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My wife and I are making the move to Albuquerque in March. We currently reside in beautiful Northern CA/Wine Country area. They say it's an honor to live here, and you'll pay for that honor. This would be the perfect place to live retire and die...
...Except I'm only 32 and the idea of spending $450k on a 1200sf "fixer" is disgusting. I mean really.
My situation isn't that difficult...I think I just want someone to double-check my logic on this life-altering decision I'm making.
The family business I was involved with went bankrupt leaving my wife and I with the most difficult of decisions...Where do we move?
Top of the list is Albuquerque.
My closest friend has been in Alb. for 11 months and loves it compared to West Palm Beach, FL where he resided before that. Housing costs, weather, and business opportunity are the pluses he focuses on. Lows he sites are education and crime potential. And while he has not witnessed any crime or had any chance bad luck or wrong place/wrong time instances, he still brings the issue of crime up. He tells me that Houston (where we lived for 15 years and became friends) scared him more. He currently lives in the NE Heights area.
How much of an issue is crime in your life? I know what the stats say but what has or hasn't happened to you? In Houston my car was broken into and robbed twice in 15 years. I think that sucks.
~After working in the grape growing/wine industry for the last six years, I realize my talents will probably go unappreciated and will have to resort back to my customer service/retail skills I developed back in Houston. I have investigated the wineries in the area, but it's a small and very tight knit community. Not much job potential at this time. Altho I could take that Gruet tasting room and whip it into shape.
My wife is a degreed graphic artist with an interview already scheduled in Alb. No problem there. Her goal is to have her own graphic business. With all these statistics and articles and lists showing Alb as a top contender for new business, it seems this would be a good choice for that kind of business.
~We want to buy a house. Not just because we want too, but because it's an investment opportunity. My research shows that Alb. has a decent to very good market for homes. Certain areas of Alb show an appreciation every year. We are looking in the Far NE Heights area, above Montgomery. We thought of Rio Rancho but seem to find an even more negative overall impression there than in Alb. Rio Rancho reminded me of Urban Sprawl. I understand the vision but wish it was farther along. The word "gang" seems to pop up alot with RR too. I don't like that.
~We plan to mave into an apt for 6 months to a year and continue to save up a down payment. We've made two trips out and enjoyed both. Not overwhelmingly so...but we didn't hate it based on a total of 9 days.
If we absolutely loathe it...we'll know it withing the 5 year window we're giving ourselves and we can go somewhere else after selling the house.
~We don't have kids but certainly talk about it. We feel that we need to settle somewhere first. Is the education system truly that bad in Alb? Is it good anywhere? My sister is in the CA School System and doesn't have much good to say about it either. She refers to it as "Every child left behind". Isn't that a federal issue? Are there measures being taken to address the issues of education? Opinions?
Am I missing anything?
Any comments or suggestions? or therapists?
Thanks for even reading these rantings of a crazy person!
Finally...I've been searching for Alb. info all day and I'm so happy it led me here. Thanks to all who assist in this. It's been most helpful.
I moved to the Abq area from Palo Alto four years ago and am happy with the move.
Here's an unofficial list of the advantages that Albuquerque has over the Bay are:
* Friendly people
* Less-frenzied pace
* Manageable trafffic
* Affordable cost of living
* Beautiful views
* Blending of cultures
I noticed you were in the wine industry. The NM Wine Festival is held every Labor Day weekend in Bernalillo. You'll be surprised at the number and quality of local wineries.
Moving to NM is akin to moving to a foreign country: the landscapes, weather, and culture all give it a singular feel.
Public schools in NM get a bad rap, I think. There are good areas and bad. If you move to the far NE heights, the schools (in my opinion) are first rate there. There are a lot of good parents in those neighborhoods and it's probably the most desirable part of Albuquerque Public Schools to teach in, thus the highest quality teachers. I would wager 3 of the best 10 high schools in the state of NM are in this part of Albuquerque.
