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Can someone tell me about Eldorado, NM? I am assuming it's considered "Santa Fe". Is it a little more "country"? We'll be visiting the area in December & wanted to know if it is worth checking out homes.
Thanks -
Eldorado at Santa Fe is a mostly a bedroom community south of Santa Fe. My cousins live nearby there. It is a nice area. It has some basic shopping, some restaurants, post office and such. Homes range, I am guessing, but think would range from about $300,000 to $500,000 and some even more. For sale by owners, you might get even cheaper then that. It seems like a nice safe area. I don't know specifics since I don't live there but only have been there several times. It has scenic views and I would think would have beautiful sunsets, just knowing the area.
I live just north of Edorado and moved here about a year ago.
My experience, and those of others who have moved here, have found Santa Fe not that welcoming to newcomers and a difficult place to make friends. This passes with time. I believe this is because Santa Fe throughout its history have experienced many "invasions" and over the past 20 years the Santa Fe region has experienced tremendous growth. There has been a large influx of retirees, especially from California and New York and since one out of every five Santa Feans is a millionaire, there are some engender some level of entitlement, and this I find distasteful...they are easily noted and avoidable.
The region has become very culturally diverse and Spanish is spoken by at lease 50% of the population. There are many Native American languages spoken also. To move here feels as if you have moved to another country. andt the area is not for the faint of heart! The weather is beautiful and if by chance you have a not so good day weather wise, the natives say wait five minutes, and the weather will change. I have found this to be generally true. The food is wonderful here but the cost of living can be high. It pays to talk with folks about where to spend your money.
The neighbors in Eldorado, I have heard, are generally friendly and they come from places all over the nation. I work at St. Vincent Regional Medical Center: the healthcare is adequate but rapidly improving.
I live just north of Edorado and moved here about a year ago.
My experience, and those of others who have moved here, have found Santa Fe not that welcoming to newcomers and a difficult place to make friends. This passes with time. I believe this is because Santa Fe throughout its history has experienced many "invasions" and over the past 20 years the Santa Fe region has experienced tremendous growth. There has been a large influx of retirees, especially from California and New York and since one out of every five Santa Feans is a millionaire, there are some that engender a certain attitude of entitlement, and this I find distasteful...they are easily noted and avoidable.
The region has become very culturally diverse and Spanish is spoken by at least 50% of the population. There are many Native American languages spoken also. To move here feels as if you have moved to another country andt the area is not for the faint of heart! The weather is beautiful and if by chance you have a not so good day weather wise, the natives say wait five minutes, and the weather will change. I have found this to be generally true. The food is wonderful here but the cost of living can be high. It pays to talk with folks about where to spend your money.
The neighbors in Eldorado, I have heard, are generally friendly and they come from places all over the nation. I work at St. Vincent Regional Medical Center: the healthcare is adequate and rapidly improving.
I am in Kansas, but we have owned property in Eldorado for 15 years, and we are finally getting to retire and move there in (hopefully) the late spring of 2008.
We have researched the area for many years, and visited there often, and have been looking at homes and/or builders in Eldorado for a long time. Everyone I have met there has been friendly. I love the culture and the languages and the history and the architecture and especially the restaurants and museums of Santa Fe.
Are you a nurse at the hospital? I am an RN, and I may be interested in working a very limited scedule (prn) in health care when I get there .... if my own health holds out. haha....
It's nice to encounter someone with positive things to say about Santa Fe.
~Towanda
P.S. I will not be one of the millionaires when I arrive in town.
So we are thinking of a move to El Dorado, but we saw the community associations "covenants" aka "rules and regulations" as to what you can and can't do with your own property.
Is this type of thing taken pretty seriously in El Dorado, or other areas of Santa Fe? Or are there other similar neighborhoods that don't have community associations that think they can rule your life?
I personally like the covenant system at Eldorado.
In a community like Eldorado, it ensures that all of the houses meet the architectural guidelines ... that the houses are low to the earth and blend into the landscape, they all have pueblo design. Colors of the houses have to be in shades of brown earth tones. There cannot be any areas of trash, junk, etc. around your yard. The entire lot cannot be planted in grass which requires much irrigation and ruins the desert feel. You cannot point outside spotlights on the property upwards and outwards, which ruins the view of the night sky. Houses can only be so many feet tall for a reason ~ so that you don't block your neighbor's view of the mountains. These are generally features that residents of Eldorado want to see or they would not have built/bought a house there.
