Moving to Albuquerque? Read this! (real estate, house, rent)

[NURSEYDUDE]

First....albuquerque Is A Unique City....or Should I Say "big Town" They Broke The Mold When They Put This Town Together...in So Many Ways.

What I Like About Here Is Our Beauty. This City Has A Metro Population Of About 800,000 Or So. Albuquerque Is 500,000 Of That. It Sits To West Of The Sandia Mt Range, Which Because Of The Stone Its Made Out Of Turns Purple-ish At Sundown. Gorgeous! At 5000 Ft High Desert Elevation, The Air Is Dry, Crisp And Usually Cleaner That Most Cities Of Its Size. A Lot Of That Probably Has To Do With Our Winds Which (excuse My French) Let The Farts Out. Lol. Our Temps Are Not Too Hot, Nor Too Cold: Nighly Low Of 20 In The Winter (very Little Snow) And 95 In Summer, With Evenings That Cool Into The 60's...again, Our Elevation Working For Us. This City Is Over 300 Yrs Old, But Wasnt Much Of City Even 50 Yrs Ago. You Can Talk To Some Of The Old Folks Who Recall A Population In The 1950's Of About 50,000. So, Much Of The City Is New. With A X10 Population Increase, There Must Be Something Here Worth Moving For. Right?

There's Been A Big Push To Revitalize The Downtown In The Past Few Years, With A Great Deal Of Success. Much Of The Bad Element Is Moving Out. Real Estate Prices Have Increased. Much Of The Old Homes/neighborhoods Are Being Re-furbed And In Transition. Lofts Are Being Newly Constructed, As There's Not Many Older Warehouses, Etc To Convert. Central Ave. (old Route 66) Has That Funky Southwest Artitecture/neon Thing Going On, Which Is Fun. Many Of The Highrises Are Lit Up In Different Colors At Nite As Well. A Lot Of Business, Nite Clubs, Restaurants Have Moved In. I Dont Think All Have Been Successful, But The General Trend Is One Of Progress As Albuquerqueans Are Big On Going Out At Night To Eat. Also, Note That This City Is The Biggest In Over A 400 Mile Radius, Not Counting Ciudad Juarez,mx. Denver, 430 Miles To The North Is The Closest Larger City. So If It Aint Here, Youre Gonna Have To Travel Or Move To Get It. For Example, I Visited Tucson, Az Last Week. I Lived There 15 Years Ago And Not Much Change Has Really Occurred Since Then. They Are Doing A Major Tear Up Job On The Freeway (something Albuquerque Did Almost A Decade Ago), But The Downtown Is More Dead Than Ever! Absolutely No Change. Although It Is Slightly Larger Than Albuquerque, It Will Forever Be Just A Suburb Of Phoenix. Altho Not A Metropolis, I Think We Got A Nice Little Vibe Going On Here.

In General, I Think Albuquerqueans Are Undergoing An Attitude Change Of What We Think Of Our City. New Mexico, "the Land Of Entrapment" Is Getting Back Its Enchantment. Our Mayor, Martin Chavez, Has Some Very Progressive Ideas For This Town. Ive Been Here 5 Years And Altho There's A Lot Of Room For Improvement, There Has Been Change For The Good. Streets And Highways Have A Little Less Litter, Trees Have/are Being Planted, Curbside Recycling Is Spreading, High Tech And Movie Making Industries Growing, Commuter Train Service From The South Valley To The City Is Being Extended North To Santa Fe, Etc.

Now, For Some Of The Bad. From A Zoning Point Of View, One Wonders Who Put This City Together. Because Of The Rio Grande River Being The Main Water Source In The Past, The City Grew Following The Water. The Center Of Town Still Has A Lot Of Open Farm Space With Cottonwood Tree Groves. Luxury Homes Are Popping Up Next Door To Shacks Or You Might Even See A Transmission Repair Shop Inbetween The Two! Seriously!! The Funny Part Is That It Doesnt Really Seem To Harm Real Estate Values Much. Thats Just The Way Its Done Here.

This Is "the Land Of Manana (tomorrow)" If You Never Anticipate That An Albuquerquean Will Actually Return A Phone Call, You'll Be Fine. For Newcomers Trying To Get Their Phone Hooked Up, Some Yardwork Done Or ?, This Can Be Extremely Tormenting. But Once Your Settled And Here And Have Gotten Use To It, That Attitude Does Have Its Advantages.

Were Laid Back, Except If You Put Us Behind The Steering Wheel. Albuquerque Drivers Arent The Worst, But Were Close. Tenth Worst Im Told. Because Were Big For Trying To Outrun The Red Light, The City Installed Cameras That Ticket At The Busiest Intersections. Light Running Is Down, But Rearend Collisions Are Up! Duh! The City Is Making Big Bucks, But Due To Complaints, Is Studying The Situation To See If Were Actually Benefitting Or Not. And "heads Up" If Youre A Pedestrian Here. Statistics Show We Hit Em Way More Than Average. Finally, Even Tho It Was Recently Outlawed, Dont Be Surprized If You See Someone Driving 50 In The Fast Lane, Chatting Obliviously On The Cell Phone... Or Watch Someone Exit The Freeway From The Fast Lane. If You Mix All This In The Same Bag, There's This General Feeling Whle Driving That Were All Not Moving Along As One, But Constantly Jockeying For Space Or Protection. Its Agravating.

