how is new mexico?

[chigrrl]

Hi
I am thinking of making a move , possibly to the southwest and am doing some research. The Santa fe / Albuquerque areas are where I could be transferred with my company. I really know nothing about New Mexico but figured it would be closer to Mexico than Chicago (although the hispanic pop is quite high here)I would like for my so to stay connected to his Mexican roots and be bilingual but I want to be in an open minded community with at least a few like minded people....whole foods eating, bf, ap,active , outdoorsy etc....
any opinions from those of you living there would be great...the good, bad and ugly
muchas gracias
les

[swcolors]

Hi,
Looks like we're going to be moving to the SF/ALBQ area too. From what I hear, ALBQ is more diverse in many ways, but SF is tri-cultural and a very interesting place to live. The LLL is active in SF (I don't know about ALBQ). WholeFoods and Wild Oats are located in both places as far as I know. Towns are very separated in the SF area (again I don't know much about ALBQ) - some liberal and artsy, some conservative, and a lot of mixed inbetween.

I don't have Mexican ancestry, but coming from NY, we've been looking for a place in the southwest that's culturally diverse and we've pretty much decided on SF. We're outdoorsy people as you are and the SF area has great hiking areas!

So, I don't know if I've helped much, but these are some of the same things we've been looking into. Let me know how you do with your search - I'd be interested in learning more too!
K

[chigrrl]

swcolors:

Wow How exciting for you! I am just now in the process of trying to get dh to VISIT new mexico :)

do you know about the cost of living - I have read some things and it seems as if sf may be a bit more expensive but perhaps i have been mislead.

do you have children ? what type of school research have you done? are you lookingfor public/ private etc.......
thanks
leslee

[supakitty]

I live in Albuquerque, have been here about 7 years. Please feel free to PM or email me laura@woogus.com with questions.

-Laura

[boysrus]

Well, my info is a little anectodotal. I lived in NM about 15 years ago for three years. My mom has lived here since 1986. I have been living here for about a yer. We are not in Albuquerque, but in the southern part of the state.
So, for what it is worth, here are my observations:

Albuquerque seems to have a really high crime rate. It seems to be a nightly occurance to have a shooting. This is a town of about 500,000 so that seems like a really high shooting rate to me. I am sure it is in certain areas that you just stay out of, but I have also read that a lot of women will not walk anywhere in the sity at night alone. There is a lot of gang violence. The schools are not great. The heat is oppressive, the mountains and forests are awesome. The balloon fiesta is not to be missed.
Albuquerque is not as cheap as you would hope. it is getting more and more expensive.

Santa Fe is really quite expensive. Go to www.movingvan.com and you can do a city to city comparison for cost of living. I know Chicago has some pricey points, too, so maybe it would be comparable. OK, here is the thing about Santa Fe. I always thought I would love to live there. It was like my dream city. But, we have been up there a few times and I am totally disillusioned. Once you get out of the touristy area, it is a very dirty and cluttered city. And there is this horrible negative, aggressive vibe there that I have never felt anywhere else. We have lived in crowded touristy areas before, and it felt nothing like this. I end up being on the verge of a panic attack everytime I go there. My husband actually got verbally assaulted and physically threatened by a Burger King employee up there!! The employee had gotten the order wrong, my dh ordered it "our way" and the guy came out of the restaurant after us, cursing and twlling dh to come out of the car so he could kick his a*#!! And the diving is terribly aggressive and scary. It has lovely scenery and I adore the architecture, but I cannot visit there anymore cause it wigs me out too much!! My firend has lived in quite a few towns in NM and she loves Las Vegas, NM. I have never been, but she totally recommended it. It is an hour from Santa Fe, physically beautiful, majority hispanic, Victorian downtown.

[cecily]

Probably stuff you've seen if you've been researching Albuquerque on the web, but worth repeating...

APD crime statistics:

http://cabq.gov/police/statistics/index.html

APS test scores, demographics, etc:

http://www.rda.aps.edu/dashboard/main.asp

Buying real estate:

http://www.swmls.com/

[supakitty]

Originally posted by boysrus
Albuquerque seems to have a really high crime rate. It seems to be a nightly occurance to have a shooting

This, of course, is absolutely not true.

