We are considering retirement to Red River. Any comments (Albuquerque: for sale, real estate)

[Rikey]

Also.

Are there any towns in northern NM located at the top of a mesa rather than at the bottom of a mtn.

Than you, R.

[mortimer]

Rikey posted mysteriously:

> We are considering retirement to Red River. Any comments

Why do you want to retire to Red River? What attracted you?

> Are there any towns in northern NM located at the top of
> a mesa rather than at the bottom of a mtn.

Taos is on the top.

Check google maps' [Terrain] view to find out the topography of towns.

[GregW]

There is a church on top of Johnson Mesa east of Raton. Not much else though.

[Rikey]

Tnx. It figures that ski towns will be located at the bottom of the mtn.

I am looking for an area with truly 360 degree views.

[Rikey]

Originally Posted by mortimer

Rikey posted mysteriously:

> We are considering retirement to Red River. Any comments

Why do you want to retire to Red River? What attracted you?

> Are there any towns in northern NM located at the top of
> a mesa rather than at the bottom of a mtn.

Taos is on the top.

Check google maps' [Terrain] view to find out the topography of towns.

I just saw your comment. The homes look much like those we have in Sweden. Cute, small and cozy as my wife would say.

I saw pictures that remind me of Park City, Utah 30 years ago.

But who knows. I am looking for an isolated small town. The problem with that logic is there are no homes for sale in Cimarron , say. I must get out of LA and the big trip is in a month. Any comments are appriecated.

[mortimer]

Rikey added:

> > Why do you want to retire to Red River? What attracted you?

> ... homes look much like those we have in Sweden.
> Cute, small and cozy as my wife would say.

> I saw pictures that remind me of Park City, Utah 30 years ago.
> I am looking for an isolated small town.

Yeah, I get that. It also might be what Vale, CO was like 50 years ago.

Most people would also consider Taos isolated. It also has "Cute, small and cozy" homes there. Durango also fits that bill, but both offer good panoramic views and some amenities.

> ... there are no homes for sale in Cimarron , ...

Cimarron is so small that any home near Cimarron should be OK.

It might be best to rent a place in Taos for a while and go exploring for a more permanent location from there. Rushing into something is a big risk.

[Rikey]

mortimer

We will rent. And we will rent out our place here. But Taos is not the place.

I lived in Park City in 1970. Time flies. Season ski pass for locals, not to be used on weekends was 29.95. The town was too close to SLC and the rest is history.

I was spending time reading the Montana BB. Boy is that an unfriendly place. Tnx for your useful comment. R.


Park City was a great place.

[jazzlover]

I read these dreams from urbanites all the time on the various Rocky Mountain region forums. What most urban retirees (refugees) forget to think about is that nearly all isolated communities in this region lack any type of advanced medical facilities or even very sophisticated emergency medical facilities. So, any type of chronic medical condition that a retiree may develop (and, let's fact it, most of us do develop one or more at some point) will involve traveling to distant medical facilities for treatment. That can be a real expense and a real problem. Worse yet, a serious medical emergency may mean getting medi-vac'ed out on a helicopter--if weather conditions, etc. are favorable. What might be a routine and survivable medical emergency in a urban/suburban area may be a death sentence in some rural Rocky Mountain communities. Though rural medical care is much better in the region than it used to be, there are plenty of people in rural graveyards who said, "Well, I'm healthy--nothing like that will happen to me."

I post this in response here because I have a friend who lived in Red River for a number of years and swore that he never would leave there. That is, until his wife suffered a medical emergency there and could not be flown out due to weather. She nearly died and suffered long-term effects because of the delays in getting her to a facility (in Albuquerque) equipped to handle her emergency. They have since relocated to an area where better medical care is available within short distance.

This is one of the things about living in the rural Rockies that the Chamber of Commerce-types and the realtors usually gloss over.

[Rikey]

I agree.

What starts this exodus from California is the Federal Tax Laws. Most of us have 500K plus homes, even with the recent downturn--here abt 20%. Now Uncle Sam says I can sell this house and not pay any tax on $500,000. You can do it one time only. Almost all of my friends have moved: most to Nevada, Carson City, Mesquite or Utah.

Another comment from this side of the Bay, we have talked to 2 Real estate agents in North NM and both have been hostile. One wanted an interview and asked me questions about WalMart. Crazy. I have never been in a WalMart, many here feel the same as you in NM.
The agents seem to want to keep us out to keep local home prices down. My wife sells RE here and she is surprised.

What people think about me is completely unimportant. Being from CA is also a non issue. Read the Montana BB. They come out a say it.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by Rikey

I agree.

What starts this exodus from California is the Federal Tax Laws. Most of us have 500K plus homes, even with the recent downturn--here abt 20%. Now Uncle Sam says I can sell this house and not pay any tax on $500,000. You can do it one time only. Almost all of my friends have moved: most to Nevada, Carson City, Mesquite or Utah.

Another comment from this side of the Bay, we have talked to 2 Real estate agents in North NM and both have been hostile. One wanted an interview and asked me questions about WalMart. Crazy. I have never been in a WalMart, many here feel the same as you in NM.
The agents seem to want to keep us out to keep local home prices down. My wife sells RE here and she is surprised.

What people think about me is completely unimportant. Being from CA is also a non issue. Read the Montana BB. They come out a say it.

No, the point is that I've watched this scenario play out a hundred times. People move to the rural Rocky Mountain West to escape those things you mention. They fail to consider the other ramifications. Then, after a few years in this region, they figure out that things aren't always as lovely as they seem. Then they are selling out--often at a loss--and moving back to "the world they left" because they have to in order to access the services and or amenities they need. I can count around a half-dozen people on the street where I live that have wound up relocating back to metro areas because the small-town rural Rockies proved unlivable for them. When they moved here they sounded just like you.

There is a big difference between Mesquite, Carson City, or Park City--all close to fairly large metro areas--and small communities in the Rocky Mountain West that can be 150-250 miles to a metro area.

Those folks on the Montana board say it like it is because they've seen it plenty of times, too. Long-time residents of the Rocky Mountain West get plenty sick of the "California attitude." One of the main reasons is that far too many Californians say they left California because of what it has become, and then proceed to try to remake wherever they relocated to into what they left.

I've been traveling in rural northern New Mexico on business and pleasure for about 40 years now. It is one of those places that if you show up with a big yuppie chip on your shoulder, it will likely get knocked off. Being from California may be irrelevant to you, but it is not irrelevant to many residents of this region.