Towns Closest to Durango (Albuquerque, Farmington: apartments, rent, houses)

[yZeCounsel]

Greetings, New Mexicoans. Great forum, here.

Floridian Running from Hurricanes, here

I have been researching the North-New Mexico / South Colorado area as a home base as it seems great climate wise and safe natural disaster wise.

I have no wife, no kids, and no pets, so it is easy for me to move around

My plan tentatively is this:

I wish to work as a private guitar instructor in Durango, but live on the cheap in New Mexico

From reading the threads and using the city-data site, it seems that Aztec & farmington neighbor durango colorado.

I have ascertained from this forum that Farmington has a caste, so if you are not loaded you will most likely live in a bad neighborhood or drug area.

Are there any other towns which are easy to get to Durango from besides Aztec and farmington?

TIA,
yZe

[Crackerjack]

Bayfield is about 15 miles east and is cheaper then Durango. If you are just looking for an apartment, you can find one in Durango itself as they are building a large amount of them right now. Rent is generally about 600 to 700 a month for a one bedroom. Sometimes you can get better deals. Aztec is another small town near the border. There aren't a lot of apartments or houses there though. It is about 35 miles to Durango but keep in mind the highway from Aztec to Durango has heavy traffic. Sometimes outrageously busy so so keep that in mind. There is Hermosa, it has a lot of homes out that way, a little cheaper then Durango, it is about 15 or so miles north of Durango. Mancos is about 20 miles west of Durango and is a nice little town. The suburbs will be cheaper then Durango so look out in the Florida Mesa or Ticolote areas near Durango. If it was me, I'd look in these areas first then go to the others because you have to factor in traffic when you are going south. I'd seriously recommend you try to get an apartment in the suburbs around Durango then later buy something when you can. Gas prices today don't make it feasible to be travelling 30 to 50 miles everyday.
About Farmington. It is a large city, the second largest next to Albuquerque in New Mexico. It is a total desert with sand and sagebrush. There is a caste system there. The rich live in very nice areas and the poor are very poor. Look at Shiprock and then look at Paso Robles and then you will know what I mean. You will see drunks and homeless people walking the streets downtown next to classy shoppers. Farmington's houses are pricey almost as much as Durango. Kirtland has a good amount of farmers and ranchers and isn't bad but get off the river and it is totally a desert. The Durango-Farmington area is one of the safest areas in the USA as far as disasters go. It doesn't get earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes and so on. There can be fires up in the high mountains when you see thick trees so just keep that in mind. So to sum it up:
1. I'd look in the Durango suburbs such as Florida Mesa, Ticolote and Grandview and all the apartments in the Durango area first.
2. I'd look out toward Bayfield next.
I really can't recommend living south except up on the mesa which has farmers and ranchers about 4 miles south of Durango to about 10 miles south, you go up on this mesa and they grow a lot of stuff up on it from alfalfa to wheat.
3. Try Cortez but it is too far to commute to Durango so you'd need to work there too.
4. Live in Aztec and work in Farmington. Keep in mind Durango has the musicians, artists, sculpturists, bikers, hikers, rock climbers (it is a rock climbing mecca), skiers, boarders, rafters, kayakers, naturists, vegans, lots of health type places and stores, all that kind of thing, where Farmington is where the oil people live, oil riggers, lots of stores, about everything you can think of and then some, auto anything, autoshops, bodyshops, auto dealers by the tons, etc.
If someone who lives in Durango can't find something there even though it has lots of stores too but they go to Farmington and can find it, it is about 50 miles away. Also what someone in Farmington can't get there, they will go to Durango to get it. The area trades with one another, Cortez-Farmington-Bloomfield-Aztec-Bayfield-Durango region interplays with each other and it the principle cities in the Four Corners. Lots of minor cities and towns too.
That is what I'd do but if you are going to live in Durango, really look there first, especially since you are a musician. If you love music, you will love it there.

[yZeCounsel]

CrackerJack, a reply well above and beyond the call of duty.

Many Thanks. Looks like I have a good comprehensive research trail ahead of me.

Perhaps I should jump to the Colorado forum?

[Crackerjack]

You are welcome yZeCounsel! Good Luck on your move and from the look of the start of the hurricane season already gunning for Florida, I'd say you can't get out of there fast enough!