Tell me about the "South Valley" please... (Albuquerque: for sale, lease)
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So, I've rented a studio, sight unseen, from Craigslist and the listing says it's in a place called "South Valley." When I asked the landlady how far that was from downtown, she said about five miles. That's cool. She also said it's on the busline, which is good because I don't have a car. I'd planned on getting a place downtown, but this little studio looked cozy (the pictures) and the landlady seems nice.
Anyway, I have a six month lease, so I'm in for the duration. I'd just like to know what I'm in for. I'll be arriving in ABQ on the sixth of Jan, and looking for work the next week. I'm guessing from the advertisment that only one busline goes out that way, but that's cool because I just need to get into town and back again.
So, what's South Valley like? What's out there? Shopping? good for walking? Pleasant neighborhoods? whatever... The zip code for the studio is 87105 if that helps.
"South Valley" is a huge swath of land with all manner of neighborhoods ranging from tony to ultra-thug-tastic. "87105" doesn't help much either, as it's about the same.
Major cross-streets would help significantly; in any case, if you've committed, there's little point in asking for advice at this point.
Not really asking for advice, more along the lines of asking about the neighborhood. *shrug* I've lived in all kinds of neighborhoods, and I just want to go in with my eyes open. This isn't the first time I've rented sight unseen (I move a lot). But now i have the interwebs and I can find out more about a place than I did before I had access to people who live in the area.
The South Valley is not a neighborhood, per se, but a collection of unincorporated neighborhoods served by Albuquerque services. As Zoidberg said, giving us some cross streets might get you some better information.
What I can tell you about the South Valley is that it is green and semi-rural compared to most of Albuquerque, and a bit off the beaten track. It is mostly Hispanic and working class. Some parts are rather quaint and quiet, others 'Gangland', and sometimes it is hard to tell the two apart.
I can think of some parts of the SV that I would love to live in and others that I would not step foot in.
Like they said, there are many neighborhoods in the South Valley, so we can't tell you anything unless you know which neighborhood. The Mountain View neighborhood is in an industrial area and has been besieged with issues from a history of toxic dumping and industrial pollution (air and water) for decades, including runoff from hazardous and radioactive wastes from the Labs and Air Force Base. The wells there and in South San Jose have had to be sealed as the water supply was deemed contaminated forever. The South Hills neighborhood has recently found e-coli in its water supply, I don't know if that problem has been remediated. There have been water and sewage problems in other areas of the South Valley. There is a swath of ugly industrial areas and junkyards along 2nd St. and Broadway for miles including some superfund sites. Air traffic is loud in certain areas under the main flight landing patterns. If the place you're renting is outside of one of these problem areas then it might be OK. Some of my friends live (or have lived) in parts of the South Valley that are very nice.
Being 5 miles south of downtown might start to feel very far. The area's history is agricultural, and it retains that flavor. As such, it's unlikely there will be much there in terms of shopping or places to walk to unless you happen to be close to the Walmart at Coors and Rio Bravo. There is a lot of poverty in the area.
"South Valley." When I asked the landlady how far that was from downtown, she said about five miles. That's cool. She also said it's on the busline, which is good because I don't have a car. I'd planned on getting a place downtown, but this little studio looked cozy (the pictures) and the landlady seems nice.
Anyway, I have a six month lease, so I'm in for the duration. I'd just like to know what I'm in for.
So, what's South Valley like? What's out there? Shopping? good for walking? Pleasant neighborhoods? whatever... The zip code for the studio is 87105 if that helps.
South Valley is an unincorporated town of about 30 square miles pretty much surrounded by Albuquerque. The population is about 41,000 and about 13,000 households. There are some decent areas and some areas I do not like. We just recently (last weekend) briefly looked at a house which was for sale for the possibility of retirement (we already have two houses in the "Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area"). All South Valley addresses use ZIP code 87105, which is an Albuquerque. The recent TV series Breaking Bad was filmed in the South Valley, but it is not that bad...
There are some shopping areas, depending on what type of shopping you do. There are some nice "New Mexican" restaurants. The area
We go to some events in the area, a recent short video my
wife and I shot:
I googled the address and it says the nearest bus stop is at "Isleta @ Rio Bravo." Does that help give an idea of which neighborhood I'll be in? I didn't realize that South Valley was so big... ^_^
Well, you are right by the Twisters that was used for filming Breaking Bad in seasons 2 & 3. The name on the restaurant was changed to say "Los Pollos Hermanos" for the TV filming. That should tell you something about the area if you are familiar with the theme of "Breaking Bad." The area is not great. You are close to a strip malls, a grocery store, and lots of fast food places.
The area smells like a sewer during certain parts of the year. I'm not sure why. Maybe that problem has been fixed over the years. I had a friend who used to live out there years ago and the smell gave her migranes.
Another thing not yet mentioned is that to some degree (how much depending on whom you ask), the original Hispanic residents are being displaced by Mexicans and Mexican culture is becoming prominent there while New Mexican Hispanic culture is waning.
I have not spent enough time in the Valley to confirm this but some Burquenos with "400-year pedigrees(tm)" can often be heard bemoaning the fact.
I've never seen "Breaking Bad" so I have no reference for that. I looked it up on tvtropes, and that didn't help much; *shrug* meth addicts are everywhere, even in this little, tiny town.
I'll keep in mind about the smell though. The map shows that I'm very near a waterway so that could have something to do with it...
I'm okay with a "not great" neighborhood, as long as it's not a "No! don't move there! They'll rob you blind and shoot you dead within a week!" kind of place (I've lived in a couple of those too, would rather not again). Ethnicity of the residents does not bother me one way or another.
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