Taos Real Estate

1) Taos Arts & Culture District: The State of New Mexico Resource Team will be here to begin a baseline assessment of our newly designated Arts & Culture "economic driver" district November 3-5.  Attached (ACD Activities) is the public schedule, and below is a write up about the significance of the Resource Team's visit.  The Taos community needs to be heard at these outreach meetings.  Please try to attend and help pass the word.

State Arts& Cultural District Resource Team Coming to Taos – message from Matthew Spriggs, Director, Community & Economic Development, Town of Taos 575-737-2620

On November 3rd, 4th, and 5th the Town of Taos will be hosting the state of New Mexico’s Arts and Cultural District Resource Team.  The Mexico Arts and Cultural District Resource Team visit – a group of twelve (12) New Mexico and National experts in the fields of historic and cultural preservation and the creative economy – is the first benefit of Taos’ designation as an Arts and Cultural District! 

The Resource Team visit is the first step toward enacting the Taos Arts and Cultural District designation.  The Arts and Cultural District is a state designation of unique communities that are aggressively engaged with growing their creative economy, preserving their history and unique cultures.  The Resource Team will be meeting with anyone who has an interest in the arts, culture, historic preservation, downtown revitalization, and stabilizing Taos’ substantial tourism industry!  The Resource Team will be looking at the community in depth to assist Taos with understanding the condition of the creative economy in our community and where we are doing well, not so well, and where we may have opportunities for new economic, artistic, and cultural growth and well being.

The results of the Resource Team’s visit will be provided to the community as a report approximately 12 weeks later (February 2010).  This report will provide the basis for hiring a certified planner to work further with the community to create the Taos Arts and Cultural District Master Plan (which funded by an award of New Mexico Main Street Capital Outlay funds).  The Taos Arts and Cultural District Master Plan will provide specific actions for the Taos community to undertake to foster and accelerate the growth of its creative economy.

Please join us for this call to action with the New Mexico Arts and Cultural District Resource Teams on November 3rd, 4th and 5th! 

2) SOMOS Storytelling Festival this weekend (tomorrow), http://www.somostaos.org/calendar.html, at the Taos Community Auditorium, owned by the Town of Taos.

3) Town of Taos proposed, revisited sign code, attached.  According to Matthew Spriggs, Director, Community & Economic Development Dept., Town of Taos, this is the latest draft of the revision of the Town of Taos Sign Code.  Spriggs indicates, “There are some sections that need some additional work, but the draft is about 95% complete.  This is the result of a partnership effort between the Town of Taos and the Taos County Chamber of Commerce.  This is a very complex document that we have tried to simplify to the greatest extent possible – allowing for professional sign designers to have the freedom to provide the best possible signage for their clients while preserving the aesthetics and character of the community.”

According to Spriggs, the Town is tentatively looking at a public Mayor/Council workshop session about the proposed code in early to mid November.  Such a public workshop would be preceded by a review and recommendations from the LUDC Revision Committee and the Planning & Zoning Commission.  After these reviews, the proposed code would then be placed on the agenda for consideration at a formal Town of Taos Council meeting.  Questions?  Contact

Matthew Spriggs, 575-737-2620.  If you have written commentary/input, just email this office, cconnelly@taosgov.com.

4) Next weekend, Taos Mountain Balloon Festival, Oct 23-25, http://www.taosballoonrally.com/

5) New Mexico Once Again Targets California Travel Market with Float in 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade – Town of Taos to Participate.  News Release from the State of New Mexico -- For the fourth time in five years, New Mexico will participate with a float in the Tournament of Roses® Parade in Pasadena, California, January 1, 2010. The theme of the 2010 Parade is “A Cut Above the Rest.”

Michael Cerletti, Secretary of the New Mexico Tourism Department, said the float’s design will be unveiled in Albuquerque on October 29, 2009.

“The response the state has received from the Tourism Department’s appearance in the 2006, 2008 and 2009 Tournament of Roses® Parades and the media efforts we sponsored primarily targeting the Southern California travel market have been tremendous,” Secretary Cerletti said. “We now know that this is an incredibly effective way to reach potential visitors to New Mexico from all around the country and all over the world.”

The exposure offered New Mexico each year is significant. Nearly 40 million Americans in 16.5 million households tuned in to watch the parade on nine national and international television networks each year. The Parade is also broadcast live in 150 countries and territories worldwide. Other media-oriented events promoting New Mexico in Southern California are also being planned.

“What that means to New Mexico are big increases in the number of inquires to our web site and in the number of requests for New Mexico information from our fulfillment center; and ultimately, more tourism dollars to the state’s economy,” Sec. Cerletti said.

New Mexico’s previous floats in 2008 and 2009, respectively, were winners of the Grand Marshal’s Trophy (“for excellence in creative concept and design”) and the Bob Hope Humor (“most comical and amusing”). The Grand Marshal’s Trophy is among the top three float awards given each year, and the Bob Hope Award is one of the most coveted awards given any float.

New Mexico’s floats were all designed by award-winning float designer Raul Rodriguez and built by Fiesta Parade Floats of Pasadena, Calif. under contract with the Tourism Department. The Department has again contracted with Fiesta Parade Floats, with Rodriguez as designer.

Fiesta Parade Floats is leading the float industry in setting the standards for design excellence, construction and floral design. Fiesta has won the Sweepstakes Award for the last 16 years and has a prize-winning rate of more than 65 percent for the last 20 years, the highest in the Rose Parade industry.

A float in the Tournament of Roses® Parade gives the $5+ billion dollar New Mexico tourism industry a unique opportunity to become a major player in the Southern California market – where prospective tourists are plentiful, but advertising is prohibitively expensive. California consistently ranks second to Texas in providing out-of-state visitors to New Mexico.

Industry sponsors taking advantage of this unique marketing opportunity include the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Town of Taos, the City of Gallup/Red Rock Balloon Rally, Buffalo Thunder Resort and Casino, New Mexico State Parks and El Pinto Foods.

Nearly 100 New Mexicans each year also take advantage of the float’s appearance to travel to California to volunteer on the float’s construction and join the more than one million spectators who line Colorado Boulevard on New Year’s Day to experience the Parade in person. Persons interested in doing so this year are asked to contact Marian D. VanderSys, 505-827-7417 or marian.vandersys@state.nm.us.