I know I already weighed in on this post very early but I have to say that I agree with
@butcherboy and
@seldomseensmith in that not all of NM is bad. I grew up near Alamogordo and I missed NM terribly - until I moved back... and moved to the ABQ area.
Since the OP was initially asking about Albuquerque and Santa Fe (or within an hour of), that is what a lot of people are referencing with the negative. That is absolutely what I was referencing and I didn't give that distinction very well from the rest of NM.
I'd be plenty happy living in Rodeo, NM or Cloudcroft, NM or even Kirtland, NM or Eunice, NM. The crime and politics aren't nearly as bad in those places as the location the OP was asking about.
I also know that "within an hour" of ABQ there can be some great places. As I mentioned, Grants to the west, or if you go east to Edgewood, Moriarty or Stanley you are separated from all of that, maybe Mountainair is close enough for the OP.
NM has a lot to offer. It truly is the Land of Enchantment and just like anywhere in the world, there are good places and bad places. You can't beat the food, the hunting can be fantastic and the people are friendly. Even if Albuquerque is the neck tattoo capital of the world - haha!