Deming, New Mexico for Retirement

[EllisWyatt]

One other option to consider would be Flagstaff, Az. It's in the mountains, a college town, very pretty, the weather is a bit more moderate in the summer and the winters aren't too bad because it's sort of in a bowl, so the worst snows tend to bypass it due to the adiabatic process.

 

[Cessna5354]

Santa Fe & Taos are great, unless you have a medical prob with altitude over 5K+

I have overflown Truth or Conquences, Sorroto, Deming with out an interest to land & explore.

If you are into the wild west, go for it !!
Hopefully you are not in/near Trenton, might not be much of a change.

 

[brewer12345]

I would also have a gander at Las Vegas, NM.

 

[citrine]

Cessna....Trenton is about 25 minutes away!

 

[haha]

I would also have a gander at Las Vegas, NM.

Whole lot more interesting than Deming. But overall, short of Santa Fe, Taos etc., it's all going to be kind of lonely for someone used to being in a more or less urban area.

Tucson is pretty nice, and if you are retired you can leave in the hot summer if you want to. Eight months of the year Tucson weather is unbeatable, and there is a major university (U of Arizona), a medical school, a dog track, maybe a jai alai fronton-though I may be remembering that wrong, lots of free spending wheat farmers from the north to give massages to in winter. In short, a really cool place.

But if isolation is your bag, I recommend Langtry TX.

Ha

 

[ABQ2015]

I agree with both kevink and on their NM and AZ recommendations. In 2012 AARP named Las Cruces as one of the best places to retire on $100 a day. I prefer Silver (went to high school there) as Cruces is too hot for me but Silver is small and isolated. Ruidoso is nice but I suspect that it is much more expensive to live there (Texan vacation spot) and it gets a lot of snow and is very high in elevation. If medical care is an issue and you need to see specialists, I would recommend Cruces as it is sort of the hub of southern NM for that sort of thing. Another town that I would not recommend but that has a growing reputation for being a retirement community is Alamogordo. I put it in the same category as Deming – hot and unattractive. Northern NM tends to be much more expensive but agree with brewer that Las Vegas may be a possibility. Hope I am not breaking any rules here but would recommend that the OP go to City Data Forum and do searches on towns of interest. Those folks are very opinionated and will give you both sides of the story.

 

[brewer12345]

Whole lot more interesting than Deming. But overall, short of Santa Fe, Taos etc., it's all going to be kind of lonely for someone used to being in a more or less urban area.


Ha

Depends. If you want to replicate what you had elsewhere (Jersey), then your statement stands. OTOH, OP might feel like I do: I have had more than enough of too damn many people who all seem to want to stick their noses in my business. If I had my way I would be living somewhere a lot more remote than I currently do (DW vetoed).

 

[Rich]

Most of the posters have already put down the facts about Deming and the other spots around that area. My wife and I, while looking for a winter hideout, went to Las Cruces, Silver City and Truth or Consequences. Nice folks. Lots of low income people in T&C. There was, at that time (2000 or so) a serious drug problem in T&C (I’m a LEO and had a great visit with the town’s chief of police).

While in the area we visited my brother-in-laws grandfather’s cabin (built in 1906 and still in the family) in Ruidoso. Family came from El Paso. Very pretty area and probably a great place to spend some vacation time. Didn’t see enough of the place to offer up a real opinion.

As others have stated, you have to go there and spend some time to really understand the pros and cons of an area. We eventually found and liked Green Valley just south of Tucson, but I fear the price point there wouldn’t meet your budget constraints.

Good luck in your search.

Rich

 

[ronocnikral]

I would also have a gander at Las Vegas, NM.

you can also hop across the border for a sex change...

 

[brewer12345]

you can also hop across the border for a sex change...

What?

 

[kevink]

What?

He's referring to Trinidad, CO, just across the State line:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinidad,_Colorado#.22Sex_Change_Capital_of_the_World.22

As others have said, New Mexico is a unique and peculiar place. The landscape and the sometimes combustible intersection of white, Hisapanic and Native American cultures are just not found anywhere else.

You have Albuquerque metro at ~600,000, Santa Fe an hour north with 80,000, Las Cruces with nearly 100,000 and after that all you have is small towns. You really need to spend extended time to see if it is for you. Really do check out any place you're considering on City Data Forums (just Google the city you;re looking at).

Albuquerque and Santa Fe are pretty much the only parts of NM known outside the State. Many if not most of your other options are pure desert: dusty, windy, dry and unattractive. Socorro is an exception, Silver City, at the foot of the gigantic Gila wildnerness, is a huge exception, with the best hiking and biking I know of anywhere (it puts my home state of Colorado to shame - seriously) but it is a very small town (under 10,000) and you have to be able to handle the extreme remoteness (3+ hours to Tucson, 4.5 to Albuquerque, 5.5 to Phoenix). The weather in Silver is about as good as it gets in the non-coastal lower 48 and there's an amazing amount of arts and culture for a town its size, but regarding the vibe and access I'll just share two bumper stickers:

"Silver City: Where Old Hippies Go To ....."

"Everyting You Need is in Silver. Everything you want is in Tucson."

Have fun exploring.