Originally posted by boysrus
I am sure it is in certain areas that you just stay out of, but I have also read that a lot of women will not walk anywhere in the city at night alone.

We live in Nob Hill and take nightly walks to the park nearby, the ice cream shop and to Starbucks on Central in Nob Hill.

Originally posted by boysrus
There is a lot of gang violence.

More so than say, Smalltown USA but less for sure than LA, NYC, Wash, D.C. etc...

Originally posted by boysrus
The schools are not great.

That depends upon the school, there are good schools here in Albuquerque both public and private.

Originally posted by boysrus
The heat is oppressive

I might agree with you there however it's only a few months out of the year. It's better than oppressive heat and 90% humidity.


Originally posted by boysrus
...the mountains and forests are awesome. The balloon fiesta is not to be missed.

Don't forget the farolitas (luminarias) that line the streets at Christmas time, the smell of fresh green chili being roasted in the fall, posole and tamales on Christmas Eve, the arts and crafts festivals, a walk by the Rio Grande, the Biopark, the Zoo, all the ourdoor family concerts in the summertime, so many beautiful things to see and do and experience.

Originally posted by boysrus
Albuquerque is not as cheap as you would hope. it is getting more and more expensive.

Albuquerque is still a very affordable place to live. It is becoming more popular and therefore the cost of living has increased. Albuquerque definately has its downfalls but I don't think the bad even comes close to outweighing the good to be found here.

-Laura

[swcolors]

So how about Santa Fe? Anybody have more info on Santa Fe or more specifically, Cochiti Lake (25 min from Santa Fe)? I know that crime is really LOW there :-)

Santa Fe has a "baby swimming" class going. I believe they have a great variety of private schools. The LLL appears to be strong there. I know "Mothering" magazine is headquartered there! :thumb And the cost of living is relative - it really depends on what part of the country you're comparing it to - coming from NY, where the taxes have been steadily shooting upwards since 9/11, the Santa Fe cost of living should be a pleasure (I hope :-) There appears to be crime in Santa Fe, but pockets of it (read the www.SFnewmexican.com daily crime stats). Certain places seem to have more crime than others - from the police reports posted, the areas that come up the most are Agua Fria, Espanola, Cerrilos (rd?), and somewhere around the airport and St Francis street...... cars seem to get broken into a lot and some houses....BUT I would imagine, since Santa Fe does rely a great deal on tourism, that the police make a great effort to keep crime under control.

That being said - as I mentioned, I don't live in Santa Fe yet, so I'm just going by what I've spoken with people about and what I've ascertained from researching the area. I think Santa Fe has gotten the reputation of being overpriced due to the many multimillion dollar homes that are sitting on the market - if you're in the market for anything above half-a-mil you've got a buyer's market waiting for you; if you're looking under 300, you've got to be on your feet ready to catch before everybody else! (here's one article about this year's real estate market: www.french-french.com, go to 'Co&Agents', then 'Client newsletter') There do appear to be places such as El Dorado to the SE of Santa Fe, and many many new developments (Rancho Viejo, etc) to the SW that are consistantly attracting many to move into the area and become 'SantaFeans' (an interesting situation for a drought area - but that's another story :-) Realtor.com has a nifty salary comparison calculator:http://www.homefair.com/homefair/calc/salcalc.html Most of the cost of living comparison charts online I've seen are from Y2K so keep that in mind too.

Well, sorry for the loooonnng post - once I get started with researching something I tend to get a little obsessed with it :blah I'm enjoying the exchange of info here - it's good to hear everyone's opinion :love

[supakitty]

I have been to Cochiti Lake (to the actual man-made reservoir/lake, lemme see if I can dig up some pictures for you) once or twice in the springtime, it's very low now apparently because we've had such a terrible drought for so long. The lake is nice, very very hot in the summertime without enough shade. I didn't even know there was an actual town of Cochiti but then I wasn't looking. I was under the impression that it was part of the Native American reservation, as in Cochiti Pueblo... I'll ask around if you'd like. Maybe some of my friends in Santa Fe know more on the subject.

