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Living in Santa Fe, NM


jimmyjazz

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3 hours ago, Texzilla58 said:


But it’s a dry snow in AZ. Half of Lake Erie dumps snow on Buffalo; it’s heavy and wet and fucking ball killin cold. I wouldn’t live there with nfl money.

That's true.  Also, the wind off Lake Erie is a bitch.  Give me Flag over Buffalo any day, but most people have no clue that Flag gets so much snow

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12 hours ago, BottleRocket said:

The wife and I just got back from a trip to Red River, Angel Fire, and Cimarron.  We're thinking about a move to Angel FIre in the next five years.   I'm concerned that the community is too small, but dang it's beautiful.  I think access to healthcare would be the big issue.

I'm imagining this curb episode

 

 

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As someone that has spent most of my life in a small/moderate size City of 60k-100k, it has its positives and you learn to work around the negatives. Traffic/food/lack of waiting anywhere/etc are all positives to a smaller town than the big cities. I know the owners/servers at every place we eat which is much better than having a never ending selection of places to choose from that I probably don’t want anyways. Healthcare is an easy deal as long as you are near a larger City when a significant issue comes up. The cultural aspects of larger cities are a drive away or a flight away if you want something different. I don’t know anything about NM, but some of the things being sold as negatives might not be so negative when you actually get there.

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10 hours ago, Carl Spackler said:

That's true.  Also, the wind off Lake Erie is a bitch.  

My starter wife was from Lyndhurst, a suburb just northeast of Cleveland.  That lake effect snow is real.  Several times I remember waking up to a fresh couple of feet.  I hate that city.

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11 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

My starter wife was from Lyndhurst, a suburb just northeast of Cleveland.  That lake effect snow is real.  Several times I remember waking up to a fresh couple of feet.  I hate that city.

Just got back from visiting friends that live in Avon Lake west of Cleveland.  It was a high of 82 every day and they don't get lake effect snow on the west side.  It's a shame such a nice area is ruined by only having access to Cleveland.  

It is a jarring reminder of the difference in cost of living every time we visit.  They have a 4,000 sq foot house with an additional 2,000 sq ft finished basement, 3 acres, pool and they paid $800,000 (650 for the house and 250 for a new kitchen addition).  Compared to my 1,850 sq ft shitbox appraised above $1M.

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On 7/8/2023 at 6:55 PM, Butch Had Not said:

For me this could be anecdotal. I lived in New Mexico for about 15 years. My parents and my brother still live there. I have no desire to go back. The best way to describe it is that the state sucks the life out of you. It is really hard to escape your past. I would never recommend young people to move there either. If your committed to the outdoors and that will be a large part of your new life you will be pleased with the recreational activities. If you plan to live in the cities and try to enjoy that kind of life, you might end up painfully bored. Only so many blue corn enchiladas one can eat. It does have a unique history and places and things that are completely different from the Texas experience but even with that you could get tapped out quickly. 

If you are looking for higher elevations (7000 ft elevation) with nice summers and skiing in the winter, Pinetop has Sunrise and flagstaff has Snow Bowl. A little lower and Durango has a lot of the same things nearby. 

Love Flagstaff!

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1 minute ago, Butch Had Not said:

Me too.  I live in Phoenix and have on multiple occasions almost bought a second home in Flagstaff. I won't now as the market is just too high up there for my liking. I don't know if it will ever be reasonable again. 

I See What You Did There GIFs | Tenor

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3 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

Just got back from visiting friends that live in Avon Lake west of Cleveland.  It was a high of 82 every day and they don't get lake effect snow on the west side.  It's a shame such a nice area is ruined by only having access to Cleveland.  

It is a jarring reminder of the difference in cost of living every time we visit.  They have a 4,000 sq foot house with an additional 2,000 sq ft finished basement, 3 acres, pool and they paid $800,000 (650 for the house and 250 for a new kitchen addition).  Compared to my 1,850 sq ft shitbox appraised above $1M.

