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So I have this friend whos visiting here.
I said I live in a near suburb of Chicago.
She said there aren't "really" suburbs in ABQ.
Then I googled and South Valley was right next to ABQ
But she says no one considers it a suburb.
And that everyone she's asked says it's part of ABQ.
And I did some searches here and you guys said it was an unincorporated part of the county.
It depends on how you define suburb. Most people consider a suburb to be reliant on a larger city, and to have a distinct identity instead of a large agglomeration of loose settlements. The south valley meets the former, though I'm not sure it meets the latter. There's a lot of land area involved, and it doesn't have a whole lot of shared history from one end to the other.
A Chicago suburb will typically be incorporated into a city, town, village, whatever. South Valley is not. It's unincorporated, and the majority prefer it that way.
Rio Rancho is a suburb of Albuquerque, and a real one. You could also argue Alameda, Los Ranchos, and Tijeras are suburbs as well. Going a bit further afield, Bosque Farms, Los Lunas, the Rio Communities, The N 14 communities (Sandia Park, etc.), and Edgewood could be arguably called suburbs of Albuquerque.
Well, strangely, Edgewood is not part of the Albuquerque MSA since it is located in Santa Fe County. However, Moriarty IS part of the Albuquerque MSA since the MSA includes Torrance County, despite being located farther away on I-40 than Edgewood.
Rio Rancho is the only place I would consider a suburb of ABQ, it just dosent feel right to call all the others towns in the metro area a suburb of ABQ, they just dont feel like suburbs.
Rio Rancho is the only place I would consider a suburb of ABQ, it just dosent feel right to call all the others towns in the metro area a suburb of ABQ, they just dont feel like suburbs.
Right, and if you were to write a person in the South Valley, you would put Albuquerque. Now if we were talking about Los Ranchos, Corrales, Rio Rancho, Bernalillo, Placitas, Sandia Park, Bosque Farms, et al.....
its not what my definintion of a suburb is, its just that towns like Cedar Crest,Los Lunas,Belen,Tijeras and Moriarity feel like their own little towns, they are not connected to ABQ, and dont really resemble most suburbs around the country, it just feels kinda weird calling towns in New Mexico suburbs.
when I think of suburbs,I think of what Mesa,Glendale,Peoria and Chandler are to Phoenix.
or what Thronton,Aurora,Englewood, and Broomfield are to Denver.
or what Decatur,East Point,Smyrna,or Sandy Springs is to Atlanta.
or what Arlington,Irving,Plano,Mesquite,Grand Prarie,Lewisville, The Colony or Richardson is to Dalls.
someone who lives in the South Valley still has an Albuquerque address, to me, the South Valley is ABQ.
This is not actually unheard of in many unincorporated communities. The South Valley is not part of the City of Albuquerque, it is an unincorporated area of Bernallilo County.
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