Carlsbad, NM, a love-hate kinda place
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12/15/2009
We have lived in Carlsbad for nine years and find that we have a love hate realationship with the place. In talking to many people it seems to be a common theme of conversation the love hate realtionship.
The weather here is generally pretty good. The summers can get very hot (average 100-110 degress) and the climeate is very dry. Spring is called the windy season and winter is variable and though generally mild we do get some snow and temps down into the teens at night sometimes.
The landcape is rolling flat desert basin with a lot of Cholla, Mesquite, creosote brush and grasses. Real Mountains are a good two hour drive away. This area is extensively mined for pot ash and drilled for gas and oil so is dotted with oil jack pumps and tank batteries which makes it look and feel rural/industrial.
I have met some of the best people I have ever met while living here. They are can be well educated and diverse. Many work in government resarch and technical jobs.
I have also met some of the worst and most greedy people I have ever met in my life while living here. The local politics is corrupt and there is some talk that the local politicans are involved in the drug trade. I don't know about that but the town has a serious "meth" and hard drug problem. This is due to the closeness to the border and to there being a number of Mexican drug family ties here as well. (Also there is a high use of drugs in the oil fields because of how they work.) Like all small towns ther is a adolescent crime probelm here which is generally covered up since often it is the children of the city "father's" who commit the crimes. Recently a boy was murdered and burned by classmates then left lying on the street over drug and crime issues.
The current mayor is pretty anti arts or anything which does not put money directly into his pocket. See the Movie Open Range to understand the local politics.
Carlsbad is mainly an extactive oil and mining town and though it at times trys to portray itself as a tourist town most tourists simply pass through since after they see Carlsbad Caverns, and the Living Desert Zoo there is not much to do. In fact the Living Desert State Park and Botanical Gardens provides most of the cultural activities here. Not many good food choices here and the town rolls up the streets at 5:00. Most people who live here talk about how they need to get away from town at least once a month simply to not feel like they are going nuts. El Paso is about 2.5 hours, Lubbock/ Midland/ Odessa about 3 hours, Albuqureque/Santa Fe about 5. Roswell is a bit better but unless one is really intersted in the alien scam then not much there either (1.5 hrs)
Healthcare here is poor, most people drive to Lubbock for any serious medical issues. Mental health care here has a bad reputation with the CEO deeply mixed into the corutpt politics and unable to keep therapists for very long. There is a consistant turn over of therapists and doctors due to various factors in the medical center, mental health center and the community. The loccal boys Gour home has a reputation for having staff who molest the boys but the town turns a blind eye to it.
There are few things to do here and since the town is cliquish those things are difficult to join into.
My wife and I love the desert but it is very isolated here and "culture" is pretty limited. Do not think that just because this is New Mexico that it will be like Santa Fe, Albuqureque or Taos, think more like deep west Texas.
Having said al lthat now I wonder why we stay - Oh yeah - I knw some really good people and the skys are really capativating.
Lewis | Carlsbad, NM