The Drew Carey Show Running GIF

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  • 2 months later...
2 minutes ago, hobbes2702 said:

You lucky fuck. Obviously not fine dining or anything but I love me a Marg at Del Charro and some Dion’s hatch pepper pizza.

It's either Santa Fe or Los Alamos and I think I'd rather live in SF and commute to LA. 

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Missed this discussion this summer. Been to Santa Fe a couple of times and really like it. Don't know much beyond the Plaza stuff to judge whether I could live there full-time or not. Conversely, been out to Ruidoso several times and done a more immersive dive there. Surprised to not see more discussion of Ruidoso on here. I really enjoyed it. Lot of older Tech grads, of course, but whatever. Better than aggy.

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2 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Missed this discussion this summer. Been to Santa Fe a couple of times and really like it. Don't know much beyond the Plaza stuff to judge whether I could live there full-time or not. Conversely, been out to Ruidoso several times and done a more immersive dive there. Surprised to not see more discussion of Ruidoso on here. I really enjoyed it. Lot of older Tech grads, of course, but whatever. Better than aggy.

i've bumped that Ruidoso thread a bunch the last few years and got very little response. it's a good spot all things considered. good spot, with an actual grocery store and things to do.

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1 minute ago, NoName said:

i've bumped that Ruidoso thread a bunch the last few years and got very little response. it's a good spot all things considered. good spot, with an actual grocery store and things to do.

I meant as an alternative option to Santa Fe as far as living in NM goes. As you mentioned, it just feels more like a permanent residence and less of a tourist destination or seasonal/secondary living spot. Lots of great golf in/around Ruidoso, Ski Apache up the mountain (kind of run down from a facilities standpoint but don't know much about the actual skiing -- I imagine the skiing is much improved up around Santa Fe, including Taos and Angel Fire).

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18 minutes ago, C-Man said:

I meant as an alternative option to Santa Fe as far as living in NM goes. As you mentioned, it just feels more like a permanent residence and less of a tourist destination or seasonal/secondary living spot. Lots of great golf in/around Ruidoso, Ski Apache up the mountain (kind of run down from a facilities standpoint but don't know much about the actual skiing -- I imagine the skiing is much improved up around Santa Fe, including Taos and Angel Fire).

im curious how much less expensive it is than santa fe.

from a healthcare perspective its small (25 bed hospital) but new patient care area as of 2020 and part of a larger hospital based out of Santa Fe - Presbyterian

7 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I played a round of golf at some 9-hole course up near Cloudcroft in the mid-90's.  Driving the ball in that thin atmosphere rocks.

Cloudcroft is a cool little town now (good texas style BBQ, brewery, etc) - that golf course looks awesome (i imagine there is only 1 there)

 

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11 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I played a round of golf at some 9-hole course up near Cloudcroft in the mid-90's.  Driving the ball in that thin atmosphere rocks.

Parents of a good buddy of mine here in Dallas own a place just outside Ruidoso. He, another buddy and I went out there and stayed last summer for a charity BBQ-event planning, golf getaway. Played three different courses around his house over three days and it was a blast. There are three courses right there by the house and then we drove a bit to play Inn of the Mountain Gods the final day. You can hit the ball a fucking mile. I shot 84 or something at Mountain Gods and it was Driver-PW on nearly every hole.

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CSB, I almost moved to SF for at least 16 months for my wife's clinical rotations. I was very much looking forward to wandering around the mountains and skiing while she was preoccupied with school. At the last minute, they decided they no longer wanted Greenspoint-style nursing students. We were instead sent to beautiful Decatur, Texas, where some friendly neighbors wrote racist shit on our cars and drextras.

So I can't speak much to NM (10,000 waves was still there and still awesome in 2019), but I would advise avoiding the Fort Worth exurbs.

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28 minutes ago, Js1 said:

The job offer is great. The money is great. Working at Los Alamos would be awesome. The only thing giving me pause is Santa Fe is…. Small. 

