Life in Placitas in north central New Mexico
-
5/25/2014
Placitas in north central New Mexico is a fine suburban/village-type community for moderately affluent retirees or professionals who can manage the commute (half hour or more drive to the nearest supermarket or hospital) and the substantial housing costs. (There are no apartments, condos, or townhomes, single-family home rentals are rare, and the typical ten-year-old three BR, two BA, two-car garage house on one acre goes for near $400,000.)
It is much less advisable for working families with children and young recent college graduates. The population is skewed older in Placitas, and the percentage of children is very low. While New Mexico is an exciting aggregation of three principal cultures (Native American, Hispanic, and Anglo), the 6000-some residents of Placitas reflect remarkably little diversity -- it is a decidedly Caucasian community of widely spaced houses and a sprinkling of horse properties.
Placitas sits in high desert foothill country (typically @6000 feet above sea level) tucked against beautiful mountains with forever views of mesas and distant peaks -- views that are sharply obscured by "The Dust of Enchantment" on several two- to three-day intervals every windy spring. The climate is moderate, although precipitation is limited and water supplies are tight, even aside from the ongoing drought. Temperatures are typically mild -- ten to twenty degrees warmer in winter than in desirable parts of Colorado and equally cooler than in the popular parts of Arizona during summer. We often remark at how many gorgeous sunsets we enjoy, and welcome the three months of only partly sunny skies during the life-giving annual summer monsoon.
Wildlife presence is substantial here, but not very problematic or scary. Indeed, most of us appreciate the occasional encounters -- they really require very little coping. Particular delights include coyote song on many evenings, the cooing of white-wing doves every morning, friendly and beneficial skinks scrambling over the patio walls, amazing hummingbirds hovering at the feeders April through September, grey and striped ground squirrels scampering down the lane, the impressive but non-venomous neighborhood bull snake passing through the yard in search of varmints, the occasional roadrunner, and even random cottontails munching the nopal cactus and Mexican feather bunch grass.
Far less common are visits to the yard by the welcome brown tarantula -- policing up unwelcome transient centipedes
Rocco | Placitas, NM