What's to like about Las Cruces?

What do I like about Las Cruces? Let's see . . .

• The natural beauty of the area is breathtaking
• The climate is mild compared to other regions in the country
• People seem to be more kind and open to each other here
• There are festivals, gala events, exhibits, theater productions, and so much more going on everyday, which is amazing for this little city of around 100,000
• New Mexico in general has more artists per capita than any other state in the nation. Las Cruces has over 80 organizations devoted to various artistic talent
• NMSU is a huge draw for diversity in research and academics
  The farmers here are able to grow various crops almost year round. We are famous for our high quality green chilies and pecans. We also produce globe onions, cabbage, cotton, alfalfa, corn, jalapeno chiles, and more.
• If you live in an area where the river soils are near the surface, you can grow amazing peaches, figs, pomengranates, strawberries, tomatoes, and much, much more
• We have about 350 days of sunshine each year--the quality of light is what attracts so many artists
• There are plenty of beautiful public lands nearby where you can enjoy day hikes for almost no expense"

These are just a few top of mind things that came to me in a short five minutes.

Spaceport America - north of Las Cruces

On Friday, April 16, 2010, my Leadership Las Cruces classmates and I went to the Spaceport. Everyone of us was thrilled that we got to see this amazing portal for future space travel under construction. The construction materials and methods being used on this massive project will make it a LEED Gold certified compound.


LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. A LEED certified building/project is designed to be efficient in many ways. From design to completion, standards are set and verified for energy efficiency, use of locally available materials, reduction of construction waste, re-use of salvaged materials, minimal impact to the environment, appropriateness of location for the project, minimal use of toxic substances or products that off-gas, smart orientation of structures to maximize natural daylighting and ventilating, and so on. The highest LEED designation that can be obtained is a Platinum--the Spaceport America falls a little short of being a Platinum, but it is a strong Gold.


Here you can see the runway. It is still under construction. It is 200 feet wide by 10,000 feet long. It is about 4 feet thick because it has several sub-layers to it. The top surface is a monolythic concrete layer with expansion joints about every 20 feet. The runway is near completion.


From the runway we went to ground level of the terminal. We were not allowed to get close to it because of the construction activity.

Then we went to the massive water tank. It is designed to hold over a million gallons of water. The water has not been pumped into it yet so we were able to go inside it and see what the inside of a massive water tank looks like. It's round, made of tons of structural steel and surrounded by massive metal plates all carefully fitted together so that it is all seamless. It was pretty hot inside because its a big metal structure with no ventilation.

While we were still inside the structure our tour guide and classmate, Aaron Prescott, had us all shout "LEADERSHIP!" on the count of three. The sound echoed and reverberated for a very long time. It made a big impression on all of us.

The tank will store non-potable water to be used in the event of a space vehicle in crisis, or other critical need. The capacity of the tank and the pumping capability are designed to handle two major critical events at the same time.

Then we went to the firehouse and administration building. It will be a big round building. The contractor will soon be arriving to create the shell of the building. The shell will be inflated and then the concrete surface will be sprayed into the interior. It will be a multi-layered process with structural fittings and more concrete. I wish I could be there when it is being fabricated.

Lastly, we drove up the berm that leads to the Virgin Terminal entrance. This took us up about to the third storey of the terminal. Like the other structures on the Spaceport campus, the terminal building is designed to have minimal visual impact on the horizon line. The area is surrounded in all directions with distant mountain vistas. Every effort has been made to ensure those panoramic views are protected.


What you see in the picture above are the terminal structural bays. There are four of them, each on the corner of a big rectangle. The entrance to the building is through the long spine that leads into the center reception area.

This is going to be an amazing facility when it is completed. With all the LEED design that has been invested in its creation, the structure should last well into the 2100s. I am very proud and happy that our Leadership Las Cruces class was able to get permission for a very specialized, up front tour of the facility in its early stages of construction. On behalf of the Leadership Las Cruces, we owe the Spaceport America a debt of gratitude for giving us this opportunity.

Lead Based Paint Renovations & Repairs

April 2010 brings in a new slate of regulations for contractors who get paid for any renovations or repairs on older homes or residential/institutional facilities where children might be present. Both the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Housing & Urban Development (HUD) have launched a massive educational and compliance compaign addressing the issue of disturbing lead based paint in renovations of properties that were built prior to 1978.

This new layer of regulations for renovations in older properties is because lead based paint dust is extremely toxic to young children. The old thinking was lead based paint was dangerous because children would nibble on the old sweet taasting paint. Now they know the paint dust is infinitely more dangerous because is inhalable, nearly invisible, and it will settle everywhere.

