New mexico/Arizona?

[jayely1]

Which is a better place to live? I know this is a very broad topic My parents are moving in a year or 2 and I'm going to move with. They want to move to Las Cruses or maybe Phoenix. Maybe even Victorville CA. Any suggestions? They don't want to live in a real busy any but not dead either and I'm 20 years old so I want it to be an exciting place as well! Thanks

[Blake]

my mom lives in santa fe now, i can't stand it because it's too boring, but she loves it. i haven't found anywhere else in new mexico to be much more fun. however, i would love to drive the M out there and do some flagrant speeding...there are some nice scenic deserted roads out there.

edit: new mexico = skiing, too. bout the only plus i can think of.

[jayely1]

Ya I figured new mexico wasn't to fun. But I have no clue.

[GreenThree]

Scottsdale is great. Theres more to do than Albuquerque or Santa Fe. Its true that Santa Fe and Taos offer great skiing though. Both will be warmer than Il though, so cant really go wrong.

[shift330]

Phoenix FTW!

It's nice there but not a whole lot to do compared to Phoenix.

[nmulax]

Originally Posted by jayely1

Which is a better place to live? I know this is a very broad topic My parents are moving in a year or 2 and I'm going to move with. They want to move to Las Cruses or maybe Phoenix. Maybe even Victorville CA. Any suggestions? They don't want to live in a real busy any but not dead either and I'm 20 years old so I want it to be an exciting place as well! Thanks

Both are ridiculously painfully hot in the summer.
Driven through La Cruces on my way back from Houston... can't say I'd have any desire to stay there for more then gas and a quick bite to eat.

Phoenix is a huge city, but basically feels like a giant suburb. Not much of a downtown, but there's all the outlying cities (Scottsdale, Tempe, Chandler). I gotta think there's much more for you to do here then in NM. Plus there's places like Fountain Hills/North Scottsdale that your parents might like.

[jayely1]

Got to look into that. So Las Cruses is no good for anyone lol. Anyone know anything about Victorville? I will push them for Phenix over Las Cruses then.

[guardianangel3290]

I live in New mexico and my Cousin, who lives in pheonix, is sitting right next to me haha.

If your moving to NM then definitely move to Albuquerque. Las Cruces is cool to party in, but it's ugly as sin, hot at fuck, and theres nothing but hicks there.
The plus about NM is definitely the weather. The summer never gets hotter than 100 (with almost no humidity) and the winters never get below 30. I give NM alot of shit but i would seriously miss the weather if i ever moved. And, like everybody has been saying, there's about 10 ski areas within day-trip distance.

My cousin goes to ASU and has lived in Phoenix for almost 9 years and she said she would take NM over AZ anyday. In her words "the ONLY thing Phoenix has over Albuquerque is the sports". I kinda disagree haha.

[jayely1]

Good info! Las Cruses sounds awful! I heard there's a lot of drugs in Las Cruses as well??

[Cyrax91]

Originally Posted by guardianangel3290

I live in New mexico and my Cousin, who lives in pheonix, is sitting right next to me haha.

If your moving to NM then definitely move to Albuquerque. Las Cruces is cool to party in, but it's ugly as sin, hot at fuck, and theres nothing but hicks there.
The plus about NM is definitely the weather. The summer never gets hotter than 100 (with almost no humidity) and the winters never get below 30. I give NM alot of shit but i would seriously miss the weather if i ever moved. And, like everybody has been saying, there's about 10 ski areas within day-trip distance.

My cousin goes to ASU and has lived in Phoenix for almost 9 years and she said she would take NM over AZ anyday. In her words "the ONLY thing Phoenix has over Albuquerque is the sports". I kinda disagree haha.

Well put ha ha Honestly there's not alot to do here in Albuquerque, but the city is growing. The mountains are great and weather is wonderful. But at some point I see myself moving to AZ. I love it there. Much more to do.

[Cyrax91]

Originally Posted by jayely1

Good info! Las Cruses sounds awful! I heard there's a lot of drugs in Las Cruses as well??

Drugs only because a couple minutes down the highway and you run into Juarez ha ha.

[guardianangel3290]

Originally Posted by dpavlakos91

Well put ha ha Honestly there's not alot to do here in Albuquerque, but the city is growing. The mountains are great and weather is wonderful. But at some point I see myself moving to AZ. I love it there. Much more to do.

