Why Does NM Attract Midwesterners? (Albuquerque, Santa Fe: transplants, 2014, apartment)
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Is it really just the mild snow weather attracting Midwesterners to New Mexico? Or is it jobs and there are fewer jobs here.?
As a Midwesterner myself.
The Midwest is cold, brutally cold. It's also brutally boring, and FLAT, throughout much of it, with a few exceptions. To get out of the heart of the Midwest, you have to drive for almost a day, to rid yourself of flatness and cornfields. In short, it's just an all-encompassing feeling of dullness, etc. (Granted there are excpetions, if you lived in Missouri for example, but to most Northern Midwesterners, these places that border with the South, feel very southern and very different than the Upper Midwest.
Anyways, when you are stuck indoors for 5-6 months of the year, plowing snow, and there are no hills for skiing or much of an outdoors scene at all. Then DREAMING takes ahold of people. They dream of the exotic, the faraway, the warmer climates. New Mexico isn't hot, but it significantly warmer COMPARATIVELY. Additionally, you can rid yourself of cornfields, flatness, the sameness of the Midwest.
In short, New Mexico looks very exotic and different and exciting. I don't think anyone would go to New Mexico for JOBS, but I think they figure the job scene can't be any worse. They would go for the scenery, the change of pace, and just something that seems very exotic comparatively.
I'm actually a person who wouldn't go to NM, because of the lack of jobs. But if a decent job presented itself, I'd move to NM without much hesitation. Whereas if a job opened itself up in say a flat boring dull part of the Midwest, it's really unlikely I'd want to move to Wisconsin or Ohio or Indiana.
Tiger made some great points. I highly doubt it's the jobs scene unless you are in one of the fields that match up with Sandia labs, Alamos, Intel...etc. I live a bit NW of Chicago. For me it would be to escape the winters that seem to be getting longer every year as well as the scenery. I love hiking around and taking pictures and the options are few here in the midwest. Yes we are blessed with forest preserves galore but lets face it. For anyone who has hiked around a forest preserve after the first 1/4 mile it's the same thing. I once did the 4th of July canyon trail in autumn in the Manzanos. While I understand the draw to New Mexicans for me it was like being in the midwest except walking uphill and down. The point though is that in NM if forest trails are not your thing you can head in any direction and within at most a couple hours find yourself on lava fields, gypsum dunes, mesa lands, badlands, or even prairies. If I want some midwest looking boredom when feeling nostalgic I'd just have to drive a bit east of the Sandias. You have choices.
Being an outside person I could never retire here with the limited options for scenic walks. I'd be spending my time wondering why the 'H' I quit working when I could be making cash instead of sitting around. Yes I am near world class museums, zoos, planetariums, aquariums, etc but I can probably count on three hands the number of times I have been in 60 plus years. I'd take an afternoon at Elena G's on Tramway over any of those places any day. Give me badlands, a Home Depot, Target, and a decent grocery store and I'm set. Yes, I'd miss Chicago pizza, thick or thin.
I'm only speaking of what the lure is for me. For people who never venture out but for work and shopping I can't really offer any real good reasons to move. In fact I'd venture that for every midwesterner who's soul is better off in NM there is a New Mexican who would feel and fare better living where I do. Heck, I'll wager that in a mere thirty trips or so that I have seen and hiked more of NM than most people who have lived there their whole lives! For the life of me I will never understand how some stretches of simple highway driving could get old. 550 out beyond Bernalillo, 4 in autumn, the Turquoise before heading downhill into Madrid, the dishes coming into view on 60......my list goes on and on. To me they are all far more grand than Sheridan road heading south into Chikawgo.
I don't think anyone would go to New Mexico for JOBS, but I think they figure the job scene can't be any worse. They would go for the scenery, the change of pace, and just something that seems very exotic comparatively.
