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Great story...everybody has their reason for visiting a place, but movies and books rate pretty high it seems. This guy had to be a pretty devoted fan. I think the Tony Hillerman books have that effect on Navajo country.
Just a couple months ago we had an Eastern European yachting couple come into my wifes store and they told her someone at the harbor said they could get turkeys from her. Same thing A good giggle for everyone
Anyone who thinks New Mexico has an image problem is blind. When I first came to the State in 1968 many non-New Mexicans thought you had to have a passport to visit and the State was as beautiful as any place in the U.S. Some virtually unknown sites rivaled the natural beauty of National Park areas in the eastern U.S. Some State highways were still unpaved and traffic anywhere in the State was minimal. Now so many people are coming to the State that property prices throughout the State have skyrocketed, Albuquerque has pollution problems and a Sunday drive is no longer a casual family occurrence.
I find it odd that anyone in New Mexico tourism would place any credibility on the opinions of New Mexico from people from Chicago, Houston, or L.A. These places are all concrete and plastic and it is quite natural for the people who live there to be devoid of an appreciation of natural beauty. New Mexico tourism should take another survey of a more applicable group of people.
BTW, this from a native Texan whose love for New Mexico has not declined since I first saw it in 1968. I just wish the State would quit advertising itself to those who wouldn't appreciate New Mexico even if they owned it.
Now so many people are coming to the State that property prices throughout the State have skyrocketed, Albuquerque has pollution problems and a Sunday drive is no longer a casual family occurrence.
Hold 'er Tex ...I think there's still some open space left in your beloved adopted home. NM population grew by 240 thousand between 2000 and 2010, but there's still a little breathing room.
As of 2010 New Mexico ranked 45th in population density, with only N & S Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Alaska having more wide-open people- free spaces.
There's a lot of publicly owned land that confines people a bit to privately owned dirt, but I think there's still a little room left for those slow Sunday drives, and real estate prices are still falling, something you seemingly would applaud.
I understand the desire to have things as we remember they were -the natural selectivity of memory makes this particularly attractive- but you're not the same as in 1968 and neither is New Mexico. Time marches on...
When professional marketing people are tasked with improving the image and sharing knowledge of New Mexico, they first need to discover what the average American (a potential visitor) thinks of New Mexico. A lot of what they think is ignorant or just plain wrong, but it gives a professional some important information about what misconceptions and images must be dealt with to improve the image and attractiveness of New Mexico to visitors.
They're not doing the studies to hear people say just good things about NM, as there really isn't anything to be gained by that.
So the people in Houston, LA, Chicago and wherever else have something valuable to say, even if it's wrong.
What I've been told by long-term residents of Albuquerque is that air pollution was much worse in the 1970's. Air quality is much higher today because of auto emissions standards as well as less dependence on wood-burning for heat.
What have people told me who don't like Taos and Santa Fe? "I read that going to Taos was going to be like going back to the 'Old West', but it isn't, it's just very touristy." About Santa Fe style, "That must get old." My dad in particular was bored and disappointed by the monotony of styles and colors, he was an engineer with a background in architecture so had more adventurous and modern tastes.
The "Pure Michigan" promotion is strange to me, since the state has no monopoly on water, sunrises, or "northernness." Yet maybe those are just pretext for the pretty scenes in the commercials. My folks lived in western Michigan for 17 years, I visited them frequently and we saw lots of stuff like Sleeping Bear Dunes, Traverse City, Interlochen Music camp, Silver Lake, and did lots of canoeing on the rivers and swimming in Lake Michigan. Beautiful places but I never would have gone there had they not lived there, tourist promotions or not.
When professional marketing people are tasked with improving the image and sharing knowledge of New Mexico, they first need to discover what the average American (a potential visitor) thinks of New Mexico. A lot of what they think is ignorant or just plain wrong, but it gives a professional some important information about what misconceptions and images must be dealt with to improve the image and attractiveness of New Mexico to visitors.
They're not doing the studies to hear people say just good things about NM, as there really isn't anything to be gained by that.
So the people in Houston, LA, Chicago and wherever else have something valuable to say, even if it's wrong.
There is indeed a lot of publicly owned land in New Mexico and, if progress is a lot of people, then New York and New Mexico are doing just fine. However, neither I, or knowledgeable hydrologists, want New Mexico to become another New York.