 

[tjscott0]

I recommend this website for climate info:
Stats about all US cities - real estate, relocation info, crime, house prices, cost of living, races, home value estimator, recent sales, income, photos, schools, maps, weather, neighborhoods, and more

I think Las Cruces would be a better choice over Deming. The climate is the same. But Las Cruces has a population 100,000 vs 16,000. More things to do & more services. Also 60 miles closer to an airport. Many hiking trails in the Organ Mtns[travel time 15 to 30 minutes]. One could locate 15-20 miles from the city center to gain a more rural living style.

I would stay in the first week of June. That when the 100 degree days hit*. If you can manage that you're OK. Of course winter would be less severe than what you are currently experiencing.

What you really will like about New Mexico are the low property taxes.

It probably would be best to narrow the choices to 2 to 3 towns; then live in each in an apartment for several months to get a feel of each before makng a decision.

*We average 10 days of 100 degree weather; thought we have had stretches of 21 days in a row.

 

[haha]

I spent a great few weeks fishing and hiking in the Sangre de Cristo and nearby mountains. I was young and had just returned from Latin America so my Spanish was still pretty good. I hung out in some bars and had no unpleasantness.

I felt like a great place to visit for a while, but a weird and possibly unsettling place to live. Felt good to me to get back to I-10 and eventually cross the Banning Beaumont Pass into LA again.

Like everyone here, OP follows her own star, but if I were her I would either find a way to score some money or entitlements or plan on going to an area with some well to do people and do the massage personal service thing for a semi-ER and higher standard of living.

I have a niece who makes very good money > 100/hr, teaching yoga and other trendy things to well off young matrons.

It is popular on here to plan Draconian budgets, but I think they could be very wearing and also unforgiving.

Ha

 

[grasshopper]

Socorro is an exception, Silver City, at the foot of the gigantic Gila wildnerness, is a huge exception, with the best hiking and biking I know of anywhere (it puts my home state of Colorado to shame - seriously) but it is a very small town (under 10,000) and you have to be able to handle the extreme remoteness (3+ hours to Tucson, 4.5 to Albuquerque, 5.5 to Phoenix). The weather in Silver is about as good as it gets in the non-coastal lower 48 and there's an amazing amount of arts and culture for a town its size, but regarding the vibe and access I'll just share two bumper stickers:

"Silver City: Where Old Hippies Go To ....."

"Everyting You Need is in Silver. Everything you want is in Tucson."

Have fun exploring.

That is funny in my world Silver City is a big city. I travel two hours one way to visit my dentist (Gorthy), three times a year. I will be there on the 31th, eating at the Curious Kumquat after my cleaning .

 

[JPatrick]

I look forward to hearing your impressions after you visit Deming.

+1

 

[twolfy]

Try going to city-data.com website and put in the city your are interested in. They have a forum and the people there are real helpful with information on cities anywhere. You will most likely receive many reponses from people that live in or have lived in Deming or close by. Good luck with your search. I love the Southwest! I'm headed out to Tucson with some friends in a few days.

 

[LOL!]

You will be able to get jobs in Deming easily as long as you want to work as an all-night minimum wage hotel desk clerk or one of those folks who sit in a gas station collecting money.

How did Deming rate 3 pages of a thread here? Mind-boggling!

 

[kramer]

When I was considering retiring in the USA, I certainly considered New Mexico and I visited there.

I realized the daily temperature swings in the desert climate were not for me. Even in Las Cruces, the average low is under 50 degrees for 7 months out of the year (and under 40 for 5 months!). No thanks, way too cold for me.

Also, I didn't fell safe in parts of New Mexico, for whatever reason. And my sinuses did not seem to like the dry air.

I certainly liked aspects of the culture and food and the terrain could just be beautiful.

 

[check6]

How did Deming rate 3 pages of a thread here? Mind-boggling!

Good question. I have driven through everyone of those towns during our yearly summer pilgrimage from the southwest to the upper midwest. Most are fuel/overnight stops for those traveling I-10 and I-25. All expansion has been big box store and fast food joints, there is nothing attractive about any of the towns, however the overall area is beautiful from the air. La Cruces does have the world famous La Posta Mexican restaurant and Frank Borman. Of all of them, only Trinidad, Co was kinda cute. Having said this, northern NM is interesting especially the town Chama.

Btw, the wind blows ALL the time in NM unlike AZ.

 

[Nemo2]

Btw, the wind blows ALL the time in NM unlike AZ.

A few years ago, in Medicine Hat, Alberta, I asked a lady at a gas station if it was always so windy........she replied that they all walk on an angle, leaning into the wind, and if it stopped everyone would fall over.

 

[citrine]

Wow...thanks everyone for your input. DH is "IN LOVE" with the Deming idea...LOL! I am willing to visit and the heat is not a problem for me...(I was born and lived in India till I was 10)....but he tends to forget the hard time he had in Mexico with the heat and the sun....he is a gringo! I will go and explore with him though
I have been to AZ and loved it! Yes, I would need to be in an area where I could have clients that are willing and able to pay $80/hr for therapy. I would not find that in Deming at all.
I love this forum....thanks for all the advice