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Hi Tia,
Thank you so much for your information and your hospitality! Sorry it's taken me a few days to get back to the board. I will definitely start making contact to some of the places you recommended to see if I can get a packet and some more information.
Can anyone tell me about schools in Farmington? I have an elementary school child and a middle school child. Someone from another board told me to investigate Aztec. Can anyone tell me some more about Aztec and the pros and cons?
For the most part, Farmington is a train wreck. More bigoted than not, bereft of any cultural amenities, and populated by a diverse population who don't care to mix with each other unless forced to.
If you're a family who like to hang out in the front yard of the doublewide with the pit bulls chained under the house while you work on the 4x4 and drink beer you're going to love it here.
The only reason to be here is the money.
Truthfully, there are some redeeming qualities. I just can't think of them right now, but I'll post 'em when I do.
Hi
It doesn't sound like you have the greatest opinion of Farmington lol. But I appreciate your insight and opinion. Is the whole town cut out like this? I appreciate a good brew as much as the next person, I'm sure, and I admire anyone's ablity to work on cars, especially since I don't have that skill, but no, I'm definately not into pit-bulls.
I'll wait for your post of redeeming qualities. lol
In Farmington, there are two high schools; Farmington High School and Piedra Vista High School. I would recommend the Piedra Vista boundary as its in the newer part of Farmington (near San Juan College) so the neighborhoods would be newer. However, the FHS schools aren't bad either.
Aztec is fine as well, just depends on what you're looking for and where you are looking to live.
I believe your child would be fine at any school in Farmington as long as you push him/her to do their best and you are involved in your child's education.
Sorry, I'm a teacher so I may have a different view than a person who is not in the education field lol.
Hi
It doesn't sound like you have the greatest opinion of Farmington lol. But I appreciate your insight and opinion. Is the whole town cut out like this? I appreciate a good brew as much as the next person, I'm sure, and I admire anyone's ablity to work on cars, especially since I don't have that skill, but no, I'm definately not into pit-bulls.
I'll wait for your post of redeeming qualities. lol
Ok, I'll try to post some of Farmington's redeeming qualities.
They've almost completely shut down the little airport here, so if you wan to catch a flight out you drive an hour to Durango for flights that connect to Denver, or 3-1/2 hours to Albuquerque for much more selection. The upside is that you aren't bothered by jet noise.
Ok, ok, I'll try harder.....
The city works pretty hard to provide amenities that, overall, are pretty good for a community this size. We have a nationally ranked municipal golf course, three public swimming pools (two indoor, one of them 50-meter plus leisure pool and water slide), more soccer fields and baseball diamonds than you can imagine. If you're in to amateur baseball, this is the "Amateur Baseball Capital of the World". For the most part our parks are well kept and safe, with the exception of Brookside Park which has a brand-spankin' new skate park and attracts a lot of idiots.
I overstated the lack of cultural amenities. We have orchestra, symphony, and stage productions. The city sponsors an outdoor theatre that performs during the summer. There are also several small musical groups that perform regularly, from brass to string to vocal. The theatres at the community college and downtown also bring shows in regularly. There's an active art community here, and several small galleries.
Restaurants are adequate. This is not a white linen atmosphere by a long shot. We have one or two "fine" dining places, but for the most part they are Outback, Chili's, Appleby's, etc. Durango, 50 miles away, does have good restaurants.
Schools are ok but not spectacular. We have a lot of non-native speaking kids in elementary grades that consume huge amounts of resources. Aztec, Bloomfield, Kirtland districts are struggling even more I think. Mom and Dad have to be very involved with their children's education anywhere, even more here. The teachers are good, the system is just stressed I think.
Medical care is pretty good, depending on how the hospital is treating any given doctor. There is ONE hospital here, and the docs who don't get in line with how they want stuff done move on. We lost virtually ALL of our cardiologists 2 years ago. We have a pretty good cancer treatment center, and overall I think we're in better shape than lots of other communities when it comes to availabiliy and access. The ER thing sucks because so many uninsured use it as their primary care, which is not unique to Farmberg.
Cost of living is higher than average. Housing is pricey for what you get, but that may change. We have not experienced the crushing failure of our housing market in the way that Phoenix or Las Vegas has, Home prices are just now beginning to back off. If you want something in the $400,000+ range, there are plenty of those available and I'm sure the sellers would love to talk to you.
Politically this is about as red as it gets. Lots of churchs and a strong faith community. If you're coming from an area that does not have a powerful LDS presence you're in for an experience.
Our proximity to outdoor activities is hugely attractive to many people. Lots of rock climbing, bicycling, camping, fishing, boating, etc. available nearby. Cross-country skiing and downhill are less than an hour away. The magnificent San Juan Mountains, along with the La Platas and the desert are in your back yard. The oil industry has been a little more attentive to the land recently, but they're still evident everywhere you go. You either hear or see well locations at every turn. (But that's what we do.....) I don't like outdoor motorsports like rockcrawling or ATVs or motorcycles running amok in the boonies, and you'll run into that. They're pretty trashy when it comes to taking care of their surroundings.
Overall, it's not bad. If you're earning good money here, it's even better. By good, I think you need a household income above $100,000 to enjoy living here. The median here is probably $45k. It's a good place for families that like doing stuff together, and it's safe enough for the kids to have the run of the neighborhood.
Please look at the Thread here in the MN forum {count several down} entitled: "Looking to rent in Farmington or nearby" by misschristina {within the last week}, I've posted about Aztec, Farmington and Bloomfield in that thread, with Links to info you can use too.
City, county, newspaper, etc, that type info.
There is another thread too, by Leanne Kinnard "Are you considering Farmington, Aztec or Bloomfield", she and others
have posted Good personal and factual info on that whole area. Should be on the 1st or 2nd pages here in the Forum.
