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Posted: 6/23/2017 9:50:02 PM EDT
Howdy.  Currently we live in Arizona.  In case you missed it sometimes it gets hot here.  Like every year between July and October.  

Wife unit is tired of it and candidly I guess I am too,  I played golf on Tuesday when it hit 110 before I got done.  I know.  Dry heat.  I swear I'll kick the next person that sways that in the nuts.    

I looked up your weather and it seems both Albuquerque and Santa Fe have decent year round weather.  And reading your faq it appears I can bring my class 3 and carry a weapon in my car without any hassles.

We are retired and I'd want to live near some golf courses and if feasible walking distance to some dining and bars and stuff.    Or on a golf course.  I'd also want at least 2000 sq ft and a 2 car garage in a safe neighborhood.  I still travel and don't want my wife in a precarious situation.

Any suggestions for a nice house in decent neighborhoods?  Should I look between the two cities?  We could swing about $600k.  Maybe more if that's what it takes.

Also, any negatives from your perspectives?  This is first line research so I know little about your state.  Thanks.
Link Posted: 6/24/2017 9:58:11 AM EDT
[#1]
I'm not familiar with Albuquerque or Santa Fe other than visiting.  

If you can handle a little winter weather I'd check out Ruidoso as well.  Great gold courses and cooler summers.  Las Cruces has a few golf courses as well and your budget would get you a great home.  Hell 600k would get you a great home in most of NM.  

If you decide to look into Cruces and need an agent let me know.  We just sold our home there and couldn't have been happier with our agent.
Link Posted: 6/24/2017 10:24:19 AM EDT
[#2]
Thanks for that.  I was pretty much only considering the largest cities as at our age and past history we need to be near various medical specialties as the need arises.  And pardon my ignorance but I thought most cities in NM were like 100K or less and would have little options for hospitals and stuff.

That was why i limited to ALB and SF.
Link Posted: 6/24/2017 1:18:25 PM EDT
[#3]
Ahh makes sense, I figured north and cooler.  Las Cruces is a pretty popular retirement location so I'd assume the docs are good, dont bet your life on my assumption though.  

Yes most other places in NM are smaller.  I'm sure we've got some members who will chime in on the quality of medical care at various locations.
Link Posted: 6/24/2017 4:54:19 PM EDT
[#4]
Pretty much all of NM is cooler so that's easy.  

Yeah, ALB seems the best bet.  Have to visit and see if we like it.  Seems to be adequate flight service for travel and reasonable housing prices.  Maybe I'll move to Santa Fe and become a new age shaman and make beaded bracelets for men.   Hmmm, ya know I don't think that is me.

Link Posted: 6/24/2017 8:21:46 PM EDT
[#5]
Plenty of Golf Courses around town.  Town has good and bar areas.  Stay north of I-40 or West of I-25 and you will be in the better parts.  Class 3 are kosher.

Take a trip and check it out.  

MAHA
Link Posted: 6/24/2017 10:43:20 PM EDT
[#6]
Given that you're retired and are seeking the cooler & greener parts of NM, I would focus your search more on Santa Fe than Albuquerque.  The weather is a bit more mild, it is much greener, and there are way less "big city" problems than you have in Albuquerque.  At your price point, you will find better options around Santa Fe that better meet your requirements and likes.  Albuquerque has too many homeless, too many druggies, and too many poor folks to be here as you don't need to be close to the jobs!
Link Posted: 6/25/2017 10:50:45 AM EDT
[#7]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Given that you're retired and are seeking the cooler & greener parts of NM, I would focus your search more on Santa Fe than Albuquerque.  The weather is a bit more mild, it is much greener, and there are way less "big city" problems than you have in Albuquerque.  At your price point, you will find better options around Santa Fe that better meet your requirements and likes.  Albuquerque has too many homeless, too many druggies, and too many poor folks to be here as you don't need to be close to the jobs!
View Quote
Thanks.  Is there an area of Santa Fe that allows people to walk from their house to eat and groceries and bars and such?  I can't actually tell what is the downtown area so far from my search except it seems the area with really small houses for a lot of money might be it.
Link Posted: 6/25/2017 11:50:08 AM EDT
[#8]
Weather wise Albuquerque has a more mild winter over Santa Fe. Sante fe runs about 10 degrees cooler than Albuquerque on average but SF seems to get more rain and snow.
Santa fe is at about 7000 in elevation and Albuquerque around 5000.