Ahh, it's a funny world, ain't it. I was lured down to New Mexico because of a job opening in Alamogordo. I was sitting up in Coeur d'Alene, ID, drawing unemployment when an e-mail dropped in to my inbox from a medical recruiter asking for Respiratory Therapists. I replied, long story short, I got the job. I have found the 'Land of Enchantment' to be a nice place ta live. Alamogordo boasts a population of about 36,000 people. Nice homes available for the dollar here, but rentals also clog the marketplace. Hollomon Air Force base lies about 10 miles west and much of our patients are Hollomon patients at the hospital I work at here.
Nice things about this south-central New Mexico town? They love animals here. I am so sick of how we treat animals in America and really, earthwide. If one more gruesome video of a slaughterhouse comes my way and I take the temptation ta watch it, I might just become a vegetarian. Not only pigs, chickens and cows, but China and South Korea skin dogs and cats alive for their "delicacy" taste. Huh? They are also so far gone as to dunk live dogs into vats of boiling water to slip their fur off them. Then they just slowly let them die. It's explained away as a "cultural" thing. Right. Here animals are respected and loved. One example: In a year and a half of living here I have seen a grand total of 3 (three) cats lying dead on the road. Very few dogs, either. Where I was born, Seattle, dogs litter the sides of I-5 and roads all over Puget Sound. You're just dealing with a much smaller scale of population here in New Mexico.
There are beautiful days abundant here. If you like sun New Mexico is your place. Allergies are aplenty here, you won't move away from them, they are here, if they adversely affect you. It is a quiet and relaxing place ta live. I went to college in Rolla, MO, after having been laid off from The Boeing Co. in Everett, WA, after working 20 years for them. I decided ta take the Trade Act after being laid off there in May 2003 and get free education plus weekly unemployment insurance. I've been to Missouri, South Dakota, Idaho, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico in my medical work history. My favorite states for living and working in this field are Arizona and New Mexico. Idaho is so sparse for money flow and so pre-historic in their thinking that I didn't walk away, I ran.
Silly thing is, as I've hit my mid-50's I am looking at working 7 more years. My job here in New Mexico is going well but just in the past couple months I've been getting the itch to return to my home state to work out my last several years and probably retire there. There's about 4 openings in my field up there I'd love to locate in. It's missing things like Puget Sound, ferry rides, Dick's Drive-On burgers, fries and shakes, Monorail rides, the Space Needle, looking down into the deep, dark waters of Puget Sound to see jellyfish and get afraid of falling in, the gorgeous landscape of the Olympic Peninsula, great hiking, a possible chance ta go to a live Seahawks game, The Blue Fox Drive-In on Whidbey Island, oh yeah...my family.
My Mom and three sisters live there and all five of us are getting older. I want ta spend time with them. So there ya have it. I have read a lot of similar posts from people on city-data who miss their homeland. My wife and I are certainly not financially prepared ta move, that's just one reason ta stay put. Maybe take a trip home and just visit.
Last edited by elkotronics; 09-29-2014 at 09:52 AM..
NM attracts everyone, not just Midwesterners. Its the same story here in AZ... everyones from somewhere else. A lot of Midwest, a lot of Easterners, quite a few Southerners, and an absolute influx of Californians. There are also a lot of people from the mountain states like Colorado, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana...
We moved here to help my wifes health improve. The warmer, drier climate helps her mobility quite a bit. Ive always loved the desert SW, so I was generally pretty happy to move here, although it was super tough to leave family behind. The draw for me was the outdoors activities, even in the hellish summers. I loved Chicago's climate, but Im growing to also love AZ's heat.
I asked the question because as a Northeasterner, I lived in ABQ for 6 years between 2007 - 2013. During that period I saw more Midwesterners than Northeasterners. There were Californians too.
I came because an attractive job presented itself and I have always been a curious person. I come for the interview, was captivated by the landscape and accepted the offer. Although the job ended after 5 years the opportunity and experience living in NM is something I will cherish for ever. Ordinarily, I would have not thought of NM for anything. I didn't even know a place called Albuquerque; I heard about Los Alamos and Santa Fe but not ABQ.
