[DubBub]

I moved to a different state to retire. I love it. But then the gun laws were immediately hijacked. And a few of my neighbors are a bit strange. But I absolutely wouldn't move anywhere else. I have peace and quiet, solitude and lots of work to keep me busy. Good luck on your search.

 

[jamesroyster13]

Las Cruces is a liberal s##thole teaming with illegals flooding over the border. It's a dirty, hot miserable city. Arizona property prices aren't too bad depending if you want to live far from the city. Now they have a governor who's going to make laws about which personal pronouns you can use so scratch that, unless it happens to be your thing.
Cost of living is super cheap here in Catron County NM. This county is a conservative second amendment county even though the state is run by lefty crooks but it's farther from services than you may be accustomed to, like groceries and medical care.
I have friends who moved from Albuquerque to the San Antonio area and they love the mild weather, but it's super expensive.
Silver City, NM is gorgeous with a ton of outdoor recreation so that's a good place to consider. Hop onto Zillow.com and check out all the properties available! Feel free to connect with me if you would like more details about my slice of heaven.

Catron is a large county, Which section would you prefer?

 

[GreasyDave]

The question asked is a really slippery one. I will reframe from what I would normally say on this subject.

I will say this, as an X-Arizonan, I hope to never set foot again in that state. Point I will stress - be careful of what you wish for, it may come back and bite you square in the butt.
At 69 years old - you don't want to go to all the work, and it is a TON of work to relocate and then later severely regret it. My friend did that when he moved to an area S. of Reno NV. He's 73 and pretty much stuck in a place that has changed and not to his liking. Also, be careful what you read on all these "Greatest Places to retire or live in" articles. Most are total BS. I read and studied for a long time before I retired. I wanted to get out of Scottsdale AZ and live in the smaller town of Prescott AZ where we had a second home. 6 months is all I could take. I had to get out of there - went to back where I was born and could not believe how different it was than I had imagined over the years. 5 trips and all the different seasons to see if it was the "place".
It's a big deal to move, at your age of 69 it's a really big deal - give it a lot of thought, research, and investigation. No one can tell you the best place, so just take it all as info, to research.
Things change by the influence of who is moving in, everywhere...
Many changes and big changes are happening, and many states once considered decent, have gone to crap.
Also. warmer is not always better. You need to find a good compromise. Do not forget humidity, wind, rain, and snow as things to give consideration to. everyone has different levels of each they wish to deal with. There is NO perfect place, so compromises have to be met. Deal with a little of this or that to get this or that. That's the weather part, political views, regulations, control, and governments - that is a whole different deal.
In my opinion, the Midwestern states are the friendliest people on the planet and seem to be some of the only ones with any common sense and decent values. You have to experience it. It is like a night-and-day change from 80% of the other states
Hoping to not offend others, but that is my 2 cents on the subject.

Sounds like good advice, thanks for sharing it !!

 

[Snow Fox]

Catron is a large county, Which section would you prefer?

I'm in the Pie Town area. I do all my shopping in AZ where there's a Safeway and feed stores. We have a little garage in Quemado that does repairs and 2 gas stations. In the summer there's a small farmers' market in town and a fabulous 4th of July celebration with fellow patriots.

The Gila NF has insane riding, hiking, and horseback riding opportunities. The winters are cold and we have snow, but the rest of the year is outdoor heaven. A mobile vet clinic comes to town twice a month as well as a medical clinic for non-emergent visits. I love it here.

 

[jamesroyster13]

I'm in the Pie Town area. I do all my shopping in AZ where there's a Safeway and feed stores. We have a little garage in Quemado that does repairs and 2 gas stations. In the summer there's a small farmers' market in town and a fabulous 4th of July celebration with fellow patriots.

The Gila NF has insane riding, hiking, and horseback riding opportunities. The winters are cold and we have snow, but the rest of the year is outdoor heaven. A mobile vet clinic comes to town twice a month as well as a medical clinic for non-emergent visits. I love it here.

Thanks!

 

[PlacerLode]

One thing I hear since I moved to Arizona is that the heat does get to people and they say you never get used to it and the older yo get the more the heat bothers you

I lived on Surprise NW Phoenix Valley starting in 2009 and didn't mind the heat because I had a fantastic mansion like home (bought cheap at foreclosure auction) with a pool and AC but I also spent 3 years in Payson a nice country town and a heavy tourist pass through for recreation but I didn't mind any of that. It went from a little too hot t a little too cold lol basically 2 seasons. I was told they rarely got snow and when it came t was like 4 inches and gone in 48 hours but the first year there we got blasted with 5 feet of snow that lingered a month lol just my luck !

