Is Las Vegas,NM really that bad? (Albuquerque, Las Cruces: houses, university)

[designer]

I now live in southern NM and am getting tired of the brown all the time
and would like to be closer to a few green trees and cooler weather and I\
always wonder about Las Vegas. While at a few art galleries in Santa Fe the
other day I was told by some of the gallery owners/managers that a lot of
the better artists are moving up the the Las Vegas area. But I hear all the
time and on this forum that Las Vegas is a very clicky and not safe NM town.
I also considered Raton and saw some very nice subdivisions as well as some
nice homes in the downtown area but after looking a little further I was able
find the very depressing poverty areas. Maybe a few more trees could have
hidden them but they are there. I guess all New Mexico towns with the exception of Santa Fe, Taos, Albuquerque and Las Cruces have a lot of
poverty. I know Las Vegas has some neat older buildings in the downtown
area.

[BrianH]

I like Las Vegas and have had lots of fun there, and always felt safe. Im not saying it hasnt got any bad areas, but overall, I think that alot of opinons have been way overboard about the area.

Raton is nice, but unfortunately the community 'leaders' are a bit stubborn. Their Chamber lost two great employees because they wont think outside the box, their city council can leave alot to be desired too, from what some people have told me.

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[sarahvm_76]

My sister moved to LV a year ago from out of state and has a great job at the hospital. She likes it for the most part but says she hasn't been overly welcomed, and there's been some anti-anglo comments made to her time to time. Somewhat cliquish (sp?) too. Pretty town though.

[paleo99]

I would personally stay clear of Vegas, especially if your white. Unless you stick around NMHU, you more than likely will not be welcomed. I hate saying it, but a few northern NM towns attitudes towards outsiders who aren't tourists and stick around is more similar to that of what you used to hear about in places like TX and MS in that your stared at and not welcomed implicitly.

As far as the comment regarding Santa Fe and the lack of poverty, i have to say that is not the case at all. Go down airport Rd. and say there's no poverty LOL.

[catman]

Albuquerque has some poverty-stricken areas, too. But almost any town does, and I'd venture to say that all cities of that large size do.

I don't think TX is any worse than most other places as far as being 'welcoming' is concerned. I'd say it depends on who expects to be welcomed. Some people aren't welcomed anywhere. In my experience, being friendly to ther inhabitants when you move in helps. Paranoia is easily misinterpreted as unfriendliness! I've spent some time in LV and never had any problems.

[Towanda]

Oh my gosh!!! I know this is off topic to the New Mexico forum....but I just had to respond to the implication that Texas is unfriendly...did I misunderstand? I spent nine years in Texas (San Antonio) and most of the Texans I met were friendly and helpful and down to earth and welcoming.

I got a lot of teasing because I am a "Yankee" but that was all in fun (I think. )

The same has always been true for me in NM....friendly people ... no problems. I think you often get treated in response to the way you treat people. And some places that have a "reputation" for being closed and unwelcoming may not be that way at all.

[Gallit]

Las Vegas isn't too bad. It isn't the best of places, but it isn't nearly as bad as some people around here would lead you to believe. Just the same, I'm only in Las Vegas until I finish my Master's degree at NMHU. I could never actually settle down there.

[designer]

actually I don't like small towns all that much as I find them rather boring
but Las Vegas is fairly close to Santa Fe and Raton is right on the train track
and the architecture there while old and run down is interesting. It has more
of a victorian flair like you might find in Colorado but it is only 7 miles from
colorado. Being on the amtrak line (Vegas is also) I could hop the train
and go see some culture in Kansas City and even though I live in southern
NM I have already done it several times. I like the cooler summers that the
northern cities offer but would not like the winters that Raton seems to have.
I'm just trying to cut my driving time down and cool down my summers. I do
like LC and I go there all the time but it has little character as it srpung up
very fast. Also I have lived in the desert for years and I would like a little
more green in the vegatation instead of the desert brown. Never been to Clayton but I would guess it's a small ranching/farming town. I'm sure Santa Fe has some poverty but it's not quite as blatant as some of the other NM
towns IMO.

[GregW]

According to this website both Las Vegas and Raton along with many of the New Mexico small towns have been loosing population over the last few years. This leads to a run down look as the decreasing population leads to economic depression except for the "discovered" second home/tourist areas. However this also leads to some real bargain housing. Check Realator.com for the number of houses under 150K in many of the places.

I just looked at Raton and Las Vegas and LV would be preferable because of the college.

[designer]

I have driven through LV many times but for some reason never wanted to stop from all the bad things I had heard from other New Mexicans, but I
know there are some very interesting older buildings there and yes the University would be a plus. Raton doesn't have a college but Trinidad, Co
has a good two year college that could possibly be transitioned into a four
year institution and it is only about 20 miles away. I am going to be in Santa
Fe for a week so possibly I can take a run up to LV to check it out. Wonder
if they even have a super Walmart? Shopping is the biggest negative
I have noticed while living in smaller towns in New Mexico and the long distance to go to LC, Albuquerque or Santa Fe which all have pretty good
shopping.