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I have recently been given a large promotion in Farmington, NM with my company. Me and my partner currently live in Bozeman, MT. I have lived in Texas and California before this. I enjoy living anywhere the people are nice and there is a good nightlife. Low crime is also always a plus.
Where would be our best bet? We have read up on Farmington and it seems like a pretty lame place to live. Aztec seems like a cool little town but we are not ready to buy and do not see any decent places there to rent. Durango looks cool and we are actually considering it most despite the commute. Our gross income will be around 100,000/yr and it is just us and our dog. I am planning on getting a nice luxury car with good mpg for the commute. In this case is it that bad? Also, as stated earlier I'm from Montana so driving in your highways will be a breeze.
I live in Durango. While commuting back and forth for work isn't ideal, i know quite a few people that live in Durango and work in Farmington solely because they don't want to live in Farmington, My BIL included. Durango does have an active night life despite how small it is. Durango does get significantly more snow then Farmington does, often the roads clear up around the state line when going back and forth. There are two ways to get to Farmington, Hwy 550 or the "back way" Hwy 140 which is longer unless your work/home is closer to that route. Depending on the time of day you are commuting, deer can be a problem. The NM side of 550 has deer fencing, CO does not. Hwy 140 has a lot of deer. Hwy 550 is a busy, rural 2 lane highway on the CO side, (4 lane on NM side) you often do not even hit the speed limit due to the traffic, traffic is less on 140, a lot of coal trucks though from a mine along the way. CO is also doing road work to widen part of 550, I believe they will start really gearing up this summer. AWD car wouldn't be a bad idea if that is an option before you buy. CO has more plows and other winter weather road equipment then NM has, due to rural highways, while plows come by, conditions can get dicy if you are making that drive often enough. On 550, you have Farmington Hill to get up and down to get out/in of Durango, it is a slow speed limit, steep, winding hill that isn't always friendly in the ice. My BIL drove a Mini Cooper for a couple years for the good mpg but would often take a truck in the winter. Everyone else I knows that commutes, has 4WD/AWD.
I have recently been given a large promotion in Farmington, NM with my company. Me and my partner currently live in Bozeman, MT. I have lived in Texas and California before this. I enjoy living anywhere the people are nice and there is a good nightlife. Low crime is also always a plus.
Where would be our best bet? We have read up on Farmington and it seems like a pretty lame place to live. Aztec seems like a cool little town but we are not ready to buy and do not see any decent places there to rent. Durango looks cool and we are actually considering it most despite the commute. Our gross income will be around 100,000/yr and it is just us and our dog. I am planning on getting a nice luxury car with good mpg for the commute. In this case is it that bad? Also, as stated earlier I'm from Montana so driving in your highways will be a breeze.
Thanks
Austin
A $100K annual income won't buy you more than an average middle-class lifestyle in Durango, if that. Pile on the commuting expenses for a 110-mile round-trip every day won't help--especially is fuel goes to $4-$5/gal. this year, which is pretty much a sure bet. Driving on our highways may not be the "breeze" you think it will be. My experience with Montana driving is that the highways tend to be pretty good without a huge amount of traffic. Colorado highways--and US550 is good example--tend to be in poorer physical condition and often are carrying a traffic load far in excess than that for which they were designed. Winter road conditions are also a challenge. People assume that areas like Durango have more favorable winter driving conditions than a place like Montana because it is generally warmer. That isn't always true. Colorado gets a lot of winter road conditions where it is cold enough to get the roads snowpacked, but not cold enough to keep a skim of water from forming on top of the snowpack. That is the slickest road condition one can get other than black ice, and it can make Colorado winter driving extremely treacherous. Add to it a bunch of idiots from warm-weather places like California and Texas clogging the road who don't know squat about driving in winter conditions, and winter driving can be a real misery at times.
Finally, Aztec is a far more "real" town than Durango. If you're looking for a Californicated resort ghetto, then Durango might be your town (and I put Bozeman sort of in that class, too), but if you want to live in a more "normal" small town, I'd pick Aztec in a heartbeat. And, believe me, there are going to be a whole lot of people fervently wishing that they hadn't tied themselves into a long commute as our energy/economic situation continues to deteriorate.
I know both routes to Farmington from Durango well. I have a good friend who lives across the highway from the elementary school near Sunny Acres park, which is the halfway point from Durango to the N.M. border on 550. I've been on Colo. 140/NM 170 several times as well.
550 is too much for me regarding early morning/late evening travel. For one, you have a lot of people living on that mesa who are commuting to Farmington already, and a fair amount of traffic coming in to Durango, though not as much as the Farmington traffic. 550 isn't that wide, has few passing lanes, has a lot of rancher traffic hauling livestock, and if you get into a wreck on that road, well you'll be sitting a while. I've been in long jams regarding Halliburton and other energy related company trucks being involved in wrecks on the road, and it's basically because of speeders.
140/170 probably has only 15 to 20% the amount of traffic that 550 does. Maybe not even that. So during most of the year this route is easier.
Regarding winter, that changes. I haven't been down 140/170 since March of last year. For the last few years Colorado's budget for highway maintenance has taken a big hit, particularly county and state highways. And the issue, with me anyway, is snow removal at night. In Colorado there are signs on a number of state roads stating "No snow plow coverage from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m." I'm heading to Farmington later in March and will see if the Colorado side of the road have those signs up. Then there is coverage in case of a breakdown. Road wise 140/170 is adequate enough. Lots of deer and elk cross through, especially a few miles south of Hesperus.
