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Certainly, there are cities and towns in NM which are more welcoming than where we landed. There are small towns where one with the right attitude can integrate, yes--and I have done that in other states. But when you end up in a tiny community of 100 or so of people who are all related to each other, descendants of early homesteaders, it's a whole different situation! We no longer attend the local church since one of the "deacons" told us they don't want newcomers, get out of town, and watch our backs! (no kidding).
Sorry that happened to you. Alamogordo seems friendly and welcoming, but it is a military town with lots of people coming and going. Lots of different accents. I have heard that Texans are disliked in NM especially, and I have worried about making friends there, since I know NOBODY in town. But on this forum, I have met several nice and helpful people from the Alamo area who might become friends. Could you move to Alamo instead of all the way back to your home state?
How fortunate you've been able to escape the Land of Entrapment--Wisconsin/Minnesota are lovely states--with lots of water. I can't move until my house sells. Will miss the 360 degrees of blue, blue skies around me and walking out on my ranch in complete privacy where my dear dog doesn't have to be on leash..... but that's ALL I'll miss. I know 99% of the neighbors won't miss me and my "Minnesotaaccent".
I'm sure you must have thought "we picked the wrong spot", but is it the whole state or just "your" spot? The whole state of NM isn't full of narrow-minded, rude, provincial nitwits, though, like most rural places, there's certainly no lack of them.
Your previous comment about everybody being related, all old pioneer families, might lead me to think that some new blood (and DNA) over the years might have been good for everyone concerned. But inbreeding is it's own reward, I guess.
As a born n bred Michigander I love New Mexico, and understand I'll never be a native here, any more than the Ohioans who move to my MI hometown will ever be "locals". That doesn't mean people can't be friends, learn from each other, and move on. And it doesn't mean I can't or don't feel completely at home here.
Sorry it didn't work for you, and good luck in the future.
Your previous comment about everybody being related, all old pioneer families, might lead me to think that some new blood (and DNA) over the years might have been good for everyone concerned. But inbreeding is it's own reward, I guess.
Pioneer families? Never heard the close knit long time residents referred to as that. Unless you consider the Spaniards and Indians "pioneers".
Any folks on this thread read yesterday's front page ABQ Journal article about the retiree from Iowa who moved to Grady, NM, this year and is now politicking against the annual coyote hunt fundraiser the locals have done for years? See ABQjournal.com: Albuquerque Journal. If he isn't a poster child for how not to fit into NM (or small towns anywhere) I don't know who is.
Being a relatively recent relocatee to NM myself (last December) I cringed when I read the article. IMO it shows a lot of ignorance, chutzpah and whatever else you want to call it to come new into an area and almost immediately decide you know better than folks who have lived in the community for years and years. I think it's just bad....bad...bad to pick an area out to resettle into and then start trying to change it almost immediately. No wonder some long time NM residents don't like newcomers in general.
I don't understand the rationale behind moving somewhere, then trying to change it. If one doesn't like it the way it is, why move there? It makes no sense to me. It shows that either the new resident didn't do sufficient research into what the new place is like, or an astonishing arrogance on the part of the newcomer.
the retiree from Iowa who moved to Grady, NM, this year and is now politicking against the annual coyote hunt fundraiser
Yes, I read it and I first thought of City-Data, then thought of a few people I have met along the years, and then thought, well... Life is too short to be wasting much time on certain people...
The story was covered by various sources, here is just one other: Clovis News Journal
Any folks on this thread read yesterday's front page ABQ Journal article about the retiree from Iowa who moved to Grady, NM, this year and is now politicking against the annual coyote hunt fundraiser the locals have done for years? See ABQjournal.com: Albuquerque Journal. If he isn't a poster child for how not to fit into NM (or small towns anywhere) I don't know who is.
Being a relatively recent relocatee to NM myself (last December) I cringed when I read the article. IMO it shows a lot of ignorance, chutzpah and whatever else you want to call it to come new into an area and almost immediately decide you know better than folks who have lived in the community for years and years. I think it's just bad....bad...bad to pick an area out to resettle into and then start trying to change it almost immediately. No wonder some long time NM residents don't like newcomers in general.
Unfortunately this kind of ignorance exists just about everyone. Years ago I visited my brothers' family's vacation house in the Adirondacks and spotted a petition against a Walmart moving into town that was circulating among the "second home neighbors." My brother and family never spent more than 2 weeks a year there, nor did most of the petition signers. I'm not a Walmart fan, but I do know it's not my place to push my views onto a community I'm not really a part of.
You can feel like an outsider anywhere there in any family-centric non-nomadic culture. We felt this way in Florida. The people were nice and friendly, but we weren't from there. They had the friends they grew up with and didn't need any new ones. New Mexico can be just like that.
If you are from somewhere else, either make freinds with people from elsewhere or marry into a New Mexican family!
Just be careful, once you marry in - there is no escape!
This is the kind of patronizing attitude that many New Mexicans can't abide. If you are a tourist in New Mexico it doesn't mean you own the place. So we have resources like mountains and ski areas that Texans like to visit. It's equally valid to say "New Mexicans, providing hospitality, recreation, and scenery to Texans since 1845." We are providing something of value to you, or else you would stay home and "support Texas".
I have several good friends in New Mexico who are former Texans. None are pretend cowboys.
Unfortunately this kind of ignorance exists just about everyone. Years ago I visited my brothers' family's vacation house in the Adirondacks and spotted a petition against a Walmart moving into town that was circulating among the "second home neighbors." My brother and family never spent more than 2 weeks a year there, nor did most of the petition signers. I'm not a Walmart fan, but I do know it's not my place to push my views onto a community I'm not really a part of.
The man in question moved to live there, he was not visiting his brother for" two weeks".
And why is he ignorant? Because he sees something that is wrong and wants to fix it?
Ranchers are one of the most subsidized breeds out there. It is funny how an "anonymous rancher" covered the fundraiser in the story. Maybe they should try to figure out who it is so that we can see if he is receiving any federal or state subsidies - if so, perhaps he needs them no longer?
Ranchers are the ignorant and cruel bunch. They always have a problem with someone or somebody, wolfs are bad, bears are bad, coyote are bad. They are the reason most wildlife predatorial species are exterminated - studies, however, show that most of those claims by ranchers are pure baloney. The amount of cattle they actually loose to predators is rather small. Finally it is wrong when killing another living being is a sport. I understand you kill for food but just for fun? What does that say about you?
The guy from Iowa might have moved to NM for the sunsets (you all talk about so much), the clear air and the views. He might have understood that the locals might be cruel, back-a** backwards fools but he might not have dreamed that they do killing for sport. So, now that he does, he is trying to change that. Nothing wrong with him in my books.
My $.02
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