|
|
Article: Flirting with the future: New Mexico. (economic and social conditions)(American Survey)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- January 4, 1997
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
SANTA FE
EXOTIC, beautiful, inspiring-and poor. The first three words describe New Mexico as seen by outsiders; the last is what it remains, even though outsiders have long since colonised it. The state ranks 48th in income per head. Yet it is a strange mixture: bustling with newcomers and new technologies, but also tied to extractive industries and over-dependent on federal money. Gorgeous adobe villages are ringed with trailer parks; exclusive scientific enclaves exist a few miles from Indian subsistence farming; and the roads that lead to the heavenly mountains have some of the worst drunk-driving rates in the country.
New Mexico's image as a high-tech ...