Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Colorado
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 10-19-2007, 10:06 PM
 
16 posts, read 54,204 times
Reputation: 13

Advertisements

I would appreciate any advice on our situation.
I will try to make this as short as possible!

We have a strong possibility of getting a transfer to either Grand Junction, Co or El Paso, TX. We have already decided that if we get the TX job we will most likely live in Las Cruces, NM.

We have three kids still at home. Two in high school and one in middle school.

Our housing budget would be 325k tops. Taxes would have to be lower than where we are now (Tampa bay area, FL). Home insurance has to be better in either of those places!!

Obviously we want a good school district with little crime. We used to live in the panhandle area of FL and it is a different world compared to down here.

I have never been to either CO or NM so can only go by what I read online.

I am a Brit and hubby is from NY, although he spent 14 years in England so is almost a Brit LOL.

Both places look nice, and we are so tired of the south FL weather!

My only worry about NM is that I don't speak Spanish and neither does my hubby, although we are willing to learn.

Any advice please?

Thanks!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-19-2007, 10:51 PM
 
Location: Northglenn, Colorado
3,689 posts, read 10,391,146 times
Reputation: 971
you should have no problems finding a home in colorado for 325, There are some nice ones in the 225-275 range.

Both New Mexico and Colorado have a large mexican population. You should be fine getting away with not knowing any, or little spanish in colorado for sure (I dont know much at all)

Others will be able to help you with other areas, but I can say that the schools in Jefferson County, and Adams County are pretty good schools. The crime rate up here is not that bad at all.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-19-2007, 11:14 PM
 
2,253 posts, read 6,965,138 times
Reputation: 2653
Wink Visit first if you can

Your decision to choose Las Cruces, NM over El Paso, TX is almost certainly a wise one.

I can't speak to schooling, although many of the schools within New Mexico are not top notch. You'll have to check but Las Cruces may be okay, and quite possibly better than El Paso. Of the three towns Grand Junction, CO may have the best schools.

325K should buy you a perfectly nice house within a good neighborhood in any three of these communities. Of the three Grand Junction might prove the most expensive.

For Colorado Grand Junction is relatively temperate, although you can expect some snow during the winter. Summers will be hot, with temperatures often in the 90s. Both El Paso and Las Cruces are semi-arid with mild winters and hot summers. Not nearly as much precipitation, either.

If you care, Grand Junction is the only one of these three which enjoys relatively ready access to real mountains. Either El Paso or Las Cruces are far further removed, with the closest approximation the Gila of southwestern New Mexico, north of Silver City. Although Las Cruces enjoys the nearby vista of beautiful desert hills (mountains?).

By the way, although you may wish to use it, Spanish isn't a necessity.

Of the three communities you might enjoy the culture of Las Cruces the most. It is different from the more well known Rio Grande valley towns of Santa Fe and Taos, yet probably shares at least some of their charms. New Mexico can be a special place, although this depending on your proclivities and the exact spot you choose.

Good luck.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-20-2007, 07:18 AM
 
Location: Delta, CO
3 posts, read 6,386 times
Reputation: 10
Morph, I am a Brit too and live in Delta, which is about 40 miles from Grand Junction. We don't have any school age kids so I can't speak for the schools here, but I do like living here very much. I can cope with the climate, even in the winters, which seem mild compared to the rest of CO.

We worked in Las Cruces this summer and we were pleasantly surprised. In the part we were in, the people were friendly (we didn't need Spanish) and it had a nice feel about it. The amenities and shops were plentiful and a few people that were staying in our hotel were there to set their kids up in college which they said, after researching, were good.

Of the two places, I would chose GJ....but then I am biased.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-20-2007, 08:00 AM
 
8,317 posts, read 29,387,272 times
Reputation: 9305
In either town, expect some real "culture shock" if Florida and New York are what you are used to. I would definitely pick Grand Junction over Las Cruces, but that's not saying much. I'm not a big fan of today's Grand Junction. You can search my other posts for comments about it. Both get a lot of dry heat in the summer, the areas around them are desert (read: arid and brown quite a lot of the time) and have relatively mild winters. Grand Junction is definitely colder in the winter and gets more snow, but it's still relatively mild. As to property taxes, Colorado has one of the lowest effective property tax rates in the U.S. per dollar of fair market value, but fuel and sales taxes are pretty high. It also has an income tax that is probably about average.

I can't speak for Las Cruces, but Grand Junction is suffering from increasing crime, much of it drug-related (meth, especially). Grand Junction is in the middle of a boom caused by much increased natural gas drilling in the region. I'm sure the crime rates in GJ are much less than in many Florida locales, but the upward trends are not encouraging.

I would strongly suggest you visit both locales before committing to either. It would be time and money well-invested.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-20-2007, 01:10 PM
 
Location: Montrose
63 posts, read 333,343 times
Reputation: 19
Morph..

Yes check out Grand Junction and the citys around it.

Delta is nice and so is Montrose..

You need to make a trip out here.

HM
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-20-2007, 02:51 PM
 
11,550 posts, read 52,969,385 times
Reputation: 16329
I've worked in Las Cruces and El Paso, as well as Grand Junction, in all seasons of the year.

I don't handle a "hotter" climate very well, so I prefer West Slope Colorado (Grand Junction area) to the Southern areas.

IMO, the folks in Grand Junction were a lot friendlier than El Paso ... on some jobsites, the "manana" attitude was rather overwhelming in El Paso.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-21-2007, 09:25 AM
 
178 posts, read 507,006 times
Reputation: 98
you definitely need to visit all places involved before making a decision.

IMO, your choice should be:
1. Grand Junction
2. Grand Junction
3. Grand Junction.
.
.
.
.
.
10. Las Cruces
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
1billion: El Paso

Just me, but I find El Paso to suck. Also, the drive between El Paso and Las Cruces...not my favorite. Short drive, but you have some cattle farms on the western side of I-10, and they can smell....bad.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-22-2007, 07:43 AM
 
16 posts, read 54,204 times
Reputation: 13
Thank you everyone for all of your replies, both in the CO and NM forums.

They both sound like great places, and you have definitely given us a much better idea of what both places are like. It is so much better to get opinions and information from people that actually live in or have some knowledge of an area. I'll post back when we have made our decision about which one to go for, and if the job transfer goes through.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply )
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-22-2007, 11:17 AM
 
13,134 posts, read 40,529,620 times
Reputation: 12303
I want to thank the Colorado posters on here as most were very nice describing our state of New Mexico to the OP. So thanks again from New Mexico everyone.......6/3
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Colorado
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top