[swcolors]

Hi Supakitty,
Yes, please pass along any info you or your friends have (please feel free to private email me). As far as I know, the Cochiti Lake development is on leased land (99 year lease I think) from the Pueblo, the houses are sold outright just like anywhere else, crime is almost non-existent, and houses seem to be really well-kept. I believe they have their own water-well rights and sewer, etc. too. TIA!
K :)

[pottermamma]

HI ! I live in Taos NM which is about an hour and 1/2 north east of Santa Fe. We like going to Santa Fe when we do, although I wouldn't want to live there only because I am not a big city girl (I know Santa Fe isn't actually the big city, but coming from Taos it is!!!!). I think Santa Fe is a neat city and seems to have lots of alternative minded folks. Whenever you see ratings of top cities to live in, Santa Fe is always one of them in the top ten. They get some really good music at Palo Solari (sp?) and other great events. I think part of the vibe that boysrus is talking about comes from native New Mexicans trying to find a place in a town that their family has lived in for generations but that doesn't acomodate them due to high prices of land, homes and low paying jobs. There is a very high stratification of income levels in the whole area. I also think that although the tri cultural element is great here, this also seems to cause a lot of underground strife (it does here in Taos also). But overall people are very nice and I think this area is a very unique and wonderful place. I would definately pick Santa fe over Albq though
Hope you ahve fun finding your new home!!!!:love

[supakitty]

Originally posted by pottermamma
I would definately pick Santa fe over Albq though

Just curious why you would pick SF over ABQ?

[pottermamma]

Well, supakitty ~ for a few different reasons, but I hopefully you won't take offense to those reasons as I see that you are from Albq.
First, as I said I am really not a city girl, so that is definately part of it, but mainly, I really don't enjoy Albq as a city. I don't really like the landscape (but I am also having trouble with the dryness up here). I think that it has really not much to offer (for example, compare the butterfly pavilion in Denver (if you've ever been, if not it is so beautifuland has so many beautiful butterflies and is landscaped so nicely and also has a bug room and other things to offer) with the one in Albq, all Dh and I could say was the one in Albq seemed more like a moth pavilion... and the aquarium made us laugh...I'm sorry, please know this is simply my opinion and I am sure that there are a lot of reasons to really enjoy living there). It is too hot in the summer and too dry in the winter (again for my taste). I think that the prevalance of violence and gangs is very real and I often feel uncomfortable in certain parts of the city, although someone did mention the Knob Hill area and that is a pretty nice part of the city.
I think to sum up why I would choose Santa Fe over Albq is that Santa Fe, at this point has almost everything to offer that Albq does in terms of stores, acomodations etc. ,is much more of a pretty place to live (again in my opinion only, and as I said I have never lived either place so........), and really to me has many more "alternative minded" people than Albq.
Again, just my opinion though:love


OH, and an update on the Cochiti Lake area, there is unfortunately a fire going on there right now, I don't think it is too big at this point, but any fire can grow an dbecome a problem, just wanted to let you all know so you could sent positive thoughts and prayers to those that live in the area now and to the many creatures in the forest dealing with the situation.:love

[supakitty]

Having lived in London, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. (Northern VA), Boston and then Albuquerque and also having traveled quite extensively throughout Europe... I can say that, yes, ABQ is the least sophisticated place that I have been thus far. However, I can also say that ABQ is home to the most charming, warm and genuine people and has a greater sense of community than any place I have been. So the aquarium is small, I go every single Thursday night with a picnic and my family to meet dozens of friends for the Summer Nights concerts. I'm glad it's intimate, my daughter runs through the aquarium and the botanical gardens and the new child's garden (including the "moth house") like she owns the place. I guess its just a matter of perspective.

Anyway, to each her own, right?


:)

[amber87507]

Hi,
It's late so Ill be brief! I live in Santa Fe and have been for over 5 years now! I am originally from Houston TX. If anyone would like more info about Santa Fe please feel free to email me!
AND yes it is awesome to know Mothering is right in my backyard!!
nite nite!:zzz

[~lapetitesirene~]

I have lived in Santa Fe for 2 and 1/2 years. I have lived in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Mammoth Lakes California.

I will give you a small insight to my perspective....

