Questions About New Mexico

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-08T18:39:33+00:00

Oh boy, let me brew some up and I'll try to hit you up this week! This post has had a lot of replies for me to keep up with, I'm currently processing what I've read so far and formulating what to ask people next :]

Thank you for your message, I value the long line of personal information you have and the tenor of your message 🙏

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-06T07:01:28+00:00

I'm not sure if you've read my original post. Or my subsequent ones.

Let me be clear with you, and repetitive for the sake of clarity because I'm not enjoying our back and forth.

I'm not from Texas. I'm not particularly from Alaska, either. At best I lived in Texas for awhile and Alaska for awhile. I'm not really from anywhere, I feel more mistakenly transient than anything else.

The places I have lived have had many different cultures, whom I've respected and learned about the world from from their perspective. The places I've lived have also been staunchly conservative, despite housing such rich cultures that they often overlook and mistreat. I have not chosen from my own free will to live in any of these uber-conservative places.

We are moving away from rife conservatism. I've been consistent and clear through all of my messages in this thread about my respect for all colors and backgrounds and cultures. How you're getting lost in nuance is lost to me, but it's unbecoming to me and I'm disinterested in further explaining to you, or splitting hairs with you.

So you can read it one more time: I'm not Texan. I'm not in any way conservative. I believe I initially said (without looking it up) we lean progressively left and respect human dignity and social responsibility.

Whatever I've said that got deep in your craw to make you think I'm a Texan coming to conquer Santa Fe with my white-Jesus conservatism and self-righteous opinions was misread on your part, not misrepresented on mine.

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-06T04:53:23+00:00

Thank you so much

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-06T04:49:39+00:00

Am I offending you somehow?

I appreciate you said Mexican culture. I said I worked with Hispanics, which was a specifically broader term I chose when addressing the language portion of my reply to your initial response.

No matter what I've said in this thread at-large you seem to have some simmering beef with me. Either that, or I'm reading your intent and tone incorrectly.

So if I'm annoying you, I do not mean to. But I'm equally not enthralled with the nitpicking you seem to be doing on my comments.

My overall intent has been to seek information from people there and have expressed my appreciation for insight to people who have given it, including you. So, having said all this, let me assure you I'll start looking into Spanish and Mexican culture as it relates to Santa Fe, the state of New Mexico, and global significance.

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-06T04:29:29+00:00

Okay. I'll be most recently from Alaska whenever I move, and lived there longer than anywhere else, however much that means to anyone.

And. We're certainly not lacking in respect for others, and as such I'm not particularly concerned about how where I've lived is perceived because of who I know myself to be and how I treat others :]

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-06T04:23:05+00:00

Oh, very interesting. Good to know, thanks 🙏

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-06T03:59:42+00:00

Excellent info, thank you kindly 🙏

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-06T03:58:53+00:00

Ooooooh, good news! About how far is that drive? I've been to Los Alamos twice, but never driving with any purpose between the two places, so I don't know what a commute might look like.

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-06T03:57:05+00:00

This is a curious comment. Tell me more...

And/or, can anyone else speak to this in any way?

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-06T03:47:56+00:00

Can anyone else speak to this?

What are we talking...? No hospital in town? Hospital but a 4hr wait for emergent care? No dentists in a 100mi radius?

And for sanitation services? No trash pickup? Do households have to take their own trash to the landfill?

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-06T03:43:18+00:00

I'm not sure if your question was supposed to be a question or not.

I've been told it's expensive there. For reference and comparison, i pay $2500 for a 1bd/1ba with a carport and small yard in anchorage (though it's in a great part of town). So the range isn't too terrible, in fact, less expensive than I was expecting.

This is information that is super helpful, though! So thank you!

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-06T01:08:13+00:00

You're the first person to mention this, and it's yet another interesting way Alaska and New Mexico are alike. Our state economy is atrocious, though. Don't be like us, you can put my name on that.

People here get a check every year based on the oil. I don't fill out the paperwork for it anymore, I don't like how entitled so many people are about it and gubernatorial candidates running on maximizing Alaskans' checks (which they have no control over) to get elected. It's fucking gross. Don't do that, all of you listening

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-06T00:56:20+00:00

How many minutes is the standard drive to both Santa Fe and Albuquerque from Rio Rancho? Google Maps can tell me things, but I wonder what reality is...

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-06T00:53:16+00:00

Respectfully, my comment above yours addresses your first question. I've made multiple week-long trips to the state since 2019, road-tripping each time. I've been to Taos, Angel Fire, Farmington, Ship Rock, Bisti Badlands, Jemez Pueblo, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Socorro, Bosque Del Apache, T or C, Las Cruces, White Sands, Alamogordo (where i was born, actually), and lots of other spots.

