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Hi! First off, this will be long so you've been warned! Well, my life is probably quite a bit different than a lot of people here based on what I have read. Perhaps you could advise me anyhow? First off I am only twenty. I grew up in hampton roads, va. At eighteen I went live in pensacola, florida. At nineteen a family member got sick and I went back home. My family member is now sadly deceased and I've always been quite unhappy with the hampton roads area anyway. I moved to florida on total whim. It went well enough. However I never really clicked there. There were mainly seniors in my area the younger crowd was very yuppie etc. I remember visiting NM as a young teen and loving it. I need to move somewhere as hampton roads just won't work... why not there (yay, for my great logic)? I want to go to NM because of the dry air, natural beauty and nifty people I remember. Obviously I need to visit there once again but what cities would you recommend for me if I were to move? I would be moving with my long term boyfriend, marriage is eventual. We've been together since high school and always lived together. He has an associates in general studies but has no set career yet. He's worked in retail in managment, as a waiter, and various others. I draw disabilty. We both want to pursue art and writing. I've been published in some local stuff.. Anyway. Some cities we've looked into are silver city, taos, albuquerque, las cruces.. etc. We don't like very cold weather. We'd prefer a city with a down town area where walking some places is possible but we don't want a huge, crazy, traffic filled city. We're those spiritual new agey vegetarians you probably wouldn't like haha (but hey, we do our part and follow the laws and mind our own!).. so an area with health food stores and an open mind would be a great positive. Because of my disability I can't be hours away from a halfway decent medical center either. I really have my heart set on MN. So which areas/cities are pretty laid back?
I believe you have just mentioned the cities above you all need to check out.
I was going to say Albuquerque. They have a downtown area but I don't know how safe it is to walk around as I've only visited a few times.
They have a hospital too.
Do you all have a plan on when you're coming to visit? I'd check out Ruidoso too but I'm not sure if they have a hospital.
Yeah, we're thinking of taking a trip in late april. However I was just kind of hoping on some advice in narrowing it down a bit to two or three. I don't really want to make trips and spend time in five cities.. Madrid was also a thought btw. A major hospital doesn't have to be next door or anything but at a reasonable distance...
Advice on moving - Take as little as possible. By that I mean some cloths, some books and some memories. All the rest can be bought at your new place.
Suggestions: Get a copy of the Benchmark Atlas of New Mexico, use Google Street View to look at communities, get info from the State web site, visit a couple of places before you move, move to the area and rent before buying, use sites like Realator.com to preview real estate.
My Advice is check out the East Mountain Area its like living in the Country with lots of Friendly people and lots to do in the summer and Albuquerque and Santa Fe are Close by. Youre in the center of New Mexico so you can explore the Whole State and find out where the best area to buy would be. Rent or Rent to Own and check out all the Little towns all over the East Mountain. Check out Roswell if you like Warmer Weather and nice people and not much traffic and Roswell is really growing. el pintada kid
Alright! I'm so glad I read your blog! My husband and I are a rather young and newly married couple who just moved to Santa Fe from ND. On a side note..I lived in Naples FL all last summer...a complete difference! I've only been here a week and already love it! I think that Santa Fe, although I am obviously still learning, offers a ton of what you mentioned above. I was also surprised at the friendliness and helpfulness of people here. Not that I intentionally underestimated the people of the area..but you know what its like to move..you think you're all alone and there is no one to help you. There IS help! We've already visited the local police dept who did research on our future home neighborhood as well as the chamber of commerce and came out with armfulls of "things to do in SF" books!!
The one thing I will mention... I talked to an endless amount of people here who said that they themselves or their friends have been looking for work for months with no avail. I guess thats to be expected with this economy... so have something lined up before you make the move.
I was also impressed with how reasonable groceries are here! WOW!
Anyway...feel free to private message me if you have more questions...Ill find ya the answer!
> ... you have just mentioned the cities above you all need to check out.
I disagree because, earlier, GammaRae wrote without taking a breath:
> Some cities we've looked into are silver city, taos, albuquerque, las cruces.. etc. ... Madrid ...
> We don't like very cold weather.
> We'd prefer a city with a down town area where walking some
> places is possible but we don't want a huge, crazy, traffic filled city.
Taos is basically a tourist town and has crazy traffic for its size.
Relatively speaking Las Cruces and Albuquerque would be huge.
It would help if you would DEFINE "huge" such as > 100,000 or something.
> ... want to pursue art and writing ... never really clicked ....
> younger crowd was very yuppie etc.
You might like T or C. <or> Tucumcari <or> Grants. Who knows?
Maybe PK's Santa Rosa might work for you. Maybe Deming.
Again, who knows? What clicks for others might not click for you.
> ... narrowing it down a bit to two or three ...
> I don't really want to make trips and spend time in five cities.
Why not? If you are already visiting two or three, how much more
effort can four or five be? You don't know anything about the place
other than a vague memory and you'll already be here. Part of the fun
of a trip is seeing stuff on the road between places.
Tip: rent a car with a satellite radio. ( I wonder: if this is a "tip,"
maybe I should start a new thread on this? )
Since you need to be near a hospital, I would consider concentrating on Albuquerque or Las Cruces.
Both have good numbers of people your age since they are both university towns. Both have the requisite arts and food cultures you are looking for. Albuquerque has much more of a downtown than Las Cruces, but, there are some nice walkable areas in LC.
With regard to your career pursuits, there are a couple of small independent publications in Las Cruces that are always looking for contributors. If you are looking to continue your education, NMSU has a very highly rated Masters program in Creative Writing.
I would say, spend a few days in both places, visit some of the cultural institutions, the farmer's markets, etc. and see if either place feels 'right.' If you find that you really would prefer someplace smaller, you can always take day trips to some of the other nearby towns.
Just come to Silver City and you'll love it. University, downtown galleries and can practically walk to the mentioned interests
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