Greetings, looking for info on NM

[secretagent]

Happy Holidays to all the High Desert Cruisers. I'm looking for some info on your state. I have seriously been considering a move to NM. What I'm looking for is pretty simple.....at least I think it is.

A job.....sure I do the overseas thing with Blackwater but really wanting to stop doing that, after 6 years of being in the middle east and other places I want to just chill out. What I do here when not traveling is manage a large night club / bar, ok, it's a strip club but somebody has to do it . I'm a retired police officer and have worked as a govt. contractor carrying a gun and collecting intel. since 2002.

The location....I want to live in a rural are that is semi close to a middle size town. I don't needs malls and all that but I figure to find something to do I would have to be near a town of....oh....10k or so? I want to a small place out in the country / desert....a small house or cabin that's secluded....so my girlfriends can visit and the neighbors don't care.

A place to hunt, wheel and basically just relax when I want to. I enjoy the small town feel, when I go for a beer I know the others in the bar. I'm in Medford, OR. now and it has gotten to big for me.

thanks for any info....along with some pics of the area if possible, Greg

 

[DanS HJ-45]

NM absolutely has what you are looking for. If you don't mind living an hour or so from town, you're golden. In my opinion, Northern NM has more of what you're looking for.

Within an hour of Albuquerque (which is a big city), it's either suburban, expensive, or on the reservation. Not everyone could stand living on the rez (I could though--I like it out there). That said, it's getting too crowded up here for me (I grew up here--it was RURAL back then), and I don't see that changing much, unless fuel prices climb real high and stay real high. I LIKE driving 15 minutes (at highway speeds) to the nearest grocery store, I LIKE not having a stoplight within 10 miles. I LIKE having the DOT get around to plowing our roads sometime around 3 in the afternoon (wouldn't bother me if they didn't plow at all).

You really ought to take a road trip and see what you can see. I've been to Medford quite a bit and like the area, but not the town (I don't like ANY town though--I'm just not a city boy).

If we can have hippy communes, pot farms, meth labs, cults and whatnot, I'm sure you could find a spot to hang out away from the neighbors. Shoot, this is where the Church of Scientology has their secret compound!

If I could figure out how to commute to work from some of the real small towns (Chama especially), I'd move in a heartbeat. I love it up there.

Dan

 

[secretagent]

Dan,
thank you for your reply. Can anybody live on the rez? or do you have to get permission from the tribal authorities? All the thing you mention that you like is exactly what I'm looking for also. About the only modern convience that I need is access to the internet and phone. I really don''t watch tv so thats not important. I've lived on wood heat for years and prefer it.

Anyone else have any pix of areas or suggestions....what jobs are around. I don't want to be rich and I have no bills so I just need enough to live on.....along with an occasional beer or two....well maybe more beer

 

[DanS HJ-45]

Here's the only pic I have that shows the general area.... FWIW, I'm about 30-35 minutes from Albuquerque. 50 minutes to the airport with no traffic.

I'd consider this area semi-rural. We now have paved roads. In this picture, when I was five (24 years ago), TWO of the houses you can see were there.

Jobs are better than they are in much of the rest of the country, because NM does not have many manufacturing jobs in general. The major drivers in the NM economy is the government, the government, and the government. There are two national labs in the state (Sandia and Los Alamos), in addition to a large amount of government support for the tribes (IHS, etc...), and for the DoD (White Sands and Kirtland). Wages overall are lower in NM than most of the nation, but we also don't tend to boom and bust to near the same extremes. That's why the job market is "better." The only major manufacturer here who has laid people off is really Eclipse Aviation, so the market isn't flooded with guys looking for work.

The farther you are from the major population centers, the more stable (in both ways, never great, never awful) the jobs, other than those tied to vacation and tourism. A few areas have been somewhat hard hit by the lack of second-home building by Texans and Californians, but for the vast majority of the state--they will always need a hardware store. The NorthWest corner is going through the oil/gas boom (and is beautiful).

I think it depends on the reservation. My parents used to live on the rez, but that was a long time ago, and the different tribes might have different rules on that.

Dan

 

[marcfj60]

I would recommend the NW part of the state for proximity to jobs with fair pay and the rural feel. I lived in Farmington and Aztec for a couple years and really liked it there. I'd move back if I didn't have a job that pretty much requires me to be near a large town - mechanical engineer. You could live 30 minutes from that area out in the boonies but when you need to get to the grocery store it's no big deal.
Land isn't too expensive as long as you're not too close to Farmington or Durango (just north of the CO border). But housing near town can be pricey. Expect $220K for a 40-year old, 2,000 sf house. Get out of town and it's downright cheap, especially if you don't mind living in a small cabin or mobile home.

Look at this website: Farmington, New Mexico Convention and Visitors Bureau
Or this one: Aztec Chamber of Commerce & Tourist Center

If you would like the potential for a security-based job on one of the government research facilities you have two main options. Live in the mountains east of Albuquerque with a 30 - 60 minute commute and work for the security forces at Sandia National Labs or live somewhere around Los Alamos National Labs and work for the security forces there. I would recommend the Los Alamos option. There are more options for rural and the mountains are bigger and better.

Go to the High Desert Cruisers website to see a few photos of what life is like for Land Cruiser enthusiasts around our part of the country. High Desert Cruisers Home Page

 

[sirenmoses]

WARNING, this dude is a scammer

turgid details https://forum.ih8mud.com/chit-chat-section/260735-anyone-seen-8.html.

doesn't deserve the support of HDC or Mudders...