Now In Prescott Valley for a year and lived in Prescott for another year not a bad place but way to many cops with nothing to do I have never seen so much LE in any other pace in the country not even in SoCal. Prescott has the Costco and health care and a giant VA facility and it has it's own economy so you can make a living right in the local area

I'm not sure Prescott is for me though I'm still looking around AZ and would prefer the outskirts of the Phoenix Valley like Fountain Hills, Rio Verde, North Surprise "horse country" possibly Wickenburg or Anthem etc and other North Phoenix areas

Cave Creek is nice if you want to be more in the population but on the edge of endless desert areas

Tuscon is a hard no full on hippy dippy and crazy expensive like San Francisco mentality

Yuma is very popular for retirees but not my cup of tea I do have a storage warehouse there and it is pretty area but I refer to Yuma as the armpit of AZ and that makes Tucson the crotch lol

Far norther AZ is a high desert wonderland including the Grand Canyon but half of AZ is North of Flagstaff very sparsely populated I really like Fredonia AZ a border town with Kanab Utah which is remote but beautiful with good fresh water readily available

Show Low is also a great area similar to Payson on the eastern AZ border with NM it's a unique area I enjoy anytime I have been there and is on my short list

 

[Purple]

How important is your liberty? How important is your own life?

Let's keep this on track people - (and thank you all for bringing it back on topic) - there are a bunch of emotive opinions on here, which you are entitled to. However, try to tone it down a bit in future .....

 

[tjet]

Man I hear ya. I grew up in Orange County, California, and now I live in Connecticut and work at JFK airport - outside. Next year will be 25 years, and I just cant take the freezing temps anymore, fixing airplanes all night long. I've been looking at Zillow for a nice piece of land out west, specifically to keep my TW's and maybe a dune buggie. I figure I can rent out my house and retire. I don't think my girlfriend is onboard with this idea, though.

I was in New Mexico a couple of years ago. I took a leave of absence from my airline job to avoid a pandemic related layoff. I worked for Virgin Galactic out at the Spaceport. I bought a 20 year old fixer upper trailer in TorC, and that was home for about a year, living in an RV lot. I sold that trailer and moved into a local motel for $450 per month. It was great hanging out with the long-term retired folks living there. I bought my TW there for a back up vehicle. I rode my TW to work a few times, but way too many wild animals out at night at 3am. I would hit large Jack Rabbits nightly in my van (pic below). Also, you need 4wd there if you take the county roads.

Even though that area was economically depressed (compared to other areas of NM), the people there are super friendly. I was mostly around senior citizens. Lots of Vietnam Vets & the like. I was making daily beer runs for them before work. The Walmart there is awesome... 32 cent burritos.

Anyhow, it does get pretty cold in New Mexico due to it's altitude (the entire state is fairly elevated). I would drive to my dads in CA about once a month, and it was so nice to go through Tucson & Phoenix and warm up (Dec-Feb).

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www.tw200forum.com

Even better, turn off the news, and the babble and rhetoric ceases. Stop inviting it into your world.

Agree. I turned off my cable 5 years ago when my son went to college. You miss the background noise for a little while, but it's so nice not being flooded with BS anymore. You guys are my TV now

 

[Garfish]

Thanks!

You might look into Pahrump, NV.

 

[Garfish]

You might look into Pahrump, NV.

As for Yuma, AZ, in the 1860's, a US Cavalry soldier stationed in Yuma died and went to hell.
After a few days, he came back to Yuma to get a blanket.
Nuff said!

 

[Black Hills TDub]

My friend is from Yuma, I cannot imagine living in Yuma.... I loved sand dining, but to live there, not a chance in hell, actually it is a lot like hell, but not as pretty. Next to 95% of NV, it looks like all life has been eradicated, even the dirt and sand looks like it was blasted with nuclear radiation.

 

[Black Hills TDub]

I'm in the Pie Town area. I do all my shopping in AZ where there's a Safeway and feed stores. We have a little garage in Quemado that does repairs and 2 gas stations. In the summer there's a small farmers' market in town and a fabulous 4th of July celebration with fellow patriots.

