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I assume every city has safe and dangerous neighborhoods. Which neighborhoods in Santa Fe are safe, with middle or even upper-middle class homes?
Are any of these neighborhoods walkable? It seems that many houses in Santa Fe are isolated out in the desert, and you'd have to drive to get anywhere.
Too many variables. If you can specify what type of home you're looking for (SFH, condo, townhouse, rental, size of yard), your budget, your definition of "safe" and your definition of "walkable" (walkable to what? Work? School? Park? Grocery? Restaurants? Downtown?) we can give you some ideas.
I'm interested in a single family home. Detached, not a townhouse. Preferably under $700k.
I'd prefer a neighborhood with sidewalks. Walking distance to groceries, library, Starbucks, CVS or Rite Aid, and interesting urban hangouts. (The only "urban area" I've heard about in Santa Fe is its famed Plaza, but I assume there's more?)
I like walking, so if a grocery is a mile from the house, that's "walking distance" for me. I normally walk about 8 miles a day, just for the exercise. I've no kids, so nearby schools are not an issue.
Safe such that an adult male can take walks even after midnight and not worry about being robbed.
Your budget is good for Santa Fe and will give you a lot of options. I'm not tuned into the crime statistics, but I can offer that the SFH neighborhoods that are most walkable for you might be South Capitol, the Railyard, Guadalupe, and thereabouts. The part-time population places great stock on walkability to the Plaza, Canyon Road galleries, etc. Your budget can work in those areas, too, if you're creative with your shopping. But a full-time resident who wants to walk to the drugstore, grocery, etc., would be better served (IMHO) just to the west or south of "downtown"
Shopping centers that would give you what you need are DeVargas Mall, on Paseo de Peralta (the north side of that loop) and clustered around the intersection of St. Francis and Cordova (Whole Foods, Trader Joe's).
I definitely agree with jakabedy's advice. you should also definitely check out the parts of the historic eastside that are a little east of the plaza between, say, Palace Ave. and Acequia Madre. While that's some of the most expensive real estate in town, there are occasionally homes there in your price range.
Try poking around homes on Trulia web site. It shows crime stats and by category in the neighborhood of whatever home you are looking at. It's pretty interesting actually.
Cinema Cat - The Railyard has good and not-so-good areas; it's an area still in transition.
For close-in neighborhoods that have primarily middle-to-upper middle class homes, you'd more likely find that in the South Capital, Northeast and East sides.
For sidewalks, the Railyard area, South Capital and near-in westside (like the Guadalupe District), and some eastside streets have them; much of the sought-after historic eastside do not.
If you're close-in to the city center/plaza, then you're within walking distance to everything you mentioned.
Agreed with GreatSantaFe on the Railyard. Also, many people call areas "The Railyard" that this site calls differently. E.g., Irvine Street? Ambrosio? I consider those the Railyard, but I think others might call it "Guadalupe" or something different. Those streets, fwiw, are pretty rough, but then a couple of blocks over, it's nice. Like GSF said, it's spotty.
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