# What are the recommended neighborhoods to live when working in Santa Fe



## avg919 (May 24, 2014)

Hi everyone - I just found out I will be relocated to my company's Mexico City office which is in Santa Fe for a 2 year assignment with my husband and 5 year old daughter. The target move is by mid to late August. We are all very excited about this adventure and want to get as much information as possible to make the best decision for our family. I have found this forum extremely helpful and was hoping for suggested neighborhoods that would allow for a short commute to Santa Fe, but also provide for a comfortable lifestyle (with safety and good neighbors as top priorities) and access to international schools. We are American, but speak Spanish, so we don't necessarily need to be in an ex-pat community.

Thanks in advance for your feedback!


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## JoanneR2 (Apr 18, 2012)

avg919 said:


> Hi everyone - I just found out I will be relocated to my company's Mexico City office which is in Santa Fe for a 2 year assignment with my husband and 5 year old daughter. The target move is by mid to late August. We are all very excited about this adventure and want to get as much information as possible to make the best decision for our family. I have found this forum extremely helpful and was hoping for suggested neighborhoods that would allow for a short commute to Santa Fe, but also provide for a comfortable lifestyle (with safety and good neighbors as top priorities) and access to international schools. We are American, but speak Spanish, so we don't necessarily need to be in an ex-pat community. Thanks in advance for your feedback!


If I were you I'd live in Santa Fe itself. The commuting in 'Mexico City is a pain and there are schools, restaurants, shops etc. all situated in the area. I don't have much personal experience of the area but several of my colleagues who have children live there and seem to be very settled.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

I agree with Joanne that living in Santa Fe itself is the best solution for you as commuting access to the city is deficient. We used to drive from Lake Chapala to Chiapas crossing through the heart of Mexico City from Toluca through Santa Fe tp Puebla City until they finished the Arco Note freeway bypas from Atlacomulco to Puebla and it was no longer necessary to traverse Mexico City. The planners of Santa Fe never planned for adequate access to the urban zone from there and they créate a major traffic blockage by failing to construct good access roads. Maybe it´s been remedied by now but I doubt it so if you try to live in DF and commute to santa Fe you may be in for some nightmarish traffic.

When we used to drive through Santa Fe, I found the modern and impressive architecture to be extraordinary. Striikng if you are fond of high rise architecture. I have been to many such places around the world and consider Santa Fe to be impressive if you like modern exurban developments. 

I must admit that I have only driven through Santa Fe on my way from Toluca to the center of the megalópolis or back so I can´t tralk about local traffic patterns there. Do your homework before you decide where to live whether in Santa Fe or its environs.


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## avg919 (May 24, 2014)

Thanks to you both for your quick replies. I keep hearing and reading about the traffic challenges, so I definitely want to make that a key consideration. Any thoughts on the most efficient way to find a place? Right now my package provides for 14 days in a hotel to find a place, but it looks like we would be there from then on vs. doing a "look and see" type trip to see pre-selected apartments. I'm not sure whether 14 days is realistic . . . and whether that might actually be better than a pre-move trip.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Hound Dog said:


> When we used to drive through Santa Fe, I found the modern and impressive architecture to be extraordinary. Striikng if you are fond of high rise architecture. I have been to many such places around the world and consider Santa Fe to be impressive if you like modern exurban developments.


I've only driven past Santa Fe a few times, when leaving the D.F, since it's located on the western edge of the city. To me it looks like a nightmarish mirage of highrise buildings surrounded by highways and dirt-poor neighborhoods. It's still a nightmare to drive there during rush hours, even worse than in the rest of the city. And I believe there are occasional water problems too. It's the place where people live who really don't want to mix with the rest of us chilangos, definitely a conclave of the elites.


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## avg919 (May 24, 2014)

Yikes!!! What's the happy medium???


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

avg919 said:


> Yikes!!! What's the happy medium???


I didn't mean to freak you with my negative impression of Santa Fe. I'm sure that the people who choose to live there are very happy with their elegant apartments and the huge mall that is part of the Santa Fe complex. If you're going to be working there, then it makes a lot of sense to find an apartment in one of those highrise towers that have so impressed Hound Dog. Then you can get out of there on the weekend and explore the "real" Mexico City.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Santa Fe is just as real as Mexico city just not as old.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

citlali said:


> Santa Fe is just as real as Mexico city just not as old.


And not as uniquely Mexican nor as interesting.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

I agree, the closer, the better
I could not hate traffic any more that I do now!
If you will be working in Santa Fe, find a place 2 minutes away from your office

By the way, if it was me, I would make very sure that both, my job and home are built in post 1985 specs, thinking about earthquakes and Santa Fe being built on top of lots of garbage


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

GARYJ65 said:


> I agree, the closer, the better
> I could not hate traffic any more that I do now!
> If you will be working in Santa Fe, find a place 2 minutes away from your office
> 
> By the way, if it was me, I would make very sure that both, my job and home are built in post 1985 specs, thinking about earthquakes and Santa Fe being built on top of lots of garbage


Good advice, Gary. I find it ironic that Santa Fe, the epitome of high-class modern living, was built on top of a humongous garbage dump!


