“You moved from Santa Fe to live here?” the title company receptionist asked incredulously as she raised her eyebrows.

How could anyone willingly leave a famous place like Santa Fe? Songwriters tout its majestic southwestern qualities in their music. Companies use the city’s name to describe their nondescript flavors that vaguely evoke the feeling of being in the Southwest.

When people picture Santa Fe in their minds, they often envision a magical high-desert landscape surrounded by beautiful, snow-topped mountains, streets lined with local artists’ breathtaking creations, events highlighting Indigenous and Spanish cultures, and New Mexican dishes piled high with Hatch chile.

While there are nuggets of truth to these romanticized notions, the broader reality of living there was quite di

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