For Sure, Albuquerque Has A Crime Problem....especially For A City Of This Size. And Its Stupid Crime. Our Nightly Newscast More Closely Resembles An Entertaining Episode Of "cops" Rather Than The News. Never A Dull Show Here. In Fact, The Mayor Banned The Cops Show From Having A Filmfest Because The City Is Trying To Change Its Image.

So How Did We Get This Way? Well,its Because We Also Have A Serious Drug And Alcohol Problem As Well;especially Among The Native American Population. Although Albuquerque Is Somewhat Better Than The Rest Of The State, New Mexico In General Has Some Nasty Social Issues That Are Deeply Engrained And Tug Hard At The Family Unit....ie Substance Abuse, Spouse And Child Abuse, Teen Pregnancy ,drop Out Rates, Etc, Etc. There's Strong Push Going On Now To Change This, But It Will Surely Take Forever. Especially Outside Of Albuquerque.

So There Ya Have It. Im Sure There's More Ive Forgotten. Were Far From Perfect Down Here. The Setting Of Albuquerque Is Beautiful, But Were Never Gonna Be A Lush Metropolis. Dont Come Here For That. At 5000 Ft With 12-15 Inches Of Rain A Year, Were Bone Dry And Dusty. Something I Actually Find Delightful Vs. 95% Humidity. You Give Up One For The Other. And I Dont Watch The News. Since I Seldom Go Into The Scumbag Areas Of Down, Why Do I Need To Invite Such Ca Ca Into My Life. Ignorance IS Bliss. From Where I Live, Life Is Beautiful My Townhouse Is On The Edge Of The Cliff Overlooking The Muddy Rio Grande And The Entire City. During The Day I Watch The Hot Air Balloons That Frequent Our Blue, Blue Sky. At Night All I See Is A Valley Of Twinking Lights, And I Say To Myself......what A Great, One Of A Kind City This Is. Trust Me....there Is No Place Like Albuquerque. No Place.

[abqsunport]

Nice post Nurseydude!

[liveit2day]

Originally Posted by abqsunport

The North-East Heights area is by far the safest. The further North You Go, the Safer It Gets. If you can Stay North of Academy, your as carefree as can be. If you can stay North of Montgomery, you still have pretty much nothing to worry about. If you stay North of Menaul, I would still say you are very well off. If you can North of i-40, you will be in decent shape, but be careful. keep in mind this involves a great deal of generalization. There are exceptions to the rule--there are some very safe areas south of I-40.

Just my 2 cents.

ABQSunport,

I disagree with you. The NE Heights has it's share of crime. However, if you can afford it, the NW Valley, off Rio Grande is beautiful. Also, High Desert, which is N. E. of Eubank on Montgomery is very safe and clean (and expensive).

I live in the NE heights in an area you described and the overall crime in NE ABQ has seemed to skyrocket over the past 2 years. Anyone that dismisses the crime problem here is living with rose-colored glasses. Violent crime is a MAJOR issue here and isn't found in just one area-it's EVERYWHERE. I am originally from a big metro area in the midwest where crime is also an issue and I have NEVER seen something as bad as it is here. Seriously think twice before moving here if you prefer safe cities (and yes, those do exist).

[casden]

Originally Posted by liveit2day

ABQSunport,

I disagree with you. The NE Heights has it's share of crime. However, if you can afford it, the NW Valley, off Rio Grande is beautiful. Also, High Desert, which is N. E. of Eubank on Montgomery is very safe and clean (and expensive).

I live in the NE heights in an area you described and the overall crime in NE ABQ has seemed to skyrocket over the past 2 years. Anyone that dismisses the crime problem here is living with rose-colored glasses. Violent crime is a MAJOR issue here and isn't found in just one area-it's EVERYWHERE. I am originally from a big metro area in the midwest where crime is also an issue and I have NEVER seen something as bad as it is here. Seriously think twice before moving here if you prefer safe cities (and yes, those do exist).

What big metro area in the Midwest are you from?

It would be nice to do a comparative analysis. Credibility is much easier to add to a statement about crime when there are statistics to back it up (that's because crime can be statistically measured). I'm not saying that your wrong, or that your right - I would just like to see the REAL numbers.

In fact it would be great to look at the stats between other comparatively sized cities across the country.

I think I read in an earlier post an analysis between ABQ, Tuscon and El Paso, but I haven't seen one between ABQ and other cities in other regions - including the Midwest.

I live in Chicago right now, and it seems to me that there's more crime here (of course because Chicago is a much bigger city), but I wonder if the crime here would be comparable to other "mega-cities" like LA and New York City.

I'd have to see the cold hard facts before I can say that crime is worse here, in NYC, or in LA. I'd also have to see those stats before I decided to move to Tulsa, Milwaukee, Cincinati, Albuquerque, or anywhere on the planet for that matter.