Just curious -- what would you be doing?

I interviewed at Sandia Labs coming out of grad school.  Those people were fucking weird.  I got the offer, but turned it down and stayed in Austin.

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29 minutes ago, Js1 said:

The job offer is great. The money is great. Working at Los Alamos would be awesome. The only thing giving me pause is Santa Fe is…. Small. 

Until I knew you were mid-30's and single I was stoked for you. It might still be great, but how important is your dating life?
Meaning, are you into artsy divorcee realtors starting over in boutique retail, trustifarian ski bums and absentee business owners who split time between Santa Fe and ________?

Edited by Bozo_Casanova
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20 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Just curious -- what would you be doing?

I interviewed at Sandia Labs coming out of grad school.  Those people were fucking weird.  I got the offer, but turned it down and stayed in Austin.

In-house immigration sponsorship stuff. I'm trying to get out of the law firm provider side, it's exhausting. 

20 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

Until I knew you were mid-30's and single I was stoked for you. It might still be great, but how important is your dating life?
Meaning, are you into artsy divorcee realtors starting over in boutique retail, trustifarian ski bums and absentee business owners who split time between Santa Fe and ________?

That's intriguing. 

But the more research I've done, the more hesitant I've become.  They asked me to come out at the end of the month, explore the area, meet people at the Lab (they didn't end up flying people in for 3rd interview due to scheduling conflicts) and then make a decision.  We had a long chat yesterday about my hesitations - the size of SF, the housing situation, my concern with people within my demographic (mid-30s LGBT). 

I figure I'd at least give them the courtesy of coming out before making a decision. I have to get out of Texas before Blastfurnace 2024, and if it's not this, I may just move back to Denver.  My current job is split between Denver (virtually) and Houston (90% WFH), so I guess I could just flip that around. 

ABQ is too far to commute and boy, did he start to lose me a little when he said he would prefer I'm in the office full-time (9/80) for the first 3-6 months while I get used to working in government.  

Edited by Js1
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6 minutes ago, Js1 said:

We had a long chat yesterday about my hesitations - the size of SF, the housing situation, my concern with people within my demographic (mid-30s LGBT). 

I didn't know about (or at least recall) the bolded part.  Yeah, that could be a problem.  I grew up in a small town and there was no LGBT scene to speak of.  At least there wasn't one out in the open.  Those were different days, though, and at least Santa Fe has a buzzing art scene, so maybe?

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9 minutes ago, Js1 said:

I have to get out of Texas before Blastfurnace 2024, and if it's not this, I may just move back to Denver.  My current job is split between Denver (virtually) and Houston (in-person), so I guess I could just flip that around. 

I have some but little experience with Denver and New Mexico, and unless there's a huge difference in pay, I'd take Denver over Santa Fe/Los Alamos in a heartbeat, straight or gay.

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2 minutes ago, South Austin said:

I have some but little experience with Denver and New Mexico, and unless there's a huge difference in pay, I'd take Denver over Santa Fe/Los Alamos in a heartbeat, straight or gay.

There's about a $15k difference in pay. And the fact that Los Alamos will foot the entire relocation.  Moving back to Denver is on my own dime. 

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17 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I didn't know about (or at least recall) the bolded part.  Yeah, that could be a problem.  I grew up in a small town and there was no LGBT scene to speak of.  At least there wasn't one out in the open.  Those were different days, though, and at least Santa Fe has a buzzing art scene, so maybe?

If any place in New Mexico is going to have a thriving LGBT scene, it's gonna be Santa Fe.  You can't have all that fringe and turquoise jewelry without being a little gay. The issue would be is that the gay scene is gonna most likely trend older than a major city.  

