Santa Fe, New Mexico: What They Don't Tell You (best neighborhoods, neighborhoods)

[sf_gal]

Originally Posted by funkymonkey

Evidently every murder the whole city was done near your house. You sure a family member wasn't involved?

I suggest you check your data. Three murders within a block of West Alameda and Camino Alire between September 2011 and May 2012. Then the shooting and knifing were also off of Alameda. My family and all who live in Casa Solana, along the river and along Alameda live within half to three quarters of a mile of these incidents. They are facts, go Google it. I don't know why people want to defend this place. I suspect they are the same people who aren't alarmed when a man is knifed to death in his car, another is killed in his home (home invasion robbery) and a third is shot and his body is left in the neighborhood park. The two involved in the fourth shooting / knife incident on the other side of St. Francis survived.

You are right, people here just blink when this sort of stuff happens. I guess it's just normal for them? I am not. I have never lived in such a ****ty place in my life and it does shock me to see such horrors around me.


Like I said, since we moved here, I've witnessed a robbery in a pharmacy, my neighbor's truck was stolen, my two other neighbor's homes were broken into during the middle of the day, I've seen entire families strung out on heroin. And that's just the beginning of the list.

To those who consider moving here: We were warned before we moved to this great state. Everyone from my mechanic to my doctor said, "Oh, that place is bad, don't move there." I said, "We are going anyway - there is so much art, it's beautiful, the weather is nice. It will be great!" All of those things are true, but the rampant drug abuse, gut wrenching poverty, stupidity and violence are also all true.


Any little bit of research tells you that northern New Mexico has the highest per capita overdose rate in the nation. Espanola to be exact and Santa Fe, just 25 miles to the south is not much better. When you get that kind of massive drug use, what else can follow but the crime that always trails drug abuse?

[sf_gal]

Originally Posted by ognend

So, is any of what she said true? Instead of making fun of it, can you say what you think was not true and what was?

Thanks!
OD

Yes, every word of what I said is true. Go google it. Maybe we just picked the wrong year to move or something, but all I know is that there were three murders with in block or two of West Alameda and Camino Alire between fall of 2011 and spring of 2012. Then there was a knifing / shooting off of Alameda. I was in the store when the pharmacy was held up, my neighbor's truck was indeed stolen. My two other neighbors did indeed have their homes broken into in the middle of the day. This is just the tip of the iceberg on the insanity I've seen since I moved here. You can close your eyes to this stuff and I think many of the locals are jaded and do just so. However, my skin crawls. I can't turn my head to that kind of concentrated crime and this neighborhood is no exception. It's like this all over this relatively small town. People just turn their heads, don't talk about it, sweep it under the rug. Or make crass jokes as funky monkey did. It's not a great place here unless you have a lot of money. But if you are of moderate means, trying to raise a family and come from a place where serious crime doesn't usually happen in your neighborhood, well hang on because you are in for a ride.

[funkymonkey]

Well I grew up in Santa Fe and nobody was murdered near my house, I never witnessed a robbery and nobody ever stole my neighbor's truck, and that was on a middle class income in a middle class neighborhood. You can rant all you want, but that doesn't mean your experience is typical. I think maybe you're just unlucky.

If you think about it, half the annual murders happening within 1/2 mile of you just means the rest of the residents were even further than normal from a murder that year. Having a pocket of such activity is better than it being widespread, wouldn't you agree?

As for the overdose rate, I believe evolution is working on that as we speak.

[GregW]

sf_gal - so why are you still there?

[Julie Ruin]

sf_gal, I am not saying your posts are untrue. And I am the farthest from a Santa Fe apologist you will ever meet. I think this is a nice place, but it is not my dream locale that can do no wrong. But honestly, this stuff happens everywhere, sad as it may be. I grew up in a safe, relatively wealthy suburb in CT and our house was robbed when I was nine years old and we were sleeping. It happens.

And like I said before, we are not wealthy. I work, my husband works, we do all right, yes. We are comfortable, but nowhere near wealthy. And I know a lot of families in situations like ours. You can do okay here without being rich.

[sf_gal]

My point is intended for the people who contemplating moving to Santa Fe. I wish someone had given me the truthful facts before I moved here. So, it is not intended for those of you who live here and are willing to turn a blind eye to the very profound problems in this area. And yes, problems can be found everywhere. My own car was broken into in a different state with a much lower crime problem. Of course things happen everywhere.

None of you have denied that any of the events I detailed happened. That is because they are all truthful. All I can say is, in my last town (twice the size of Santa Fe), in a different state there were about three murders in six years. Compare that to here? Well, if "half" the murders happened on one street (not even a "bad" street), well the numbers aren't very good for Santa Fe.

When we fail to be alarmed by the astoundingly high rate of drug addition and associated crime, what kind of people are we? The apathy here, the lack of concern, the lack of motivation, the DENIAL of the truth that is right in front of these people is off the charts.

And if you are considering moving and you have kids, like I said, pack enough money for private school or live way over on the east side because you are going to cry after you put your kids in most of the public schools in Santa Fe. It's THAT bad.

Sure the people are nice. That's true. But the rest of it is true too.

[Poncho_NM]

Originally Posted by sf_gal

My point is intended for the people who contemplating moving to Santa Fe. I wish someone had given me the truthful facts before I moved here. So, it is not intended for those of you who live here and are willing to turn a blind eye to the very profound problems in this area.

There are threads on this site going back to 2006. There have been truthful facts, and some not so truthful statements on this site for a long time. Nobody here is turning a blind eye. Did you see the 2007 thread Santa Fe rapist concerns ?

In my opinion you are tainting you opinion a bit. You may have encountered all those events. And I can say I have not personally seen any crime committed while I have been in Santa Fe over the years. I have seen events on the news, but never witnessed any crimes. But there is no need to continually bash and rehash over the same issues.

Sorry you had bad experiences in Santa Fe. I have been in New Mexico this time since 1998. We plan on probably staying for a long time.

[funkymonkey]

Originally Posted by sf_gal

None of you have denied that any of the events I detailed happened. That is because they are all truthful. All I can say is, in my last town (twice the size of Santa Fe), in a different state there were about three murders in six years. Compare that to here? Well, if "half" the murders happened on one street (not even a "bad" street), well the numbers aren't very good for Santa Fe.

And you haven't denied that some people have gone years without encountering any problems whatsoever, or only minor problems. Why do you seem to think your experience is typical when there are others who are saying it's not? Why is your truth more important than the thousands of other Santa Feans who did not live within 1/2 mile of 3 murders?

[sf_gal]

Originally Posted by funkymonkey

And you haven't denied that some people have gone years without encountering any problems whatsoever, or only minor problems. Why do you seem to think your experience is typical when there are others who are saying it's not? Why is your truth more important than the thousands of other Santa Feans who did not live within 1/2 mile of 3 murders?

Um, there were two random drive by shootings last night. One woman struck in her living room, one man hit in the Smith's parking lot on Pacheco.

And that's my point exactly. There is a heck of a lot of insane, random crime in this town. Glad you've been spared, others, not so lucky.

[funkymonkey]

Originally Posted by sf_gal

Um, there were two random drive by shootings last night. One woman struck in her living room, one man hit in the Smith's parking lot on Pacheco.

And that's my point exactly. There is a heck of a lot of insane, random crime in this town. Glad you've been spared, others, not so lucky.

Your point is the crime rate in Santa Fe is slightly higher than the national average before accounting for the tourist population. OK, got it. You could've just said so and saved us a lot of time.