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- Love mountain views, low humidity, and mild winters. (Summers there are hotter than I'd like, but that's true almost anywhere in America that isn't totally freezing in winters. And I can take a bit of summer heat when it's a dry heat, rather than a humid heat. Especially when I know that heat is offset by mild winters and pleasant spring/falls.)
- Love that it's "big enough" without being too big.
- Love lots of sun. I NEED lots of sun. (Cloudy weather makes me depressed and lethargic.)
- Since I would rent for a year or two, before even thinking about buying a home there, I like that apartment rents there seem reasonable. (I'd like to eventually maybe buy a small plot of land and put a tiny home on it)
- Like being within about 45 minutes of a major airport.
- I'd likely open a small personal fitness training studio there, and it seems like the kinda town where such an enterprise would work out. (Pun intended)
So far so good, right?
But I do still have a few concerns. Would appreciate any honest, objective feedback from locals about these concerns.
* Concern #1 - I worry the area is starting to get a bit "too trendy" maybe? If too many people move there rents and land costs may very well get out of reach for me. Plus I worry the area could run out of water if too many people are placing demands upon the aquifer there. Plus too many people equals lousy traffic.
* Concern #2 - I see the area seems to be very much "blue" politically, and I'm not. No, I'm not a "right winger" either. I'm an independent centrist who can usually find common ground with most non-crazy conservatives and liberals. But I HATE far-left wokeness with a burning passion. I get the sense that Las Cruces, even though mostly Democrat, is composed of more "normal" Democrats, rather than hyper "woke," Marxist-loving Antifa types?
* Concern #3 - According to CityData.com, the US national average crime rate is 270.6 on the numerical scale they use. Whereas the crime rate in Las Cruces is 333.3. Which actually isn't bad, since some of the other towns I'm looking at have worse crime rates. And of course in most cities the crime tends to be in just certain parts of town. So anyway...as a local there, do you feel besieged by criminals or drug addicted homeless people? Are there certain parts of town that would be bad to rent an apartment?
I don't live in Las Cruces but nobody replied so I will try to help. Hopefully some other people that actually live there can give this attention
#1 - The area is certainly getting trendy it seems but I think it is mostly retirees. It is still far behind Santa Fe and not many people even know about it so I don't think this is a major concern. Depending on what happens though this could be a concern in a decade or 3.
#2 - The area is more centrist blue than woke antifa blue. As is the cost with most towns that are majority hispanic. I could also see the town becoming slighty more conservative over time which would make it more centrist. There seems to be a wave of hispanics turning less leftist or at least in that direction. Socially they have always been conservative but this doesn't necessarily line up with who they vote for.
#3 - Crime might not be great compared to similar sized areas in other places... But I don't think it is bad either. I live in a very nice part of San Antonio and I would gladly live in Las Cruces. San Antonio is probably more dangerous as it is a big city and with that comes more crime in general it seems. Las Cruces is far safer than big cities around America and I would rather live there than many places.
I would like to learn more about the area so I will watch this thread. I have a friend that lives out there and he really likes it... Maybe I should get his opinion on these questions.
The worst thing about Las Cruces is that the housing stock is really bad. It's either old and/or cheap and crummy (old Las Cruces) or it's really nice, new and expensive (East and West Mesa). This is a problem in many New Mexico towns.
If you want a nice house that was built in the '30s through the '50s you are pretty much limited to Mesilla Park. '60s and '70s East Mesa. Most of the stuff that went up after that is pretty nice or at least decent. That is mostly on the East Mesa and northeast Las Cruces. Most of West Mesa is pretty ritzy and further removed from town.
How are the medical facilities/hospitals rated in Las Cruces. Especially for retired folks.
I think this is an overall strength of the town although others might disagree based on the fact that LC doesn't have a teaching hospital or Medical school. However, the old established Memorial Medical Hospital is good IMO. The newer Shadow Mtn Hospital had provided a nice option for those who don't prefer Memorial for a couple of decades and there is a brand new small hospital in town (Three Crosses) which provides a unique benefit there. I believe it is 46 beds. There is also a behavioral health facility in town and much of the care is oriented to retired folks.
Furthermore, you have more options in El Paso. And there is a medical school in El Paso there as well. Albuquerque has the teaching hospital as well.
All I can tell you is that if you are having somebody drive you to the hospital or an ambulance is taking you to the hospital... tell them to avoid Lohman and I-25 junction if you need to be in a hurry.
Regarding your concerns, I will tell you this. And I preface this by saying I don't like it: just about everyone I have sold to here lately, since March-April, is from elsewhere. Locals and first time homebuyers are having a tough time of it now that it costs more to borrow money. Rents are stablizing, but they aren't going down any time soon either. Eddie Gein has a pretty good facsimilie about homes and locations. The Telshor area between Foothills and University is a possible alternative for a location to live in where you can gain relative value.
The political thing here, as everyone else is stating, is more centrist blue, except for many white liberals that move here from the coasts that want to bring those values with them are what you would expect.
Crime is a subjective matter, and it is very much location-based. You are going to have a lot more of it west of I-25 north of I-10 than you are in the areas that surround it. Property crime is going to be much more prevalent than violent crime. I will share with you two maps from city's ArcGIS portal. Unfortunately the data hasn't been updated in a year, but it is an annual snapshot from November of 2020 to November of 2021. All of what rises to a police report exists here. Bottom line: if you don't do drugs, deal drugs, or be with those that do, you will not suffer from a violent crime. But property crime does exist and it is real. Lots of petty crimes too. For instance, if you used a ladder to go onto your roof to clean debris and left it there many nights in a row, there's a chance it could be lifted from you overnight. Again, that risk becomes far more prevalent once you are on the west side of the freeway.
If I was on a domestic well living in the unincorporated valley, I would be. But the city and the outer lying perimeter community water companies tap from the Bolson aquifer, which is vast.
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