Any homeowner or building manager of an older property who is planning to hire a contractor to do renovations where over six square feet of surface area will be disturbed must get a contractor who is certified to do Lead Based Paint Renovations & Repairs. This would include things like replacing doors & windows, stripping or sanding down old surfaces, or knocking out walls.

The contractor(s) must contain the work area, minimize dust and clean up thoroughly. A certified contractor will document the work process and be able to provide proof the project was completed according to EPA guidelines. The property owner needs to keep this documentation for future disclosure and reference in the event the property is sold.

The Las Cruces Building Industry Association, BIASNM, will be hosting a course on May 13, 2010 to educate contractors about the new standards and get them qualified as EPA Lead Certified Renovators.

Gardening & Landscaping in Las Cruces

If you live in Las Cruces and want to have a beautiful garden or landscape, you have to select plants that can thrive in our soil types and arid climate. The area around Las Cruces transitions from rocky mountain soils to sandy soils to clay soils near the Rio Grande. Likewise, the water table can be as far down as 400 feet at the mountain foothills to 5 feet near the river. Depending on the location, the wind may be constant if there is little vegetation to slow it down. With the intense sun exposure and heat of the summer and the lows into the 20s in the winter, we need landscaping plants that are very hardy and that can handle the extremes of our area.

When I moved here in 1993, I had to spend quite a bit of time learning about the challenges of landscaping and gardening. I didn't know anything about gardening in the desert. Here in the Mesilla Valley we're in the Chihuahuan Desert--which is a higher elevation than the other deserts in the west. The books available on gardening generally do not cover an area like ours. Even desert gardening books do not address the conditions that we have here because they are written for much lower elevations like Phoenix or San Diego. The elevation of the area rises from around 3,600 feet in the river valley to over 4,600 feet at the foothills. Gardeners in the Las Cruces area share information with each other and are well advised to use native, xeric, and/or extremely hardy plants from equally challenging parts of the world. What I know for sure is you are wasting your time and money if you select plants that are not suited for the intended location.

Particularly in higher elevation locations further away from the river, vegetable gardens are more likely to have success if they are in raised beds with plenty of rich compost and some shade from the intense sun. The benefit that gardeners have here is the extra long growing season. The last frost date here is around March 15 in the Spring, and the first frost date in the Fall is around November 15.
There are several good sources for finding native plants and seeds for your landscaping and gardening needs. One local nursery that specializes in native plants is Enchanted Gardens. There are also several plant and seed companies in New Mexico that grow and sell live native plants and/or their seeds. Two that come to mind are High Country Gardens and Plants of the Southwest, both are based in Santa Fe.

Starting native plants from seeds takes a special skill because many native plants have highly variable mechanisms for getting started.

The Dona Ana County Extension office offers a course for people who want to become Master Gardeners. It is a highly developed course drawing on the experience of local experts who volunteer their time to train a new class annually. The brain trust keeps growing as the Master Gardener graduates commit to share their knowledge and experience with the community.

I hope to be doing a video soon with my friend, Jackye Meinecke, who is an expert gardener and nursery owner. She has an incredible wealth of knowledge on what plants will work in the various soil types and exposure to the elements.

Dripping Springs

This is my first blog post about what it is like to live in Las Cruces. I’ll be talking about events, places, and people. I’ll be drawing on the expertise of others to produce this blog and have some great fun in the process.

My first entry is about Dripping Springs, a Bureau of Land Management recreational area. I hiked there with a friend yesterday. Dripping Springs is east of Las Cruces. It is a very beautiful area on the west side of the Organ Mountains. The views are panoramic looking westward—there are mountain ranges to the south, west and north. You get a glimpse of the river valley and all the agriculture it supports. To the east you have dramatic, spectacular, highly varied mountains. The Organ Mountains are beautiful no matter what time of year it is, but when you’re right up there in them it feels like all the problems in the world have fallen away. It’s truly wonderful.

In the late 1800’s there was a resort hotel very near the springs that flow from the steep rock face. It is in ruins now, but at one time it was a wonderful place to escape from the heat of the summer.

There was also a tuberculosis sanitorium on the other side of the springs. The rock buildings are mostly gone now, but you can still see the foundations of where they were. There is still a wood frame house built on stilts that has a decent metal roof on it so the structure isn’t falling apart the way the other rock buildings did.

It’s very interesting to go to Dripping Springs because of its history and beauty. The hike from the visitor’s center is about 1½ miles to Dripping Springs. People need to be in fairly good physical condition because the trail is a continuous incline up the mountain, and it’s a little rough.

The cost to park your car and hike any of the several trails at Dripping Springs is $3/carload, or $20/year which would include all the BLM recreational areas.