New Mexico has a bunch of nice small towns. I live in Albuquerque (not a small town but there are quite a few others) and I have some shops, restaurants and bars all in walking distance.
We were looking at possibly relocating to a friendlier state than Texas if gay marriage were to be overturned. Thankfully, that's looking less likely, but it's still on the back of my mind a bit. We have some family in El Paso, so that would be convenient.
Main consideration would be quality of public schools. Some semblance of a social life for folks in their early 30s/parents would be nice but we could deal with that being not as great with El Paso close by. Availability of decent groceries, especially for cooking Mexican dishes, and fast internet would be pluses as well. I imagine the real estate market there is quite cheap. We'd love the climate if it's the same as El Paso.
I would like to visit Silver City some day. Looks like it has the makings of a place that could take off. Abundant sunshine, national forest, small college.
Silver City was a cool town, used to be a great restaurant there, "Curious Kumquat". The "big ditch" is a very pretty trail to walk, and there seemed to be lots of artists studios and galleries.
I also enjoyed Cloudcroft. Between all the biker bars there we found an excellent book store to peruse.
Taos/El Prado/Arroyo Hondo is a beautiful area along the Rio Grande (lookup "black rock hot spring"). There's a pub out there, off the grid, with a patio looking out to the mountains and live music broadcast from the solar powered radio station, "KTAOS"
