Leaving Las Cruces (Albuquerque, Santa Fe: sales, neighborhood, preschool)
Las CrucesDona Ana County
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I get what you’re saying. I’m not looking at AZ with rose colored glasses. I’ve spent enough time in AZ to see it isn’t paradise. The thing is I feel that LC has a lot the same issues as Tucson and Phoenix but without the benefits. There’s nothing here. Ok, if I have to put up with street racing and the bro culture then I want options. I want Italian food. If we want to go to a chain restraint on a weeknight for a steak because we’ve worked all day and don’t want to cook, I don’t want to wait an hour and a half for a table because there’s only one or two in town. Instead of 13 houses to choose from that are in our price range and a neighborhood we would move to, give me 75. Instead of one car dealer (of our cars brands) that tell you you’re going to have to book out an oil change 3 weeks in advance, I want to pull up and get it done when I want. It took my wife three hours to get blood drawn while stuffed in a waiting room with coughing people during a pandemic. We understand hospitals are pushed to the breaking point these days but it would have nice to get some sort of beeper or one of them new fangled things called a “text”and wait outside than to have to stay in the waiting room waiting for your name to be called, sitting next to Typhoid Mary for two plus hours. This was at LC’s ‘premier’ hospital btw, not some clinic in town.
Las Cruces is a small city. Very few cities of its size have any of what you are deriding it for lacking. Compare Las Cruces to Yuma, Prescott and Flagstaff in Arizona for those amenities you describe, not a city like Tucson that has five times as many residents and over one million people. And certainly not Phoenix, which has 25 times more people and nearly five million people. Good grief. When you end up in either Tucson or Phoenix please do compare them to cities like Seattle and Los Angeles and see how they come out.
This is the problem with City-data.com, people crap all over cities with absolutely no regard for context or reality.
Las Cruces is a small city. Very few cities of its size have any of what you are deriding it for lacking. Compare Las Cruces to Yuma, Prescott and Flagstaff in Arizona for those amenities you describe, not a city like Tucson that has five times as many residents and over one million people. And certainly not Phoenix, which has 25 times more people and nearly five million people. Good grief. When you end up in either Tucson or Phoenix please do compare them to cities like Seattle and Los Angeles and see how they come out.
This is the problem with City-data.com, people crap all over cities with absolutely no regard for context or reality.
Being small isn’t the problem. The problem is there aren’t any benefits to it being small. That’s kind of my whole point. If I’m going to deal with big city issues, then I might as well live in a bigger city.
Being small isn’t the problem. The problem is there aren’t any benefits to it being small. That’s kind of my whole point. If I’m going to deal with big city issues, then I might as well live in a bigger city.
You've been all over the place in your complaints about Las Cruces.
The reality is that it's a small city with limited offerings and options for various things, like pretty much every other small city in the country. It has issues with street racing, etc., like pretty much every other city in the country. Its housing costs have rapidly increased, like pretty much every other place in the country.
You've been all over the place in your complaints about Las Cruces.
The reality is that it's a small city with limited offerings and options for various things, like pretty much every other small city in the country. It has issues with street racing, etc., like pretty much every other city in the country. Its housing costs have rapidly increased, like pretty much every other place in the country.
I haven’t been all over the place, I have been pretty consistent. Aggressive drivers, expensive housing, rude people, high crime, no police, little options. We expected a small town but perhaps a town a little more friendly, certainly more affordable like it was three years ago and more of a community feel to it (being a smaller town). The only thing you keep repeating is it’s like this everywhere. Ok, I’ll take your word for it. That doesn’t make me want to stay in LC any more than I do. If all mid-size cities in the SW are like this one then I might as well just move to a bigger city, if I want to stay in the SW. I’m not saying LC doesn’t have things going for it. I’m not saying I don’t understand how some people might like it here. I’m saying we don’t like it. Maybe we got our hopes up too high and didn’t have realistic expectations. We certainly weren’t expecting the pay would be as low as it is, especially for someone with a graduate degree.
People who might look to this site to see if this place is for them should hear the whole story. The good and the bad. This place isn’t all butterflies and poppies. Yes it’s beautiful. The traffic is a breeze. There are a lot of cool places within a day’s drive. They should also understand that if you want to live in an area that isn’t affected by crime you have to drop $500k on a house, minimum. Expect a cold shoulder, small town charm doesn’t exist here. The schools are poorly rated (we don’t care, our kids are grown). And jobs that require a bachelors pays $17 an hour.
I haven’t been all over the place, I have been pretty consistent. Aggressive drivers, expensive housing, rude people, high crime, no police, little options. We expected a small town but perhaps a town a little more friendly, certainly more affordable like it was three years ago and more of a community feel to it (being a smaller town). The only thing you keep repeating is it’s like this everywhere. Ok, I’ll take your word for it. That doesn’t make me want to stay in LC any more than I do. If all mid-size cities in the SW are like this one then I might as well just move to a bigger city, if I want to stay in the SW. I’m not saying LC doesn’t have things going for it. I’m not saying I don’t understand how some people might like it here. I’m saying we don’t like it. Maybe we got our hopes up too high and didn’t have realistic expectations. We certainly weren’t expecting the pay would be as low as it is, especially for someone with a graduate degree.
People who might look to this site to see if this place is for them should hear the whole story. The good and the bad. This place isn’t all butterflies and poppies. Yes it’s beautiful. The traffic is a breeze. There are a lot of cool places within a day’s drive. They should also understand that if you want to live in an area that isn’t affected by crime you have to drop $500k on a house, minimum. Expect a cold shoulder, small town charm doesn’t exist here. The schools are poorly rated (we don’t care, our kids are grown). And jobs that require a bachelors pays $17 an hour.
