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I appreciate that you shared your very detailed reasons for feeling that you and your wife made a big mistake in moving to LC. It sounds like you have made the right decision to chalk it up to not for you and move on. Your plan to sell and rent, wherever you decide is the right place for you, sounds very prudent. Being trapped again would be awful.
I moved here from SW FL 5 mos. ago. My experiences have been the opposite of yours, but you are about 10 yrs younger than me. I do know, having suffered through my previous state for decades, that living where you hate it is awful. Extricate yourself for your mental health. I'm guessing you will make a pretty nice return on your current home. Wishing you a great 2022.
I've known NO ONE who moved to LC for a J-O-B who has been satisfied.
If earnings is your need.... Properly address it. I moved to a no income tax state that was next door to a no sales tax state. Cost of living was reasonable, so this strategy helped me retire 15 yrs early. LC was also a choice that I knew would not deliver during my earning yrs.
So.... Do what you must.
In my 20+ yr association with LC I, nor my retired mom have had issues you mention. We drive LC frequently. No issues with rude, aggressive drivers, no street racing, plenty useful and polite encounters with ems and police. Very quite and friendly neighborhood. Excellent and readily available medical care.
Sounds like you're exasperated with LC.
Go find your new spot, enjoy it.
I suggest you use a much different strategy to find your next spot so you avoid surprises. We always stay with locals, interface with those who have specific details. Attend events as if living there. Volunteer with community groups BEFORE relocating. Travel the commute during regular hours. Visit your neighborhood in the middle of the night and listen for dogs and traffic.
Good luck,
We spend plenty of time in Tucson, Phoenix, Prescott and Flagstaff + rural areas nearby. None of which I would enjoy living.
Good luck, they may be perfect for you.
There is only one place I can think of where you can pull this off: living in Washington State on the Oregon border, but far enough away from Portland where the home prices dip.
Las Crucan's IQ drops 20 points when they get behind the wheel. Last night my car stalled twice, at 2 different locations. I put the hazard lights on each time, when there was nobody in back of me. And they work.
Both times the next car that came along pulled up within 2 feet of my bumper, as they always do. Then they got stuck for a couple light changes before they had the brilliant idea to go around me. Of course that isn't easy when you are riding someone's bumper.
Both times, the next car came along and did the exact same thing. Idiot drivers abound here.
There's always someplace worse than someplace else. You could move almost anywhere and it would be better than freekin Houston.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raider Scott
We are also looking to Las Cruces for possible retirement. Trying like mad to do as much homework as we can and yeah, you have to be realistic and no place is perfect.
However...am I expecting no crime? No...but WAY less than I see in Houston.
Am I expecting no traffic or bad drivers? No, but WAY less than Houston.
Am I expecting perfect weather 24-7? Nope, but way better than humid, hot Houston.
We don't care about jobs or schools, our kids are grown and we have our own money and will not be working.
So yeah, surprise...Las Cruces is not utopia but it all depends on what you are looking to escape and what you might be able to put up with.
Sounds like the problems the OP is trying to escape happen darned near everywhere in America and I doubt he will totally escape all of these things.
Your wife must be very lucky to have found these jobs in Tucson that actually pay decently and aren't lower wage compared to the same jobs in other places in the country.
You are indeed ignorant if you've never seen or heard the countless stories and anecdotes by people who have lived in Tucson over the years who confirm it has low wages and crappy job options. Same for Phoenix.
You are absolutely part of the problem in the West, Southwest and Sunbelt. You are an outsider that moved here from the Midwest and Northeast and are helping, along with Californians, to drive up the price of housing in these formerly affordable areas to unrealistic, inappropriate and unsustainable highs.
The fact that you don't recognize or think that you are part of the problem in these places confirms to me your general lack of realization and ability to recognize reality.
Or I guess the drivers and people in Las Cruces were just on their best behavior whenever you happened to visit before moving there.
Middle class working people don’t “drive up housing prices”. People from California and people who have priced out of their western towns drive up housing prices. I’m glad you like it here so much that you spend as much time as you defending it. You can have it. Does my take on the area affect your ability to enjoy it? My wife has a graduate degree, luck has nothing to do with it. I’m remote, I make what I make wherever I live. What she makes here is an insult. On top of everything else here we’re out. And we ain’t looking back. Enjoy.
When you first moved to Las Cruces you liked it because there was no pandemic. Do you think that for two out of the three years you've lived in Las Cruces, the global pandemic has anything to do with your complaints? There's been policing shortages and problems across the country. Aggressive driving and speeding have gone up nationwide. People aren't generally going to be overly "friendly" during a pandemic. They're more likely to want to keep their distance. Masks cover smiles. People everywhere are in a bad mood. I think you're experiencing Covid Fatigue like everyone else and are blaming it on Las Cruces.
Excellent point. The pandemic could very well be magnifying our issues. Maybe if we moved here 5 or 6 years ago things would be different. It’s hard to judge anyplace over the last couple of years. We thought being smaller would seem nicer. Community feeling. We came to realize LC is really just a suburb of El Paso.
I appreciate that you shared your very detailed reasons for feeling that you and your wife made a big mistake in moving to LC. It sounds like you have made the right decision to chalk it up to not for you and move on. Your plan to sell and rent, wherever you decide is the right place for you, sounds very prudent. Being trapped again would be awful.
I moved here from SW FL 5 mos. ago. My experiences have been the opposite of yours, but you are about 10 yrs younger than me. I do know, having suffered through my previous state for decades, that living where you hate it is awful. Extricate yourself for your mental health. I'm guessing you will make a pretty nice return on your current home. Wishing you a great 2022.
We’ll do pretty well on our home, the one really good thing I can say about our experience. I’ve been coming to New Mexico all my life. I had an aunt and uncle here (northern NM) my entire childhood and back in the big city, the wide open spaces here were always on my mind. When it came down to NM vs. AZ maybe my fond memories of this state tipped the scales. Maybe my expectations were too high? I’ll never despise NM. It will always be a special place for me.
Las Crucan's IQ drops 20 points when they get behind the wheel. Last night my car stalled twice, at 2 different locations. I put the hazard lights on each time, when there was nobody in back of me. And they work.
Both times the next car that came along pulled up within 2 feet of my bumper, as they always do. Then they got stuck for a couple light changes before they had the brilliant idea to go around me. Of course that isn't easy when you are riding someone's bumper.
Both times, the next car came along and did the exact same thing. Idiot drivers abound here.
El Paso is even worse. I learned to drive in Chicago and have spent most of my adult life driving there. It’s very aggressive. The suburbs were way worse than those who lived in the city though. It’s worse in El Paso or even LC. It’s not only the aggressiveness but like you say, the way they drive. They're either driving slow or ripping down a 35mph road doing 60.
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