California Transplants In Las Cruces

[Tiger Beer]

Originally Posted by malamute

Even in Michigan people are fleeing the more "progressive" regions like that of Detroit, Flint to head to the less "progressive" regions like Grand Rapids.

Are you kidding me? Flint and Detroit are considered progressive? ANN ARBOR is the ONLY progressive city in MI...and so many people have flocked there that prices are too high for others to afford.

Detroit and Flint. Uggh...FAR from progressive. Those are two cities locked into 1920s or 1950s mindset. Auto industry that creates monster-size gas-guzzling vehichles is a sure sign of NOT being progressive.

Governor Bill Richardson and New Mexico are FAR more progressive than MI.

If you are anti-progress, you were probably better off in MI. Detroit and Flint are two of the least progressive cities in the entire country. Even the traditional 'Deep South' is MUCH more progressive hence the high growth of places like North Carolina or Atlanta, etc...or even Texas cities like Austin or Dallas. Anywhere but Detroit and Flint.

[Fiddlehead]

Originally Posted by tecpatl

I'm not from California, but am a migrant from another state, in fact, I split my time between the two places. The other place I live also gets a lot of people moving there, quite similar to the situation here in LC, so I think I understand both sides of this issue. I've been there.
People anywhere don't like others, especially recent arrivals, to waltz in with a superior attitude and a stupid "this is how we did it back in ______", approach to local people, as if nobody here has half a brain. This isn't a New Mexico thing...it's anywhere a migration occurs, and it's totally natural.
OK..that being said, it's very easy for a local population to be defensive, dismiss new ideas and attitudes, labeling people as outsiders and creating an us vs them feeling.
"That's the way it's always been", "if you don't like it, go back where you came from", and "you just moved here and you're trying to tell us how to live" from long-time residents is just as stupid an attitude as the "I'm here, now I'll show you how to do things right" crap you might hear from some some arrogant and insensitive migrants.
The population boom in the LC area is a relatively recent phenomena, and it's going to take everyone a while to figure out that New Mexico is a better place as a result of the people moving here...people who WANT to be here...just as it benefits from the deep knowledge,culture and wisdom of residents who's families go back many generations.
The only constant thing in our lives is change...period. The trick, the art, of living well is managing that change to make a better life, holding onto the strengths of the past while facing up to shortcomings of the present and having the courage to work for change where it will mean improvement. TKO and Poncho have the right idea here, and I'm sure their practical and respectful ways have made integration into a new community much easier for them. Some people never get that.
But there IS a lot of resistance, stereotyping and subtle discrimination aimed at newcomers. People haven't gotten comfortable with the change in population, ideas, culture, whatever it is that represents the "new" or evolving Las Cruces. It will take time, for sure.
I see a lot of reactionary resistance to change here now. The hysterical nonsense over the school leadership is a good example, but there are others. An administrator tries to raise standards, demand more from students, teachers and parents, and is shouted down and run out of town for it. This in a county (and state) with some of the lowest levels of academic achievement in the nation.
What were these people protecting? Certainly not the quality and high standards of their schools.
What I saw was ignorant backlash...defensiveness...fear...and an unwillingness to accept that "the way it's always been done" here is demonstrably not good enough, that that attitude is producing huge numbers of undereducated kids, unprepared to live a successful life in the modern world.
NM Teach (above) seems concerned with a money issue(and seems pretty defensive about it, to me), and cites BIGGER concerns such as family and friends. Who can argue with a focus on that? Not me....but it does beg the question: how is a laudable focus on family NOT resulting in people working harder and making changes for a better education for that family?
Schools are just an example here...and I'm not interested at all in reopening the debate on who did what or said what or any of that junk. It's just an example where change is long overdue, where a crying need exists and solutions to that need are denied as change is denied.
A week or so ago Michael Hays wrote a piece for the SunNews about education and change called A Tale of Two Cities. I don't always agree with this man, but it's worth reading, not only for the important issues he raises about education, but also because he addresses the difficulties of change. A number of the comments posted on topix about this column were virulently hateful, and more were just defensive.
New arrivals can bring fresh insight, new ideas and new energy, not to mention a huge boost to the LC area economy. It's not always pleasant to listen to them, and they're far from always right, but to dismiss people, new ideas and energy just because they're from California or wherever is to cut off one's nose to spite one's face.
When I go to bed every night I embrace a newcomer...my wife. She moved to my town almost 30 years ago, and life has been better ever since.
And now, here in Las Cruces we have better bread Change CAN be good, if we let it.

Great distillation of a very complex and difficult topic! Well done!