What I like...I too, am not a big city girl. It isn't me anymore. SO, what I do like about Santa Fe, is it is big enough to have services and stores, but small enough to get to know people. I live in El Dorado-about 20 minutes drive away from Santa Fe proper. It is a community of single family homes with their own Elementary school, a Montessori Preschool, and is pretty much crime free. But, that is because there is not a direst road to town from here.(IMO) It is beautiful here at night. Lots of stars and clean air. I feel safe when I walk my child in her stroller in the morning.

There is a HUGE 'crunchy' community-at all varying degrees of crunchiness. There is a Whole Food and Wild Oat and another local health foods store which is great. THe Farmers Market is one of the best that I have been to. It is a pleasure and I look forward to every Saturday that I spend there. LLL is very active here. Some very good leaders. I have really enjoyed their support. The hospital here does not give formula samples when you go home and is very pro breastfeeding. (the Breast Feeding Task force of Santa Fe is responsible for this) Lots of No-vaxin, EBF family bed type of fmailies here. It is really great for that. They do have a Water Babies class-and it is great. I have gone to it. Great instructor. Also-the Children's Museum is really good here-small by big city standards, but it is great and the kids love it.

What I don't like...Santa Fe is a small town with big city problems. Crime, actually, is very high here...and police get paid very little. (just have a beer with a couple of policcemen..they'll talk) The Santa Fe New Mexican underreports the crime statistics...because we don't want to scare tourists away- I have two friends here who are caucasion, lived here most of their lives and back me up on this point. My girlfriend is a waitress and will not work in town if there is not parking near where she works and someone has to walk her to her car. She is not a paranoid person...but she has lived here too long not to take that precaution.

Property Taxes are very low here -esp-compared to other parts of the country. We pay like half what we did in california. That said-education is horrid, here. It is not a priority. I would never send my child to public schol here. (Although I must admit that the particualr Elementary school where I live is one of the best in the state....there is no JR. High or High School, here) I would be sending my daughter to private school for a good education and to sheild her from the community. In the schools-there are serious issues between hispanics and whites. This has always been an issue and gets worse as the whites drive up housing costs and the Native hispanics cannot afford to live near their families as they grow up and have families of their own.

Customer service bites here. Yes, there are some good proprieters with great employees...but I have had experience after experience with people acting like I am imposing on them to do their job. And let me say that I am a very patient and understanding person. In most of the finer retaurants here-everyone is an artist, just waiting tables on the side. But they act like it is beneath them. (In LA-everyone was an actor...just waiting tables on the side-but they gave great sevice)

I haven't found a park in town that I feel safe taking my dd to. There are commuity pools-and a really great community center with a fabulous ice rink...but for outside parks-I only like the ones in my community(I don't live in town).

Santa fe is just not that kid friendly IMO.. ABQ (my in-laws live there) seems more so.

One more thing. The dryness is a blessing and a curse. The temperatures here in Santa Fe are great-and lots of sunshine. It never gets more than 90-94 degrees here...and low humididty-so it is fine. Also the night usually cool off (after all we are up 7000 ft) I lived in the high desert in Californiawhich was very dry. But we got lots more snow there. And the dryness wasn't horrid. Here-it gets so dry that you can get these spontaneous cracks in your hands...it is amazing-they hurt! ...now if you live in a mountain area-here with lots of trees it is a bit better...but let me tell you-it is DRY DRY DRY. Great for no mildew and drying dipes, no frizzy hair-but makes you think twice before you wash your hands...

Overall-the negative outweighs the positive for me. But there are people who love living here. Good luck with your decision-and if you want to chat-just ask for my email : )

PS-Mothering Magazine has the greatest book lending library you have ever seen for crunchy mamas!

[amber87507]

Ok,
Ive thought about this post alot and mostly because parts of it really disturbed me. Ive lived in Santa Fe for 5 1/2 years and my parents have lived here for 7 years. I grew up in a very dynamic
city, Houston, TX.
The first thing that bothered me was this
*The Santa Fe New Mexican underreports the crime statistics...because we don't want to scare tourists away- I have two friends here who are caucasion, lived here most of their lives and back me up on this point.*

what does caucasion (or anglo as we say in Santa Fe) have to do w/admitting the crime rate.
I do have to say coming from a HUGE metro area that Santa Fe isn't nearly as bad cant even compare to a large city.

