Mora, NM? (Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Las Vegas: lawyers, buying, schools)
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mora is a beautiful area, but as others have noted, it's economically depressed and isolated, the latter not necessarily being a bad thing. for a single person who is open-minded it could be a good fit, but i'm not sure i'd want to bring my wife or school-age kids into that setting.
i can't hear the name of the town of mora without recalling the poor old woman who was eaten by a bear there about 10 years ago, it came right into her house. black bears were everywhere that year because starvation drove them down from the mountains; they were even dumpster diving at the las vegas walmart at 2 in the afternoon, that's how hungry they were.
also, did that old adobe on the south end of town ever finally fall over?
also, did that old adobe on the south end of town ever finally fall over?
Looks like a possible fixer-upper?
I do not remember Mora, I think we drove by it 10+ years ago, I remember the town of Cleveland, and the Mill Museum. We need to drive around New Mexico again....
Rich
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 12-16-2011 at 10:41 AM..
Yet, you have stated that your wife is not interested, there are doubts about her ability to find a job in the area, and you have serious reservations about moving your son to a place like Las Vegas (not to offend, but it sounds like your wife is the sensible one!). So how would going for another visit really change that? Do pronghorns really make a difference?
Unlike others who see these places with rose-colored glasses, I just can't advise a family from Ashland, Oregon, to leave their jobs and uproot their child and move to Las Vegas or Mora, and claim it would be a smart move. So I feel like I have a moral obligation as someone who lives in NM reading your posts, to tell you it would not be a smart move. I think it would be a huge mistake. I mean, you both have jobs now, right? And your son is doing well where he is? And you are upside down on your house?
Note that NMHacker has a boss from Mora, but he lives in Albuquerque. I wonder how he would feel if he got transferred to Mora.
I get where you are coming from now. Out of concern for us. That is appreciated, and you may well be right. I will say, Ashland is great, but there are professional push factors that are at play that make it unlikely we will stay in Ashland for the long haul. My wife is not happy about that, but it cannot be easily helped, and is not worth discussing here. So, Ashland is not really a long-term option (unless I am pleasantly surprised). The only other good lead I have at the moment is Merced,CA, which is like Las Vegas in many ways, except uglier, but it offers great opportunity.
I have posted hundreds of post about places from Mora to Bellingham, WA, Clemson, SC, Asheville, NC, and Sullivan, Maine. I feel things out, in part to learn about my country, and when the critical mass of input comes in, I occasionally act. I have learned a lot about a lot of places, which is what is so great about C-D.
As an aside, the issue with places like Ashland, OR, Bellingham, WA, Boulder and Durango, CO, Bozeman, MT, Park City, UT etc. is that all have been gentrified by equity-rich coastal immigrants who have pumped up real estate far out of the range of locals, opened yoga studios and boutique chocolate stores, and of course realty offices to fleece their exurban friends. Anyplace that well known is usually overvalued, yuppified, and disconnected with the local rural culture. I am personally intrigued by places like Pittsburgh, PA, Las Vegas, NM, Logan, UT, and much of the Midwest in general that are a lot nicer than people expect, connected with their historical roots, and affordable, where a person of modest means and good work ethic could actually carve out a good life. In Ashland, everything remotely nice is out of reach, and several of our schools have closed because families cannot live here, and those that do homeschool or put their kids in private school. I am not romanticizing the poorer areas, but if I move, I really don't want to crowd into another boutique community with a bunch of poseurs to buy an overprice ecohome. That is what I also like about ABQ. It has character, but is not Santa Fe.
I post about places like Mora and Las Vegas, because I think there might be others like me who would rather learn about the wallflowers as well as the prom queens of this country.
I do not remember Mora, I think we drove by it 10+ years ago, I remember the town of Cleveland, and the Mill Museum. We need to drive around New Mexico again....
Rich
definitely a fixer-upper
i haven't been there for a number of years myself, but every time i drove past that house i marveled how it could still be standing. surely it must have finally toppled over by now..
Mora officials chose to build a new structure because of health and safety issues with the old structure and the State Fire Marshal ordered the evacuation of the old structure in 2004. The city began to raise funds for a new structure and a bond was passed to raise some money. There were claims that the Governor was supposed to obtain state funding. Things fell through...
As the video shows, state funding was obtained based on earlier estimates, but the building costs ran spectacularly over what was budgeted. I wonder whose pockets were lined?
One of the poorest counties, in the second poorest state, isolated, provincial, depressed, saddled with this boondoggle, population 3900 and falling, incompetent management, corrupt... what more could you ask for in a place to live? There are very good reasons not many people live there, the brain drain on small towns is evident, and the young people are leaving. Beautiful scenery is not enough to save it. Maybe NMHacker and his boss will be able to turn all this around someday. Mora can use the money from new and returning residents.
It really doesn't seem that different from towns of similar size in Appalachia. I can understand Fiddlehead's desire to "downshift" from Ashland to somewhere less trendy and precious, but moving to Mora (and I would add Las Vegas) wouldn't be mere downshifting, it would be more like a blowout, IMO.
As the video shows, state funding was obtained based on earlier estimates, but the building costs ran spectacularly over what was budgeted. I wonder whose pockets were lined?
Sadly, this is a normal state of affairs at every level of government virtually everywhere in NM. I challenge someone to name a public works project somewhere in the state that came in under the original projected cost. It will be a very short list! There are too many individuals who see only profit to themselves from every announced public expenditure.
It is also the normal progression of events in Texas. I suspect it is everytwhere.
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I mean, you both have jobs now, right? And your son is doing well where he is? And you are upside down on your house?
