Alternatives to Santa Fe?

[COcheesehead]

Bozeman kinda podunk
Cheyenne has brutal winters
Spokane may be too big and it snows a lot there

Boise is really difficult to beat

The phrase "windswept plain" was invented in Cheyenne.
That city along with a few others mentioned here (won't name the three) would be on my absolute bottom of the list.

 

[Souschef]

Does Santa Fe still have the commuter train into Albuquerque?

Renting someplace for a year or 2 is always a good suggestion. Makes it cheaper and easier to move if things don't work out like you expected.

Yes it does have a commuter train. We were there in September and really enjoyed it. There is a big airport in Santa Fe, but there are just connecting flights to DFW , Phoenix, and Denver.

 

[Ronstar]

Taos nm, Durango co, Flagstaff az, Sedona az, Jackson wy, Bozeman, mt

 

[ivinsfan]

Durango, Co
St George, Ut
Montrose, Co
Taos, NM
Prescott, Az

St George is a great town but does not come close to meeting the OP weather preferences..

 

[yakers]

Northern AZ: Prescott, Sedona, Flagstaff, Peyson. for quirky & small but wonderful: Jerome (my sister lives there) In CA Placerville, close enough to Sacramento airport and activities but far enough to be its own town. My dream destination is Nevada City CA, maybe too small for you?

 

[Souschef]

The only drawback I saw to Santa Fe is the elevation. My wife was having trouble breathing and I took her to an Oxygen Bar. They put an oximeter on her, and cranked her up to 95%

 

[COcheesehead]

Santa Fe is an odd town in many ways and I think exists a lot on reputation. When you go there, it's not really what you expect. Traffic, urban sprawl, trashy fringe. The old town is cool and filled with fun dining and history, but other than that....

 

[38Chevy454]

So I am the forum member that suggested to look elsewhere beyond Santa Fe. It is not so much that I am against Santa Fe as much as I am concerned for the bad state that NM is. For such a beautiful state, it has just way too many negatives for me. OK off my soapbox.

That proximity to a good airport does limit some. As stated Albuquerque airport is not exactly on most stops, you end up transferring in Denver, Phoenix, Dallas or Salt Lake City a lot. Santa Fe is a small town relatively speaking, although the state capitol, it is around 75K in total metro. Trivia: Santa Fe is the highest altitude state capitol in USA.

The train that runs from Santa Fe to south of ABQ is the "NM Rail Runner", or as I call it "fail runner". It never even comes close to break even, and always needs big subsidy to stay running. Truly a failed economic project, thanks to being pushed into existence by former gov Bill Richardson, of pay to play fame. Although the CA new high speed train may overtake the fail runner as the biggest boondoggle project.

As for alternative locations, Grand Junction or some of the small towns on CO western slope side heading east to Glenwood Springs is nice. In AZ the northern part from Prescott to Flagstaff will give similar weather. Southern CO such as Durango, Pagosa Springs, Alamosa or even Trinidad might make OP interested. I always liked the area between Carson City NV and Reno, not as much snow as in the mountains, and a decent climate.

I think my best recommendation is to visit many of the suggestions for extended period and see what you can learn.

 

[BarbWire]

Looks like I am not the only one having fun with this discussion!

Nevada City, CA is indeed on my northern California radar.

Jackson, WY: isn't that where " the billionaires have squeezed out the mere millionaires?" Seriously, I looked around there last summer and the cost of housing is prohibitive.

Keep on having fun, folks! my roadtrip list is growing.

 

[Sunset]

The phrase "windswept plain" was invented in Cheyenne.
That city along with a few others mentioned here (won't name the three) would be on my absolute bottom of the list.

Are you including Boise in that list ? or just bugging someone ?

What are your thoughts on Boise ?

 

[COcheesehead]

Are you including Boise in that list ? or just bugging someone ?

What are your thoughts on Boise ?

I have traveled to Boise on business. I suggest anyone interested in living there spend some time there first.

 

[grasshopper]

Silver City NM was our second choice for our retirement. Ms G thought it might be too cold after living in PHX. We still go to SC every 6 months to our dentist, 100 miles from home. Sedona, Flag and Prescott are all nice. We are a 3 hour drive to Tucson or El Paso airports.

 

[panacea]

I have traveled to Boise on business. I suggest anyone interested in living there spend some time there first.

You sound hesitant about Boise. Can you elaborate?

 

[COcheesehead]

You sound hesitant about Boise. Can you elaborate?

I live in the West and have traveled to many of the towns mentioned in this thread. So my experiences are first hand and maybe unique in that I can compare towns within a region as opposed to just across bigger areas like east coast to west coast. So with that being said, I know a number of people from the Midwest for instance that find towns like Boise attractive. If I lived in Indiana and traveled to Boise I might too. It comes across as a cute town at the base of the mountains. The challenge with that is there are so many other cool, unique cities and towns in the West, many mentioned in this thread, that have so much more to offer.
So is Boise bad, not necessarily. Are there better options? In my opinion, yes, many better options.