*The hospital here does not give formula samples when you go home and is very pro breastfeeding. (the Breast Feeding Task force of Santa Fe is responsible for this) Lots of No-vaxin, EBF family bed type of fmailies here*

This is true but there are still so many mom's especially young ones who do formula feed their children. I wish there was more outreach to new mothers. A lot of mother's use the 'my baby is lactose intolerant' excuse. Really all they would need to do is cut out the dairy in their diet to be able to breastfeed.
The doctor I see currently would like me to vax Caden especially for tetanus and Im considering switching doctors. IT's not easy finding an 'alternative' doctor who accepts medicaid though.

*I would never send my child to public schol here. (Although I must admit that the particualr Elementary school where I live is one of the best in the state....there is no JR. High or High School, here) I would be sending my daughter to private school for a good education and to sheild her from the community. *

It is true there are tons of problems with education state wide in New Mexico not just Santa Fe and Albquerque. Saying that the Elementary school in El Dorado is one of the best in the state isnt saying much. Private schools here frankly arent much better than the public schools. THere are some great people in the Santa Fe Community. My father teaches disabled kids at Capital High School and he's an awesome teacher and loves his kids. Being a Special Ed teacher isnt an easy job either. I have also sub'ed at the public schools and I can tell you there are some great schools/teachers here and some really bad ones. Each school is like it's own lil island and they have their own ways of handling their kids.

*In the schools-there are serious issues between hispanics and whites. This has always been an issue and gets worse as the whites drive up housing costs and the Native hispanics cannot afford to live near their families as they grow up and have families of their own. *

Like I said b4 I have subbed at the Santa Fe schools and my father teaches at Capital. I havent seen any 'major racial' issues. Of course there are social problems at times but no different than any other school. I went to a school where there was much more diversity than in Santa Fe. I had a boyfriend that graduated several years ago from santa fe high and he never talked about 'race wars' at the high school either.
As far as housing costs the 'whites' arent driving the 'native hispanics' out of town it's the rich and let me tell you not all rich people are white! That statement really offended me.
It is pretty expensive here. We are planning on moving to Rio Rancho next year mostly because Im living at home w/my parents and our house is too small for the four of us. You can get more house for your money in Rio Rancho than you can in Santa Fe. We wish we could stay but we cant afford to. We are white and not wealthy by any means. In fact my son is on medicaid.

*Customer service bites here. Yes, there are some good proprieters with great employees...but I have had experience after experience with people acting like I am imposing on them to do their job. And let me say that I am a very patient and understanding person. In most of the finer retaurants here-everyone is an artist, just waiting tables on the side. But they act like it is beneath them. (In LA-everyone was an actor...just waiting tables on the side-but they gave great sevice)*

I worked at La Posada last summer and let me tell you customer service was a huge deal there. As it should be being a very nice and expensive resort. I know I treated my customers very well and so did my co-workers. In the 5 1/2 years Ive lived here I never thought of Santa Fe as having horrid customer service or anything tragic that stood out in my memory. I have also worked at the community college all at customer service related jobs. I always tried to treat others as I wanted to be treated.

Overall I think the relations in this community are good.
There are some amazing and loving people in Santa Fe.
People here want to work together to create a positive place for our children to live and grow. There is also a very nice community college in santa fe. Ive received a scholarship here and have attended several semesters here. We also have College of Santa Fe and the well known St. John's College. Another plus is if your kids graduate high school in New Mexico the state will pay for your kids college education.

[pottermamma]

OT
amber87507 ~ Where can I find info about the state paying for my child's college education???? I've never heard this before and am really very suprised ~ I have known several high school graduates from Taos high, born and raised in NM that have never been offered (at least that I know of) the opportunity to attend college, let alone for free....And we have a non-profit here called Bridges Project for Ed. that helps kids among other things find scholarships...I just can't imagine that this is true, although I'd LOVE to know about it if it were...Might change my mind about homeschooling my son!!!! If you have some info please please share :love

