Help us Find a Settling Location in the Soutwest
January 2, 2010 7:25 PM Subscribe
I'm a US expat living in Australia and am thinking of moving back to the US. But I have juxtaposed requirements for a settling location that I'm not sure I can meet.
Here they are:
1. Need to be within a day's drive of my ageing parents in Las Cruces, NM.
2. Need a place that will support/employ a techie nerd type guy (me)
3. Need a place that has an alternative lifestyle culture that supports traditional midwifery and doulas (my partner)
Here they are:
1. Need to be within a day's drive of my ageing parents in Las Cruces, NM.
2. Need a place that will support/employ a techie nerd type guy (me)
3. Need a place that has an alternative lifestyle culture that supports traditional midwifery and doulas (my partner)
Santa Fe? Los Alamos? Albaquerque?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:49 PM on January 2, 2010
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:49 PM on January 2, 2010
Have you looked at Albuquerque or even Las Cruces itself? Both towns are kind of alternative friendly.
posted by OrangeSoda at 7:49 PM on January 2, 2010
posted by OrangeSoda at 7:49 PM on January 2, 2010
How about the Verde Valley, AZ? It's Sedona-ish but younger. ABQ might work, but if you want to go small how about someplace like Silver City?
posted by answergrape at 7:56 PM on January 2, 2010
posted by answergrape at 7:56 PM on January 2, 2010
The tech job thing may be the biggest obstacle. The majority of technology jobs in NM are at LANL and Sandia, or in roles that support the labs (much to my dismay as a geeky expat New Mexican who'd love to move back home someday).
posted by Lazlo at 8:11 PM on January 2, 2010
posted by Lazlo at 8:11 PM on January 2, 2010
tucson, az - has a women's center that employs midwifes, has a good and large university and a bunch of start-up companies related to optics (not sure what kind of techie/nerd jobs you're looking for), 4.5 hrs away from las cruces. tucson is a pretty liberal town with respect to az in general (analogous to austin vs tx in general)
finding jobs might be a challenge at this particular period. so if you're willing to give up the alternative lifestyle bit, phoenix might offer more job opportunities (6 hrs away from las cruces). it's got a large university, a whole bunch of large (intel, freescale, motorola) and small tech companies, and i am pretty sure midwife employers.
good luck ...
posted by eebs at 8:11 PM on January 2, 2010
finding jobs might be a challenge at this particular period. so if you're willing to give up the alternative lifestyle bit, phoenix might offer more job opportunities (6 hrs away from las cruces). it's got a large university, a whole bunch of large (intel, freescale, motorola) and small tech companies, and i am pretty sure midwife employers.
good luck ...
posted by eebs at 8:11 PM on January 2, 2010
Colorado Springs?
posted by elsietheeel at 8:52 PM on January 2, 2010
posted by elsietheeel at 8:52 PM on January 2, 2010
If you don't care about desert, then I second the Tucson recommendation. It's got a fairly strong alternative scene, from what I can tell, and a fair number of techy jobs.
posted by bookdragoness at 9:08 PM on January 2, 2010
posted by bookdragoness at 9:08 PM on January 2, 2010
Seconding Austin...might be a cheap flight to NM(?). Dell, AMD, and the like created a moderate tech scene and our midwife had been midwifing here for 30 years and is certainly not the only one in town.
posted by ejoey at 10:22 PM on January 2, 2010
posted by ejoey at 10:22 PM on January 2, 2010
I like Tempe, AZ a lot. Not all of it has that suburb-y feel, and there are lots of tech companies in the area. Since it's home to Arizona State, it's a lot more liberal than other parts of AZ and supports an alternative lifestyle pretty well, I'd say.
If you want to know more you could memail me.
Good luck!
posted by pecknpah at 10:23 PM on January 2, 2010
If you want to know more you could memail me.
Good luck!
posted by pecknpah at 10:23 PM on January 2, 2010
Best answer: Here's a recent NYT article about Tucson, if you want to look more into moving there. It's a great place to live, as well.
posted by pecknpah at 10:30 PM on January 2, 2010
posted by pecknpah at 10:30 PM on January 2, 2010
Response by poster: Great link - thanks for that. Had not really considered Tucson- but it sure sounds good.
posted by Dag Maggot at 12:51 AM on January 3, 2010
posted by Dag Maggot at 12:51 AM on January 3, 2010
Don't know what kind of a geek you are, but I know Sony Pictures Imageworks, their VFX arm, has a satellite office in Albuquerque. I don't see any current openings on their site, but you never know what might come up.
Plus, VFX IT experience may transfer well to other locales (Southern California, London, Vancouver, NYC) should you decide to move on later.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 1:38 AM on January 3, 2010
Plus, VFX IT experience may transfer well to other locales (Southern California, London, Vancouver, NYC) should you decide to move on later.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 1:38 AM on January 3, 2010
I was gonna say Tucson. I have family and friends there and it's really an amazing town.
Art, hippies, nature out the wazoo, and some of the best bars I've ever been to.
posted by cmoj at 1:07 PM on January 3, 2010
Art, hippies, nature out the wazoo, and some of the best bars I've ever been to.
posted by cmoj at 1:07 PM on January 3, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks for all the great answers all.
posted by Dag Maggot at 7:53 PM on January 3, 2010
posted by Dag Maggot at 7:53 PM on January 3, 2010
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If so, Austin, TX.
Good tech scene and it's like a little alternative island in the middle of Texas.
posted by Edubya at 7:46 PM on January 2, 2010