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I relate to so much mentioned here about Santa Fe.
After living in the worst off grid rental in Santa Fe County, I wrote a book about it. This was after compiling 100+ replies to my Craigslist rant on Santa Fe real estate.
I was surprised so many people wrote to me about Santa Fe. What they loved and hated. I was a teenager here and now in my 30’s can see so much of authentic Santa Fe falling into a vacuous loss of culture. Attended the College of Santa Fe and was a pet sitter before it was in vogue. Lived in houses in the Santa Fe area from Glorieta to Casa Solana and ..... HOA embracing Eldorado where the homes have apparently doubled in value? Yet the community has evaporated because no one remembers what a simple, nice place it use to be.
This isn’t supposed to be Carmel, CA. I want to share the Santa Fe I remember, the perils of falling in love with Santa Fe and the bits of authenticity still here if you know where to look.
Never assume a place will make you happy. A lot of people move here because they feel spiritually bereft of a meaningful life. or they are wanting to live simply on the land and that’s where off grid real estate comes in.
I sincerely appreciate anyone interested in my book
Utilities Nearby: Musings on the Off Grid Real Estate Scene of Santa Fe, Taos & Northern New Mexico.
Jes Marquez
A lot of this book was spawned by a dialogue of perspectives regarding Santa Fe and what it really is like to live off grid around here. This is a humorous book with some practical info for the newcomer. Neighborhoods, glossary, terminology and places. I still love my town but as an adult wanting to stay, it’s been a love hate scenario. A place I still care about and a place I still appreciate conversing about. Yes, Utilities Nearby is my book, but it’s practical while being entertaining. It’s not a book about poetry or how the landscape make me cry because it was so beautiful. There’s some good info before you embark on an off grid rental.
Best of luck on your sojourn into Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico.
I relate to so much mentioned here about Santa Fe.
... A lot of people move here because they feel spiritually bereft of a meaningful life. ...
That has been our experience as well (that Santa Fe new comers are "seekers") only we don't identify with that. We are not spiritually bereft or fleeing a bad place. Without that allure, Santa Fe just has some greater climate going for it and a bit of touristy art and history.
What they loved and hated. I was a teenager here and now in my 30’s can see so much of authentic Santa Fe falling into a vacuous loss of culture.
It's only going to continue happening as more outsiders move in. Hence the need for people like you to preserve the history in books.
Quote:
I still love my town but as an adult wanting to stay, it’s been a love hate scenario.
NM has always been a love hate scenario for everyone who was born and raised there, particularly those of us like yourself who are hispanics and natives, as you well know.
Agreed. Very glad to be out of Santa Fe- too much bad energy. Not an intelligent city, unless intelligence is deeply hidden. Frankly I don’t want to know what is hidden there, not flipping that rock, probably a bunch of fire ants anyway. Lived there five years too long. I think it has to do with the elevation, probably makes people wacky and completely clueless. If you don’t listen very well and don’t care about putting yourself in other people’s shoes you will probably love it. You will miss green grass and solid people you can trust. Complete facade, tourists treated well for money but locals are a different story. Most of the town is a giant rip off. I only got along with people who were from other states- they all left as well. It’s like the bad New Yorkers live there and not the good ones. I had a lot of garage sales and came across a lot of lonely people, they were nice but terribly lonely. It doesn’t have to be that way. Just visit, don’t bother living there- think about your children’s future- schools are terrible. If you are single, don’t go, nothing but trouble and recycled youth. No matter what they say it is not a diverse city. I’m sure it used to be a great place, but it has turned upside down. Land of Enchantment sign makes me sick. Will never go back.
I think we should keep promoting her grievances, GSF. With current events (plural), there appears to be a growing migration away from large cities.
So "don't come here, it is awful."
Or, as Yogi Berra once said, "nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded."
Let those folks who do their own due diligence figure out the veracity of those statements!
Seriously, 7,000 feet of altitude, essentially high desert climate, culture dominated by Native American and Mexican/Spanish influences, and the inherent limitations of small to mid-sized city is not for everybody. We've seen people come and go in our four years here, and the common threads of those who left were they could not adjust to the altitude/climate, had awful allergies to some of the local flora, or failed to accept or respect the culture, and were prone to thinking about equivalent to "that's not the way we did it in Timbuktu."
But for those who can adapt or enjoy the fruits of those things, there are a lot worse places to be. But please, let's keep that part to ourselves!
This isn’t supposed to be Carmel, CA. I want to share the Santa Fe I remember, the perils of falling in love with Santa Fe and the bits of authenticity still here if you know where to look.
Once upon a time, forty years ago, I wanted to live there but now Santa Fe is a great place to visit. I can be there in less than an hour the very few times a year that I want to go.
I think there >is< a bit of snobbish behavior in Santa Fe. I've been looked down on and sniffed at by people sitting next to me at the Lensic, specifically at the Christmas Eve show last year. Fat old lady probably knew I wasn't from there. Just old people attitude or something, or maybe I was better looking or slimmer than she was...who knows. Funny, really.
My introduction to Santa Fe after moving here (not counting many visits in the preceding years), was a Thanksgiving event at the Lensic, consisting of a showing of "Yellow Submarine", with a prior invitation to ticket buyers to dress up as their choice of character from the film. It was fabulous! I thought, "WOW, if this is a Santa Fe tradition, I moved to the right place!" lol
But I've also been to those Xmas eve symphonies at the Lensic. Didn't get sniffed at; once, an interesting woman sitting next to me struck up a conversation, and it turned out we had a lot in common. Another time, I noticed there were a few people who dressed to the nines, for a formal night out. They seemed disappointed, that most people sitting around them (balcony seats) were dressed less formally, though nicely.
I don't recall encountering snobbish behavior in SF, ever.
edit. Oh, wait. There was that one real estate agent, a seller's agent at a home I was interested in, who refused to deal with me. My agent told her, she was welcome to drive by and have a look at the property I was selling (did she think I couldn't afford the place she was selling? I was downsizing, lol), but she never did. I moved on, but I followed that one property, and it was a full year later that it finally sold. She caused her client to wait close to a year to find another buyer, rather than sell to me. Most RE agents in SF aren't that stupid, though. I never had any other problems with agents.
TheMule - I agree with you totally! We’ve probably got enough people here as it is. I wish all those accolades we get for such things as Best Places to Retire, Best Small City, Best Art Town, etc. would go away; probably too late to keep it a secret but, yes, perhaps with naysayers like Margot espousing their views it will discourage migration from those wonderful, crowded cities out to our poor part of the world.
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