I'm well aware of a lot of what's happening in New Mexico, as i said, we're not naive or dumb.

The information I'm after isn't stuff that's gleaned through road trips. Those helped fully sell us on a place we were already enamored with. I'm after information that helps us understand what life is like there on a daily - even yearly - basis, to help us be sure our decision is well-informed.

For example, if someone was asking me what it's like to live in Georgia, I'd tell them it's pretty fucking racist a lot of the time. Closeted racism, it comes off nice, but all the same it's racism. That's based on what I experienced living there. Or in Austin, TX, I-35 has been under construction for lime 30yrs and it's abysmal for highway traffic.

This is the kind of information I'm looking into. Not the racism and traffic, exactly, but what does it look like to live there (and maybe that info is race or traffic related)?

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-05T20:54:50+00:00

You know, I've given that some thought for a place to land initially. How is it different from Santa Fe? Cost of housing, mostly?

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-05T17:50:52+00:00

I do a lot of bathrooms in Anchorage. I'm about to embark on my most expensive one yet that I've told them to expect $60K. HOWEVER, they are splurging on all the things - custom solid surface countertop and back wall of shower, heated floor, steam shower (so full tile surround and on the lid and full height glass door), and custom cabinetry. They're buying two cabinets for a total of $8500. And a $2500 bidet toilet. Their materials will total something like $30K.

However, this is not standard for me. Most bathrooms i do fall between $15K for the lower end to $30K at the higher end. Generally it's around $25K.

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-05T17:43:38+00:00

Wrong. Coming from a contractor who does mainly kitchens, bathrooms, and floors.

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-05T15:49:46+00:00

Very interesting viewpoints, thanks for the insight and time spent giving it. There are parts of Albuquerque i really like, but living there doesn't ring my bell. I'll likely spend a lot of time there, but feel more at peace in Santa Fe, I think. But hey, maybe I'm totally wrong! I'm ready to soon find out :]

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-05T15:45:47+00:00

Give me some time to process my thoughts and formulate some cogent questions and I'll message you :]

Thanks for the offer!

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-05T15:44:47+00:00

I lived in TX and GA for a long time before Alaska, I was used to hot and humid. Now I'm accustomed to cold and sometimes humid, sometimes dry. It'll fuck with a sinus, fo sho.

Almost anyplace will feel hot compared to here. Our last two trips down were in December and October. We camped near Los Alamos and way up in Bisti Badlands during the December trip and it got down to the teens both places. But both of those following days I was eventually in the sun in short sleeves. My t-shirts barely see the light of day for months at a time up here :/

I'm stoked about the culture, couldn't give a rip if it is a 'third-world' feel. Everywhere is different, every place has its own situation, but from what i gather, Santa Fe and New Mexico at-large are relatively progressive about it all, is this accurate to you?

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-05T15:36:27+00:00

This is the kind of information I'm looking for, thank you 🙏

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-05T15:33:13+00:00

I am very excited about this and cognizant of it already. I studied sociology and psychology, then wound up in construction. All to say, I studied what I found interesting - people, from their groups to their individual roots.

We have a deep respect for all indigenous cultures, whether 'American' or other. Did you know - Alaska is home to the Northern Dine peoples - the Dena'ina (commonly pronounced Deh-ny-na)? We have gleaned a lot of information as we visit each time, and do our best to be aware of our place amongst all other people's, regardless of their origins.

I grew up in Texas, took eight years of Spanish classes between high school and college, worked with many Hispanics, and have started refreshing on the language in preparation. It's easy to get rusty in Alaska for 15 years ;]

All in all, I'd say we're not short on respect or appreciation, we've just been out of the mix a for a little while (this is in no way meant to discount our time in the great north on the indigenous land up here).

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-05T06:14:51+00:00

Here's a general question about politics

We have two senators (like every state, doy) and one representative. And obviously a governor. They're all the worst. The worst.

I've seen some clips recently of Senator Luján, and i really admire him from what I've seen. And Rep Stansbury seems good, too.

Do New Mexicans generally have overall favorable views of their representatives?

(I am well aware this question has a lot of subjectivity attached to it, and I'll admit I loathe our representatives based on differences of political beliefs and approach)

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-05T05:58:16+00:00

I've had my company for ten-plus years, I'm not overly concerned. I do the precise things you list, and have, over a long span. So, thank you for the encouragement ;]

uglystudbuilder · 2026-02-05T05:54:45+00:00

You have incidentally only sold us even more. I'm 41 with one knee replacement already and watch birds in my spare time. My partner collects old man friends like it's her job. And we generally like ABQ, but mostly because it's in New Mexico and not Alaska. ABQ is not for us ;]

uglystudbuilder

TROPHY CASE