9 Reasons People Retire in Santa Fe

After enough showings with tourists checking out homes, I've heard why people want to settle here.

Many older people who visited Santa Fe tell the same story.  They came for a long weekend, walked the Plaza, ate something with green chile, and, somewhere around day three, started doing math. Here is what came up in their calculations. 

1. The weather

Santa Fe sells you something different: weather you actually want to be in. We sit at about 7,200 feet, which means low humidity, warm days, and evenings cool enough for a fire even in summer. Four real seasons, none of them punishing. Somewhere between 280 and 300 sunny days a year, depending on whose count you believe.

2. A community of your peers

While roughly  27% of Santa Fe County is 65 or older, this isn't a retirement community. It's a working city that happens to skew older. You're moving into a town where a lot of interesting people your age also happen to live.

3. You are who you want to be

Santa Fe is full of people actively reinventing themselves, and a lot of them would rather their old title not walk into the room first. If they want you to know they ran a hospital or wrote for a network, they tell you. But it’s not the first thing. 

4. There is so much to do.

A city this size should not have this much going on. More than 250 galleries. An internationally significant opera company in a breathtaking location. The Lensic 360 has hundreds of  musical, cultural, and theatrical events each year. Indian Market, the largest juried Native art show in the world. The International Folk Art Market. Georgia O'Keeffe's museum a few blocks off the Plaza. Meow Wolf. A smartly curated cinematheque and several international film festivals.

5. The tax math actually helps a fixed income

New Mexico exempts Social Security from state income tax for single filers under $100,000 and joint filers under $150,000. There's no state estate tax. Property taxes are low—homes are assessed at one-third of market value—and once you own, annual increases in taxable value are capped at 3%. Homeowners 65 and older who meet income limits can go further and apply to freeze their assessed value entirely through the county assessor. In a market like ours, that's a real hedge.

6. Land of enchantment and excitement. 

The Dale Ball trail system provides trails everywhere. Ski Santa Fe is about twenty-five minutes up the mountain. Bandelier's cliff dwellings are an easy hour. The people who thrive here hike four or five miles on rocky trails several times a week, well into their seventies. The altitude that makes the first month hard makes the next twenty years good.

7. Choose your own neighborhood

There are neighborhoods for every type of retirement. Eldorado is fifteen minutes southeast, one of the country's early passive-solar communities, with a real community center, pickleball, trails, and the most active social calendar in the county. South Capitol puts you on broad sidewalks within walking distance of dinner, the farmers market, and your doctor. The Historic Eastside and Canyon Road offer older, smaller adobes for downsizers who want to live inside the art. Rancho Viejo trades character for flat terrain, connected greenbelts, and a no-streetlight policy that keeps the stars intact. Aldea and Las Campanas sit at opposite ends of the price and privacy spectrum.

8. Healthcare 

Christus St. Vincent is centrally located, with Albuquerque's larger systems an hour south. Santa Fe also has an unusually deep bench of integrative and alternative practitioners, if that's your inclination. Just as importantly for long-range planning: 

9. There are serious eats

We have a year-round farmers market in a LEED-certified building in the Railyard, roughly 150 vendors, open every Saturday of the year. In late summer the whole town smells like roasting green chile. There are several hundred restaurants for ninety thousand people, ranging from James Beard-nominated cafes to unbelievable food trucks. 

Before you move, here are some things to consider as well. 

The altitude is real. Seven thousand feet takes most people a few weeks to adjust to, and it's a genuine medical consideration if you have cardiovascular or circulation issues. Talk to your doctor before you commit, not after.

It's dry. Some people find the low humidity a relief and some find it hard on skin, sinuses, and sleep. And landscaping needs to reflect the climate. 

Cost of living runs above the national average, and well above the rest of New Mexico. While Santa Fe is a bargain compared to coastal California, its high for New Mexico.

Tourist season is a real season. During Indian Market or Fiestas, your favorite restaurant has a ninety-minute wait and the Plaza belongs to visitors. But there is so much more to Santa Fe than where tourists go..

What to try it out? I would be happy to sit down for a coffee and highlight the various neighborhoods with you.