CANNON AFB 411, Clovis / Portales (Roswell, House: house prices, construction, high school)
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After living here for about a year, anyone who tries to put a positive spin on Clovis is kidding themselves. Corruption, crime, lack of resources, lack of anything fun, water that turns your children's teeth yellow, no level 1 emergency room, ridiculously inflated real estate--plenty of cons and virtually no pros.
I've lived in small towns (Enid, Oklahoma is one) which may not have had a Best Buy but were far more enjoyable to live in.
Clovis probably wouldn't be so bad if it could wrestle itself loose from the corruptionModerator cut: Name calling, slur, attacks objectionable word etc .
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 07-26-2010 at 12:30 AM..
After living here for about a year, anyone who tries to put a positive spin on Clovis is kidding themselves. Corruption, crime, lack of resources, lack of anything fun, water that turns your children's teeth yellow, no level 1 emergency room, ridiculously inflated real estate--plenty of cons and virtually no pros.
I've lived in small towns (Enid, Oklahoma is one) which may not have had a Best Buy but were far more enjoyable to live in.
Clovis probably wouldn't be so bad if it could wrestle itself loose from the corruption Moderator cut: Name calling, slur, attacks objectionable word etc .
yeah, the Clovis/Portales water is known for the teeth staining, lots of kids in school had brown or yellow stained front teeth.
Clovis is the kind of town for people who enjoy the simple kind of life, family and church are the two main sources of entertainment, people are just chilled and arnt interested in keeping up with the latest trends, its small town E.NM.
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 07-26-2010 at 12:30 AM..
yeah, the Clovis/Portales water is known for the teeth staining, lots of kids in school had brown or yellow stained front teeth.
Clovis is the kind of town for people who enjoy the simple kind of life, family and church are the two main sources of entertainment, people are just chilled and arnt interested in keeping up with the latest trends, its small town E.NM.
I agree that a lot needs to change here, latest I heard about schools here from locals who grew up here, scary!!! Their son was coming up on 9th grade and because Portales schools they said were horrible and the 9th grade center in Clovis the same, they almost put their son in the military institute in Roswell for a year. They said gangs and overcrowding at 9th grade center is very bad. I surely hope the locals will at least try to get a control on the school situation here. Most of the military people here I know are opting to home school.
I honestly can say that the only reason (Other than love etc) that I havent moved myself and my kids home (Asheville NC) and left my husband here alone... has to be the people I have met here. Once we got settled in and made some really good friends we just make our own entertainment.
We are also hoping that we get the crap out of here before my 6th grader goes into 9th grade... cause she will end up going to a private school or something.
I spent 9 long years at Cannon AFB back during the ardvark and f16 days and left before the base was listed for closure. I thought it was the greatest news that the USAF was leaving that area to the locals, but now a few years (10) later this is what I think are the most important things to know about surviving this assignment.
If you have kids do not allow them to drink the local water, my 16 year old daughter still has blemishes from the high floride (her teeth are very strong), buy the water service.
The locals are a tight knit group, they have to be to survive out in the middle of nowhere, they are friendly and will accept you into the community, but to keep your sanity connect with fellow USAF families/personnel.
It gets hotter than you would expect, it gets colder than you would expect, and the wind blows all year long.
We moved from England to Cannon and my wife cried as we drove through Clovis, just remember the way to Lubbock as it is the closest real world experience you can make it to over a weekend.
Go to Albuqurque, go to Santa Fe, go to Roswell, go to Carlsbad Caverns, go to Riodoso, go to Amarillo (last since it is the least exciting).
If the base Golf Course is still there, join it to pass the time away.
But my biggest piece of advice is to go to the base education center and enroll in classes, with the close proximity of ENMU and Clovis Community College (CCC even has a nursing program) you have an opportunity to complete a degree through night school. There are very little distractions and it is the best use of your off time in that area, it will prepare you for the future. Look at it as doing time, might as well do something productive. Best of luck.
Whew, 9 yrs!!!! We are lucky since my husband took this assignment with only 3 yrs left in the AF! We will get out as soon as allowed. Sorry to all those who love it here, it's just depressing and we are making the best of it while we are here. Just like when we live in England, lots of movies, video games and traveling around to see the other places nearby. That's exactly how we made it over there. Lived in the midst of pig farmers and wheat farmers with nothing but pubs and local shops, no Walmart for sure, it was tough.
I agree that a lot needs to change here, latest I heard about schools here from locals who grew up here, scary!!! Their son was coming up on 9th grade and because Portales schools they said were horrible and the 9th grade center in Clovis the same, they almost put their son in the military institute in Roswell for a year. They said gangs and overcrowding at 9th grade center is very bad. I surely hope the locals will at least try to get a control on the school situation here. Most of the military people here I know are opting to home school.
Realtors in Clovis regularly love to "trash" Portales schools, but in fact the schools in Portales are a whole lot safer and nicer with the same or better quality of instruction than in most Clovis schools - and Portales does not have a gang issue that we have seen.
What skews the AYP scores in Portales is that every kid of a certain grade goes to the same school. That means the university professor's 3rd grader goes to school with the 3rd grade kids of Mexican immigrants with limited English. So in Portales, kids learn diversity and the district's AYP scores suffer, but that does not mean advanced kids do not get attention or that the schools are bad. Also, Junior High in Portales is calmer because everyone already knows each other.
Also, because the Portales schools are fully integrated, most of them are nice and new. The new 1st -2nd grade Lindsay-Steiner Elementary school will be open next year and will be state of the art. ENMU brings a whole host of opportunities that Clovis does not offer. ENMU offers an afternoon "Kid's College", for example. Also, advanced Portales high school kids can take college courses at ENMU, and actually receive college credit before they graduate from high school.
Last edited by New West 2020; 10-13-2009 at 09:40 AM..
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