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5 minutes ago, Js1 said:

Go on 

Nothing really to tell. Friends are late 40s-50 married straight people, so take with a grain of salt, but they are in the creative community and have mentioned the LGBT community in passing, which tells me it’s visible to them as lefty creative types (filmmaker, music production, academic, earth mother)

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3 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

If any place in New Mexico is going to have a thriving LGBT scene, it's gonna be Santa Fe.  You can't have all that fringe and turquoise jewelry without being a little gay. The issue would be is that the gay scene is gonna most likely trend older than a major city.  

This makes sense to me on all points.

If you do make it there, hang out here... https://tesuquevillagemarket.com/ 

We always stop there when we go to or pass through Santa Fe.  Has an oddly Austin-like vibe.  

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That's intriguing. 
But the more research I've done, the more hesitant I've become.  They asked me to come out at the end of the month, explore the area, meet people at the Lab (they didn't end up flying people in for 3rd interview due to scheduling conflicts) and then make a decision.  We had a long chat yesterday about my hesitations - the size of SF, the housing situation, my concern with people within my demographic (mid-30s LGBT). 
I figure I'd at least give them the courtesy of coming out before making a decision. I have to get out of Texas before Blastfurnace 2024, and if it's not this, I may just move back to Denver.  My current job is split between Denver (virtually) and Houston (90% WFH), so I guess I could just flip that around. 
ABQ is too far to commute and boy, did he start to lose me a little when he said he would prefer I'm in the office full-time (9/80) for the first 3-6 months while I get used to working in government.  

Government? Yeah, prepare to have most of your WFH privileges cut with little notice.

I’d go with Denver. Long game, as stated above.
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12 hours ago, hookem2010 said:

CSB, I almost moved to SF for at least 16 months for my wife's clinical rotations. I was very much looking forward to wandering around the mountains and skiing while she was preoccupied with school. At the last minute, they decided they no longer wanted Greenspoint-style nursing students. We were instead sent to beautiful Decatur, Texas, where some friendly neighbors wrote racist shit on our cars and drextras.

So I can't speak much to NM (10,000 waves was still there and still awesome in 2019), but I would advise avoiding the Fort Worth exurbs.

10,000 waves is gone?  fuck me.

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10 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

The other problem is that Albuquerque sucks.

 

6 hours ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

Albuquerque (lived there a few years in the '80s) is a town I marvel at. It has everything going for it that could make it a really cool place - culture, climate, outdoors, mix of people, yet like you say, just sucks.

At the risk of threadjacking what is supposed to be a Santa Fe thread, I'm curious to know why you both think ABQ sucks.  I've never really spent time there -- flown in and out in connection with skiing at Taos -- but I've been intrigued by the mix of attributes that MD mentioned.  I know crime (esp. property crime) is an issue, and some people thinking of retiring there are turned off by what sounds like a generally bad healthcare scene.  What else about ABQ is a drag?  

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2 minutes ago, Carl Spackler said:

 

At the risk of threadjacking what is supposed to be a Santa Fe thread, I'm curious to know why you both think ABQ sucks.  I've never really spent time there -- flown in and out in connection with skiing at Taos -- but I've been intrigued by the mix of attributes that MD mentioned.  I know crime (esp. property crime) is an issue, and some people thinking of retiring there are turned off by what sounds like a generally bad healthcare scene.  What else about ABQ is a drag?  

Crime, drugs, poor education system, no nightlife for younger crowd.  Crime/drugs being the huge one. Lots of gang activity. City corruption. My parents finally left a year ago as things got to the point they no longer felt safe.  

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Santa Fe is really cool. I think it would be a cool place to live on a rotational / temporary basis. Like if the job was a 2 year contract or something and then you could rotate out.

We go to Ski Santa Fe a lot and love it. In NM, I've been to Taos, Red River, Angel Fire when the kids were little multiple times, and we prefer the ease and convenience and cheap budget of Ski Santa Fe. There is a nice Marriot at the base of the hill, you drive up 20-25 minutes in the morning, Park and then drive back to the Marriot. No paying a ton of money for ski-in/ski-out and condos, etc. when traveling with young kids.

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