New Mexico as a vacation or retirement.

[Deadlift1]

I like the southwest.  But most towns like Palm Springs, and Phoenix are too hot in the summer year round.  Friends are starting to move.  Let's face it things don't look good long term for Arizona or Nevada regarding water and the heat.  Albuquerque has a more manageable climate year round.  Are there any gays down there?  If u know anyone in the state do they like living there?

[+ azdr0710]

NM is a great state....low cost of living, relaxed lifestyle, fairly tolerant in most areas, fantastic scenery......but keep in mind that any low humidity area will have a wide range of temperatures day-to-night and winter-to-summer.......Albuquerque will have pleasant, if warm, summers with a nice cooldown at night and cool/cold winters......if you plan to live in one place year-round, keep all this in mind.....

of course, the best year-round climates are near temperature-moderating oceans in the mid-latitudes.......but humidity may be a concern......

[+ The Big Guy]

I love New Mexico.  I lived in the northwest part of the state and while I would not retire there, I definitely would in Albuquerque or Santa Fe.   Both cities have a large gay community.  

[Deadlift1]

Thanks gentleman.  People say that they have the most beautiful skies.

[marylander1940]

1 hour ago, Deadlift1 said:

I like the southwest.  But most towns like Palm Springs, and Phoenix are too hot in the summer year round.  Friends are starting to move.  Let's face it things don't look good long term for Arizona or Nevada regarding water and the heat.  Albuquerque has a more manageable climate year round.  Are there any gays down there?  If u know anyone in the state do they like living there?

Bandelier National Monument (U.S. National Park Service)

WWW.NPS.GOV

Highly recommended!

[keefer]

18 hours ago, marylander1940 said:

Highly recommended!

I love Bandelier -  the pine trees smell like vanilla...  

[jeezifonly]

Santa Fe obvz more pricey for everything, esp in summer opera season. Better for vacation than Albuquerque which is overall a quiet gay-friendly city with many different areas for residence. Gorgeous scenery everywhere you look, and lots of ways to become better acquainted with nature and SW Native Culture and traditions.

We own rental property in ABQ, which was incredibly well priced when we needed to find an investment. We have friends whom we visit, but I am a city mouse at heart and would not relocate to the area. 

[dbar123]

Make sure you can tolerate the 6000ft elevation of Albuquerque…and don’t get sick. Not exactly a Mecca for health care.

[+ Charlie]

I have friends who live or have lived in both Albuquerque and Santa Fe, and twenty years ago we seriously considered retiring to Albuquerque, which is less expensive than Santa Fe. Albuquerque is much larger and less artsy and touristy than Santa Fe. There was a fairly laidback gay bar scene in Albuquerque then, but I know nothing about what it is like now. I did have a younger distant cousin who is straight, who worked for the local newspaper, and she said there was a lot of corruption in the local government--so much so that she soon decamped to Santa Fe (actually to Taos). We looked at housing in Albuquerque with a realtor, and one certainly got more for the buck there. The only people I know now in NM are retirees in Santa Fe, gay and straight, who moved there from the East Coast and wouldn't live anywhere else.

[+ Charlie]

BTW, if height is an issue for you, Santa Fe is 2000ft higher than Albuquerque.

[Deadlift1]

I guess my body would get used to the altitude.  People tell me they are building a new hospital and numerous town homes. I'd rather live with less tourists.  Thank you for the information 

[mike carey]

The human body does adapt to higher altitudes, athletes train at altitude for a reason. The greater the altitude change the longer it takes, but I understand it takes days rather than weeks or months. Santa Fe is at over 2100m so that could take a couple of weeks or so to adjust fully from sea level.

I remember feeling the effects distinctly in Quito (2850m) for a few days, then a little at higher altitude at Cusco (3400m). I still had to take it easy for the rest of the few days I was in the Andes but felt fine. I lived at about 350m before the trip but I'd been travelling for a month or so at lower altitudes. I was younger (ahem) and had no underlying conditions, and had been exercising more than usual in that previous month, so those would have been factors.

[+ purplekow]

2 hours ago, Deadlift1 said:

I guess my body would get used to the altitude.  People tell me they are building a new hospital and numerous town homes. I'd rather live with less tourists.  Thank you for the information 

I recently was involved with a medical submission regarding Liver transplants in NM and how the policies we have in place now discriminate against being able to get a liver transplant in NM.  There is no facility doing liver transplants in NM and there are no centers within 150 miles of the major cities there.  Beyond that distance from a transplant center, you move down the list as a recipient.  While this may not reflect on all aspects of medical care, in discussing life in NM with colleagues, one of who wrorked as a hospitalist there recently and another who was actively working with medical education there, both regarded the health care in NM and some of the worst they had encountered.  Perhaps things are changing, but if you are not basically healthy, NM seems as though it is a good place to avoid.  