550 does get more maintenance simply because the amount of people there. 550 has been 4 laned several years ago from Aztec to quite a ways close to the border. The Colorado side is a different story.
Usually when I've spent the night in the area it's been at Motel 6 or Super 8 in Bloomfield at the 64/550 split. I like Aztec and have seen several decent neighborhoods there, but have never spent a huge amount of time there. I like the downtown shops there as well. I've never had any issues in Farmington but I do realize a lot of the N.M. posters aren't fond of the area. But there are a few areas I've seen with some damn nice 4 bedroom adobe homes. There are developments fairly close to 140/170 just before you get to U.S. Hwy. 64, I'm guessing maybe 7 to 10 miles west of downtown Farmington. It's a series of newer housing developments that are just north of 64. I wish I could give you the cross street, I can't think of it right now. That cross street is a 4 laner, about 6 miles long, that eventually deadends close to downtown. I've been on that road a lot as I shop at the Hastings CD/Video superstore, will have a bite to eat at Furr's cafeteria near the main drag, and top off the gas tank and shop at Sam's Club, just up the hill.
OK, enough of my bloviating here. Hopefully a few Farmington people can post here regarding their take on the area.
A $100K annual income won't buy you more than an average middle-class lifestyle in Durango, if that. Pile on the commuting expenses for a 110-mile round-trip every day won't help--especially is fuel goes to $4-$5/gal. this year, which is pretty much a sure bet. Driving on our highways may not be the "breeze" you think it will be. My experience with Montana driving is that the highways tend to be pretty good without a huge amount of traffic. Colorado highways--and US550 is good example--tend to be in poorer physical condition and often are carrying a traffic load far in excess than that for which they were designed. Winter road conditions are also a challenge. People assume that areas like Durango have more favorable winter driving conditions than a place like Montana because it is generally warmer. That isn't always true. Colorado gets a lot of winter road conditions where it is cold enough to get the roads snowpacked, but not cold enough to keep a skim of water from forming on top of the snowpack. That is the slickest road condition one can get other than black ice, and it can make Colorado winter driving extremely treacherous. Add to it a bunch of idiots from warm-weather places like California and Texas clogging the road who don't know squat about driving in winter conditions, and winter driving can be a real misery at times.
Finally, Aztec is a far more "real" town than Durango. If you're looking for a Californicated resort ghetto, then Durango might be your town (and I put Bozeman sort of in that class, too), but if you want to live in a more "normal" small town, I'd pick Aztec in a heartbeat. And, believe me, there are going to be a whole lot of people fervently wishing that they hadn't tied themselves into a long commute as our energy/economic situation continues to deteriorate.
Actually black ice is extremely common in Bozeman. As with traffic yes I deal with traffic in ****ty areas quite commonly, almost daily. Considering it can snow here anytime of the year I would say just about year round. Bozeman metro areas is currently over 60k a year and more. Add to it plenty of transients from Cali, Texas, and college kids from all over and I think you get the point.
Sounds like you have a little resentment for the mountain ski kind of resort town? Whatever I don't post here for you to judge us or our lifestyle, but we do like our fancy restaurants, nice places to grab a glass of wine, ski hills, and that horrid, horrid stuff you call marijuana. We also tend to favor a little openmindedness in our environment.
We do not mind a middle-class lifestyle. What is that exactly anymore? We just bought a new car and will soon buy another and we have done our budgets and can afford about 1500 or so in rent, maybe more if we wanted to push it. That seems to get us into very nice places in Durango considering the small size of our family. And by the looks of it rents are about the same in Farmington area because that college doesn't have any dorms. Except in Farmington you get to live with the crime and trash and in Durango you can get a nice little condo in the heart of downtown like we are looking at. Thanks the other two posters your information was very helpful.
I am looking at getting a new or newish fully loaded subaru so it should have AWD. If we live in the Aztec area or stateline area I might get a new truck. I see there are some new developments in the stateline area which look promising (they are advertised at about 20 min each way, don't know if that is true).
Once again this will only be a 2-3 year assignment for me and then I will most likely be moving up again. Also I might not need to go down to my office more than 4 times a week maybe less depending on how reliable my secretary turns out to be.
Thanks again for all the info and anymore would be greatly appreciated.
You are correct--I do generally dislike ski resort towns. I believe that they are, at a basic level, pretty socially dysfunctional, with a lot of people that are attracted to them that are not people that I like or wish to associate with. Durango did not used to be that kind of town (my familiarity with Durango goes back to the 1960's), but that is what it is today. I have to travel through Durango frequently and I can't wait to get through town and be on my way to my destination. I love Durango's geography, climate, and rich history, but it is not a town that I would ever consider for a place to live--at least until the basic "resort" demographic of the town changes--if it ever does. I know a lot of Durango natives that left Durango because they hated what their home town has become.
You might fit in fine in Durango--that's your business--but, as I posted earlier, I believe that anyone who is setting themselves up for a lengthy commute is asking for some real trouble down the line when fuel costs go through the roof. By the way, a Subaru is nice AWD vehicle, but they are not what I consider an economical vehicle--their fuel mileage is really pretty crappy for what they are.
By the way, a Subaru is nice AWD vehicle, but they are not what I consider an economical vehicle--their fuel mileage is really pretty crappy for what they are.
This will not get into a giant what's the best vehicle issue. Subaru's AWD vehicles get up to 36 MPG, not shabby. The original poster was talking about also getting a Pick-up truck, something that does not handle as well, in my actual experience, nor get as good gas mileage.
Rich
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 03-02-2012 at 07:21 AM..
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Relocating to Farmington, NM soon
