Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It is easy to exaggerate the prevalence of retirees and young singles in Santa Fe. Retirees in Santa Fe are in general more active and wealthier than your typical retirees and so they are more visible. But as far as I can tell from demographic information, there are not that many of them as full-time residents -- and maybe even a little less than the average for the US. I know this goes against conventional wisdom -- if anyone can correct me with better info, please do.
Young singles again are visible -- particularly in night spots -- but this is true everywhere. There are places and events in Santa Fe where you will go that are full of young families. Again, any demographic information I have seen suggests that SF -- in this respect -- is not that different from anywhere else.
Schools -- as SFS suggests, you can go to the SF Public School website or you could go the Great Schools website for info. I don't know specifics, but Eldorado has reasonably priced housing, open space, recreation, a good elementary school, low crime. The two big public high schools are not that great but two charter schools have started and seem to be doing a good job. Admission to the charter schools is by lottery, but there are also excellent private schools.
Some demographics for Santa Fe and Santa Fe County from the 2000 Census, which probably still holds pretty true:
There were 52,482 households out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.5% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.5% were non-families. 29.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the county the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 10.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.4 males.
kabou - I second just about everything Devin Bent said (I don't know the demographics regarding full-time vs. part-time retirees), especially the part about Eldorado. Although my kids are grown, I live in that general area and have heard very nice things from friends and others with school-age children about Eldorado and its elementary and middle schools (the high schools are in Santa Fe proper). Plus, Eldorado has nice walking trails, a community center (with swimming pool) with many activities, a very good library and a large, very well-stocked (although a bit more expensive than town) supermarket.
Eldorado is definitely a place you should look at.
Ditto on Eldorado. I live here and I think it is a good place to raise kids, although I am retired with no more kids at home.
The elementary school here is a very good one from everything I have heard, and has just this year added 7th and 8th grades.
There is an excellent library here in Eldorado with computers and other electronic stuff for residents use; I see lots of kids there.
There is the pool and horse stables and walking trails and the huge wildnerness hiking area for residents. There is a big playground and a volleyball court and soccer fields. There is a video store, a Subway shop, etc. I have even seen a karate school down at the Agora shopping center.
Since we've been here we have attended a couple of events at the library (plus they have events just for kids) ... as well as the Fourth of July Parade and picnic and the Ice Cream social several weeks ago - all of these events were well-attended by LOTS of kids who looked pretty happy and well-adjusted.
Regarding going to school in Santa Fe I used to go to a private school when I was young at Temple Beth Shalom. I also had friends in the public school system that I met through a daycare center. I can say that there really is no other place like New Mexico to grow up, I ended up moving away and going to school in the Northeast for most of my childhood, but I would always think back as to how much I missed living in New Mexico. The culture is just SO much more diverse and completely different than anywhere else in the country.
we are a young (ish) family living in santa fe--eldorado, to be exact. there are TONS of families here! there are active moms groups in santa fe, and kids everywhere.
i was under the impression when we moved here that many of the elementary schools are not that great, but that really isn't true--many of them are very good. if you end up in a district with a less than stellar school, though, you can ask for a transfer--i know several people who have done that and most transfers have been granted. as we live in eldorado, my older son goes to the elementary school there and it really is wonderful. other schools with good reputations are atalaya, wood gormley, and acequia madre.
like i said, we live out in eldorado (we like the open spaces and rural feel), but if you don't fancy semi-rural living, there are several neighborhoods in town that are really nice. prices vary greatly, but on the north side aldea is really lovely, and casa solana has some great parts. my ILs live in the historic eastside, which is really $$$, but the neighborhood is cool. very close to downtown. devargas heights is really family friendly and nice, too, and a bit more reasonably priced. and the south side has lots of pockets of nice neighborhoods, too, and is generally considered the most reasonably priced area to live in. it's also closest to big box shopping, if that's something you do a lot.
the library in eldorado is really great, too. there is also a brand new library on the south side of town; it's kind of far from us so we don't go there much, but it's huge and the kids section is fantastic.
there are parks ALL over the city--tons of them. eldorado has two parks and both are really nice.
my son takes karate at the family martial arts center in eldorado and there are a LOT of kids and families there every day. there is also karate in town, jiu-jitsu, gymnastics, tumbling, etc. there are opportunities for horseback riding for slightly older kids, too. lots and lots of preschools (my older son went to a FANTASTIC one, and my younger son will go there when he's a little older). if you like the outdoors, there are lots of greenbelts and hiking trails in eldorado. my kids LOVE them! there is also Tent Rocks south of the city, and Cochiti Lake, too, for short and easy day trips.
some other places that are popular and you might want to check out:
We're considering a relocation to NM. I have a couple questions and thought I'd put them before the experts ! We've read so many positively glowing articles on how SF is a fabulous place to live and work, but are there many young families in SF or is it a better place for singles and retirees? How are the public/private schools? What are the best neighborhoods for families? Everything we read and hear is very appealing to my husband and me, but I worry about life in SF for kids in grade school. Any and all feedback is much appreciated!
Eldorado is 10 to 14 miles out of town (depending on where you live in Eldorado), and probably has the best public schools.
Lots in Eldorado are 1 acre to 5 acres, with homes from about $300,000 up. In Eldo, as I call it, the homes are more secure than Santa Fe. They have a pretty low burglary rate.
Santa Fe is more expensive, for less land, and they have a few private schools here that are good, but the public schools can be a scary. The high schools have an astronomical drop-out rate and burn-out rate for teachers. I've noticed that at school dismissal time, there are huge amounts of traffic on the roads. They have busses. Well, some kids get bullied on the bus.
Unless you are a lesbian, I wouldn't say Santa Fe is the place for singles. Ha ha. Eldorado probably has more retirees...I don't know how many, about one third maybe.
There are so many neighborhoods, each very dinstincitve, and many people don't think of Eldorado as anything like the real Santa Fe. However, for a family, between schools and safety, yes, I think if I had kids, and looking for a house, yes, I definately wouldn't miss Eldorado.
Where would YOU go in N.M.? I've got Silver City at the top of my search but seems to me population is too low @10,500. Expectations are 60,000+
We're an enterprising family consisting of labor/trade types such as window washing, housepainting, flooring, sales, house washing etc...Females are School Teacher (ESAW) and another as a Flight Attendant for Delta.
We want out of the multi-national congestion of the South...Trade jobs do well here with all the retirees...So looking for high 65+ population base somewhere out WEST.
Well, there are only 4 cities in NM with 60K+ population -- Albuquerque, Rio Rancho (76,000 - but it's really just a west/northwestward expansion of Albuquerque, Las Cruces (90,000) and Santa Fe (73,000).
There's probably a higher percentage of retirees in Las Cruces than in Santa Fe. You may want to look more into that town....or, if you like to be next door to large cities, then you might like Rio Rancho.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Eldo schools