[Rudynate]

On 5/25/2023 at 5:40 PM, Deadlift1 said:

I like the southwest.  But most towns like Palm Springs, and Phoenix are too hot in the summer year round.  Friends are starting to move.  Let's face it things don't look good long term for Arizona or Nevada regarding water and the heat.  Albuquerque has a more manageable climate year round.  Are there any gays down there?  If u know anyone in the state do they like living there?

I have visited NM quite a few times. Always ready for another visit- great place.  I can’t say much about the gay scene, but one thing I noticed in Santa Fe was how easily gays and straights mixed.

[Guest]

11 hours ago, mike carey said:

...I remember feeling the effects distinctly in Quito ...

Whenever I hear of the Ecuadorian capital, I always think of Inspector Clouseau's capers with Kato...

 

[Rudynate]

12 hours ago, mike carey said:

The human body does adapt to higher altitudes, athletes train at altitude for a reason. The greater the altitude change the longer it takes, but I understand it takes days rather than weeks or months. Santa Fe is at over 2100m so that could take a couple of weeks or so to adjust fully from sea level.

I remember feeling the effects distinctly in Quito (2850m) for a few days, then a little at higher altitude at Cusco (3400m). I still had to take it easy for the rest of the few days I was in the Andes but felt fine. I lived at about 350m before the trip but I'd been travelling for a month or so at lower altitudes. I was younger (ahem) and had no underlying conditions, and had been exercising more than usual in that previous month, so those would have been factors.

When I was 21 I moved to Denver at an elevation of 5280 feet (the Mile-High City).  I couldn't understand why I was so tired for the first few weeks I lived there. Somebody clued me in that my body had't yet adjusted to the altitude.  

[Just Chuck]

I lived in Santa Fe in the 90's and loved it.  It was more of a bohemian hippy art colony then and less Rodeo Drive.  It was expensive then and has grown more so.  A lot of long time residents up there (even ones who love it there) retire to lower elevations so they don't have to deal with the altitude and snowy winters in their old age.

I like ABQ.  I would gladly move there, myself.  The show "Breaking Bad" did accurately capture a gritty underside of ABQ. (65th highest violent crime rate in the US according to the FBI Uniform Crime Report) I would love to live there.  There's a ton of stuff to do in ABQ.  I would not want to raise a family there, though.  

 

[Deadlift1]

Great observation.  

12 hours ago, Rudynate said:

I have visited NM quite a few times. Always ready for another visit- great place.  I can’t say much about the gay scene, but one thing I noticed in Santa Fe was how easily gays and straights mixed.

Well if I move your welcome to visit Rudy.  

[Deadlift1]

The therapists aren't to shabby either https://rentmasseur.com/ExceptionalHands

Especially picture number 3.  6'4" 200lb farm boy.

Edited May 28, 2023 by Deadlift1
Added sentence

[Njguy2]

Had seriously considered buying a second home to retire to in NM but life circumstances changed.  Corrales was my main focus since you could be close to ABQ for nightlife/restaurants, but was a quiet area and you had some distance from your neighbors.  Santa Fe was only about an hour up the interstate and it was fairly easy to go N/S/E/W given ABQ being at the junction of the two major interstate highways.  Crime yes has been an issue for the city.  There used to be (may still be there) a gay retirement property outside of Santa Fe.  Toured it many years ago but it wasn't for me given the close proximity to other houses and it truly was out in the woods.  I do still enjoy taking vacation time in New Mexico.

[Rudynate]

2 hours ago, Deadlift1 said:

Great observation.  

Well if I move your welcome to visit Rudy.  

Well thank you!! I would love to.

[ICTJOCK]

I really love NM.   It all started with our vacations when I was a little kid and my mother's fascination with Taos.    I'm not into Taos that much, but I really enjoy Santa Fe and do get there frequently.   My favorite hotel/ motel is the "Lodge at Santa Fe"  on the NE side of town.   Great place to see clients.

The downtown is a little odd, but always enjoy shopping and hitting my favorite places.     Was in Farmington last summer before a trip into Utah.

[ICTJOCK]

Shiprock, west of Farmington last September.

[jeezifonly]

Love visiting ABQ/Santa Fe!
Dear friends who wanted to retire from LA to an afforadable place with land, and they’ve hit the jackpot outside Albuquerque

They turned us on to local investment residential properties, and the predicted return since we bought has been exceeded.

Would not live there, this old city mouse. 

[Rudynate]

17 hours ago, ICTJOCK said:

I really love NM.   It all started with our vacations when I was a little kid and my mother's fascination with Taos.    I'm not into Taos that much, but I really enjoy Santa Fe and do get there frequently.   My favorite hotel/ motel is the "Lodge at Santa Fe"  on the NE side of town.   Great place to see clients.

The downtown is a little odd, but always enjoy shopping and hitting my favorite places.     Was in Farmington last summer before a trip into Utah.

I think Farmington NM is one of the worst places in the world.  Some years ago, we went to Chaco Canyon, which turned out to be very remote.  The closest place we found to stay was in Farmington, about 40 miles away.  I thought Farmington was so awful that it would be a place to go if you didn't want to be found - nobody would imagine you would go to such an obnoxious place