Santa fe is a very liberal city, plastic bags at grocery stores are outlawed and they recently wanted to tax soda. There is a city ordnance that the houses have to be in the Pueblo style, so if you don't like that kind of look, you're out of luck. Santa fe is also very touristy, you can expect to be cut off by people visiting not knowing where they're going and downtown to be busy. By downtown, I mean the plaza area it's mostly tourist shops, hotels, restaurants and museums. Traffic in Santa fe is usually slow, small roads and in part because the roads weren't planned out. I think they have two golf courses in town so you'll likely be driving elsewhere to play golf. Not many options for gun shops so you'll be driving to Albuquerque for that. Most people go out to the Mesa to go target shooting, I believe they have one indoor range in town. Santa fe is a nice city, if you enjoy the outdoors it's perfect.
Housing I'd day for what you want would be the downtown/ museum hill/ canyon road area, avoid looking at anything near airport road it's ghetto.

Albuquerque is the big city and we have the big city issues. Crime, drugs, murders and it's been a little worse lately than in the past. The crime is kind of all over mostly car break-ins and stolen cars. We have a few nice city golf courses here, the university has two and then the casino's outside of town have some. You'll also find one on the other side of the sandias. Your options for gun stores are plentiful and ranges are decent a few indoor, one city range and two private close by. Traffic can suck at rush hour especially commuting from the westside but that sounds like that won't be an issue for you. Albuquerque has a few smaller cities right next to it. Rio Rancho, Corrales are just suburbs Bernalillo and Cedar crest are both about 15 minutes from the city limits. Housing if you want restaurants close by in walking distance it would have to be Nob hill, that's right by the University. It's a nice area but it's not perfect. For a nice area and your price range I'd look near Albuquerque academy, or possibly Corrales. Housing near Abq academy is really nice, traffic is never horrible some restaurants in walking distance. Corrales is very laid back, basically two roads in and out its very country like, people keeping animals, growing fruit and raising crops. You have a few winery's and a few mom and pop restaurants in walking distance.

Your best bet is come come visit, it's an 45 minute drive from Albuquerque to Santa fe. So you can see what both are like with ease.
Link Posted: 6/25/2017 12:26:43 PM EDT
[#9]
Link Posted: 6/25/2017 1:54:42 PM EDT
[#10]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:
Weather wise Albuquerque has a more mild winter over Santa Fe. Sante fe runs about 10 degrees cooler than Albuquerque on average but SF seems to get more rain and snow.
Santa fe is at about 7000 in elevation and Albuquerque around 5000.

Santa fe is a very liberal city, plastic bags at grocery stores are outlawed and they recently wanted to tax soda. There is a city ordnance that the houses have to be in the Pueblo style, so if you don't like that kind of look, you're out of luck. Santa fe is also very touristy, you can expect to be cut off by people visiting not knowing where they're going and downtown to be busy. By downtown, I mean the plaza area it's mostly tourist shops, hotels, restaurants and museums. Traffic in Santa fe is usually slow, small roads and in part because the roads weren't planned out. I think they have two golf courses in town so you'll likely be driving elsewhere to play golf. Not many options for gun shops so you'll be driving to Albuquerque for that. Most people go out to the Mesa to go target shooting, I believe they have one indoor range in town. Santa fe is a nice city, if you enjoy the outdoors it's perfect.
Housing I'd day for what you want would be the downtown/ museum hill/ canyon road area, avoid looking at anything near airport road it's ghetto.

