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Possibly moving your way...fill me in!
Hey ladies,
I'm a current NC nestie thinking of moving out to NM...pretty open to area, don't know much about it. I have visited Santa Fe years ago and fell in love...but I'm not sure how affordable it is. Am open to living outside city limits if it's cheaper. Here's what I like/hope to find: mountains/high desert; hip, progressive town with a nice culinary scene; music would be good, too; population of younger 30-somethings; a decent-paying job doing therapy/mental health/counseling (what *does* that type of job get out there money-wise??) or in the schools doing same type stuff; a reasonably priced home, 2 or 3 BR, 2 BA, in a safe area; 2hrs or less from closest airport; nice cultural representation.
Is all this too much to ask? I'm also not sure what I mean by "affordable home"...depends on what I might make in my line of work. Hubby's job is the one that's bringing us out there so we know what he'll be making...under six figures but not by much.
Help a sistah out!
*~*TIA*~*
Re: Possibly moving your way...fill me in!
New Mexico covers a lot of territory. SF/ABQ (throw Rio Rancho and Los Alamos in there) and Las Cruces are by far the most expensive areas, the rest of the state is pretty rural and inexpensive. You also end up having to drive pretty far in the rural areas to get to major stores and serices. ABQ metro alone has 40% the state population (1.8 million).
Lots of poeple fall in love with the state while vacationing and decide to move here, because compared to where they come from it looks inexpensive. Until they move here and realize the housing isn't cheap compared to most wages. The median home price in Santa Fe (SF) is about $350k, the median family income is $50k (recent numbers say SF is at $300k, but that's because they are including affordable housing and the unincorporated areas on Airport Rd in the SF numbers now). In Albuquerque (ABQ), the median home price is $225-250k and median family income $47k. (Those statistics alone explain why I live in ABQ and commute to SF.)
New Mexico is jokingly refered to by a lot of translants as "The Land of Entrapment" as a joke on the motto "Land of Enchantment." Affordable is a very relative term in the state - we have HCOL areas in Santa Fe and Los Alamos and 30 minutes away you have villages where LCOL is as low as it can get.
For info on salaries, the NM Dept of Workforce Solutions has the best statistics. You can look up wages in specific cities and statewide at http://www.wia.state.nm.us/dws-lmi.html#wage1 . Therapy/counseling would get about $40k in SF/ABQ and less in other areas. SInc eyou know your DH's salary, do you know where he will be working?
We have mountains throughout the state, so anywhere would meet that want. For high desert, you want to be in ABQ or further north. Although high desert is a misnomer in northern New Mexico - Santa Fe is actually juniper savannah, Taos/Raton are Rocky Mountain, the Four Corners are Colorado Plateau. Generally, you want to get a mile up to not be too hot in the summer.
Hip, progressive town depends on how you classify hip and progressive. SF and Taos are the most progressive cities in ABQ. ABQ has pockets of creative progressives balanced by necons and moderates. For culinary scene, ABQ, SF, Taos and Las Cruces all fit the bill. All 3 have strong agricultural roots with blossoming local food and artisinal food movements. Truth or Consequences also might suite these requirements - it's become quite an eclectic art enclave the last 5 years.
Music would put you in SF or ABQ or maybe Taos. Taos is famous for their summer chamber music series. SF has the opera, chamber music, classical, world music. And for some reason I still don't get, SF is a big blue grass/folk loving city. ABQ covers a wider spectrum - classical to indigenous punk and a lot more live music venues.
Younger population is an issue in NM. Desite teh average age beingin teh mid-30s, the state tends to trend towards older. You get lots of older folks (45+) and lots of 25 and younger and not a lot in between. For younder 30-somethings you'll want to look at specific neighborhoods in specific cities. For example, in SF you go to the southern neighborhoods, not teh NE quadrant; or yoyu look at the northern portion of Rio Rancho, wo the UNM/Downtown or western part of ABQ.
What do you mean by nice cultural representation? NM has large Hispanic/Chicano/Mexican/Tejano population (from new immigrans to families taht were Spanish colonists 400 years ago) and a large Native American population (Pueblo, Ute, Apache and Navajo tribes). Minority-majority is somewhat commonplace in parts of NM.
If by culture you meant arts and cultural institutions, they are spread throughout the state. Even smaller towns like Socorro, Silver City, Truth or Consequences, Ruidoso, Raton and Las Vegas have vibrant art scenes and cultural institutions.
Hope this helps. And ask questions away. I LOVE New Mexico, haivng transplanted here from South Carolina after several years in Boston.
I forgot airports. ABQ is the only major airport in the state. Las Cruces is within 2 hours of El Paso, so they would qualify as having amajor airport, too. BUt the rest of teh airports in the state are small puddle-jumper types of places - Silver City, Grants, Farmington, Carlsbad, Taos, Ruidoso. And while SF has an airport, it has awful service - the airlines try to fly in for a year or two, pull out, come back in 5 years, repeat cycle.
I realize my response is ABQ/SF heavy. But Nm has some small communities that are wonderful - they just didn't meet your list of qualifications. And some of them are acquired tastes - you have to visit and see if you would like them. Parts of the bootheel (Silver City/Gila Wilderness/Hillsboro) are beautiful and great places, but you are in teh low desert boonies. Mora, Penadaries, Pecos, etc up in NE NM are also beautiful, but they're small. And they are all palces I would definitely tell someone to spend some time visiting before moving there.