It could certainly seem that way, but its more like a combination of the old style wild west and oil-field gusher towns of the mid-1900's. Hundreds of good paying jobs for those willing to work (and who can pass a drug test) but no housing to speak of; a hotel building boom, RV and camper spaces going for $500+ per month or more; and convenience stores loaded to the ceiling with cases of Bud Light every Friday.
But with it the crime and shootings.
A co-worker told me the cops were raiding the drug-house across the street from our office when he arrived for work (I came in before dawn to get ready for field work and all was quiet). Not the first time - a raid or cops are called to that location several times a year.
A couple of months ago a robbery suspect ran a stop sign in front of the building and hit another car. He was slightly injured but couldn't get away before the cops arrived to nab him.
And in other news from Carlsbad, a local jury awarded $58 million to the family of a driver who was killed when an oilfield truck turned in front of him. Driving into Hobbs from Carlsbad, you have a big lawyer billboard advertising big $$ awards to victims of oilfield accidents.
And finally, after years and years of propping up state coffers with oilfield royalties and tax money, the state is going to rebuild the pot-holed, narrow (no shoulders or pull-off opportunities), two-lane highway west of town traveled by many thousands of big rigs and oilfield workers each day. It would have been rebuilt sooner, I'm sure, but a half-billion dollars of state road funds went to build former Governor Richardson's Railroad from ABQ to trendy, gay, radical liberal Santa Fe in the last decade.
He has told me some similar stories that would curl my and your hair (if I had any).
It's Mad Max meets the Police State out there.