Las Cruces, Nuevo California

Today I would like to introduce "Chatty Cathy" a columnist for the New Mexico Politico who wishes to remain anonymous. She and I share similar concerns for our beloved community and hope more citizens will open their eyes to the reality and voice their opinion. "Chatty Cathy" will periodically appear on the New Mexico Politico. I hope you enjoy!
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Las Cruces, Nuevo California

By "Chatty Cathy"

I left New Mexico for a while in 2003, but the lure of the Land of Enchantment drew me back in early 2006. There are many things I love about New Mexico, specifically Las Cruces. Among them, I love Hatch green chile, Little Nellie's, Dick's Café, Dia de Los Muertos celebrations on the Mesilla Plaza, and the Whole Enchilada Fiesta. Obviously, I love the food. But I also love the culture. Hispanics like to celebrate, and New Mexico has many celebrations. There is a zest for life here that isn't found in the "white-bread" communities of the Midwest; it is a sense of living each day to its fullest that invigorates me.

Las Cruces has always been an oasis of Democrats in a largely Republican district. New Mexico's second congressional district leans Republican plus 5.7%. The liberal-minded nature of Las Cruces, the district's largest community, can be attributed to New Mexico State University. Communities with a four-year university are always more liberal than communities without a university. Perhaps it's the young ladies and gentlemen stretching their political wings for the first time, trying out their new found freedom to live and believe as they choose. Whatever the reason, it has attracted a bad element to Las Cruces: the Californians.

In my book, "Californian" is a four-letter word. Right before I moved back to Las Cruces in 2006, Las Cruces had an influx of "retired" Californians. By retired, I mean they sold their two-bedroom, one-bath, 900-square-foot shack in L.A. or San Francisco for $1.6 million dollars and left California. They were youngish, not old enough to collect Social Security, and not worried about finding a job since they had quite a bit of money stashed away from the sale of their house. I'm sure they felt lucky to discover Las Cruces, with it's picturesque views and, in comparison to California, dirt-cheap housing. There was no traffic congestion, no rolling blackouts, and the population was under 100,000.

Somebody should have told them to pack up their crap and get the heck out of Las Cruces. But as New Mexicans, we invited them into our city and made them feel welcome. It's in our nature; we're some of the nicest people you can find. Californians came in and took advantage of our hospitality. They contributed to the rising housing market, making it impossible for working joes in Las Cruces to afford a house. They played the speculation game with our real estate, buying up houses under the guise of "investment companies" and then jacking up the price to gain a larger return on their investment.

I have seen the effects of this first-hand. I lived in Santa Fe for almost two years back in 2000. I arrived the day after the Cerro Grande Fire (or the "Dome Fire," as locals call it). The average price of a house when I moved to Santa Fe was $180,000. That was for a three-bedroom, one-bath, 1100-square-foot fixer-upper in the bad part of town. I was floored. Many of the people I worked with couldn't afford to buy a house, and those that did bought only two-bedroom condos for $170,000. The house-buying frenzy hadn't started yet. Interest rates were still (looking back) high. On August 11, 2000, the New York Times reported that fixed-rate home loans had "fallen" to 8.04%; stil high enough to make home buying an impossibility for many Santa Feans.

The result of Santa Fe's inflated housing market was the effect of Californians moving to The City Different and paying outlandish prices for moderately-sized homes. Santa Fe's housing market was in an upward spiral, and there was nothing anybody could do about it. By the time I left Santa Fe, only 21 months later, the average house price had risen $50,000 to an outlandish $230,000.

Las Cruces has become Santa Fe all over again. On February 26, 2008, MSN Money reported that house prices in Santa Fe had risen 57.28% in the past five years. Las Cruces homes have risen an average of 59.03% in the last five years. At a 59% appreciation rate, I'm looking at paying $160,000 now for a house that was only worth $100,000 in 2003.

In contrast, cities like San Francisco and Santa Barbara, while still expensive to live in, have house prices appreciating in the mid-fortieth percentile. Keep in mind that these expensive California locales have industry and economy, as well as a fairly well-educated population. According to the US Census Bureau, over 50% of the people age 25 or older in San Francisco have a bachelor's degree or higher. In Santa Barbara, that number is almost 44%. Conversely, in Las Cruces, which has a fine public university, the percentage of the population 25 or older attaining a bachelor's degree or higher is only 31.6%.

While the counter-argument may arise that higher housing leads to a higher tax base for the city and county governments, it doesn't do anybody much good if the average citizen can't afford to buy a house. California passed a minimum-wage law years ago, in an effort to equalize the buying power of those who make minimum wage. Even Santa Fe passed a minimum-wage law a few years back. But in Las Cruces, a city that has no industry, no commerce, and no manufacturing (whose only claim to fame is to be named one of the best cities to retire in), minimum wage is a fact of life. The housing market should accommodate this and absorb it, which it did until we had Californians with millions of dollars coming in and buying veritable palaces for a fraction of what it would cost in California. I'm sure they thought they had struck it rich.

If Las Cruces doesn't start telling the Californians to go home, the city may end up becoming another California, with ever-rising housing prices. The locals will be getting the short end of the stick, only they'll be in a worse situation than California—New Mexico doesn't have the tourism, industry, manufacturing, or educational levels that California has. What will happen to the people that settled and built Las Cruces, the people that tilled the Mesilla Valley soil to nurture world-famous chile, and the people that work hard to provide for their families? What will happen to that zest for life that makes Las Cruces such a great place to live? It will disappear, and Las Cruces will become another California community.