Hope you'll find these very helpful too
I'm glad to help when I can
Hi Lobo,
I appreciate the info! I am very involved with my kids' education, one of the reasons I wanted information, and I think your attitude is totally the correct one! All of the women in my family are special-ed teachers...except me, but it definately rubs off! lol especially since I have homeschooled my oldest since the 2nd grade. As a goal we've been working towards, just this year he enrolled in the local middle school, and we've been working really hard for him to do well this year, since he has some challenges. I guess I just want to know which school(s) have a reputation for being good to work with! lol
I'm also not adverse to moving to any or the towns in the Farmington area is one school system has a better reputation than others. From what I understand, they're all within a 10-20 min. drive of each other.
Thanks again
Thanks sjbasin for your post! I appreciate it, and I'm so happy you had some great things to say!!!
Well, I'm coming from NYC area, and this is where I grew up, but I have lived many different places in the US, deep south, southwest, northwest, including Alaska, so I can deal with different. I'm ready to deal with different! lol
I doubt Farmington can compare with the insanity of the real estate prices here in NY or the equally mind-boggling outrage of the property taxes, so I guess value is relative. I did a cost-comparison that compared where I am right now with Farmington, and I would need 60k here to have the same value with 27k in Farmington, so I'm not that concerned.
I love the idea of the close natural surroundings. Our family loves hiking and camping and Xcountry skiing, and being away from the crush of never-ending people is a true joy to think about.
I lived in Utah briefly, so LDS peeps don't scare me. lol
I can't tell you how happy you made me talking about the orchestra. Is it community-based? I play the cello, and am always looking for people to play with. It's hard when you're not professional but still love to play to find outlets to do that sometimes.
I'm a gigantic foodie, I even write a foodie blog, so that's a little sad that Farmington doesn't have better eats, but honestly, if there are some tasty mom & pop places I much prefer those to chains- or linen table-clothed restaurants- any day! How about any ethnic or farmer's markets? That would make me extremely happy!
How about a dollar movie theater? That would be the icing on the cake...lol.
My family and I are relocating to the Farmington area for work. The reason I'm writing is because Farmington is a hard place to dig up information on! There's really not a huge amount that I can find on the internet, and I can usually find out just about anything I want to know. Of the little bit I have been able to glean, some of it has been scary, to be perfectly frank. I read an article on the the Daily Times website and the comments that were left were positively frightning! Total "anti" rantings on race, religion, treatment of "outsiders" vs. "born-in-farmington-ers". I have to say it's left a bad taste in my mouth and a bit of a "what the hell are we doing moving there?" sort of panic.
So, with a hope for clarity, I'm appealing to anyone from Farmington to maybe give me some info on the city. Also- I'm not looking to put anyone on the defensive here either, or think that I'm down on Farmington, I'm just trying to understand where I'm going to be living and raising my children. I'm hoping I was just hearing from some loud malcontents. I really want to be involved in the community, and I would love for it to be just that, a community.
I've read on chowhound that some have the opinion that Farmington is culinarily challenged in terms of restaurants and good food markets which I'd like to get some input on, and I hope that is just misinformation..I'm a big foodie!
I also can't find any information about knitting groups, or music groups or hiking groups, or other sorts of community groups online. Maybe I can get a little info on some of the community things that go on as the info on the net seems only to be for Durango.
Thanks in advance, and if you'd rather email me in person rather than post, my email is minathebrat at gmail dot com. I appreciate it!
When my dh and I lived in Durango (which I disliked very much, by the way), I spent a lot of time in Farmington. I like the atmosphere much better there. It is not as pretentious and full of wannabe trendy yuppie Hummer types. It has a more genuine feel to it. Farmington is full of Hispanic and Native peoples. It astounds me how white anglo types seem incapable of having any understanding and compassion for minorities, but their lifestyle IS different and unless you are willing to accept that, you aren't going to be comfortable around them.
As another poster mentioned, Farmington is one of those love/hate places. It is not the least bit upscale or trendy. As for dining establishments, my taste leans more toward Golden Corral so I cannot comment on the gourmet scene. If memory serves, there are a couple of "trendy" establishments there, but since I had no interest, I did not investigate.
I'm sure that the town has it's compliment of artsyfartsy upscale types (every town does), but for the most part Farmington is not that way. I thought it was wonderful, I'd have much rather have lived THERE instead of Durango. Besides I like the desert better than the mountains.
I can't tell you how happy you made me talking about the orchestra. Is it community-based? I play the cello, and am always looking for people to play with. It's hard when you're not professional but still love to play to find outlets to do that sometimes.
I'm a gigantic foodie, I even write a foodie blog, so that's a little sad that Farmington doesn't have better eats, but honestly, if there are some tasty mom & pop places I much prefer those to chains- or linen table-clothed restaurants- any day! How about any ethnic or farmer's markets? That would make me extremely happy!
How about a dollar movie theater? That would be the icing on the cake...lol.
I know there are several other groups that perform, including a chamber orchestra, jazz bands, and barbershop guys.
There aren't any ethnic markets to speak of. A couple of carnecerias that cater to the Mexican nationals here. You can also get fry bread at roadside stands
We do have a pretty good farmers market in season. Lots of local stuff available, but I notice that as food prices increase and quality deteriorates in the grocery stores, the locals tend to empty the farmers market stalls really fast.
The locally owned restaurants are pretty much family fare or Mexican food. It all comes off the same truck, but some is better than others. People have tried to run really nice restaurants here, but there just aren't enough people who appreciate really good food and are willing to pay for it to keep them open. We do have a couple of nice little coffee houses though.
20yrsinBranson pretty much nailed it as far as Farmington being more genuine than Durango.
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Aztec, Bloomfield, Farmington, more info
