Is New Mexico (and the southwest in general) not viable anymore because of water?

[pathrunner]

I currently live close to North Carolina, at the bottom of the Appalachian and Blue Ridge mountain ranges. I've been researching North Carolina recently. There's no way that the area will be stressed by over-development. And I can guarantee you that the local activists will prevent that from happening, at least for a while. There isn't even a Costco in Asheville, Western North Carolina due to lack of acreage needed to develop a plot.

Is there a Costco in Asheville NC?
But the massive warehouse retailer is most definitely not in Asheville, and that leaves a lot of people driving to Greenville or Spartanburg, South Carolina, to hit the chain's two nearest stores. Jan 1, 2021 (Still true, checked last week.)

Did I say that "it's better to slice up that and put houses there" (meaning The Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains)? No, I did not. Furthermore, I did not state that there is an either/or - you did.

Both areas (NM and NC/GA) are protected from over development and will continue to be so for a while yet, due to their respective circumstances. For NM it's a lack of opportunity, a lack of health care, a lack of access to various crucial amenities, and more. For NC and Georgia it's the fact that the area is VERY dense and hilly or mountainous and quite forested (especially NC).

I will say that where I live (Huntsville) and the surrounding area is being chopped up and development like there is no tomorrow but the land is much flatter, and there is tons of water available. Believe me, the rain is an issue for this lifelong Westerner and there are numerous creeks, rivers, ponds and lakes. Beautiful Huntsville is being ruined in my opinion but there is no stopping it. The COL has skyrocketed and people are being driven out just like out West and other areas of the country. And mind you, someone can purchase an acre or a few of land and it's DENSELY forested, which requires thousands of dollars to log and grade. As of last year, south of Huntsville 1-acre lots are going for $50K+ and they need to be logged of heavily dense trees.

As for the cattle people, Texans are buying up Northern New Mexico. Most of the centuries-long ancestral families are having to sell out for economic reasons. They don't have the resources to run cattle. We'll see how the Texans develop it. Right now they're sitting on all of it. I can absolutely guarantee you that those billionaire Texans are NOT developing houses in extremely poverty-stricken rural areas. There's a couple here and there around a certain city (apparently I don't dare mention the name), but that's it. Places like Bernal and Glorieta have upscale bedroom communities, but there's NO commerce or amenities - you have to go to Santa Fe and hour away (1/2 to 3/4 from Glorieta).

As for 60 yr old cattle men, there are some quite prosperous cattle families in the area with multi generations born and raised. Most of those people aren't going to leave. Too many ties to the area, and why would they? I don't see them abandoning their cash cow (pun intended) anytime soon. If anything, the war (animosity) is between the cowboys and the horsemen. There are clear lines drawn in the sand. There is one cattleman I know of (heroic and admirable few) who is actually droving his cattle (near Apache Springs or out toward Conchas).

[Phil P]

Originally Posted by pathrunner

I currently live close to North Carolina, at the bottom of the Appalachian and Blue Ridge mountain ranges. I've been researching North Carolina recently. There's no way that the area will be stressed by over-development. And I can guarantee you that the local activists will prevent that from happening, at least for a while. There isn't even a Costco in Asheville, Western North Carolina due to lack of acreage needed to develop a plot.

Is there a Costco in Asheville NC?
But the massive warehouse retailer is most definitely not in Asheville, and that leaves a lot of people driving to Greenville or Spartanburg, South Carolina, to hit the chain's two nearest stores. Jan 1, 2021 (Still true, checked last week.)

Did I say that "it's better to slice up that and put houses there" (meaning The Appalachian and Blue Ridge Mountains)? No, I did not. Furthermore, I did not state that there is an either/or - you did.

Both areas (NM and NC/GA) are protected from over development and will continue to be so for a while yet, due to their respective circumstances. For NM it's a lack of opportunity, a lack of health care, a lack of access to various crucial amenities, and more. For NC and Georgia it's the fact that the area is VERY dense and hilly or mountainous and quite forested (especially NC).

I will say that where I live (Huntsville) and the surrounding area is being chopped up and development like there is no tomorrow but the land is much flatter, and there is tons of water available. Believe me, the rain is an issue for this lifelong Westerner and there are numerous creeks, rivers, ponds and lakes. Beautiful Huntsville is being ruined in my opinion but there is no stopping it. The COL has skyrocketed and people are being driven out just like out West and other areas of the country. And mind you, someone can purchase an acre or a few of land and it's DENSELY forested, which requires thousands of dollars to log and grade. As of last year, south of Huntsville 1-acre lots are going for $50K+ and they need to be logged of heavily dense trees.

As for the cattle people, Texans are buying up Northern New Mexico. Most of the centuries-long ancestral families are having to sell out for economic reasons. They don't have the resources to run cattle. We'll see how the Texans develop it. Right now they're sitting on all of it. I can absolutely guarantee you that those billionaire Texans are NOT developing houses in extremely poverty-stricken rural areas. There's a couple here and there around a certain city (apparently I don't dare mention the name), but that's it. Places like Bernal and Glorieta have upscale bedroom communities, but there's NO commerce or amenities - you have to go to Santa Fe and hour away (1/2 to 3/4 from Glorieta).

As for 60 yr old cattle men, there are some quite prosperous cattle families in the area with multi generations born and raised. Most of those people aren't going to leave. Too many ties to the area, and why would they? I don't see them abandoning their cash cow (pun intended) anytime soon. If anything, the war (animosity) is between the cowboys and the horsemen. There are clear lines drawn in the sand. There is one cattleman I know of (heroic and admirable few) who is actually droving his cattle (near Apache Springs or out toward Conchas).

The areas that are protected are safe, the problem is that there's not nearly as much protected as there should be in that part of the country. They have parks in ATL full of 80' tall big trees - with pictures from a hundred years ago showing the area as farmland. That's the potential this part of the country has if it can be rewilded. The problem is that the hilly areas are protected but the flatter areas are not.

In many ways it is an either / or. There's X amount of people in the US, if they don't live one place, they will another - that's where I'm getting that. And a lot of Huntsville's growth, just like Colorado Springs, is from federal dollars goosing jobs in the area.

The remoteness is less and less of an issue than it was 30 years ago with WebMD, Amazon, steaming, remote work... What didn't make sense in the 90s can make sense now.

Texans are much more likely to sell the water rights off than a longstanding ranching family, so they'd be more accomodating to development in that regard.