Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We currently live in Encinitas (north-coastal San Diego) and are looking for a slight change. We've narrowed our search down to San Juan Capistrano (CA), Durango (CO) and Taos (NM). We're a couple in our 30's with a 3 year old child. My husband is in green-development and real-estate, and I am an alternative health practitioner. We're looking for somewhere pretty liberal, with lots to do for families, great out-of-the-mainstream schools (like Waldorf, Montessori, etc.) and lots of natural beauty. Having a great town-center with coffee shops, restaurants, and health-food stores is important too.
Does anyone have any comments on which would be the best of the 3 areas we're looking into?
There's no substitute for visiting each place and staying long enough to make an intelligent comparison.
You might ask how weather compares or the housing stock.
You also might ask for comparisons in political "atmosphere" if that matters to you.
I can't imagine asking such a general question.
You could even ask me about two neighborhoods that I was intimately familiar with,
but I couldn't answer your question if you applied it to such places.
Comparing the three places you are looking at is impossible.
I *might* have an opinion with regard to *me,* but not for *you.*
P.S. It is against forum rules to spam three forums with the identical message -
which was done here (in Colorado, New Mexico, and California).
OK, I have never posted here before and figured you were supposed to post under each state you were asking about. I'll try to figure out how to erase the other two. Thanks for your warm reply.
Ok, Mortimer is a self described Curmudgeon. However, he does have a very valid point. The 3 areas are vastly different, and although from my perspective, Taos does have some of the things you're looking for...whether or not it has enough family entertainment for you is a matter of personal opinion. Come and visit - we're close enough to Durango that you could tie in a trip to both areas, and see for yourself. Good luck with you search!
We're a couple in our 30's with a 3 year old child. My husband is in green-development and real-estate, and I am an alternative health practitioner.
I think you will find a lot of compatible people in Taos. But I wonder if your two fields are already somewhat crowded in Taos??? You definitely should visit and talk to people.
The original post is quite valid and not at all impossible to address. The reason this forum exists is, in part, so that people can get info without traveling. Have you seen gas prices lately? Who can visit three different places so easily? This forum should ban the response "You need to visit and make up your own mind" and all similar statements. If everyone could travel to all the places they are thinking of moving to, this forum would have little purpose.
Durango and Taos will have somewhat similar climates. Both are basically high and dry. You live near SJC now, so you already know what it's like. From your self-description, I would think Taos might be your first place to research further. Then again, you say you're looking for a "slight change," which points to SJC -- lower moving costs for sure. Taos and Durango would be a big change, in both culture and climate. I'm not an expert on any of these towns, but I have lived in SoCal and in the mountain West. Different planets.
This forum should ban the response "You need to visit and make up your own mind" and all similar statements. If everyone could travel to all the places they are thinking of moving to, this forum would have little purpose.
Totally disagree, jecc. Having been through this process and moving to New Mexico from another state recently, in my own experience, I know you can only do so much research online ... and even though the posts and advice given by members here is invaluable ..... then you have to check out the area for yourself that you are considering moving to.
Sure, gas is expensive, but not NEARLY as expensive and stressful and heartbreaking as making a HUGE decision about a move without having first hand experience seeing the area....and finding it is not right once you get here.
We all know from reading this forum that some people love NM and some people hate it. Some people are thrilled to get here and others can't wait to leave. Some people think northern NM is the BEST part of the state, and others disagree and would not want to live anyplace but southern NM. Just last week, a poster thought she wanted to live in Alamogordo but after a visit there, realized it was not for her.
Nope. My advice to everyone who is thinking of moving to New Mexico, is that IN MY OPINION, coming personally to see the area you are interested in is IMPERATIVE. Most important part of the process.
(If this forum banned the response "You need to visit and make up your own mind" then I would be out of here. Why ban the best advice you can give someone who is considering a move here?? )
Perhaps a trip is planned but some further narrowing down is needed?
One thing I did, taking into account the cost of fuel, time lost from work, etc... was to ask those general questions and take those answers and research them further. Generalities help weed out areas that won't work at all, without having to go to great expense to find those answers. Once we settled on a few areas, like the OP did, I read, read and read some more. City data forums, the actual statistical part of the site, the newspapers for those areas, check the job listing sites and searched those areas, weather channels..... you name it. Anything I could find. Once we'd narrowed down as much as humanly possible without leaving the house THEN we visited. These visits were to confirm or deny what we already knew and to go more indepth into our results.
For instance, Alamogordo seemed like a good fit, both job and weather wise. Got there and decided it's not for us. Tres Piedras seemed like a not very likely option and it proved to be as we thought. Moriarty seemed like a perfect fit and although we were warned about poverty and such, the East Mountain area will likely be where we will settle and with the proximity to Santa Fe and Albuquerque provides everything we need and then some.
I don't think these type questions should be berated or removed, or considered spam. How else ya gonna know if you don't ask? Mayhaps the answers recieved can invite deeper perusal, i.e. searches and discussions and such. Not everyone knows how to search for the responses they need at first.
I haven't seen any berating anyone for asking questions.
The beauty of City-Data forums is that people can ask questions here and get all kinds of information and observations and opinions about the areas they are interested in.
When I began coming here, though, I found that there is such a variety of responses that you have to be real careful in seperating opinion from fact. ALL of it was helpful to me, and gave me an understanding about the mixed feelings and likes and dislikes that people have for the state ... but the final decision to move here was up to my husband and I and I would have felt very uncomfortable making the decision based ONLY on what I have real at C-D and not in seeing NM for myself before making the huge, expensive and emotional commitment to move here.
I hope that makes sense. I am in no way seeing any berating going on here when people ask questions about moving to the state, and if anyone sees my recommendation for people to make a visit here before deciding as berating, then I am a little surprised.
A thorough reconnaissance, including a protracted visit, is a good idea wherever you are considering. For instance, as much as I like the Socorro area from previous visits, I plan on spending at least two weeks, in both summer and winter, to develop a greater knowledge of the suitability of retiring to that town. I may do a lighter recon next summer and include the area east of Albuquerque including the Las Vegas to Raton corridor. Unexpected expenses precluded this summer’s planned vacation to New Mexico.
Gaining direct knowledge is like purchasing insurance against disappointment. Yes, it costs money (more with expensive gasoline) but is cheaper than being unable to tolerate some place after you have uprooted your household and moved.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
However, he does have a very valid point. The 3 areas are vastly different, and although from my perspective, Taos does have some of the things you're looking for...whether or not it has enough family entertainment for you is a matter of personal opinion. Come and visit - we're close enough to Durango that you could tie in a trip to both areas, and see for yourself. Good luck with you search!
)
