cities in new mexico with the most crime (Roswell, Los Alamos: living in, law)

[6 FOOT 3]

Originally Posted by anacam

Can someone please tell me a safe area or a clean safe motel to stay in om my drive through Las Cruces . I'd really appreciate it .

Any are fine off the freeway exits especially on I-10.

[6 FOOT 3]

Originally Posted by califgirl

Las Cruces is evil.
im thinking of relocating to las cruces i have 3 teen age kids this looks like a good place why is las cruces evil.

I never knew that Las Cruces is EVIL as you said so where did that come from??

[designer]

The #2 for Albuquerque cops was on the news about two to three weeks
ago. Channel 13 CBS. New Orleans took first place. They were talking
about how difficult it was to attract police candidates to a city that was
so dangerous for approximately half the pay. I'm not sure about the half
pay part but it was much lower than San Diego and Phoenix.

[GregW]

I am planning on retiring to NM. Maybe the house prices will be lower where the crime rate is higher. That could save me some money.

[chilegal]

Originally Posted by califgirl

Grants is bad.
Roswell is off the chart.
Las Cruces is evil.
im thinking of relocating to las cruces i have 3 teen age kids this looks like a good place why is las cruces evil..i have never been in this state ..so where would you say would be a better city or state to relocate ..please ...thank you

Is this what you have taken from other posts? Like one of ther other posters said read what you will into the posts, but there is more good than bad written here. Go back and study all the posts about each city.
You must realize that there will be a big diference from California to here, you must come here with an open eye.
If you have a chance to visit first that would be best. Me? I would say LC as I have been there more than the other towns.
Good luck with whatever you decide.
Jane

[smarino]

Just returned from a visit to Las Cruces and bought a mobile home there. We'll move into it in a couple of months. The city doesn't have a lot of crime, and they budget something like a half million dollars a year to remove graffiti. I loved what I saw in the areas I will be at. There are some low income areas around Picacho Ave down by the K Mart that I didn't like much, and people tell me the Mesquite area can be rough, but every place has a bad side of town. Trust me, it didn't look THAT bad compared to what I have seen in nearly every other American city. People are not living in fear! There are a ton of retirees there, and old folks (us) do not like a lot of crime. I saw an article in the paper a few days ago that said Las Cruces was the 8th safest city in the US in the category of cities it's size.

Albuquerque is where I saw a lot of crime. There were drive by shootings, a lot of road rage, and just too much hard drug and gang activity for me. Riding the city bus is an adventure, especially down Central Ave, w/ most of the people discussing their parole officers. The University is a wonderful place, but there is a fair amount of crime all around it. I loved the light, and I still think fondly of the University and some of the artists that I knew, but I wouldn't move there again if you put a gun to my head.

[jbdykstra]

I live in Roswell, and I am looking to get out. For a town this small, it's nuts how high crime is. I've lived in a number of places in different parts of the country and the only ones where I've ever been a victim of crime is in NM. It's been small stuff, but still. I love NM for a lot of reasons, and when I didn't have kids, it didn't bother me much, but now we have real misgivings about sending out kids to HS here. One of the problems in Roswell is that the police are terribly undermanned and undefunded so in many cases, crimes don't even get pursued. Even though a lot of my colleagues at work swear by Roswell, I would NEVER recommend moving here. Espanola and Las Vegas also have a terrible reputation for things like gang crime. Better places would probably be Ruidoso, Los Alamos or Taos or Santa Fe if you can afford it. I have a student from Farmington who says it's really nice there too.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by jbdykstra

I live in Roswell, and I am looking to get out. For a town this small, it's nuts how high crime is. I've lived in a number of places in different parts of the country and the only ones where I've ever been a victim of crime is in NM. It's been small stuff, but still. I love NM for a lot of reasons, and when I didn't have kids, it didn't bother me much, but now we have real misgivings about sending out kids to HS here. One of the problems in Roswell is that the police are terribly undermanned and undefunded so in many cases, crimes don't even get pursued. Even though a lot of my colleagues at work swear by Roswell, I would NEVER recommend moving here. Espanola and Las Vegas also have a terrible reputation for things like gang crime. Better places would probably be Ruidoso, Los Alamos or Taos or Santa Fe if you can afford it. I have a student from Farmington who says it's really nice there too.

That's really interesting. When I was researching Farmington, most of the posts seemed to say the same thing about Farmington that you have just said about Roswell.

Here in Alamo, the crime rate is supposedly low, but I cannot get over the amount of petty vandalism (notably tire slashing and window breaking) that has been occurring since I moved here. I really do like it, though.

Maybe I read the papers too much, but.....

If I ever decide to move again, Farmington is still on my list. Santa Fe and Los Alamos are not affordable for me. Farmington is far more expensive real-estatewise than Alamo, but not as high as SF and LA.

[jbdykstra]

I forgot to add earlier that this past summer I had money stolen from from a priority mail envelope that my mom sent. It pretty much had to be an inside job at the post office. After telling some friends about it I found out that a lot of people around here have PO boxes because of mail theft. I thought it was a federal crime, but I guess even that doesn't get prosecuted much. There are a lot of beautiful neighborhoods in Albuquerque where you can be pretty much safe and not have to put up with much if you can afford to live there, but New Mexico is not a state like Iowa where any small town is so safe you can leave your car running while you are in the grocery store and it will be fine when you get back.

[Ykwilly]

We are considering buying an apartment in NM - likely Los Alamos - for winter family use after retirement...but the posts about crime stats in NM in general are really scary. We expect to visit in spring and see the naturally beautiful NM state.

We live comfortably in a city in northern Canada the same population size and limited services diversification as Los Alamos, and seek a more out-of -the-way community in the arid (for medical reasons) upland climate of north-central NM. Cool winters wont bother us - its - 25 C outside right now.

Are we looking in the wrong part of the US southwest for a quiet, comfortable arid climate smallish city, or should we be looking to Mexico where some acquaintances have moved for winter, or to Phoenix where other Canadian snowbirds haul their 5th wheelers for the winter.