What do you love/hate about New Mexico? (Santa Fe, Carlsbad: high school, college)

[Thunderbomb82]

Cool things about New Mexico: Views, mountains, desert landscape, varieties of cultures. Good food, skiing, trout fishing and hiking.

Not so cool things about New Mexico-

1. certain small towns, especially in the central and northern part of the state, have little to do expect drink. It can be hard to find quality young adult friends to hang out with in these small towns. There is skiing, which I can't complain about!!!

It's different than most areas- not that this is bad. For instance, the mountains recieve a lot of rain in the summer and lots of snow in the winter. So, if you live in the mountains, it's not always clear. Which isn't a bad thing, especially for fair skinned people like me.

[skoro]

I love so much more about NM than I hate. The natural beauty of the state is awe inspiring. The mountains, deserts, and plains all offer vistas to please the eyes in any weather or season. In particular, I love the clean crisp air in the Sacramento Mountains. The night sky full of more stars than you ever knew existed in your city life. And for some reason I can't explain, the sunlight in the mountains has a different quality to it that's soothing, not searing. Close encounters with bears, deer, elk, and wild turkeys reaffirm that there are still places where man's influence is not predominant and the land is much as it was a thousand years ago. I love the cottonwood trees that line the banks of the tiny streams that trickle through desert canyons, offering shade under their generous canopies. I love driving on empty highways across the desert, feeling like I can see a hundred miles in any direction and rounding a curve to meet a coyote or a roadrunner. The blend of Anglo, Mexican and Indian culture gives a real western feel to nearly every town with less than 50,000 residents. And it's genuine, not a put-on for the tourist business. NM seems to feel very comfortable in its own skin, which is a tanned leathery western hide, hanging next a ristra of red chiles. Do I even need to mention the food? Anyone who doesn't like NM cooking has dead tastebuds, and I'll leave it at that.

I hate the almost constant threat of wildfires. Unresponsive small town government bureaucrats. Poorly planned and badly implemented development in some areas, leaving the places looking like Bartertown.

On balance, NM is so much more positive than negative. When I read the unhappy posts from naysayers, a part of me understands. NM is different in many ways from other states. Some folks find it fits them like their favorite jeans. For others, it's too different and they find their attention focused on the distractions, rather than the attractions. For them there are 49 other states to choose from.

[AlisonL]

I have not lived here long enough to hate anything about NM. And, I really doubt I will ever hate anything here.

[tecpatl]

Originally Posted by nmretire

35 years ago, my parents left all of us kids and retired in Roswell from North of Chicago. 3 years later we all followed with our families. We were there for 17 years and then Mom and Dad left us, 3 months apart. My family moved to Missouri to be by the lakes and the fishing. We thought we missed it in NM. Then the children had their own families and move to other states. Divorce follows and old age sets in. Retirement is close, very close.

two weeks ago tomorrow I flew back to NM after 14 years. Flew into Albuquerque and rented a car and headed down Route 25. I felt like I came home and had to pull over because I was bawling my eyes out. I called each of my children, crying like a baby and relaying how I felt. So peaceful, like arms were around me welcoming me. I could breathe deeply, I could see so very far. The mountains, the desert, the meadows were a wonderful site to me. I was home, finally home. I can't explain all that I felt while driving to Socorro, but I prayed and thanked God for letting me return to NM.
I missed it so.

I returned to dirty, noisy, crime ridden, elbow to elbow houses, old, Kansas city last weekend but I will survive this temporary residency as I bought a home in Los Lunas and am making preperations to move. I will have a modest home, a modest retirement income and I will have to pinch pennies and lock my doors. But I will have a meadow across the gravel road, a full acre of land, a glorious mountain view in the back and I will have peace and quiet til the end of my days. There is a bible verse, that spoke to me during my trip. Each and everytime I gazed at a mountain..."How lovely are the mountains at the feet of him, Our God Reigns." I have no clue where that is as I don't memorize the bible but I know it exists and I know that my God that made the beautiful, awsome NM mountains sent it to me.

I LOVE NM!

Welcome back home, nmretire, and thanks for a wonderful, touching post. I wish you the very best, and many, many years of contentment in your new home.

[christylou]

God bless you tecpatl. I'm glad you found your way back. I think you have described what some of us feel that want to be there too.

[GregW]

I just want to retire to a place without any light in the winter sky but the moon and the stars. If I never see city lights on the horizon again I will be quite content. I could also do without the constant drone of an interstate highway. Even at 4 AM I can hear the trucks 4 miles away.

Anyone have any recommendations?

[rybert]

San Jon, New Mexico.

I thought there were stars in the Moriarty sky at night, I was wrong.

I was blown away when I visited a friend of mine in San Jon before a ski trip! It was the most beautiful night sky that I have ever seen.

[allbuzzard13]

Hi!
I was looking to post our house for sale in RR and stopped to read the comments about the good/bad in NM. Just wanted to tell you that Rio Rancho, NM has a new Hewlitt Packard plant opening soon, they are hiring as early as this Fall and next year. It's not SFe but it's closer to SFe than Albuq is if you care to commute later on. Just a thought. I'm sure they have a lot of new job possibilities. Want you to know that folks here are warm and helpful. We have two EE s in the family so we know how limited work is in NM unless you work for LANL (Los Alamos). Intel is another possible job site in RR. Good luck!!

Originally Posted by NMUSA

Hello everybody,

I am looking for work in NM as part of a compromise with family. It is nice, well the part I visited a few years ago is, which is Red River. As a computer programmer I think that pretty much restricts me to Albuquerque; which I've been told by a Clovis, New Mexican I know, is an arm pit. Also, I've heard next to nothing good on this board about Albuquerque as well...is it really that bad?

I'd really rather work in Santa Fe but it seems there is not much in my line of work there. Anyone have pointers on companies that hire computer programmers in Santa Fe (not much shows up on the web job boards...monster, dice, careerbuilder)?

As far as the liberal state of being (denial) in north-central NM, I can handle it, I lived in a large western European city for a while. Talk about being in a state of denial...

[dracul]

nmretire expresses it best. I really envy you and wish you every success with your homecoming. Hopefully, someday we can do likewise.

[Old Gringo]

Originally Posted by GregW

I just want to retire to a place without any light in the winter sky but the moon and the stars. If I never see city lights on the horizon again I will be quite content. I could also do without the constant drone of an interstate highway. Even at 4 AM I can hear the trucks 4 miles away.

Anyone have any recommendations?

The place you're looking for is Cloudcroft. It's small but comfortable, if you're at all inclined to like pine forests and mountains. Unreal night skies. Lots of wildlife in the area, too.