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You provided a lot of interesting info, but it's incredibly hard to read - at least for me - due to being one long run-on paragraph. Suggest breaking up your commentary in future posts into much smaller paragraphs.
Please don't be offended, I'm really not trying to be critical. But at least for me, and I expect others, it's very hard to digest information strung together in a single paragraph.
Not to mention my bifocals had trouble following the lines, lol
Retirement is still a ways off but some of the things I like are:
* architecture, I would probably design my own adobe house down to all the details
* landscaping, I would probably design and then work on the landscaping myself except for the heavy lifting, something about the xeroscaping appeals to me
* hiking/camping (I'm an Eagle Scout so I imagine I would volunteer at Philmont each summer) but I would like groups that could do hiking together if that exists
* history (would like to visit historical sites, the whole American Indian culture fascinates me)
* cuisine. Again, love Mexican an SW cuisine, would like to build an outdoor adobe oven at my house and cook "Native American style" - would need courses on this technique. Eventually I may open up a restaurant or something...
Most retirees need access to specialists, and the state has very few. Right now UNM is doing an MD express program in an attempt to keep graduates in the rural communities since they are sorely lacking GP's.
Desert suits me better than mountains as I don't do well with ice and snow or very cold weather for extended periods of time for that matter. Being a few hours drive from the mountains may be nice, but I prefer most of the year to be sunny with little worries about weather impacting things. I can take dry heat well so that's not an issue.
I would like a town that's around 100K people. That's enough to give you a decent amount of restaurants, cinemas, etc... but not too many to give you traffic headaches.
I'm thinking Las Cruces may indeed be the sweet spot?
I'm thinking Las Cruces may indeed be the sweet spot?
Las Cruces is fine town if you like the desert. You're a short drive from the Gila Forest, White Sands, TorC and Elephant Butt Lake, and the big city of El Paso.
It's a 3+ hour drive to Albuquerque. I've been there a few times over the years. Had friends there for a while. 1 hour drive to El Paso. Hopefully Juarez will become safer which I use to visit starting in the 60's.
I have been considering spending the winters in NM for a couple of decades. Towns along the Rio Grande from just south of Albuquerque to Las Cruces are current possibilities with Socorro leading the pack. If we were planning to retire to the area being in or near Albuquerque would be our choice to be physically near medical services.
I suggest that you take the time to spend a week or so in the areas you are considering. We just had a great vacation with Truth or Consequences as our base. We stayed in an older Resort and Spa with access to hot spring fed baths at very reasonable rates. While we were in Albuquerque we took the Tram to Sandia Crest and the Railrunner to Santa Fe. Both were neat. Note - Albuquerque is a physically huge city compared to most of New England.
Also get a copy of the Benchmark Maps "Road and Recreation Atlas of New Mexico" that is available on Amazon. Great maps and lots of extra info.
Desert suits me better than mountains as I don't do well with ice and snow or very cold weather for extended periods of time for that matter. Being a few hours drive from the mountains may be nice, but I prefer most of the year to be sunny with little worries about weather impacting things. I can take dry heat well so that's not an issue.
I would like a town that's around 100K people. That's enough to give you a decent amount of restaurants, cinemas, etc... but not too many to give you traffic headaches.
I'm thinking Las Cruces may indeed be the sweet spot?
I think Las Cruces is just the ticket for what your are describing,cBach.
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