What direction is Las Cruces taking? (Santa Fe, Las Vegas: real estate, work, new home)

[Dannrs]

Hello everyone!
My husband and I are in the early stages of retirement planning. Las Cruces is a definite possibility. (we are currently living in Las Vegas, NV) I have read that with all the new retirees moving there (and more to come as the baby boomers approach retirement age) that Las Cruces is being changed/refined some what. My questions are: What direction do those of you living there feel it is taking? The good and the bad. Is there much planning to the growth? What sort of ambiance as a whole do you feel Las Cruces has? Liberal? Conservative? And is that also changing? I know some people who cannot afford Santa Fe prices are moving to more affordable Las Cruces. Do you feel any of that influence? I would sincerely like someone to stick their neck out and predict what they see as the future of Las Cruces in the next ten years! Or.....what they would like to see!
Thanks so much!!

[GregW]

My wifw and I are also planning our retirement and are considering Las Cruces. With the city's proximity to the Mexican border and the expected development of the spaceport I expect LC to grow quite rapidly as the space manufacturing industries move in. The growth will obviously increase the traffic and crowding because the lack of available water prevents the development od a real exurbia that might relieve the presure. A consequence of this is existing real estate values should "skyrocket". Now would be a good time for some speculative investment.

[TKO]

I've lived in Cruces for most of my life. I have no idea where everyone's getting the idea lately that water is a HUGE issue for us. It's not. We have a huge aquifer under the Mesilla Valley. Is it enough to be an LA? No. But we are no where close to exhuasting current water supplies. The drought has affected SURFACE water. This is used for flood irrigation on farmland. Yes, the acquifer is being depleted by increased pumping to make up for the shortage of surface water, but this year went a long way towards recharging it. We have no real water shortage - that's a farce.

Cruces is going the way of Tucson or Phoenix. It will be a long time before we get to that point, but it is happening. Local officials are smitten with growth and the resulting increased revenues. That is the nature of most politicians I'm afraid. Rare exceptions do something special. I've yet to see that here. The growth is planned somewhat but not to the level I would like to see. Particularly with regard to traffic and open space.

The pulse of the area has always been Ag. That's what has made the place special in my opinion. The farmland is now being gobbled up for developments. That's a sad thing when you have millions of acres of desert available and only about 50K acres of farm land.

I love the place and it's not too late to save it from itself. Hopefully the issue of farmland conservation will finally become popular.

[GregW]

Conserving farm land and farms is a very good idea. Here in New Hampshire we subsidize our farmers in order to keep the open space and local produce available. This will be more important in LC as the industries move in and the demand for "new" housing increases. This is a great opportunity for a developer to build compact "new town" type communities.

Is the aquifer water available by drilling an individual well or does a homeowner have to have the water piped in from the city?

[TKO]

Originally Posted by GregW

Conserving farm land and farms is a very good idea. Here in New Hampshire we subsidize our farmers in order to keep the open space and local produce available. This will be more important in LC as the industries move in and the demand for "new" housing increases. This is a great opportunity for a developer to build compact "new town" type communities.

Is the aquifer water available by drilling an individual well or does a homeowner have to have the water piped in from the city?

Yes, NM hasn't been very progressive when it comes to open space. It's wonderful what you're describing in NH. Other parts of the country have done some real neat things in this regard too. I worked for 2 years on a farmland conservtion project here, and in the end the Farm Bureau killed it because it would've exchanged some public grazing land (where it takes 80 acres to feed 1 cow for a year...doh) for the conservation easments to the farms. Now I think of all the chile fields that are being converted too.

Either. If you live away from existing water lines there's usually a community water company. I can think of 5 different ones up and down the valley off the top of my head. In the cases where you have to, you can drill a domestic well. NM is currently in the process of adjudicating water rights which is done on a seniority basis. In the event of a serious shortage of groundwater new well owners would be the first to lose their rights. In the foreseeable future this won't be a problem. But I admit, with unfettered growth eventually water would be an issue.

[domino]

Many people in Las Cruces feel that if they fight the developers they will eliminate growth. All it really does is limits planning for development. The large developers are not the problem; the problem is the subdivision of smaller properties without planning for infrastructure. There are many manufactured homes on small acreage on private unpaved roads and septic tanks on the East Mesa that will have to be dealt with eventually.
The NIMBYs and BANANAS fighting the developers are hurting the planning that is required for the inevitable growth of the city and its environs. They will fight a large planned development, and if successful, will end up with as many new homes, but no plan.

[TKO]

Ok, I'm familiar with NIMBY's but what is a BANANA?

You're right though, the large developments at least the ones being proposed now by Phillapou are well planned. The east mesa is currently gentrifying believe it or not. Soon the land will have a highest and best use that's not crappy trailers with septic. That's actually happened in a number of cases I am aware of.

My main problem is development of the valley. That's going on too, and not just small subdivisions. Our farmlands, and the character of the valley, are being lost and that's a crying shame.

[domino]

Sorry,
BANANA => Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything

[TKO]

Originally Posted by domino

Sorry,
BANANA => Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything

LOL! That's a keeper!

[tito]

I believe that Las Cruces has a very bright future and that the development is being made in an orderly fashion. One of the biggest assets of Las Cruces at the present time, is that is that it doesn't project a phony image to attract tourism like other NM towns. Because of Space Port USA, there will be an influx of industry and an increased population, but I doubt that the growth will be chaotic.