Albuquerque is the big city and we have the big city issues. Crime, drugs, murders and it's been a little worse lately than in the past. The crime is kind of all over mostly car break-ins and stolen cars. We have a few nice city golf courses here, the university has two and then the casino's outside of town have some. You'll also find one on the other side of the sandias. Your options for gun stores are plentiful and ranges are decent a few indoor, one city range and two private close by. Traffic can suck at rush hour especially commuting from the westside but that sounds like that won't be an issue for you. Albuquerque has a few smaller cities right next to it. Rio Rancho, Corrales are just suburbs Bernalillo and Cedar crest are both about 15 minutes from the city limits. Housing if you want restaurants close by in walking distance it would have to be Nob hill, that's right by the University. It's a nice area but it's not perfect. For a nice area and your price range I'd look near Albuquerque academy, or possibly Corrales. Housing near Abq academy is really nice, traffic is never horrible some restaurants in walking distance. Corrales is very laid back, basically two roads in and out its very country like, people keeping animals, growing fruit and raising crops. You have a few winery's and a few mom and pop restaurants in walking distance.

Your best bet is come come visit, it's an 45 minute drive from Albuquerque to Santa fe. So you can see what both are like with ease.
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The area around ABQ Academy is very nice area, plus that private school feels like a small college campus
Link Posted: 6/25/2017 6:07:42 PM EDT
[#11]
Thanks.  Tanoan looks right up our alley.  And ABQ Academy also looks appealing.  As I travel I do want a secure location to leave the wife.  Alarms are nice and locks are good but still.
Link Posted: 6/26/2017 10:08:53 PM EDT
[#12]
Discussion ForumsJump to Quoted PostQuote History
Quoted:


Thanks.  Is there an area of Santa Fe that allows people to walk from their house to eat and groceries and bars and such?  I can't actually tell what is the downtown area so far from my search except it seems the area with really small houses for a lot of money might be it.
View Quote
No, but don't really expect that anywhere in New Mexico, at least not where the nicer places to live are.


If you look in santa Fe, look to tano road, Las campanas and north east along the mountains. Those are the nicest parts of town. It is seriously over run by liberals but don't let them bother you SF is expensive for a reason. It's pretty nice up here.

That being said... I don't have Santa Fe money... I had a small place here but am tired of living in a town house.. I sold my place (and did pretty well) and bought in Rio Rancho.

Right now, I'm chilling on the back porch at my parents (till my house is done being built) drinking a beer enjoying this view.

Link Posted: 6/26/2017 11:31:02 PM EDT
[#13]
Nice view
Link Posted: 6/26/2017 11:38:27 PM EDT
[#14]
Rio Rancho is a nice, I would move out there but the drive to work would be 4 times as long.

MAHA
Link Posted: 7/10/2017 9:53:58 PM EDT
[#15]
Nashville area.  TN.

If you are serious about needing medical care, NM is not an option.

If you have income, the state of NM is broke and the taxes are only going to get worse.

ABQ is the Chicago of the west.

Where do I stop.  Sanctuary cities.  Etc.  A great place to visit.  To become resident.  Think long and hard.
Link Posted: 7/16/2017 6:32:09 AM EDT
[#16]
Have to agree about the medical care.   I have spent a fair bit of time and money at several major Albuquerque hospitals, and wasted tens of thousands of dollars on worthless  care by providers that were grossly incompetent.    IME, the dregs of medicine get exposed elsewhere and decide they can flourish in a backwater state like New Mexico.     Just incredible incompetence, like doctors that stand there and play deaf-mute, refusing to answer your questions.    I wasted $40,000 to reach a diagnosis that was as believable as UFOs, and all the doctors I saw after that disagreed with it.    Never got any money back.   They know they’ll still get paid regardless of their accuracy and many just don’t care.   All they want to do is milk your insurance provider for the most money possible.

Tanoan is a nice little refuge, but when you go out, you’re back in the shithole that is Albuquerque.   But you will get plenty of experience dealing with the riffraff of society.

NM does have some beautiful scenery.
Link Posted: 7/16/2017 7:35:02 AM EDT
[#17]
Thanks all for the opinions.  Beginning to think more along South Carolina or Florida now.  

Pity.  Moving long distance with 5 cats will be a pain in the ass.
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