That's true. If you're the outdoorsy type then you'll love ABQ. There's great hiking within 30 sec of town, the entire city is a big hill so the longboarding is GREAT (abq actually has one of the longest ridable arroyos in the country), there white water rafting areas only about an hour away, (same with camping areas), snowboarding and skiing of course, and rock climbing/ bouldering areas are everywhere.

Mens Fitness magazine actually ranked Albuquerque the 3rd fittest city in america.

[carve]

Originally Posted by guardianangel3290

That's true. If you're the outdoorsy type then you'll love ABQ. There's great hiking within 30 sec of town, the entire city is a big hill so the longboarding is GREAT (abq actually has one of the longest ridable arroyos in the country), there white water rafting areas only about an hour away, (same with camping areas), snowboarding and skiing of course, and rock climbing/ bouldering areas are everywhere.

Mens Fitness magazine actually ranked Albuquerque the 3rd fittest city in america.

LOL...you mean the arroyo behind my house?

I was nervous moving to Albuquerque from Santa Barbara, but I really like it. It almost never gets above 100 degrees, we have over 300 sunny days per year, and although it's mostly chapperal and sagebrush on the west side of the mountains, 10 minutes to the east it's heavily forested. The town starts at ~4200 feet at the river, and about 10 miles to the east is Sandia Summit at ~10,700', with 7 unique climate zones on the way up.

I can do multi-day backpacking trips from my front door, and am also walking distantce to a movie theatre and have Target, Lowes, and Costco with a few minutes. Some people complain about traffic, but it's really not bad at all- especially compared to Phoenix. Easiest traffic I've encountered anywhere, in fact. Back-door mountain biking and, on the other side of the mountains, some of the best riding I've ever seen so close to a city this size. The sunsets are the most amazing I've seen, the air is clean (usually AT LEAST a 75 mile view), and the cost of living is OK. We have skiing a half hour away, good skiing an hour and a half away (ski Santa Fe) and world-class skiing 3.5 hours away (Taos, Durango). I like it here- this is a great place to live if you're outdoorsy. Flagstaff and Santa Fe are even better in many of these regards, but there are fewer work opportunities and the cost of living is higher.

If you're more of an big-city guy you'll like Phoenix better. It's about 20 degrees warmer year-round though (lower altitude), which is nice in winter and shitty in summer. I'm not much of a fan of that place. My neighbors love Tuscon, but I've never been. Haven't been to Las Cruces either.

[guardianangel3290]

Originally Posted by carve

LOL...you mean the arroyo behind my house?

Yea! lol
That arroyo is actually pretty famous.
A couple of the guys who were there that day said they were from Washington DC. I guess they saw a feature about it in some longboarding magazine then decided to fly out and ride it. haha

[doubleA]

ARIZONA!! phoenix/scottsdale/tempe n trust me u'll be fine. AZ is the shit

[jayely1]

Good info guys!! I want to move somewhere fun and nice and just not boring! I don't mean clubs all over, just anything lots a restaurants shops malls just a overall fun place. And that doesn't sound like Las Cruses! Keep it coming!!

[JayeJaymes]

yeah man I'd recommend phoenix, Az. There's a lot of development going on in surrounding city's like goodyear and glendale. You can't go wrong, each city is is not much of a drive away so there's always something to do.

[jayely1]

Arizona sounds pretty good so far. I appreciate all the help, living in Illinois isn't to great, nothing to do ever.

[M3_Dust]

move to Phoenix, so you can aspire to move to San Diego

[chompino]

I used to live in Las Cruces. My family is still there. I actually miss it at times. lol.

[DFW_M]

Also, the advantage of Phoenix is the proximity of other places and easy reach -- Mexico Coast is 4 hours drive to the South (Rocky point), Vegas is 4 hours to the north, LA is 5 hours to the West.
Phoenix also has skiing accessible in the winter that is about 2.5 hours frive -- snowbowl, but not as good as in Santa Fe (Taos...)

Summers are bad -- 115+ every day (I have seen 134 there), evenings stay above 100.
Winters are heaven there...

Property taxes are super low in AZ/Maricopa Co, not sure about NM.

[jayely1]

I used to live in Las Cruces. My family is still there. I actually miss it at times. lol.

Why is that?