Las Cruces, New Mexico

Hello r/LasCruces. I am moving to your city in August. I will be making 80k/year. Is this enough for las cruces? Also, what are your pros/cons for living in the area?

80k is more than enough. Both Las Cruces and El Paso have a low cost of living. I've lived in El Paso between 10 to 15 years. My Wife and I go to Las Cruces periodically. My Wife is from El Paso, I'm from the Northern Midwest.

There are plenty of nice areas to live. We really like the homes that are in the far East side of Las Cruces near the Organ Mountains. We like window shopping for our future new home.

As some others have stated, it does get hot and dust storms do happen from time to time.

Depending on what you enjoy doing, there are plenty of nice places to visit. Definitely recommend visiting Ruidoso and Silver City. If you like hiking and mountain biking then you'll love it here. Old Mesilla is also nice to visit. There's some nice homes and apartments around that area.

You'll be able to try different varieties of Mexican cooking. Mexican food isn't the only cuisine available. There's plenty of other things you can try while you are here.

The sunsets and sunrises are priceless. The smell of the desert after it has rained is very unique here. For me the scent is very calming. Don't be surprised to see the Rio Grande all dried up. During certain parts of the year the water is being route to other areas for irrigation purposes.

It's hard for me to point out the bad because I have an open mind. All places have good and bad things associated with them.

There are plenty of Wineries in the surrounding area and Pecan farms.

Can't forget the different festivals that are held both in Las Cruces and El Paso and the surrounding area. My Wife and I just went to a Cherry Festival in La Luz, NM. I think it's about an hour and a half drive from Las Cruces.

White Sands to me is a must to see.

There's also a lot of historical stuff to see. If you are familiar with the story of Billy the Kid, then you will be in his old stomping grounds.

For the most part, people are friendly here.

Do you research about the crime rates in the area. Depending on where you are coming from, it might not be that bad for what you are accustomed to.

All in all… it's not as bad what some may think. But, then it all depends on what you like and don't like.

Hello r/LasCruces. I am moving to your city in August. I will be making 80k/year. Is this enough for las cruces? Also, what are your pros/cons for living in the area?

Depending on where you’re coming from, the climate can be a serious adjustment. Very dry, thin air with lots of wind. The winds can create occasional dust storms that tear through your yard and can cause a mess if you’re not prepared. You can usually see them coming though. It’s warm as hell, but that goes without saying. Oh, and static electricity will shock the shit out of you at first. Keep your hands hydrated and don’t wear rubber soled shoes in the house to avoid the worst of it. I wish someone had mentioned that to me

Aside from climate, it’s pretty much just like any small city in the US. The food is a big deal here too. I’m vegetarian so I mostly indulge in just the sauces. People love it. You can decide whether living near El Paso and the US border is a pro or a con on your own. I find it fascinating. El Paso has most of what Cruces doesn’t. That goes both ways.

80k sounds like a pretty decent income around here for a single person. Very comfortable. Cost of housing is just a little lower here than other places. Plus, New Mexico just got last place in a Most Desirable Places To Live study. That probably keeps out some of the predatory real estate developers descending on everywhere else too.

I dunno, it’s a nice place. I’m still getting used to it. I keep finding reasons to like it though. Good luck

Hello r/LasCruces. I am moving to your city in August. I will be making 80k/year. Is this enough for las cruces? Also, what are your pros/cons for living in the area?

80k is way more than enough. Unless you splash on expensive cars or other luxuries, you should be able to put a LOT in savings/investments.

CoL is generally cheap in New Mexico and in the El Paso borderplex region. If you want to really save, you can cross the border in El Paso to the safe downtown part of Juarez for more affordable dentistry, some types of medicine, contact lenses and shopping.

Both Las Cruces and El Paso have excellent Thai food(Thai Delight, Renoo’s) and decent Chinese food (Oriental Palace & Wok’nWorld). Of course Mexican and New Mexican are the local specialities.

There is fantastic outdoor sightseeing spots within a couple hours drive: White Sands, Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountain, Hueco Tanks, Gila River Wilderness, Ruidoso, Cloudcroft, Ski Apache, and the hot springs at truth or consequences. And you’re less than 4 hours drive from Tucson.

I don’t know which parts of the country you’ve lived in but the LC/EP area is a lot safer than most major cities in California, East Coast and Midwest. It’s overall quite a bit safer than abq, which imo, is a not as bad as portrayed. I’ve lived in nyc, Chicagoland and around the Bay Area, and I feel so much safer in abq - or anywhere in New Mexico. Property crime, particularly car break ins and grand theft auto, are the biggest concerns here. Lock your home+car doors, don’t leave valuables in the car and buy a Club to lock the steering wheel if parking on the street overnight. With that you’ll be fine as long as you aren’t involved in the criminal underworld. There’s very little risk of totally random violence in New Mexico. Most violence is between gang members or domestic violence. In contrast, violence in nyc, the Bay Area or Chicago, is very often unpredictable, random and/or racially motivated - getting pushed into subway tracks, shot, stomped, beaten or stabbed without provocation by complete strangers.

Such as this… https://nypost.com/2021/04/24/wife-of-asian-man-stomped-on-nyc-street-pleads-for-justice-2/

…and this… https://nypost.com/2021/05/06/video-shows-random-stabbing-of-two-asian-women-in-san-francisco/

Sorry for veering way off topic, but this is a long way of saying that Las Cruces is an awesome, affordable and safe place to live with easy access to gorgeous natural wonders and less than an hour to a major metropolis. Your salary is more than enough and you’ll be able to afford a high quality of life. And I’d say this applies to most of New Mexico, El Paso and much of Arizona. Just don’t forget to support the local economy by buying/shopping local as much as you can! Gotta love the southwest!

Favorite Neighborhoods

Personally, I think the nicest area to live in is the Elks area (where you were talking about with the three crosses hospital). It’s a really nice, established, safe neighborhood but also affordable. It’s in town so close to everything, but doesn’t fit your criteria of being within walking distance to much.

The perfect area for you guys re: watering hole, comics, skating, cute-fun-neighborhood vibe is smack in the middle of downtown, off main/water streets. But there’s not many houses actually right in that area, and I’m assuming the ones that are there are not for sale or very expensive. The closest neighborhood would be alameda, which depending on exactly where you are could be walking distance to downtown but might be a bit of a stretch depending on how far you want to be walking.

You don’t want to be near young’s park, and probably not the university either.

Sonoma Ranch will have nice looking houses, but be aware that it’ll be within walking distance to absolutely nothing. For your lifestyle, I wouldn’t go with anything off hwy 70.

Mesilla park would probably work pretty well but just from my own experience, honestly as a kid I probably would’ve been very bored living there. It’s kind of removed from the rest of town (it’s its own town actually if I’m not mistaken), and it very much has the old-people-tourist-vibe.

Overall, keep in mind that in general Las Cruces is not a walking city. It’s very much a driving city and it’s not super common to have neighborhoods where business are mixed in with houses. It’s a lot of housing areas broken up by various shopping areas, and mostly you need to be using a car to get from one to the other.

Pros and Cons of Living in Las Cruces