The Gila NF has insane riding, hiking, and horseback riding opportunities. The winters are cold and we have snow, but the rest of the year is outdoor heaven. A mobile vet clinic comes to town twice a month as well as a medical clinic for non-emergent visits. I love it here.

Ms. Fox, it sounds like you found a great place. 😎

 

[Snow Fox]

Ms. Fox, it sounds like you found a great place. 😎

Come on down!!

 

[Black Hills TDub]

I actually have lived in NM. Remember that alien ship that crashed -- Yepper, I lived there! Explains more than a few things.

Use to ski Taos and a friend lived in Santa freak, I mean Fe....
I do not see myself going south of Cheyenne ever again - I just have to get a piece of property sold in northern AZ, so I can cut all ties. Cheap plug... 😲 😆

NM - Has the BEST Green Chiles on the Planet ! If the original poster does end up moving to Las Cruces - Damn, he better like great green chiles. A friend and Co-worker did his schooling in Las Cruces and is from a little town called Clovis on the east side of NM.
So I have some NM time in me. 😲 😁

 

[Garfish]

I actually have lived in NM. Remember that alien ship that crashed -- Yepper, I lived there! Explains more than a few things.

Use to ski Taos and a friend lived in Santa freak, I mean Fe....
I do not see myself going south of Cheyenne ever again - I just have to get a piece of property sold in northern AZ, so I can cut all ties. Cheap plug... 😲 😆

NM - Has the BEST Green Chiles on the Planet ! If the original poster does end up moving to Las Cruces - Damn, he better like great green chiles. A friend and Co-worker did his schooling in Las Cruces and is from a little town called Clovis on the east side of NM.
So I have some NM time in me. 😲 😁

Any new resident of New Mexico should be prepared to answer the question asked whenever Mexican food is ordered... Red or Green? Or Christmas?

 

[bartruff]

Somewhere along the Colorado River if it doesn't go dry.....Like Lake Havasu or Parker......need to have a Taco Bell, a MaDonalds and a Pizza Hut....a Bank of America .....a Library ....a new car dealer and an Emergency Room ...... have spent winters in that area.......

the Sherriff told me they rescue seniors in the winter and bikinis clad college girls in the summer.....those summer jobs only cost a thousand a month....

 

[tjet]

If you do a search in Zillow, you can find land that has buildings on them. Just do a search for land only under home type, but under the "more" tab, select "must have a garage" on the drop down.

I found this sweet building + land for a great price. Looks like it gets cold there, but a similar search in a warmer area may show you some options. Also, I'm not sure what the legalities are on what's considered a house (or even if you can park an RV there), but in my case, I'd want something like this to keep my vehicles in the time being, as long as the site is build-able for a home later.

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[bartruff]

If you like to ride.....Parump has a Mustang Ranch.....

 

[bartruff]

Snow Fox, my apologies...on occasion my rude attempts at humor offend people.... many years ago, I had a tee shirt that said Mustang Ranch Riding Instructor......intended for my equally rude foursome......well....the Middle School boy wore it to school .....;that got both of us an invite to the Principals Office for a lesson in appropriate attire......that included the boy hitching up his pants......

 

[PlacerLode]

just last year I met a guy in Henderson NV he built an 80 x 100 red iron frame steel building 20' high free clearance inside 12x14 doors on each end and 4 more down one side and one on the back side all in with the building kit (a high grade commercial kit not a flimsy cheapy) concrete work and labor for $84k done and done I was in absolute awe

I have always found finding property with a real shop is rare and most realtors (are women) and they call a garden shed "a huge workshop" usually with a 7' ceiling

In decades of property searching and buying and selling properties I think I have seen 6 legit large shops and I tried to buy 4 of them but got outbid

I say buy the home with well (well is the number one requirement in desert states) and land say 2 acres or more and just build your own steel frame building it will cost you 1/2 maybe even 1/3 of what a property with the building would bring so you'll save enough to fully equip the shop with compressor, welder and lifts etc and have enough left over for a hot tub

PS I did also see a property where the guy pulled permit for a home and a steel frame shop he finished the shop and died before the house was done so the property was sold as land with shop and well near Coolidge AZ my buddy almost bought it but balked at the last minute and soon regretted it lol