor vehicles registered or commuting in Bernalillo County.
Emissions Testing — City of Albuquerque

[TKO]

I always got along with the locals just fine, the only issues I had were with newcomers - impatient at the grocery store and honking the second the light turned green.

[urban78]

Life is funny isnt it.....I compare it to going back to your 30th or 40th high school reunion....you've changed, your friends have changed, and the world has changed. Three decades later you have pretty much retired those rose colored glasses and become a realist....and although the Land of Denial is a great place to visit its NOT real...and so it goes for the City Different.

It was the Summer of '78...I was a naieve 20 year old from the East Coast on a great adventure; attending the College of Santa Fe. It was a very good year! Santa Fe was the most incredible place back then...the sky, the light, the SPACE...I remember being dropped off at the Holiday Inn on Cerrillos Road and marvelling at how 'white' everything looked (a far cry from NYC)....I would see/hear one car pass the Holiday Inn and then silence....ten seconds later the same thing....and then when I arrived at the CSF campus it was sublime...simple....clean....and the Lasallian Christian Brothers with their black and white robes were a throw back to solid values....


Lets start with the good news; great food, the sky and mountains, the setting sunlight shining off old Adobe Walls...


The not so good news and fast forward to 2013......its all gone.....

walk into any Walgreens pharmacy and 1/3rd of the store space is dedicated to liquor (in a state with the highest DUI and DUI related fatalities in the nation)

Price, purity and availability fuel drug use in NM - The Santa Fe New Mexican


the beautiful Cottonwood trees that used to line Cerrillos Road on Indian property that once housed the Indian School plowed under....it now looks like a empty parking lot

a drive down Cerrillos Road at any time of the day and you will see disenfranchised youth just wandering around

The College of Santa Fe (the college that the late Greer Garson funded) is now no more...replaced by a design school...the campus is awash in bronze sculptures, the older buildings have been torn down to make way for new government offices (of course) and the Christian Brothers are now warehoused at at a local high school

Burglaries and assaults are 2x the national average and the police force is SMALL

Moderator cut: Sorry, Links to Competing Sites not allowed.


For sale signs are everywhere and in the toniest areas by people who bought when the market was high and lost it all during the crash

NEVER hike in the mountains alone....too many reported (and under reported) robberies....

St Francis Cathedral in the heart of town still stands but the interior has been completely gutted and replaced with glossy shiny baptismal fonts and flooring and lets not forget to add the fact that it also now has a store as you walk into the building where you can but "holy" souveneirs and crosses....

That cowboy with the large hat and weathered face (he looks like Buffalo Bill) who sits in the Plaza all day/ He aint a movie extra but an undercover cop looking for snatch and grabbers that permeate the area.

Moderator cut: Sorry, Links to Competing Sites not allowed.

Fast food everywhere on Cerrillos Road...all the mom and pop hotels mostly gone....generations of New Mexicans displaced and many of them have left and sold their homes to the increasing influx of Texnans and New Yorkers....

Yes....life changes..... sometimes for the good and then sometimes for the not so good

[deboneair]

You can ALWAYS find something bad about ANY city, if that's what you want to focus on?

So sad.

[Penguin8dog]

Urban78...Did you just reply to your own thread? Regardless, it's too bad you feel the way you do. Other people feel differently. Sure, life changes, but you make Santa Fe sound like a total wasteland. In fact, every single post of yours on this site is about how awful Santa Fe has become, yet I know many people who still feel it's the only place for them. It's unfortunate that you don't, but I don't think that constantly slamming the city and comparing it to the 70s is effective in any way. Which city hasn't changed since the 70s? You are absolutely entitled to your opinion, I just don't understand why you keep coming here saying the same thing over and over again...you have voiced your opinion, you loved SF in the 70s, you hate it now. But I'm genuinely curious...what are you trying to do with these posts? Maybe these posts stem from your love of the city, which I do appreciate, but if things have changed, then, like, don't live here? Nothing is perfect, nowhere is perfect, and everything changes. Personally, I still see so much good in the Santa Fe area, especially after living in many other cities.

[urban78]

I love the ESSENCE of Santa Fe.....and not trying to slam anything or anyone.....nevertheless retirees and those considering relocation should have all the facts.....emotions have no business in this.....I am just stating FACTS.....many people are considering this place as one to retire to.....and sure...views and sky and mtns are one thing but you dont live in a view or for that matter a marketing brochure....just want to share factual information...nothing more and nothing less

[Penguin8dog]

If your intent is to provide facts then it might be more effective if you refrain from following up these "facts" with posts proclaiming, "It's so sad...", or making claims like, "NEVER hike in the mountains alone." I've gone hiking alone in the mountains in and outside of Santa Fe on numerous occasions and have yet to be mugged, raped, or even killed. **** happens everywhere. On one hand I truly understand where you're coming from, but on the other I feel you could present the facts you want to present in a way that isn't so irritatingly opinionated and harsh so that you can actually start a great dialogue about how the city has changed.

[bongo]

You are NOT just stating FACTS. You're posts are full of personal views & opinion such as "if you dont speak Spanish youre out of luck", "NEVER hike alone", to mention just a few.

To really understand the College of Santa Fe, it has had a history of change way before it became the College of Santa Fe back to the mid-1800s. St. Michael's College.... College of the Christian Brothers of Santa Fe....THEN College of Santa Fe...then after financial collapse it was taken over by the state/city/private institution to become Santa Fe University of Art and Design. I imagine those who knew it as the College of the Christian Brothers were as saddened by the change as you with its later change.

Hey, the only thing that is certain is CHANGE!

[urban78]

Sometimes facts can be 'irritating' but the operative word is facts...and whether presented in a gold or bronze frame or with sand or whipped cream it is still FACTS.....it just irritates me to no end when realtors or others with self serving interests present a rosier than real picture...sure there is good and bad everywhere HOWEVER the smaller the place the greater the risk and frankly the deeper the impact.....

Police report progress against trailhead bandits - The Santa Fe New Mexican