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Originally Posted by lake825
I have found comments on here extremely helpful so far with our family's relocation search. We have decided on Santa Fe and I am wondering if users wouldn't mind informing me about as much as possible. First and foremost, where are the friendly family neighborhoods for kids? My son is an only child and I want to make sure he's able to meet some local kids. Are there any other good neighborhoods besides El Dorado?
What are people in Santa Fe generally like? It takes a while to get to know the culture of a place. For example, New Yorkers, for the most part are straight forward and direct, chatty, more in your face, very focused on career and don't really think about what goes on not in New York. (huge generalization) With our experience in Midwest, the people are very nice and polite but to the point of being shut down and reserved making them difficult to get to know. (or maybe the brutal weather just takes a toll of one's personality) Of course, these are sweeping generalizations and of course not true to everyone, so I don't want to sound like a jerk, but I am curious to know any and all thoughts on what people are generally like, or what the stereotypes are of the culture and environment. The type of thing that's hard to figure out by visiting and takes years in a place to understand. We are aware there are lot of wealthy second homers and retirees and elderly population.
Thank you in advance!
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Santa Fe is largely hispanic, although many native Santa Feans have sold their houses to wealthy transplants who come from California and New York with millions and buy out the natives. So the population is a weird mix of people who have second homes there, and come and go without involving themselves in the city, and native Santa Feans, who are an ancient culture that has been there since the 1600s and don't much like anybody else.
You will find real estate ridiculously expensive in Santa Fe, people ask outrageous sums for crumbling old dumps with 6 foot ceilings, dirt yards, postage stamp bathrooms and kitchens and no closets. Anywhere close to town that is. In the outlying areas, like El Dorado, you are really out in the sticks and a long way from town. You can find more recently built housing with modern amenities in those areas, but you will be a half-hour drive or more from any of Santa Fe's charms. and El Dorado is really in the desert. I don't have children so know nothing about family neighborhoods but the population is more typical of a resort town or tourist town. Everything is geared toward the tourists and really expensive. The city attracts a lot of art gallery types, restaurant people, retail people and developers and a great many who only live there part time. Not really a family oriented city.
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