Linda Ferrara

February 6, 2009

Since my last post talked about gathering information to help you decide where to move, I thought that I'd give you as much Silver City detail as I can come up with. I hope it helps.

Location: Southwestern New Mexico

Grant County seat: Silver City (population 13,335)

Closest Metropolitan areas: Las Cruces, NM 112 miles - El Paso TX, 154 miles - Tucson, AZ 199 miles - Albuquerque, NM 235 miles - Phoenix, AZ 266 miles.

Elevation: 5,920 ft.

Temperature:

Average Annual Precipitation: 15.8" - High 3.2" August - Low .2" April

Average Relative Humidity: 31%

Census Bureau Quick facts on Grant County: 2000

Population, New Mexico: 1,819,046
Population, Silver City: 14,066
Population, Grant County: 31,002

Cost of Living Index: 93 100 = National Average 110 = 10% more expensive

University: Western New Mexico University www.wnmu.edu

Medical Services: Gila Regional Medical Center www.grmc.org

Things to do nearby:

• Gila National Forest: 3.3 million acres of rugged beauty
• City of Rocks: Geological Monument
• Gila Cliff Dwellings: Indian Cliff Dwellings dating from 1280-1300.
• Lake Roberts: Fishing, boating, hiking, birding
• The Catwalk National Recreation Trail: hiking, picnicking
• Mimbres Regional Arts Council: brings in a wide variety of cultural events www.mimbresarts.org
• Palomas, Mexico: shopping
• Rock Hound State Park: Collect Semi-precious stones
• Historic Downtown Silver City: Shops, restaurants, walking trails, museum, Victorian buildings, micro-brewery
• Penny Park: skate park, imaginative climbing structures, slides, swings, bridges, balance beams, castle structures and picnic grounds, shaded by mature cottonwood and elm trees

February 5, 2009

Are you thinking about relocating and don't know where to start? There certainly is a lot to think about, a lot of things to consider! When we decided to move, we thought about what we didn't like about our current situation and what kinds of things were important for us to have.... And not have. So, to help you decide if and where to move, I've made a list of questions that may help you.

Note: I occasionally work with married couple who either have opposite ideas of the perfect house ..... or don't know what the other person is thinking. I've actually heard conversations like this: Husband: "I always wanted a house with a real fireplace!". Wife: "Really?, I hate fireplaces; they're so dirty!".

So I encourage you to fill out this list with your partner. Good to know these things ahead of time!

•1. What do you like about where you live right now?

•2. What do you dislike about where you live right now?

•3. Imagine a place where you would like to live. What does the dream location have in amenities?

•4. Will you be working in your new location? What kind of job do you want / need?

•5. What kind of salary do you expect?

•6. What is the price range you can spend on a house?

•7. What are your hobbies?

•8. What can you not live without?

For us, weather was important, cost of living was important, country living was important. We wanted to avoid high traffic, large volumes of people and snow. Once we understood some of these things, we moved to the next phase. So based on that info, we knew we wanted the southwest. But not Albuquerque, Tucson or Phoenix.

If you do some exploring on the internet, you will come up with some of the locations that will work for you. Being the Project Manager that I am, I created a spreadsheet. Across the top was names of towns. Down the left-hand side of the page I wrote down what was important to us. For us, it included the following: Mild climate, cost of living, University, historic flavor, hiking trails, size of town, hospital, distance to airport. Then I started writing in towns that seemed to fit. Some of the towns I thought would fit, did not. A few that seemed wrong, fit in well with our needs.

The next step is to visit some of the places that meet your criteria. That's when you call me and we go and look at properties! ; )

February 4, 2009

I feel compelled to write about the people in Silver City. They're nice. I come from New Jersey and I wasn't used to it. But you know what? You get used to it - -fast. I remember when I first moved here I was on line at the grocery store. I was third in line. The clerk at the check-out was talking to the first customer. I was irritated that I was waiting and they were chatting. Then I began to listen. The clerk was asking about the health of the customer's mother. Hoping she was okay and feeling better. I felt like a heel for being impatient. This is the reason we moved here! The people are nice. I took a deep breath and enjoyed the fact.