I think this assessment is perfectly fair and reasonable. The one aspect that you have repeated is you think it's not friendly here. I am from New Jersey originally. This place is heaven on earth when it comes to civility, and personal boundaries, relative to my home state. I guess it's a matter of what you are accustomed to. My recent buyers, who I follow up with, who are from out of the area, have never made this observation.
I will agree with you 100% about the pay scale. That's a big problem statewide. I have authored numerous posts about what I think ails this state when it comes to taxation and business climate. It's horrible. The state house of representatives, the senate, not to mention the governor's mansion, needs to be scrubbed clean to begin this process. Elimination of the state Gross Receipts Tax would (in my view) give more appeal for private sector businesses to consider New Mexico, rather than jumping to Colorado, Texas, or Arizona instead.
I haven’t been all over the place, I have been pretty consistent. Aggressive drivers, expensive housing, rude people, high crime, no police, little options. We expected a small town but perhaps a town a little more friendly, certainly more affordable like it was three years ago and more of a community feel to it (being a smaller town). The only thing you keep repeating is it’s like this everywhere. Ok, I’ll take your word for it. That doesn’t make me want to stay in LC any more than I do. If all mid-size cities in the SW are like this one then I might as well just move to a bigger city, if I want to stay in the SW. I’m not saying LC doesn’t have things going for it. I’m not saying I don’t understand how some people might like it here. I’m saying we don’t like it. Maybe we got our hopes up too high and didn’t have realistic expectations. We certainly weren’t expecting the pay would be as low as it is, especially for someone with a graduate degree.
People who might look to this site to see if this place is for them should hear the whole story. The good and the bad. This place isn’t all butterflies and poppies. Yes it’s beautiful. The traffic is a breeze. There are a lot of cool places within a day’s drive. They should also understand that if you want to live in an area that isn’t affected by crime you have to drop $500k on a house, minimum. Expect a cold shoulder, small town charm doesn’t exist here. The schools are poorly rated (we don’t care, our kids are grown). And jobs that require a bachelors pays $17 an hour.
I keep saying that it's like this everywhere because it is, especially in cities as small as Las Cruces.
You actually moved to a small, backwater place like Las Cruces in this day and age expecting a good salary for your wife?? Where in the U.S. are there high-paying jobs plentiful in small cities with under 250,000 people in their county? And yes, the West, Southwest, and Sunbelt are especially bad for this precisely because of people like you moving there. Everywhere from Idaho to Arizona to Tennessee has issues now with rising cost of living and historically low wages not keeping up with those costs, especially housing costs.
I'd say you moved to Las Cruces without doing your homework and being incredibly naive and ignorant to the situation on the ground. That's your fault. But now you rag on Las Cruces for it not living up to your expectations and ideations.
I'm simply telling you to expect the same in Tucson or Phoenix, because it is the same in those places. Rapidly rising housing costs, low wages - especially when compared to the cost of living, and issues with street racers, bros, etc.
It’s not that we can’t afford it. I just don’t want to overpay here. I don’t mind spending 300k for a home but not for what you get in Las Cruces. Like most of the country housing prices have skyrocketed since we moved here three years ago. One of the main reasons we moved here was the housing prices. Now it’s become just like everywhere else. If we are going to spend that kind of money we can get the same thing in a place like Tucson, with better job opportunities and more to do. What I don’t understand is why are home prices so much cheaper in El Paso? Santa Fe isn’t for us. We don’t like the cold and the housing market is ridiculous there. Dilapidated mobile homes for $300k? Like so many western mountain towns, theres no place for the middle class.
That's not true. You need to know where to look in Santa Fe to get something closer to your price range. In fact, I looked up listings just now, before posting, and found several nice ones in good parts of town. But, whatever. Still, Santa Fe does have the friendliness you're looking for, and lots to do. But I'm guessing you didn't move to Las Cruces out of an interest in symphony, opera or fine art, so...I guess you don't need Santa Fe.
I hope you find what you're looking for, though, in something you can afford, wherever it may be. I seem to recall a thread on here a few years ago by a woman who moved to Las Cruces, IIRC. She felt about it the same way you do. She said, "the 'Land of Enchantment' it isn't." That's too bad.
My mom lives in a place south of Phoenix and homes start around $400, which is towards the top of where we want to be, especially considering HOAs.
Just making sure you realize that HOAs absolutely rule in the state of Arizona. When I lived there (Phoenix metro 2010-2016), there were 11 proposals in the state legislature trying to make things better for people dealing with HOAs. All of them were shot down. I don't have links but I remember discussions about it. I will never ever again live in an HOA controlled housing unit whether it's a house or a condo, especially not in AZ.
I talked to many people who felt the same way. HOAs do have their advantages but the disadvantages are very annoying and extremely difficult to deal with, especially in AZ.
There's Prescott, AZ, which is at a higher elevation than Tucson and Phoenix, so it's cooler and forested, with homes in your price range, OP. But I guess you don't like the cold, and don't mind crushing heat? OK, whatever gloats your boat (so to speak)...
^^ I agree with this. Prescott is a good choice (close to PHX) along with other places like Cottonwood or Camp Verde (close to Flagstaff). Places like Payson would not be a good idea because there is inadequate health care there. In a very serious situation LifeLite would be needed - that costs a fortune (or it's an hour and a half drive down to Scottsdale/PHX health care). You're still relatively young but as you age ( and you're looking for a forever home??) you're going to need good access to health care. I was extremely satisfied with the health care in Phoenix and Scottsdale.
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