Want to leave Texas? Well consider New Mexico. The climate varies enough that you can pretty much pick your climate, so long as you can stand not living under an umbrella. There may be better climates in the world, after all its hard to beat the climate of coastal Southern California, but not many. Here in Albuquerque we get enough snow to appreciate both having it and not having it. This year has been exceptionally wet, and the Rio Grande has enough water to deter west bank liberals (Bumblebee, Butterfly, Ossbusco, Diane and Dyslexia) swimming over here to pollute the east side where the conservatives congregate.
New Mexico is still mostly a rural State and one doesn't have to look hard to find traces of our history going back to the 17th century. Most of the towns are picturesque and small to medium sized. The land and the sky predominates every vista, and here those are both magnificent. The air is clean, and you can see the stars. Distances here aren't quite so overwhelming as in Texas, but they are long enough that no one is likely to crowd you too much. The State's population is heavily Native American, with perhaps a slightly larger number of Hispanics (many of whose families have been here since the 17th century. The Anglo-American population tends to dominate and is the third primary ethnic group. We are a rich multicultural soup here that makes life a fascinating mosaic.
Both the wages and cost of living are low here. Housing values are superb. I couldn't afford to live in Corazon if it were located in California. There isn't the same sort of career opportunities in New Mexico that one might find in other places, but the pace of living is also more human. On the other hand, you can't walk down the streets of Albuquerque without stumbling over a half dozen nuclear scientists and physicists. Albuquerque is an USAF garrison town and we also have more retired O-4 and above per square foot than most places west of the Mississippi. The State tends toward the Democratic Party, but there is a strong counter current of conservatism.
The state has only three large interstate highways. I-10 crosses the State from southern Arizona to El Paso (a border town that we should probably annex), and I -40 that runs from Indian Country through Albuquerque to Texas, are latitudinal. I-25, running North to South, goes from Colorado to Santa Fe, Albuquerque and follows the Rio Grande down to Las Cruces and El Paso. Just a few miles off of those corridors, you can find solitude, and silence.
Here, in Albuquerque, we have access to all the primary shopping one would find in any metropolitan area of about 1,000,000 people. We have a great University and a thriving arts community. Albuquerque continues to grow, but most of the growth these days is over on the west bank. I'm continually surprised that the I-40 and I-25 aren't completely blocked by foreigners trying to immigrate here.
Want to leave ... where ever? Think New Mexico, The Land of Enchantment.
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