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The OP should also check out the east mountain area of Albuquerque. Silver City and Ruidoso are nice towns but may seem too small and isolated for someone from the Detroit area. East mountains will also provide relatively easy access to Albuquerque medical care but housing will be more expensive than Silver City - not sure about Ruidoso. Also maybe by the river near Las Cruces for some greenery. Dona Ana, north of Las Cruces, may be less expensive than Mesilla but again I'm not sure on housing prices.
East Mountains Weather, KOAT, Published on Dec 5, 2013 -
Along with lots of accidents and difficult driving conditions,
residents of the East Mountains took a pounding all day from the
snow.
It is not always that bad, but it gets cold in the "East Mountains" area, however, that area encompasses parts of three counties. So it depends on what specific area you are talking about Tijeras, Cedar Crest, Sandia Park, Edgewood, Moriarty, etc...
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 04-06-2014 at 07:44 PM..
We lived in Southeast Michigan for 25 years. Upon retirement we moved to Silver City and have been here 21 years. We really enjoy living here. That includes the people, weather, and a somewhat laid back community.
You don't like winter. Easy to avoid the worst of that in NM, especially in the southern parts. I live in Ruidoso at 7000ft and we sometimes get a lot of snow, but it doesn't last. Avg Jan high is 50... and sunny. It's nice.
Not horribly hot in summer. Nowhere in NM is really, when you factor in humidity. Many parts at higher elevation hardly even get hot at all.
BTW mildest year round temps are in the higher elevation parts in the south side of the state... like Ruidoso, and Silver City.
You like greenery. Not so much of that here, and it runs counter to your desire for warmth. Generally you will be looking at higher elevation parts. You find a good spot down lower though that has streams or irrigation water and more greenery... but it will be small areas.
Most of NM has a blessed absence of mosquitoes and other bugs.
Don't like traffic jams. Don't think it's too bad anywhere, but worst in Santa Fe and near the bigger towns and Taos.
Want low housing prices. Most places aren't that bad, but you might find that in any decent neighborhood the prices are higher than what you are accustomed to in MI. Most places ~$200k will get you something nice enough.
Would you enjoy living in or near an isolated town of 10k (or less)?
Do you prefer being right in town or outside?
What kind of services and entertainment would you like to have near?
Shopping?
Airports?
Medical and hospitals?
Lakes and rivers?
Forests and mountains?
Anything else important?
Currently thinking La Luz just north of Alamogordo, and maybe the foothills to the east. Silver City if you don't mind being isolated. Maybe Ruidoso.
Look up these places here on the City-Data home page. There is detailed information (real detailed) on every town in the state. I have been researching relocating to NM for years. I suggest looking at towns along the Rio Grande and near Alamogordo. Socorro, in the central valley, is still my favorite.
I strongly recommend the Benchmark Maps "New Mexico Road and Recreation Atlas" and the publications provided by the State of NM through their website. You could always just drive on down and look around. Stop at the tourist place on the border. Good luck and let us know what happens.
I seemed green enough to me when I was there, it's not desert,
average precip is in the 17 to 18 inch range (double Las Cruces or Albuquerque).
Nearby Fort Bayard has one the mildest climates in NM,
one of the best climates in SW at just over 6000'.
Fort Bayard, NM 1981-2010 climate normals.
Avg High/Low
JAN 55.0/31.2
FEB 58.5/33.6
MAR 64.3/37.0
APR 72.2/42.1
MAY 80.5/50.7
JUN 89.3/59.4
JUL 88.4/63.5
AUG 86.1/62.6
SEP 82.3/57.6
OCT 73.3/47.6
NOV 62.4/37.4
DEC 54.6/31.3
Very good temps, I'll take those over Phoenix any day.
I have been researching the recommended cities with things like water, temps, housing prices at realtor site, safety, population, climate...and so much more.
I can see I am going to simply have to visit the preferred cities to get a basic feel for them. We talked tonight and we will either fly into Phoenix or Albuquerque as we have many miles stacked up, so our airline will limit where and when. Probably a month out, we will also get to see many cities in their heat and possibly dust! We will rent a car and off we go on our adventure.
We have about two years to figure this out before my husband retires, so we will have a chance to see if the drought improves in some areas also. Today I read that the desert southwest has been slowly decreasing in precipitation since the 60's. So it looks like what we see is more than likely what will be in the future. Hopefully there will be some improvement.
I want to, and will address many of your posts directly. Right now I have so many tabs open my computer is about to crash, so I'll be back.
Thanks again!
Today I read that the desert southwest has been slowly decreasing in precipitation since the 60's.
There's a lot of BS going around about precipitation. In truth the precipitation in NM is generally low, and it fluctuates... but over the last 100 years we've seen a trend of increasing precipitation. The late 40s and 50s saw a major drought. We had a wet period in the 80s and early 90s and since then it's been about average. 2013 (which isn't on the graph) was a wet year.
LC is not scorching in the summer? It gets well above 90 for the three warmest months of the year and very near 90 on the shoulders of that period.
Otherwise, LC does have a very nice climate.
But 90 isn't scorching because there is no humidity. Over 100 can be okay, 105 is scorching but that isn't too common.
Forget the green.
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