 

[hesperus]

Durango is terrible

 

[Johanson]

Datapoint:

I pretty much travel every week and I eat out at a bar/restaurant basically 4 nights/week. I had my worst service ever at the BW3 in Santa Fe. I sat at the bar and was ignored for over 15 minutes. Towards the end I even waved to one of the bartenders and it was as if they couldn't even see me. The place was very busy but that is no excuse. So, I got up, left and went to a different place to eat. None of the service I got at any other establishment in Santa Fe was spectacular either and I've been to Santa Fe multiple times.

 

[Big_Hitter]

I have traveled to Boise on business. I suggest anyone interested in living there spend some time there first.

I moved to Boise in 2011 and will likely die here. We have a 5200 sq ft house with a view of downtown on an acre that would cost 10M anywhere else. We love the weather here.

500K ish population, CHEEP, zero crime, great ski hill 30 minutes away, awesome brew and pubs, best golf on the planet, hunting, fishing, hiking and biking can't be beat

The people here actually like Texans too

two really good hospitals, a few universities and lots of retirees

the only thing I dislike about Boise is lack of decent Tex Mex and BBQ

 

[Big_Hitter]

The challenge with that is there are so many other cool, unique cities and towns in the West, many mentioned in this thread, that have so much more to offer.
So is Boise bad, not necessarily. Are there better options? In my opinion, yes, many better options.

list some

 

[COcheesehead]

list some

Sorry if I offended you.

 

[Big_Hitter]

Sorry if I offended you.

no offense at all

I'm just interested in which towns you think are superior to Boise - just remember the OPs original list - i'd be interested in visiting those that I haven't been to but I've pretty much been everywhere

I know this place isn't for everyone

I hated living in Houston and I know a lot of people like living there.

 

[COcheesehead]

The OP dismissed Denver, but when we FIRE that is where we will stay.
We live on the edge of town (our view from our patio is below) with wildlife and trails out our backdoor, yet we can walk to two grocery stores and restaurants. We are 25 minutes from Pike National Forest with all the fishing, hiking, biking and scenery it offers, but also only 35 minutes from downtown via light rail with all the professional sports, history, art museums, brew pubs, and nightlife. An international airport is 40 minutes from my driveway.

If someone put a gun to my head and forced us to move elsewhere, in no particular order we would look at:

Flagstaff/Sedona
Grand Junction
Glenwood Springs/Carbondale
Santa Barbara

 

[hesperus]

The one thing I would have a really difficult time with is the traffic along the front range, especially along the I-70 corridor. Going to and from the mountains on a weekend can turn a smile into a frown real quickly.

 

[COcheesehead]

The one thing I would have a really difficult time with is the traffic along the front range, especially along the I-70 corridor. Going to and from the mountains on a weekend can turn a smile into a frown real quickly.

I agree. Some of the best parts of Colorado for us at least aren't near I-70.
Crested Butte
Salida
Telluride
Pike National Forest
Rampart Range
Deckers
Garden of the Gods

 

[hesperus]

I agree. Some of the best parts of Colorado for us at least aren't near I-70.
Crested Butte
Salida
Telluride
Pike National Forest
Rampart Range
Deckers
Garden of the Gods

Indeed! I especially like those top three as they are very near to us down here. I often get over to telluride for a day of skiing.

To the OP's question, I lived and worked in Santa Fe back in the 90's, more specifically, Tesuque, which is just outside Santa Fe. It was not to my tastes. The beauty is certainly there, but the community was not to my liking. The demographics were a challenge, and the mix of wealth and poverty created a friction between groups that was palpable. I left after a few years and moved to SW Colorado, where I have never looked back

 

[Big_Hitter]

The OP dismissed Denver, but when we FIRE that is where we will stay.
We live on the edge of town (our view from our patio is below) with wildlife and trails out our backdoor, yet we can walk to two grocery stores and restaurants. We are 25 minutes from Pike National Forest with all the fishing, hiking, biking and scenery it offers, but also only 35 minutes from downtown via light rail with all the professional sports, history, art museums, brew pubs, and nightlife. An international airport is 40 minutes from my driveway.

If someone put a gun to my head and forced us to move elsewhere, in no particular order we would look at:

Flagstaff/Sedona
Grand Junction
Glenwood Springs/Carbondale
Santa Barbara

my sister retired in Arvada - I go there a few times a year to visit. LOTS of traffic and crime. Nice golf courses too - BIL and I ski Loveland usually around when Bogus is closed for the year.

They live on a dog track muni off wadsworth. I like indian tree and hyland hills