[blue tenore]

please,help me out here.been in Washington state for 13 years.TOO MUCH RAIN for 7 months every year.Am starting research on moving.Question: should I go to Arizona or New Mexico to spend the rest of my life Hanggliding? am very serious about this.Am retired and can go there.California is pretty much out since I found it is too expensive.still need a Q-330 chute or equivalent.

[Bobfly]

New Mexico is nice although the crime rate and gang violence in Albuquercue was a bit surprising and scary. Cannot comment on Arizona other then to say it's the other end of the rain scale from Washington (arrid) and can get very hot in the summer. Still a beautiful state though.

[mike bilyk]

Arizona. So many places to fly. Mingus is magic!

[TomGalvin]

Durango gives you access to sites in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah. 300+ sunny days a year.

[Stoubie]

California is expensive, but it also depends where in California you live. If you are considering a desert climate anyway, and you want to be in Hang Gliding central with low cost of living without the crowd I'd take a look at Hemet, CA. It's farmland area, its warm without being too hot. You are 1 from Soboboa launch (amazing site) 45 minutes from Crestline, 45 minutes from Elsinore, 75 minutes to Torrey. Its a pretty awesome location.

[flyingdawg]

I have lived and flown in Albuquerque for the past 22 years. There is some spectacular flying here but not on a consistent basis. Since you will be retired, you actually would probably be able to get all of the airtime you want because you wouldn't be limited to the weekends. We would welcome you here as we don't have enough pilots.

Having said that, have you checked the real estate prices in Crestline, Ca? The recent depression has created some unbelieveable bargains there and that is in hang gliding central as far as flying in the US is concerned. I bought a very small cabin about two miles from the Crestline launch last year for $32,000. You most likely would want something larger but that gives you an idea of the bargains available. If you ever got tired of flying Crestline and Marshall for endless hours day after day, within a couple of hours drive you have an abundance of other mountain sites and with just a bit more driving, all the coastal flying you might want. So I wouldn't rule out California, or come on over to NM for some BIG AIR and/or occasional glass offs up to 17,999.

[Windlord]

[knumbknuts]

I'd say near Mingus. Never been, but they told me it's nice.

[remmoore]

I wouldn't rule out California entirely. Sure, there are expensive areas closer to the coast, but the Sacramento, Central and San Juaquin valleys are much cheaper. They're also more central to multiple flying sites, with wide open roads to get there - instead of fighting traffic to get out of town.

RM

[J Fritsche]

I don't know anything about NM---have only heard of a couple sites there, but they're supposed to be goodies. I can say this about AZ: I don't know what would be worse, living in that Washington rain or in the AZ heat. Northern AZ, with its higher altitudes, is much more bearable, but housing around the nicest areas (Flagstaff, Sedona, Prescott) is not cheap and I don't think there's a lot of employment opportunities. I would never consider living in central or southern AZ (Phoenix, Tucson) because the heat is unbearable for a good chunk of the year. I lived in the hot desert climate of Bakersfield, CA for several years, which is a little cooler than Phoenix, and was miserable stuck inside in air conditioning for 3 months/year.
Except for cities along the coast, CA is probably more affordable than you think. I know some pretty poor pilots here that manage to get by.

[fdrews]

Durango is great