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## avg919 (May 24, 2014)

Thanks Gary! Any chance you know the names of some of the high rise buildings or where I can find them? Still trying to get a feel for what's where!


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

I've been to Santa Fe many times, but I'm not familiar with the buildings or the area,
Just thougt about the garbage and earthquakes and that lately there has been some accidents there due to landslides


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/ciuda...rro-afecta-a-empresa-en-santa-fe-1010254.html


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

avg919 said:


> Thanks Gary! Any chance you know the names of some of the high rise buildings or where I can find them? Still trying to get a feel for what's where!


Here's an apartment for rent in Santa Fe that I found on Segundamano:

Departamento en santa fe, Departamentos de Renta inmuebles en Santa Fe Cuajimalpa, Cuajimalpa de Morelos (Distrito Federal) | Segundamano.mx

Here's another: Depto amueblado frente Centro comercial Santa Fe, Departamentos de Renta inmuebles en Santa Fe Cuajimalpa, Cuajimalpa de Morelos (Distrito Federal) | Segundamano.mx

And another: Excelente dpto amueblado en Santa Fe, Departamentos de Renta inmuebles en Santa Fe Cuajimalpa, Cuajimalpa de Morelos (Distrito Federal) | Segundamano.mx


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

_


GARYJ65 said:



I agree, the closer, the better
I could not hate traffic any more that I do now!
If you will be working in Santa Fe, find a place 2 minutes away from your office

By the way, if it was me, I would make very sure that both, my job and home are built in post 1985 specs, thinking about earthquakes and Santa Fe being built on top of lots of garbage

Click to expand...

_Well said, Gary. Live close to work,perhaps within walking distance and explore the DF on your time off. Avoiid the communtng nightmare if you can.

When we lived in San Francisco, my finest time as far as work was concerned was when I lived withing a 20 minute walk to my office in the Financial District from our apartment on Russian Hill walking through the North Beach Italian district and then adjoining Chinatown and into the high rise Financial District. A great way to get from home to office and return and a thousand bars and eateries along the way as opposed to endless miles of mind-numbing freeway traffic through seeming endless suburbs. You make your own choices but in over 30 years of living and working in the Bay Area, I found those years when I could walk to work to be the best. Santa Fe strikes me as a place where you could duplicate that experience and it, like San Francisco, seems filled with bars and restaurants and is imminently walkable so avoid the rat race and visit the dazzling big city during your weekends when access to the city´s myriad attractions is just minutes away and you can avoid the grinding commute rush hours.

You are lucky to have this assignment. Make the most of it.


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## avg919 (May 24, 2014)

That sounds heavenly - and thank you for the perspective. I'm getting more and more excited! I was also wondering about the weather - I read that there is a long rainy season, but that it's not raining all the time. What has your experience been and does the weather differ a lot between Santa Fe and the nearby areas?


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## avg919 (May 24, 2014)

Isla Verde said:


> Here's an apartment for rent in Santa Fe that I found on Segundamano:
> 
> Departamento en santa fe, Departamentos de Renta inmuebles en Santa Fe Cuajimalpa, Cuajimalpa de Morelos (Distrito Federal) | Segundamano.mx
> 
> ...


These are amazing Marsha - thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Most definitely looking forward to this adventure!!


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

avg919 said:


> That sounds heavenly - and thank you for the perspective. I'm getting more and more excited! I was also wondering about the weather - I read that there is a long rainy season, but that it's not raining all the time. What has your experience been and does the weather differ a lot between Santa Fe and the nearby areas?


In all of this part of Mexico, the rainy season generally runs from June to October, _más o menos_, though it seems to be starting a bit early this year. In the past, during the rainy season, it would be sunny and pleasant in the morning, rain for a few hours in the afternoon, and then end in the early evening. But "climate change" has disrupted these patterns, unfortunately. Once the rainy season sets in, you can usually expect some rain every day, but when and for how long is anyone's guess. Though in many ways Santa Fe likes to think of itself as an area apart from the rest of the city, it enjoys the same sort of climate and weather patterns as the rest of us do.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

avg919 said:


> These are amazing Marsha - thank you, thank you, thank you!!! Most definitely looking forward to this adventure!!


You're welcome. I'm sure you'll be able to find more apartments for rent on the Segundamano website. Keep in mind that most people renting apartments in the DF require prospective tenants to provide the name of a _fiador_, that is someone who owns property in the city who promises to make good on your rent if you skip town . I would imagine that your company will be able to help you with this.


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## boating2go (Dec 13, 2012)

Isla Verde said:


> Good advice, Gary. I find it ironic that Santa Fe, the epitome of high-class modern living, was built on top of a humongous garbage dump!


I would check of that dump holds toxic waste. I would rather drive through horrible traffic then expose my children to that. I am sure Mexico has as many bad sites as we do here in the States.


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## GARYJ65 (Feb 9, 2013)

boating2go said:


> I would check of that dump holds toxic waste. I would rather drive through horrible traffic then expose my children to that. I am sure Mexico has as many bad sites as we do here in the States.


Then again, if you drive through that traffic, you have to get all that crap into your lungs!


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