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You will find negativity just about any place you go. Just stay away from those negativities. Do some research of places you have actually lived at and see the difference from reality.
You accepted a job, I assume you needed a job, you took the job voluntarily.
Make friends, help people out, and continue on your way.
Good luck to you and your family...
Rich
Thanks, Rich. My goal is definitely to find something positive. I cannot believe that there is only negativity to be had.
I am a government contractor relocating to Cannon AFB within the next two weeks or so. After MUCH research of the area - I'm really disheartened to find so much negativity. Some of it definitely seems warranted - finding an acceptable rental place has proven quite difficult, etc. I'm hoping, though, that there is some silver lining that just hasn't yet shown itself.
I understand that it is a small town - and I understand small town living. I'm not expecting a night club or high-end shopping. But if nothing else, surely some military families have banned together and have monthly BBQs, or something of the sort... right? I would love to get some information/insight, etc from like-minded people. I am hoping to enjoy the outdoors, quality time with friends/family and hopefully experience some culture unique to New Mexico.
Feel free to give me helpful information that may not necessarily be quite as easy to hear, as well. As long as it's actual and not just a negative view. ;-) I'm really trying to stay positive about this move.
Thank you all so much!
It is a good thing you are approaching your relocation with a positive attitude. You will need it. Please don't feel bad if you change your mind later on. If you plan to hang around military personnel, be ready to hear some negativity and try to empathize. Negative or not, some of their complaints/concerns do have merit.
One of the good things about the region is that you'll be fairly close (by local standards not east coast standards) to other places. Visit Santa Fe to experience a more genuine "New Mexico" culture. I don't know why but this region looks more towards Texas than to the rest of New Mexico. If you like mountains and greenery visit Ruidoso. It is absolutely beautiful. Roswell is nice and although they have a lot of dairies, they don't have as many flies as they do around here. I also liked Las Cruces, especially the Mesilla area. It has wonderful chain and non-chain restaurants. As far as Texas, well, I'd go to Dallas/Ft. Worth and spend a weekend there instead of going to Lubbock or Amarillo. Neither Lubbock or Amarillo do anything for me. The locals around here love to go shopping in Lubbock. I don't care much for shopping. You can find the basics in town and there is always online shopping. UPS and Fed Ex deliver in the area. To each his own.
Another positive aspect is that you can develop or enhance whatever culinary skills you have, and in the end, you'll be healthier for it. I have never cooked so much before in my life. Why? Because not too many of the locally owned/operated restaurants are any good. As far as the chain restaurants-I got tired of them a long time ago. Bottom line is, we have saved some money by cooking and eating at home.
The people around here are friendly enough. However, when it comes to money, do not be beguiled. Be on guard. You want to fit in with the locals? Then haggle/negotiate/whine because the locals do just that. People here are friendly, but money is money. Locals believe it is up to you to be astute about your money. So, if you let them stick it to you, the locals will say "it is the market", "it is the American way" and it is your own fault if, say, you buy an overpriced house.
Read the local newspaper "Clovis News Journal Online" and read the comments so you can get an idea of how the people around here think.
Another good thing you'll notice is that complete strangers will waive at you using all five fingers instead of just using one. Don't be taken aback and waive back. It's the local way. BTW, drivers are more courteous here than in other areas of the country where I've lived. That is certainly one big plus.
Good luck and please post back soon to let us know how you feel about the place.
It is a good thing you are approaching your relocation with a positive attitude. You will need it. Please don't feel bad if you change your mind later on. If you plan to hang around military personnel, be ready to hear some negativity and try to empathize. Negative or not, some of their complaints/concerns do have merit.
One of the good things about the region is that you'll be fairly close (by local standards not east coast standards) to other places. Visit Santa Fe to experience a more genuine "New Mexico" culture. I don't know why but this region looks more towards Texas than to the rest of New Mexico. If you like mountains and greenery visit Ruidoso. It is absolutely beautiful. Roswell is nice and although they have a lot of dairies, they don't have as many flies as they do around here. I also liked Las Cruces, especially the Mesilla area. It has wonderful chain and non-chain restaurants. As far as Texas, well, I'd go to Dallas/Ft. Worth and spend a weekend there instead of going to Lubbock or Amarillo. Neither Lubbock or Amarillo do anything for me. The locals around here love to go shopping in Lubbock. I don't care much for shopping. You can find the basics in town and there is always online shopping. UPS and Fed Ex deliver in the area. To each his own.
