Any smaller towns near to Las Cruces? (Vado, Mesilla: income, jobs)

[Trisher]

Las Cruces sounds wonderful - we're just wondering, tho - are there any recommended smaller towns near (but not farther south) that would be a fair commute for work? We're hoping for a really small town feel.

[TKO]

Yup, there's a number of small non-incorporapted communties around Cruces. Mesilla is a town and is generally pretty pricey. A little further out is Dona Ana and Radium to the north and San Miguel, Mesquite, Vado and La Mesa to the south. If you want to drive more than 30 miles there's also Hatch to the north which is incorporated, is a wonderful old farming community. A lot of development know is taking place in the uncorporated parts of the county which surround Cruces. That's generally the situation to the north. Hope that helps a little, if I can clarify let me know.

[Trisher]

Thanks TKO! Yes, it does help. I'll do some investigating with those towns in mind. We sorta want a Mayberry - not necessarily backwards, but just that small town feel, but the city not too far.

[domino]

The small towns in the valley south of Las Cruces are nice. Surrounded by pecan orchards, chile fields, and other farming, they can be quite picturesque, and are not suffering from too much growth. Not quite Mayberry, but an hispanic version thereof. La Mesa, San Miguel, Santo Tomas, all on Highway 28 come to mind. Mesilla and Mesilla Park are very much part of Las Cruces now, but still have a nice neighborhood feel. Unfortunately, Dona Ana has been overrun by mobile homes.

[ibarrio]

If you have the money to spare then go Mesilla/Mesilla Park.

If you have big time money move to Picacho Hills.

[TKO]

Originally Posted by Trisher

Thanks TKO! Yes, it does help. I'll do some investigating with those towns in mind. We sorta want a Mayberry - not necessarily backwards, but just that small town feel, but the city not too far.

Hatch is the closest thing to Mayberry you'll find around here. As a town in it's own right, it has a little more ameneties than the places south of Cruces. It's a fair commute if you're going to work in Cruces, but I myself have thought more and more about moving there as LC becomes so developed.

Can you tell I really like it up there? They have the best chile in the world to boot!

[Trisher]

Thanks everyone. We're still in the exploring stages, but I really appreciate all the info. We don't have lots of bucks, but will have enough to make a decent start, at least. Not sure if we'll buy at first. Had even thought maybe just to buy an acre or so and put up a mobile home for the time being, then build our dream home as we go. As I said, we're just exploring. We need to be able to access halfway decent wages/employment, but want to "live" in a little town where you can be friendly with your neighbors, maybe not have to have alarms everywhere, you know what I mean.

We love the scenery of the southwest, and that's a big part of what draws us, as well as the climate. I have mild asthma mostly from the intense vegetation in WV - too much pollens. We are on a scale to try and move in about 1 1/2 years - sooner if we can. We've got some specifics we want to have in place when we move so that we can have time to set up and find decent jobs without freaking out cause there's no income and the rent's due - know what I mean?

I appreciate all of your input, and encouragement. You sell your state well!

[LRUA]

I agree about Hatch ....nice town ....chile capital of NM ....as for Picacho Hills ...while very nice ...it's not exactly Mayberry-like ....it's an upscale housing development built around a golf course ....I like it alot but it is definitely on the pricey side ....as is Old Mesilla area .....if you don't want to be south of Las Cruces then Hatch is definitely worth checking out ...

[Trisher]

Thanks again, from what I'm seeing, I'm curious about Dona Ana and Hatch. Any idea what a person could get from 1/2 to an acre for out there - someplace suitable to build? Thinking of putting a mobile home on while we build.

[TKO]

Originally Posted by Trisher

Thanks again, from what I'm seeing, I'm curious about Dona Ana and Hatch. Any idea what a person could get from 1/2 to an acre for out there - someplace suitable to build? Thinking of putting a mobile home on while we build.

You're probably looking at 30 to 50K for something w/utilities in DA the price will go down n Hatch...probably 20 to 30. Of course, the more acreage you buy the cheaper it is per acre.

Let me know if I can help you when you're here with suggestions and so forth. You really do need to come see for yourself though, the valley is full of properties like your describing that aren't necessarily in a town. They are close though, and surrounded by farmland.