Time does indeed march on but unfortunately it does not always march in the right direction. A recent drop in market value of about $70,000 in my home in Albuquerque is a tough thing to think about in one's retirement years but, if it takes increasing the population of the State by millions more just to have my home value recover by $20,000, I will gladly take the paper loss.
BTW, the particular Texas county in which I will eventually rest my bones has only 11 people per square mile. If polled, I am quite sure that most of those people would agree with you about growth however. You just can't change human nature.
Who is suggesting that New Mexico turn into New York? Anyone? Buehler? Buehler?
Time only marches in one direction for those of us unable to reach the speed of light. Either complain about expensive real estate or about your home dropping in value. Real estate gets cheaper by going down in price, it fluctuates, it's been going on ever since people started owning property. We ALL own cheaper property now.
"millions" would suggest the population of New Mexico would have to double. Kinda doubt it, no?
Your response begs the question: If you don't like crowding, hustle-bustle, urban life and close neighbors, why would you continue to live in the largest city in the state? Vote with your feet, my friend There's lots of quiet space out there just waiting for you. Sure, it might be an hour's drive to the drugstore, but oh that peace and quiet.
aries 63: nothing "strange" about selling what you've got on the wagon. Pure Michigan does it brilliantly and successfully.
Michigan has the longest freshwater coastline in the US and the second longest coast line in the US next to Alaska. It's surrounded by a freshwater sea, and the lakes form the largest body of fresh water in the world by surface area, so it's not a monopoly, but close. To folks in most of the interior of the US, including New Mexico, this much water is pretty remarkable. So it's a fairly easy sale, really.
New Mexico doesn't have the only mountains, the only forests and deserts, but I think everyone would agree it's a very special place. It just needs to be promoted correctly.
Your response begs the question: If you don't like crowding, hustle-bustle, urban life and close neighbors, why would you continue to live in the largest city in the state? Vote with your feet, my friend There's lots of quiet space out there just waiting for you. Sure, it might be an hour's drive to the drugstore, but oh that peace and quiet.
I said my house was in Albuquerque. I didn't say I was. I've already voted with my feet and I write this from my small farm near Lubbock. My nearest neighbor is 3/4 mile away but he's not too noisy. A drugstore is probably nearly an hour away.
However, not to turn this thread into a topic of urban versus rural life, New Mexico's image is just fine to those of us who have appreciated it for years.
Michigan has the longest freshwater coastline in the US and the second longest coast line in the US next to Alaska. It's surrounded by a freshwater sea, and the lakes form the largest body of fresh water in the world by surface area, so it's not a monopoly, but close. To folks in most of the interior of the US, including New Mexico, this much water is pretty remarkable. So it's a fairly easy sale, really.
New Mexico doesn't have the only mountains, the only forests and deserts, but I think everyone would agree it's a very special place. It just needs to be promoted correctly.
If I can play devil's advocate for a minute... Coastline and water can only be enjoyed one little bit at a time by most people. Which state has the most of it is academic. Most Michiganders have only seen a tiny fraction of their state's coastline, and that's enough. If you put them on the Wisconsin shore they wouldn't know the difference. Living in New Mexico, if I want to see water or go for a swim I'm not going to Michigan for it, there are closer options. I've enjoyed Michigan beaches but I've also been there in summer when the weather was too cold for swimming. Do you really know New Mexicans who go to Michigan because of the water? Nothing against Michigan, but this "we have the most of X" strategy doesn't work for me, if all I can reasonably enjoy is a little bit of X.
Perhaps Santa Fe with its endless art galleries and annual markets is New Mexico's most unique tourism asset, followed by the national parks and monuments. Acoma Pueblo is also highly rated by visitors. Native culture continues to be a draw.
The opinion poll at the beginning of thos thread only points out the ignorance of the polled people. It does not say anything about the actual attractivness of New Mexico.
Tourism does being in money and, usually, temporary jobs.
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from her. Same thing
A good giggle for everyone
...I think there's still some open space left in your beloved adopted home. NM population grew by 240 thousand between 2000 and 2010, but there's still a little breathing room.
There's lots of quiet space out there just waiting for you. Sure, it might be an hour's drive to the drugstore, but oh that peace and quiet. 
Living in New Mexico, if I want to see water or go for a swim I'm not going to Michigan for it, there are closer options. I've enjoyed Michigan beaches but I've also been there in summer when the weather was too cold for swimming. Do you really know New Mexicans who go to Michigan because of the water? 
Nothing against Michigan, but this "we have the most of X" strategy doesn't work for me, if all I can reasonably enjoy is a little bit of X.