Do they enforces the covenants? As far as I can tell, yes.
Covenants are not for everyone. They serve a purpose, but they also do remove your right to have your house and yard looking exactly the way you might wish. Many people hate HOAs in which case Eldorado would not be for them.
My suggestions? Drive around Eldorado, and see if you like the atmosphere and the looks of the community. It is preserved through the covenants, and for me and my husband, that is a good thing and we accept it, and appreciate that we won't have neighbors who might build a two story house and block our view of the mountains, or have bright lights on their property so we can't enjoy the stars in the night sky.
There are housing areas all around Eldorado which have looser covenants and less restrictions, and you can have more choice in your design, etc. Maybe such a neighborhood like that would be more what you would like.
Thanks Towanda -- I DO understand the interest in architecture that's consistnent with the region, respectful of the landscape, etc. We don't have a problem with that.
Where we have an issue, though, is with needing permission from some random group of people if we ever wanted to add ANYTHING - even additional satellite dishes! It's that level of "nanny-ing" that we can't stand. And some decisions about to do with one's own property are nobody else's business.
So...do you have any suggestions of other areas near El Dorado that we should look? Any ideas would be appreciated.
The Hwy. 285 Corridor around Eldorado has a lot of housing areas. Unfortunately most seem to be a little more expensive than Eldorado, and I really didn't like the unstructured architectural design in some of them, so we stuck to Eldorado, which in addition to the covenants has a great deal of attractive amenities: community center, lots of classes, pool, tennis courts, library, senior center, dog park, hiking trails, and a nice system of sidewalks/greenbelt areas, which I am not sure non-residents of Eldorado can use.
Check your Private Messages at the top right of the page...I'll be sending you a link to the real estate salesman we have been working with.
Hello all,
I am a very happy resident of Eldorado and am on the Board of the Home Owners' Association. There is an architectural review committee which reviews new home plans and modifications to existing homes or site improvements. The recommendations of that committee are provided to the Board; who ultimately reviews any requests that substantially differ from the covenants and guidelines. The Board reviews these very carefully and does not necessarily follow the recommendation of the committee. In my opinion this keeps a checks and balance on the system. A simple example of the guidelines in action; which you will see & feel as you drive through Eldorado is the limitation of only up to 4000 sq ft of fenced yard. This, along with the 50' setback from the road and 20' setback from the other lot lines; creates a very wide open feeling and protects the views for & from the adjacenct neighbors. This is the type of reason that we have the guidelines. Eldorado is a thriving community and the largest unincorporated community in NM, w/ appx 5600 folks in Eldorado proper.
I very much agree with the things that Towanda has to share about Eldorado as well and I find Eldorado & Santa Fe as well, to be a very friendly place to live.
Please send me a private message if you'd like more details or discussion with me. In the mean time; here's some basic Eldorado info & links:
Eldorado sits approximately 10 miles south of Santa Fe and brings the best of city and country life. Initially developed in the late 1970s as one of America's first passive solar communities, Eldorado has evolved into a high desert park-like community with extensive greenbelt spaces, homes generally on 1 to 2 acres and the ambience of Santa Fe style, with vigas, beams, tile and kiva fireplaces. Most lots have gorgeous views of the surrounding mountains and New Mexico's glorious vistas.
Covenants protect Santa Fe's night sky and evenings outdoors bring the Milky Way's wonder close at hand. Prices range from the hi-$200's to the $600k's.
Eldorado has several convenient shopping areas, a library, an elementary school, a senior center as well as a clubhouse with recreational and social amenities. Eldorado also has a private nature preserve of over 4,000 acres in addition to all the greenbelts that interconnect the community. Eldorado:http://www.eldoradocommunity.org/ | http://www.eldoradoarts.org/ Vista (Eldorado Monthly Newletter): http://www.eldoradocommunity.org/vistas/index.html Sun Monthly: http://www.eldoradosun.com/ (broken link)
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Eldorado move