Another positive aspect is that you can develop or enhance whatever culinary skills you have, and in the end, you'll be healthier for it. I have never cooked so much before in my life. Why? Because not too many of the locally owned/operated restaurants are any good. As far as the chain restaurants-I got tired of them a long time ago. Bottom line is, we have saved some money by cooking and eating at home.
The people around here are friendly enough. However, when it comes to money, do not be beguiled. Be on guard. You want to fit in with the locals? Then haggle/negotiate/whine because the locals do just that. People here are friendly, but money is money. Locals believe it is up to you to be astute about your money. So, if you let them stick it to you, the locals will say "it is the market", "it is the American way" and it is your own fault if, say, you buy an overpriced house.
Read the local newspaper "Clovis News Journal Online" and read the comments so you can get an idea of how the people around here think.
Another good thing you'll notice is that complete strangers will waive at you using all five fingers instead of just using one. Don't be taken aback and waive back. It's the local way. BTW, drivers are more courteous here than in other areas of the country where I've lived. That is certainly one big plus.
Good luck and please post back soon to let us know how you feel about the place.
Thank you so much! This is the kind of info I was looking for. I will definitely check out all of those places.
I will be sure to post after I get there and form some opinions of my own.
I was born and raised in Portales.
The truth about the area is that there is not much oppurtunity. It is a small town, and there IS a lot of negative things to be told, BUT , you can make it an alright place to live while you are there.
It is country living. Clovis is THE city...it is alot bigger than POrtales, but not quite as nasty as some say. If you are around shady places in teh middle of the night, you might just get robbed, but just liek being anywhere else, you learn not to be in those places at those hours.
I live in the ALbq area now, and love it, but as I said I was raised there. SOme may actually embrace the quietness,the solace, and the manure stink that comes when the temp hits a good 94 degrees outside.
All in all, it isnt that bad of a place, just very small, quiet, and boring....not at all a big city..but nothign to worry that much about!
We really enjoy Portales, especially after the initial culture shock of the first year in a small New Mexico town. The trick for us was to get onto the Eastern New Mexico University campus often and take advantage of their free events, cultural festivals, recreation center, ball games, downstairs lounge and food bar, Starbucks Coffee bar at the Liberal Arts building, Barnes and Noble book store on campus, concerts, plays, classes, and indoor swimming pool. We also like the variety of restaurants in Portales, and the local sports bar (Dog House) and VFW Hall way better than Kellys or Goobers.
It just feels comfortable in a small rural town if you have a lot of college students around of different races and cultures. The local people do not bother us and in fact are almost too nice. We have waited at stop signs for what seemed like 5 minutes while the other guy waited for us to go first. Everyone opens doors for you. Nobody has ever in over a year honked or threatened us in any way.
Housing was a challenge. We finally rented a great house after a year of living in a cheap dump, but the "cheap" part saved us a ton of dough, and if they actually start building some new homes here in our price range, we will buy one.
We go to Albuquerque, Santa Fe or Lubbock to do the big city shopping and when we do we feel like we can truly appreciate the big box stores whereas before we probably spent too much money at them because they were everywhere. We do wish there was prettier scenery around, but Oasis State Park is good in a pinch and the really nice part of the Sacramento Mountains - Cloudcroft - with its charming little ski area is only 2 hours from Portales. Ruidoso is not bad, especially at the resort and ski area. And Lubbock airport is less than 2 hours from Portales and has great connections through Dallas to all kinds of destinations via Southwest Airlines. We hardly bother to go to Clovis to shop except occasionally to the Lowe's or Sears. We do sometimes go to the horse track and casino at Hobbs - 90 minutes from Portales. We have seen some great main line rock and country bands at Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso, and now we are going to try Route 66 casino and Buffalo Thunder.
As a small town, Portales is pretty quiet at night and the only gun fire you will ever hear in Portales is the good old boys shooting cans out in the sticks - not the gang bangers shooting each other in town which we have heard in some big cities. If you want to party in Portales, you can meet your friends and disco at the Dog House which is packed late at night. The quiet adult bar is Cattle Barons. Goobers is the goober bar.
The local kids in Portales are very polite and not hard edged at all. We see very little graffitti and are told there are Clovis gangs that come down here sometimes, but we have not met them. We hear they are in Clovis and Roswell. We do not sense a big meth issue here. We have never had anyone try to get on our property even though we lived for months with no fence around our alley right near downtown Portales, left a bike out for days once, have patio furniture on the front porch, and even forget to lock the car sometimes.
