Northern NM is beautiful. Hiking, river sports, skiing, lots of sunshine, and relatively mild winters (it isn't like the midwest where there are regularly huge blizzards, but it does snow. Still sunny in winter). There are a young people in the area, but not like I would imagine San Diego to be. Lots of tourists, downtown Santa fe is very pretty, but NM in general is a poor, pretty rural state. Not a bike/walk/public commuting culture (or, didn't used to be).
There is a light rail to Albuquerque, so you also aren't entirely shut off from a bigger, busier city. If you like the job after the phone interview, it's worth a visit to decide for yourself*.
*unless you hate hiking, skiing, and mexican food. Then Santa Fe probably isn't for you