Also, I don't think that anyone is dismissing that there's crime in ABQ. I think people know that when you have a growing city with a population nearing one million, you are going to have crime. Issues with crime seem to have become part of urban environments all over the world, at this point.

I visit ABQ twice a year and had lived there previously for 35 or so years and my experience in ABQ is not one of rapant crime "EVERYWHERE" in the city. I've heard of it in certain areas, but I've heard of little or no crime, and haven't personnaly experienced it in the NE or NW parts of the city. So I have to ask - where in the NE Heights do you live? Is it close to the State Fair Grounds?

Because I've not had your experience of violent crimes happening everywhere (sounds like a dismal b-movie about armageddon right out of Hollywood), doesn't mean that I'm wearing "rose colored glasses". I can see clear as day, with 20/20 vision, from my perspective, but I'm sure you feel the same way. Which leads me to believe you've had a pretty rough life in Albuquerque - I sincerally hope things get better for you.

[abqsunport]

Originally Posted by liveit2day

ABQSunport,



I live in the NE heights in an area you described and the overall crime in NE ABQ has seemed to skyrocket over the past 2 years. Anyone that dismisses the crime problem here is living with rose-colored glasses.

I agree with Casden, what part of the NE heights are you referring to? I am confident you will note a big difference between Menaul and San Mateo compared with Paseo Del Norte and Tramway.

[Tim Rankin]

Originally Posted by liveit2day

ABQSunport, I disagree with you. The NE Heights has it's share of crime.

I live in the NE heights in an area you described and the overall crime in NE ABQ has seemed to skyrocket over the past 2 years. Anyone that dismisses the crime problem here is living with rose-colored glasses. Violent crime is a MAJOR issue here and isn't found in just one area-it's EVERYWHERE

Liveit2day, I disagree with you.

I've lived in a a small neighborhood near Juan Tabo & Eubank for two years now, and the crime is non-existent. When we moved here we heard about one car break-in down the street, but since then there's been none. Zilch.

I am not dismissing the crime problem in Albuq completely, because frankly, you can't. But in our neighborhood, I've heard of none, at all. My impression of the NE Heights is it's a very safe area.

[norm]

The FBI crime statistics for LC (cities of 60,000-1000) & Alb (cities of 250,000 +) for 2006 (figures are based on case per 100,000:

ALB LC
Burglary 1066 906
Theft 3340 3417
Car theft 926 336
Arson 10 16
Property
crime 5332 4661
Murder 5 3
Murder
Rate 6.8 3.6
Rape 48 112
Robbery 196 115
Assault 513 383
Violent
Crime 764 614

These statistics plus those for all other major cities can be found at United States cities by crime rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Violent

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by Tim Rankin

I've lived in a a small neighborhood near Juan Tabo & Eubank for two years now, and the crime is non-existent.

Hey Tim -

I love that area of the Q! My wife and I rented an apartment at the Overlook Apartments the first six months we lived in Albuquerque and we loved it - right near that area (Juan Tabo and Eubank) where you are! Great area, loved having that park across on Eubank to go to, and the Albuquerque Academy nearby to run at. Great landscaping on the medians, etc.

Ahhh...man, now you've gotten me all fired up about my old stomping grounds again!!

Also...my favorite - ABSOLUTELY favorite - sports bar to frequent (not that I went to bars all that often in ABQ but I did to go watch my Packers games at times) was the Horse N' Angel, right on that corner. Also a great place to get a cold cerveza on a warm spring night.

[penelopelp]

Thanks Norm!!

FBI crime statistics for Dayton, OH (cities of 60-1000) & ABQ (cities of 250K+) for 2006

Alb / Day
Burglary 1066 2216
Theft 3340 3795
Car Theft 926 1381
Arson 10 105
Property
crime 5332 7392
murder 5 23
rape48 75
robbery 196 509
assault 513 474
violent
crime 764 1259

[Tim Rankin]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

Hey Tim -

I love that area of the Q! My wife and I rented an apartment at the Overlook Apartments the first six months we lived in Albuquerque and we loved it - right near that area (Juan Tabo and Eubank) where you are! Great area, loved having that park across on Eubank to go to, and the Albuquerque Academy nearby to run at. Great landscaping on the medians, etc.

Ahhh...man, now you've gotten me all fired up about my old stomping grounds again!!

Also...my favorite - ABSOLUTELY favorite - sports bar to frequent was the Horse N' Angel, right on that corner.

Yep, we know where the Overlook is! We take our daughter to Academy Hills Park all the time, although lately we've mixed it up because there are just so many parks to pick from. That landscaping you mentioned, btw, is awesome. It's not even irrigated, so in essence, a true sw landscape. It's gets an honorable mention on this website, under "Eubank Medians."

Xeriscape gardens to visit.

We can walk to the Horse and Angel in 5 min from our house! We went this past summer when our parents were in town [babysitting]. Definitely an excellent hangout, good cheese fries too. Sorry about the Packers btw; would've liked to have seen them manhandle those upstart Patriots.