What do you think of Clovis? (Albuquerque, Las Cruces: new home, neighborhood, living in)

[desert sun]

This is for you all that are new to the area and for those that just wanna put their 2 cents in.

Is it what you expected when you think of New Mexico?

[High_Plains_Retired]

Clovis is a great town with good people and is a very significant part of a beautiful State. Eastern New Mexico is the reason I stayed (off and on) some forty years ago.

[clairz]

When we lived in Las Cruces, we experienced property crime. That hasn't happened in Clovis.

Santa Fe is beautiful, but has lots of snow. Not in Clovis.

Albuquerque, SF, and LC all have lots and lots of traffic. Not so in Clovis.

Desert Sun, I know you have a lot of issues with this area, having grown up here and being happy to have gotten away. I grew up in northern California and I was thrilled to have gotten away. Other people think that it is the most wonderful place in the world. So, maybe we all are critical of the place where we grew up.

I've met several people here who left the area as soon as they could but, when it was time to raise their children, came back.

There are plenty of positive things to be said for a friendly place with big blue skies and a complete lack of stress.

For sure, what we like about a place no doubt changes as we age. As a retired person, I appreciate a low-stress environment. This might translate to "boring" for younger people. I have always believed that being bored points to a lack of inner resources but, again, that's probably an older person point of view.

~clairz

[High_Plains_Retired]

Clairz,

Many young people seem to feel better about themselves when they are surrounded by neon and crowds. They feel that they are a part of the glamor that surrounds them and, indeed, sometimes they are. As a young person I was once infected by that bug to the extent of subjecting myself and my family to living in terrible places like New Orleans and Washington D.C. However, I have always maintained an admiration for people who had the strength of character and the courage to live in small town and rural America.

Clovis has been, and will always be, a special place to this wandering Texan who was ordered to CAFB many years ago. If my wife were more willing to give up her desire to return to her native west Texas, Clovis would be my retirement home. Also, it is now my family's turn to pick a place to live.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by High_Plains_Retired

Clairz,

Many young people seem to feel better about themselves when they are surrounded by neon and crowds. They feel that they are a part of the glamor that surrounds them and, indeed, sometimes they are. As a young person I was once infected by that bug to the extent of subjecting myself and my family to living in terrible places like New Orleans and Washington D.C. However, I have always maintained an admiration for people who had the strength of character and the courage to live in small town and rural America.

Clovis has been, and will always be, a special place to this wandering Texan who was ordered to CAFB many years ago. If my wife were more willing to give up her desire to return to her native west Texas, Clovis would be my retirement home. Also, it is now my family's turn to pick a place to live.

Didn't you indicate that you are a native EAST Texan?

It always surprises me that someone from ET likes WT and Eastern NM! You go from hilly lush verdant green to almost unbroken table-flatness plains! I grew up in WT, but farther southeast, in the transition zone of the Trans-Pecos and the Edwards Plateau. I was used to more rocky, a little more hilly and canyon terrain.

I loved Lubbock, but it took me awhile to get used to the sheer flatness of the area, as well as around Midland.

There are spectacular sunsets in WT, as you well know....and I never got tired of them, just as I love them here in NM. By the same token, I don't think I could ever go back to either Midland or Lubbock. I'd miss the mountains too much. If I return to TX, it will have to be down around Alpine and vicinity.

You'll be fairly close to Clovis when all is said and done, won't you?

[desert sun]

Clairz and High_Plains_Retired----I think yall have me confused, yes I grew up in the area, I grew up in Portales but Clovis was kinda like that second home since every weekend almost was spent there and most shopping is done there and I worked there. I've mentioned before that I like Portales and that I miss it but I just dont like Clovis. I prefer Portales over Albuquerque but I know almost everyone in the town and most of my family is there so that right there makes me not wanna move back. I really miss the small town life and the driving around out in the country, I love the plains and all that goes with Eastern NM but Im in Albq now and I love it here also so Im not just putting it down cause its a small town.

When I started this thread I wasnt looking for anything negative but more interested in what the newbies to the area thought about their new home and if it was what they thought when they think of NM cause most people dont even know that NM has plains and a culture more like W.TX. in the eastern side of the state.

[clairz]

Fair enough, Desert Sun! When I was younger, my plan was always to get as far away from relatives as possible so that I could strike out on my own in new and different places.

You are so right that this area is really way more West Texas than New Mexico. You see very few ristras or Kokopellis here, and the lone star of Texas is everywhere. Chile is constantly misspelled as chili. Not too many adobe houses. You hear way more y'allin' than Spanglish.

I'm finally getting used to the landscape, which is waaaaay more West Texas than anything you'll see in the rest of New Mexico. Once your eye stops searching for mountains (or hills, or even a slight rise in the ground) you start noticing details--clouds, fences, animals, trees, even the occasional shadow-- far more clearly.

And I am very slowly falling in love with the colors--the big blue sky and the bleached grasses right now, soon to be followed by freshly plowed dirt and bright green shoots.

There are plenty of things not to like, as you well know. People have a hard time accepting differences, and the Baptist rules apply whether you are Baptist or not. But that's another story altogether.

~clairz

[Pintada Kid]

Clovis is a Nice town but it has lots of Flies and the Air doesnt smell too cool that said i use to like going to Clovis havent been there in a Couple of years but years ago i had an Old Friend in Fact he was the Original Pintada Kid that lived in the Center of New Mexico and use to go to Clovis all the time. >>>>> He use to Say.... Cuando Vas Pa Clovis Vas Con El Sol en Los Ojos y Vienes Con El Sol En Los Ojos. el pintada kid

[clairz]

Originally Posted by Pintada Kid

Clovis is a Nice town but it has lots of Flies and the Air doesnt smell too cool that said i use to like going to Clovis havent been there in a Couple of years but years ago i had an Old Friend in Fact he was the Original Pintada Kid that lived in the Center of New Mexico and use to go to Clovis all the time. >>>>> He use to Say.... Cuando Vas Pa Clovis Vas Con El Sol en Los Ojos y Vienes Con El Sol En Los Ojos. el pintada kid

I so do not want to get back in the position of sticking up for Clovis against all comers, but I do have to say this. It's been months and months and months since I've seen a fly. Yep, they are here on still summer days, but that leaves plenty of other flyless days to enjoy.

And the smell? I'm getting a little worried about that. I've gotten only a momentary whiff or two lately. For the most part, I don't really notice any smell. Maybe that's because of the cold winter air or (gasp) perhaps I'm getting used to it? Still, there are plenty of fresh air days to enjoy, and the cow smell, when it comes, only remains until the wind shifts.

I just wanted to set the record straight. The way people talk makes it sound like we are covered in flies and wading through stench. Not so.

I really shouldn't mind. I guess the fly and smell stories keep the traffic down.

~clairz

[catlemm]

I just spent my first week in Clovis and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! I had read so many negative things before arriving. I raised my kids in Casper Wyoming and Clovis reminds me alot of Casper. Not as big but very similar. Everyone kept saying there was nothing there but it seems to me to have everything one would need as far as shopping. I do think it needs a public outdoor pool for the kids though or something more for the kids to do especially in summer. The one thing I did notice is how FRIENDLY everyone is. No matter where I go, even just out walking everyone says hello or is smiling. Very friendly people. I think it will be just fine. I went for a good long walk and never felt unsafe even when I was in a not so great neighborhood. Hope this helps anyone who is thinking of moving here.