Downtown Portales housing just outside of the commercial area looks kid of dumpy, but it really is not bad as far as people and respect for property goes, and there are obviously professional people living in downtown Portales that have no problem at all walking to work. It seems like mostly young blue collar folks who have jobs live there and that is fine with us, as we can't afford the fancier subdivisions. The north side of Portales apparently used to be the "bad" side of town and while it looks run down, nobody who we know that lives there has ever told us of any big crime apart from we heard about one fight where a kid got stabbed. A lot of college students live in north Portales because of cheap rent, and aside from that it seems to be mostly blue collar latino working people who would give you the shirt off their backs, and we know some of them and they are very, very nice people.
There are a lot of decent shops in downtown Portales, for example women's clothing store and cafes, but not much clothing for guys. The Wal Mart is fine for most of what we eat, and a lot easier to maneuver than the one in Clovis, which seems much less organized although the Clovis Wal Mart has "everything everything" instead of just "everything". The produce at Russells Supermarket is good, and so is the food at El Rancho restaurant, Vines Italian, and Cattle Baron- all very decent places to eat.
The main draw back in Portales is lack of housing options at a lower price, like condos and apartments, and it takes time to get a good deal unless you are lucky. Nobody who has a good deal on a house in Portales ever seems to want to leave, so it is somewhat frustrating! We do not want to over pay for a dump, can't afford 200 thousand, and do not want a fixer upper as we prefer to travel. We kept missing great deals and finally gave up for now.
If you want to save money and feel safe as well as have a little bit of culture and be somewhat close to the mountains and casinos and Lubbock, then Portales is a fine option compared to a lot of the towns in the region, and in Texas for that matter, which has a lot of towns the size of Portales with much less to offer and much less diversity.
Last edited by New West 2020; 02-25-2010 at 04:54 PM..
We moved here --- into Portales. We quickly saw that almost everyone that we knew lived in Clovis and that "Quick little drive" turned into a chore that we hated.
We moved to North East Clovis this past July and havent really regreted it at all. Portales does have a very charming small town feel, however when you start to think of Clovis as the BIG CITY... because it has a Lowes and someplace other than Cattle Baron to get a good steak....moving starts to look like an option.
Just my 2 cents
Let us know when to plan a "We have arrived!"" party for ya! I mean it!
New West: thanks for the kind words about Portales. My brother is a sheriff's deputy there and has lived there for years. I also like Portales for it's layed back lifestyle and the friendly people. I wish I could be there full time.
Thanks so much, New West! I really love to hear the more positive views... even if I do need to stretch my eyes a bit to see it.
Fickle, we're going to be there next week... but still haven't secured a place! lol We can party down at our hotel room, or in the back of our Uhaul! hehe Seriously though - finding a place to rent that isn't a dump really is an issue. We thought we found one place, but the woman was so difficult to work with, that it didn't work out (she couldn't figure out how to email or fax me the application and was really rude).
The school in Portales is ENMU, NMSU is in Cruces. Thought I would correct that. Clovis isn't that bad, we moved here about 2 months ago and are doing alright. I admit, I will not live here forever, but it is ok for now. The military people seem to band together, nothing wrong with that. There are some bigger restaurants, Chili's, Applebee's, Rib Crib, uh I can't think of other ones at the moment. There is a mall, JCPenney, Sears, Dillard's. All the basics as far as I'm concerned. I had less in Deming, so I'm not really gonna complain. It is pretty ugly here IMO, but such is life.
Actually our close but worthwhile 'big city" action is in Lubbock going down Highway 202 (about 90 minutes from Portales and 1 hour 40 from Clovis) or Santa Fe, (3 hours) going through Melrose to Ft. Sumner. Dallas is 6 hours from Portales via a very nice west Texas drive past Lubbock. We have done a Friday Night (Triple J Brew House or Melt for dinner, La Diosa wine bar or live music) in the Depot (Buddy Holly) District in Lubbock, left Lub at 8 and arrived in Dallas by Saturday at noon, then slogged back on a Monday. Lub is a cool weekend if you have kids and check out the Omni Theater at Science Spectrum, although Albuquerque has 5 times the good museums and the kid's museum is superb. Alb is farther than Santa Fe by about 30 minutes from both Clovis and Portales. Without kids a good bet is the Black Gold Casino and Horse Track in Hobbs, 90 minutes from Portales and 2 hours from Clovis, or Inn of the Mountain Gods Resort and Casino (good concerts!) in Ruidoso- about 2.5 hours from Portales.
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Don't be taken aback and waive back. It's the local way. BTW, drivers are more courteous here than in other areas of the country where I've lived. That is certainly one big plus.