[amber87507]

i would not change ur mind about home schooling your child. We are going to do it too..unschooling. even if you home school what your child can do is get his ged once he reaches 17. this will qualify him. ive worked at sfcc . the free college program is called the lottery scholarship (money comes from the nm state lottery)it came into being in 1996 i believe. the first semester is not paid for but you can get financial aid if you qualify and you must have a 3.0 avg in that 1st semester. also you have to start college the following semester after you grad or get your ged and once you start you have to coninue you cant stop and go. i would contact any community college in your area to find out more. i worked at the ged dept at sfcc and there was a 17 yo young man who was homeschooled, got his ged very quickly and started taking classes at sfcc the following semester! Such a bright mature nice 'young man'.
i would look up unschooling and john holt for some good educational reading!! hth
nak

[pottermamma]

Thanks for the info Amber87507 (sorry to keep this OT). It sounded before to me that your kiddo just had to graduate and here is $ for college...I have heard of the lottery $ though. We have thought a lot obout homeschool/unschool and are really hoping to go that route...never know..but that is the direction right now
Thanks again

[Lillabug]

I live in Santa Fe. I moved here January of 2002 from NYC.
I HATED it here at first. I have definitely grown to appreciate it now that I'm a mom.

my opinion/advice on a few things:

schools.
yes, the public schools here are horrid for the most part. However, montessori,waldorf, desert academy and the gentle nudge more than make up for it IMO. My husband was a "scholarship" kid from gentle nudge and waldorf. He's very well educated I would say!

Cost of living.
It's not as low as say, cleveland or buffalo, ny...
buuut, we pay $1000 a month for a 3 bdrm. 2.5 bath townhome in a lovely community.

Crime.
No worse than many other towns of the same population.

some things about nm in general that bother me are the stupid drivers that don't signal, the gangbangin' wannabe thug homies that tag retaining walls, and the subpar public transportation.

but, I would say overall, I like where I live. I feel comfortable breastfeeding in public. The farmer's market is fabulous.There are many local organic farmer's and csa.


oh, for the woman looking for a good ob/gyn/ped.

try isis medicine on botulph lane.
Leah Morton and Bruce Gollub are fabulous doctors, and very supportive of non-vacc.

[kcummins-bakko]

Hi, I am a New Mexican currently living in Albuquerque. My husband is a teacher in the public schools here. We just moved from Taos. I think Alb is pretty crazy. There are some alright parts but the crime rate is high, even in so called nice places. We have heard gun shots regularly and we don't live in what is considered a really bad neighborhood. Teachers don't get paid well at all. But I can say that the teachers for the most part are really trying. I prefer Taos over any other city I have been to or lived in. I think that everything is what you make of it though so it really is about tastes. All I can really say is that we are developing what we call a short list of the good things about Albuquerque and while we are trying to stay positive, it is a really short list.
And, I do not know if the question was already answered but the way to get tuition paid in NM for college is for students to go to a state funded school right out of High School, you cannot tak eany time off and then, in college, they must earn a 2.5 (some schools only require a 2.0) to keep the scholarship. It does not start until second semester of their first year (but UNM NMSU and NMHU offer "bridge scholarships" for that) and it does not pay for all of the tuition anymore. Each school has different amounts it will pay. I was a High School Counselor before having my son and probably 85% of my students could have gone to one of the schools in NM for free for all foor years.
I would love to give anyone an info I can about the places I have lived here from my perspective. You can email me anytime. I think NM is one of the greatest places so you cannot go wrong, just do some research and by all means, visit, come check out the towns and they should speak for thwmselves.

[pottermamma]

OT, kcummins-bakko, where were you a school counselor, if you don't mind me asking, was it when you were up here in Taos??? You name (I'm assuming the cummins-bakko ios your last name???) looks familiar. I work for Casa de Corazon and used to work with the BMS program there and was in the Taos Municipal Schools a great deal, maybe that is where you name rings a bell from???????
I hope your list of positives on Albq continues to grow but I totally agree "I prefer Taos from any city I have been to or lived in"!!!!!!
:love

[kcummins-bakko]

POttermama, Sorry it took me so long to reply, I worked in Penasco. WHen did you start working at Casa? I used to work at the RTC there! It sure is a small town, a great one at that! Feel free to email again, I would love to make the connection!
Katy