Where to live in and around Santa Fe

The first question we ask buyers is not budget. It is whether they want to walk to the Plaza or see it from a distance. Almost every decision about where to live around Santa Fe follows from that answer. Here is how the area sorts out.

In town, walkable

Historic Eastside and Canyon Road. The oldest streets in the city, narrow and unpaved in places, with adobe homes behind high walls and the acequia still running. Walk to the galleries, the Plaza, and the Farmers’ Market. The most expensive dirt in New Mexico, and the most protected by the historic ordinance.

Downtown and the Plaza. Condos and a few houses within the original Spanish grid. For people who want to live above the town rather than beside it.

South Capitol. Bungalows and Territorial-style homes on tree-lined streets south of the Roundhouse. Walkable, more affordable than the Eastside, and popular with people who work for the state.

In town, in the hills

Museum Hill and the south-east foothills. Larger lots on the slope above Old Santa Fe Trail, with trailheads at the end of the street and views west over the city. Ten minutes to the Plaza by car.

Northside and Bishop’s Lodge Road. The road to the ski hill. Homes tucked into the piñon on the way up to Hyde Park, close to Ten Thousand Waves and the Dale Ball trails. Cooler, shadier, snowier.

Outside town, with a plan

Las Campanas. A gated community northwest of town around two golf courses, with contemporary and Pueblo-style homes on big lots and views of three mountain ranges. Fifteen minutes to the Plaza, and the standard answer for buyers who want new construction and privacy.

La Tierra and Tano Road. Next door to Las Campanas without the gate. Acreage, horse properties, and some of the best sunset views in the county.

Eldorado. Twelve miles southeast on US 285. A planned community from the 1970s with its own schools, pool, and trails, on one-to-two-acre lots with the Ortiz and Sangre de Cristo mountains in view. Warmer and sunnier than town, and considerably more house for the money.

The villages north

Tesuque. Ten minutes north, in the valley along the Tesuque creek. Orchards, old adobes, the Tesuque Village Market, the flea market, and the Opera at the top of the hill. Quiet, and priced like it.

Pojoaque and Nambé. Twenty minutes north on the way to Los Alamos. Land, water rights, and a shorter commute to the lab. The valley is where a lot of Santa Fe natives have family.

Chimayó and the High Road. Forty minutes north. Old villages, weaving, chile fields, and the Santuario. For people who want northern New Mexico as it was, and do not mind the drive.

The towns south and east

Lamy and Galisteo. Twenty-five minutes south-east. Ranch country, big sky, the Galisteo basin. Galisteo village is a few hundred people and a lot of artists.

Cerrillos and Madrid. Thirty minutes south on the Turquoise Trail. Former mining towns, one a near-ghost town and one a gallery row. Cheaper than anything above, and a long way from a grocery store.

Pecos and Glorieta. Thirty minutes east, on the other side of Glorieta Pass. Pines, the Pecos River, trout, and the national forest out the back gate.

Los Alamos and White Rock

Forty-five minutes northwest, on the Pajarito Plateau. The Los Alamos National Laboratory is the largest employer in northern New Mexico, and the town has the highest median income in the state, good schools, and homes that are mostly 1950s to 1980s. White Rock, just below, is where many lab families live. A lot of our buyers work at the lab and choose between living up the hill and commuting from Santa Fe or the Pojoaque valley.

Taos

Ninety minutes north. Its own town, its own ski valley, its own pueblo, and its own prices. Some Santa Fe buyers end up there. Most decide the drive is too far for a second home and buy closer in.

Albuquerque

An hour south and the state’s one big city. The airport, the Balloon Fiesta, the university, and a cost of living well below Santa Fe. The Rail Runner connects the two downtowns. We mention it because some buyers start in Albuquerque and end up here, and a few go the other way.

How to choose

Drive them. Spend a Saturday morning in two or three, stop for coffee, and notice which one you do not want to leave. Then call us. We grew up here and can tell you what each one is like in February, which is the month that matters.