My husband and I laugh when we have strangers in cars waive to us in our car. We laugh because they use their whole hand.... Not just one finger like in NJ. Lol. Now we waive to people and wonder if they're laughing.

During Christmas time, we received a lot of UPS deliveries to the house. So Frank wrote up a card and put some money in it to thank the delivery man. One day he gave the card to the UPS man but suddenly realized he gave to a man that wasn't our normal delivery guy. Darn, he wanted the regular guy to get it since he worked so hard. Don't you know that a week later, our normal delivery guy comes to the house and thanks us for the card and gift. The man who had received it, gave it to the regular guy! That would not have happened back in NJ!

I remember a while back, my Broker telling us about a restaurant in town having trouble making ends meet. She asked us to patronize the restaurant to help them out. And we did. And she's still in business.

That's what living in a small town is about - - nice.

Today's saying? "Be kind; help others."

February 3, 2009

Have you ever heard of Cowboy Action Shooting? Or the Single Action Shooting Society www.sassnet.com ? Well if you want to play cowboy / cowgirl, you'll want to check this sport out.

Using 3 different types of guns (2 pistols, 1 shot gun and 1 rifle), you ‘get' the bad guys by following a scenario. You may shoot 10 pistols, 9 rifle and 4 shot gun, being timed and misses counted along the way. The fun begins before hand when you choose an alias, get dressed in 1890's garb and build a gun cart.

My husband belongs to the local club, www.gilarangers.com . What a nice, fun bunch of people! They shoot out in the Mimbres on John Fowler's ranch. They have permanent stages set up for variety. Imagine shooting your pistol from the bar doors, then moving to the train ticket counter and shooting your rifle and then to the jail house and shooting your shot gun.

And it's fun to watch too! I'm not a shooting kind of a girl - - - but I am the best darn score keeper in these parts!

Photo of my favorite cowboy, Chico Cheech, aka Frank Ferrara

We've met people from all over the country (and Germany too). It seems that with this organization, people aren't strangers; they're just friends you haven't met yet. It's a national organization so there's a good chance there's one in your area. There are folks who enjoy getting in their RV and travelling to all the different clubs around the country. And the National Headquarters are in NM! I encourage any of you who are SASS members reading this, to add a comment and photo so people can see what it's all about.

Until then, shoot straight and be safe!

February 2, 2009

Today I'd like to talk about animals in our area. I love the fact that every day I get to see deer and horses on my way to or from work. Regularly I see other animals - wild and tame - Jack rabbits, skunks, cattle, chipmunks, javalina, hawks, donkeys, coyote, fox, woodpeckers and snakes. When I'm walking or hiking I like to check out the variety of tracks we see or try to identify the scat. My neighbor gives me a list of birds he has recently seen. Once, when I was south of town, I saw a herd of ibex (a gift by the Shah of Iran back in the ‘70's). If you're in the Fort Bayard Game Preserve you're bound to see a herd of elk off in the distance. While on my 3 day walk to Lordsburg, I saw either a wolf or large coyote (friends helping me identify couldn't come to a consensus). There are a few folks raising llamas. I saw an ostrich in a yard once. (As a Realtor, I get to see it all!).

It seems that most people around here just love animals or things related to animals. So many people I know have dogs. Being a large ranching area, there's lots of cattle and horses. The Gila National Wilderness attracts hunters.

My favorite animals are my own pets (of course!). We have 2 cats and 2 dogs. And for me, they make my house a home. They never cease to make me laugh and keep me moving. I'm amazed at what they understand.

If you're feeling down, pet an animal! Make it a great day!

Saying of the day: "You can tell a lot about a man by the way he treats animals".