Moving to New Mexico......help me please (Albuquerque, Las Cruces: crime, house)

[rootseye]

My wife and I are planning on moving to N.M. as soon as we can sell 0ur house. After reading comments on here it gives me second thoughts. Wow a lot of negative.
Living in Fla. We are ready to move back out west. My best friend was born and raised in Roswell. He speaks very highly of New Mexico,the people,culture,green chilies. We are from Durango. It has gotten expensive and grown into a beautiful town ,however we are looking for something a bit smaller. Considering Ruidoso or Red River. My wife and I love to spend time in Albquerque. We have always found the folks to be very friendly. And in the small towns we have met some very kind people. We have never experienced the negative things spoken about on here. Does anyone like living in N.M. besides my friend?
The air is very clean there compared to where we live. We see a few stars at night. Sometimes on a clear night you can see the big dipper...however I have never seen the milky way here. Any suggestions?
Dreaming of looking at the stars in New Mexico....... and seeing Chaco Canyon.......We still believe in the Land of Enchantment.......does anyone else????

[Informer]

Greetings from N.M.,

I for one love the west and have lived in Arizona and Colorado. I'am presently living in NM. I also lived in Florida for around 4 years.

The west wins hands down as my favorite area.

Have you looked into the Los Alamos area? It's within striking distance of Albuquerque - around a 2 hour drive I believe. Should even be similar in climate to Durango.

Red River might be your ticket if you like really cold weather.

Star gazing is generally excellent - especially in the winter months.

The blue corn enchilada's smothered with green chile sauce - it don't get much better. You surely can not go wrong with New Mexican cuisine.

Maybe some people don't realize what an undiscovered gem New Mexico really is.

Best of luck in your search.

[rootseye]

Thank you for the feed back. I agree... I would rather be out west myself. Do not care for hot humid weather, the food here is bland, the seafood is good if you can get it fresh.Most of it is frozen and not much different than you could find out there. Florida traffic....we laugh driving through Albquerque at how empty the roads are compared to here. My wife and I look so forward to moving to New Mexico. Any of you folks so unhappy want to trade homes?

[gaby]

Hi. We sound like we are in almost EXACTLY the same boat. Except we are escaping Texas. Actually, it's not bad here. Lots of opportunities. It's just not my kind of place. Except Austin....

Anway, my husband and I are driving out soon to have a few interviews in ABQ. We too have been and liked it but really did feel like there was a lot of crime. Nothing happened to us. We just suburban types who I guess always notice crime. So, we are making our final decision on this trip. It would be interesting to keep in touch. If we go first, maybe we can help you? My email is: beccasrollins@hotmail.com

Send me an email! Good luck. Oh, for some really positive and interesting stuff look at : www.dukecityfix.com It will make you want to move to ABQ. Whereas, this board makes me want to run far from ABQ. I just love the fact that you can be in the mountains in 15 minutes from downtown. Can't beat it!
becca

[councilor j]

The food in New Mexico is the best you will find anywhere,although the mexican food is overpriced, you would think it would be cheap since its a dime a dozen, but anyways red and green chile is the best and its addicting and healthy. You can find red chile pecans,brittle,chocolates, and all sorts of stuff with chile in it, and its not that Texas style chile. Albuquerque is the perfect sized city and everything you need is usually located near where you live. It gets hot in the summer(100degrees) and cool in the winter, perfect if it didnt snow, which its usuallyl gone by noon when it does.

[SandKMcVaugh]

Hello Folks,
My wife and I are planning on moving to Demming by Auguest. Anybody have information about Demming other than what I've seen on the net. like the real story on weather and if the people are nice and all. I could really use all the info I can get. As for us the reason we're moving is Nevada isn't a good place to live and I bought an acre of land just out side of Demming. The only things I realy know about NM. is what Iseen while driving truck through on the 40 and the 10...and Demming has one heck of a truck stop...GREAT FOOD!

Thank you in advance

[Mark S.]

I grew up in New Mexico and still have lots of family there.

Ruidoso is in the mountains. It's a rather pricey area. Very pretty, although the last time I was there (4 years ago) they were suffering from a severe drought. Most of the local economy thrives on tourism, especially the gambling on the reservation and the Ruidoso Downs racetrack.

Roswell as a retirement community is probably a nice place. My grandfather lives there now. I wouldn't move kids there, but if you've got an empty nest it's quite nice. You will want to be careful on the neighborhood you pick, since crime can be an issue in some places.

Santa Fe and Taos are really expensive. Nice, beautiful, and lots to do, yes, but very expensive.

Albuquerque is a mess. Crime is bad there and getting worse.

Las Cruces is a nice community if you like the desert. It's growing pretty fast though, swiftly becoming a rather busy small city.

Clovis and Portales. Again might be a nice place to retire, but I wouldn't raise kids there. The schools are pretty awful, and crime is surprisingly high for such small towns. Also, if Cannon Air Force Base ends up closing (it's on the hit list), both towns are going to take pretty heavy economic hits.

Truth or Consequences is a pit. Avoid it.

I've heard nice things about Alamogordo, but honestly, I've never seen it. It seemed like a rather rundown, dirty little town to me. However, I have spent very little time there. Just passed through it several times.

Carlsbad is pretty nice if you like hot hot heat.

Unless you want to live in a house with four locks on your door, bars on your windows, and sleep with a gun under your pillow, avoid Las Vegas. Really bad crime there.

[Disenchanted]

OOoo. Deming is extremely hot and has huge sand storms in the spring. Really check it out before you jump.

[Crackerjack]

I lived in Durango, the city you said you were from and it is a beautiful city but it has gotten to be one sprawling big city so I know why you don't want to move back there. Some mentioned on here are good like Los Alamos but it is in a fire zone and with that last fire, whew, I don't know, I wouldn't like that myself. Silver City is a nice quiet small town up high in the mountains but it is more of a desert setting which is great if you like the desert but it doesn't look as desert like as say Bloomfield or Farmington. Cloudcroft is nice but a little on the small side for me. Ruidoso is nice but it seems like they suffer from droughts a lot and are kind of at the mercy the elements. Taos is nice but expensive and chic like the New Mexico version of Vail. Santa Fe is nice but if you think Durango is big, you'd think the same of Santa Fe too. There are areas north of Silver City that are small and more mountainy which you can drive from Socorro take Highway 60 West until you get to Highway 12 then drive south to Silver City. You go through the Mongolion Mts, Manga Mts and several other mountain chains. You can go up to Gila Hot Springs on Highway 15 too from Silver City, it is pretty scenic. Carlsbad is a nice town as well but it is really hot there. I always feel like I'm on the sun when I go there.

[fishingirl6@hotmail.com]

My husband and I moved from Oregon to Gallup last September. The people are nice but if you have kids who like to do things then Gallup is not the place for you. Our kids have been pretty bored and every one sort of has a wild west mentality. Have you thought about Flagstaff? Very pretty and it has trees and water that is not piped in from two hours away. If you like fresh fruit and seafood kiss it all goodbye because you will not find it. Yes the local food choices are great but you can only eat so much hot tex mex until you start wanting something eles. I would die for some great Chinese food about now.