I wanted to continue to live in NM despite the many things I missed about the Northeast however, Job become the decider, despite the beautiful landscape, weather and the open space. Jobs will bring many people to NM and they ultimately fall in love with the place but then reality sets in when you loose that job.
So I keep thinking, for many of those Midwesterners, do they decide that the attractive landscape, weather, open space and cheap housing worth it even if they can't find jobs in their range?
I asked the question because as a Northeasterner, I lived in ABQ for 6 years between 2007 - 2013. During that period I saw more Midwesterners than Northeasterners. There were Californians too.
I came because an attractive job presented itself and I have always been a curious person. I come for the interview, was captivated by the landscape and accepted the offer. Although the job ended after 5 years the opportunity and experience living in NM is something I will cherish for ever. Ordinarily, I would have not thought of NM for anything. I didn't even know a place called Albuquerque; I heard about Los Alamos and Santa Fe but not ABQ.
I wanted to continue to live in NM despite the many things I missed about the Northeast however, Job become the decider, despite the beautiful landscape, weather and the open space. Jobs will bring many people to NM and they ultimately fall in love with the place but then reality sets in when you loose that job.
So I keep thinking, for many of those Midwesterners, do they decide that the attractive landscape, weather, open space and cheap housing worth it even if they can't find jobs in their range?
I'm sure this varies significantly by person.
But as a Midwesterner (Michigan), who also lived in NYC for a few years. Once I had experienced the East Coast lifestyle, which included cheap airline fares, higher salaries, on and on. It was way harder to make a move to a city like ABQ from there.
For most of the Midwest though, I don't think it's all that different from living/working in New Mexico. I mean, for the average person. Northeasterners have access to much larger, much more important cities, with way more opportunities and choices and interesting lives.
Outside of Chicago, most Midwestern cities don't really offer much more than ABQ might offer. In short, going from Indianapolis to Albuquerque, you'll probably be finding the same kind of 'not so interesting jobs' at similar pay. If a person comes from Boston/NYC/DC to ABQ, I'd imagine the job front would be an enormous culture shock.
Chicago would be the exception, but most Midwest cities are more similar to ABQ's job availability options. It's doubtful someone in Indianapolis or Columbus or Des Moines will be doing anything more interesting than they could in ABQ. In short, for most Midwesterners, the job front is a lateral move, and the scenery/weather/climate is a move up.
For most of the Midwest though, I don't think it's all that different from living/working in New Mexico. I mean, for the average person. Northeasterners have access to much larger, much more important cities, with way more opportunities and choices and interesting lives.
Outside of Chicago, most Midwestern cities don't really offer much more than ABQ might offer. In short, going from Indianapolis to Albuquerque, you'll probably be finding the same kind of 'not so interesting jobs' at similar pay. If a person comes from Boston/NYC/DC to ABQ, I'd imagine the job front would be an enormous culture shock.
You are very right! Although the Northeast, Mid Atlantic and the West Coast can be very expensive, there are many global, cultural, educational, employment opportunities that compensate for the high cost of living that one misses living in certain other places. A young person living in Manhattan, DC region, San Francisco/San Jose or Seattle in a very tight apartment is definitely not the same as one living ABQ or Columbus, OH in terms of exposure, world view and experience.
I'm from Michigan.
I'd blame a mix of Bugs bunny always taking a wrong turn, and that it was always referenced as somewhere exotic.
It wasn't the balloons, the crystal-hippies, the UFO's or even the mexican influence. In fact I was completely ignorant of all of those different elements.
But New Mexico really was sort of romanticized as, perhaps the last stop. It was the strange place chosen to be random and maybe creative.
A job did bring me here, I had a choice and chose exotic New Mexico over boring Iowa. It did become my last stop, and is so bizarrely random I end up here. But, now that I'm here I know it is just another place. I met the love of my life and am happy to stay.
The cold weather never bothered me, and I hate the heat. I just wilt in it haha. But there are a lot of things to love out here, just as there are anywhere. I don't mind if I retire here.
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