High Desert (east of Tramway & Academy) has a large number of apartments that cater to people getting their new homes built in the area.
One thing that many people fail to realize is the weather differences in different parts of town. To illustrate, this record breaking snowstorm we just had dumped about 24" in that area, whereas Uptown got closer to 12", and Downtown closer to 3". Expect more rain, and more snow closer to the mountains. It doesn't get as hot in the summer or as cold in the winter though.
Southeast Albuquerque (and possibly Mesa Del Sol when it gets developed) gets a lot more wind from the canyon. Albuquerque's "bowl" tends to be the least windy part of the state and it keeps winters milder than surrounding areas.
If you like large lush green lawns, new areas are not for you. Older established neighborhoods still have plenty of green available, but the city's water police are very strict about lawns on new development (personally, I think gravel's worse than grass.. how natural is gravel?).
You might consider the north end of Rio Rancho, Bernalillo, Algadones or Placitas. Lot of wine history in Bernalillo plus they have a pretty good wine fest and I think they are redoing an old Barn on the fest grounds into a history of NM wine making museam.
Thanks for even reading these rantings of a crazy person!
LOL!! You already sound like an ABQ'n. I used to live in ABQ and moved to the Bay Area for a job, then my job moved me to Chicago, where I am currently, but I really miss the ABQ (and New Mexico) "quirkiness". Although there is plenty of "quirkiness in the Bay Area too - that's what made it a wonderful place to live as well.
I think, first and formost the people and the culture make ABQ a great place to be, then the beautiful landscape, then the climate, then the food, and then the "other worldly" little villages all over the state. It's a really unique kind of place to be.
My name is Faron Smith, and I graduated from Eldorado in 1989. My wife and I moved to San Antonio, Texas in 1992, We are thinking about moving back to Albuquerque. I have not been back to Albuquerque in over 6 years, and I was only there for my Grandmas Funeral. Needless to say I didn't get to look around much. As with everything, things will change with time. My wife is concerned that Albuquerque has taken a turn for the worst. My question, is Albuquerque a good place to raise to little girls? I will be there in a few days for a job interview early next week! I am looking forward to driving the streets I grew up on!
Well, me and my family have decided on relocating back to NM from Ohio and I just cant wait. We just came up for a wedding in early August and both me and my wife really fell in love with the place and have decided to take the plunge. I will be relocating with my company so now we just have to sell our house here and find a house. The number one priority is a good solid education for our soon to be 3 year old son. We plan on this being our last move for awile. The 2 areas under consideration are RR and the NE Heights. Anyone here have personal experience with any schools in these areas with their kids other than me looking at their rating on greatschools.net? We both like the idea of living in RR with its close proximity to the Jemez, but just want some honest opinions. Don't know much about the NE Heights except many friends have told us to look at the schools there. Counting down the days until we head back that way...
RR is literally growing by leaps and bounds. As soon as they build a new school, it is full or over-crowded. It does though, because of this, "have" new schools, including a new high school.
Generally speaking, you get a newer house for your money in RR, than you would in the "far" Northeast Heights (North of Montgomery, and between Wyoming and Tramway Blvds.) It would be up to you to visit both, and compare the quality of home construction, as well as quality of life features of each, such as parks, shopping areas, etc.
RR is convenient to the Jemez Mountains. But, the "far" Northeast Heights where I live, gives me access to the pines on the east slope of the Sandias in 32 minutes. (I timed it, LOL). Good luck with your quest for answers.
Check out the comments to "Mom Moving to Albuquerque." It sounds as though both of you are looking for similar things. No.1...(of course) the best for your kids! :-)
I live in your former Eldorado (High School) area, Menaul/Tramway, and ironically, I came to Albuquerque "from" San Antonio, about 20 years ago.
SA is a gorgeous city, but I couldn't stand the humidity after previously living in El Paso. I've never regreted my move for one second.
I think you'll be pretty amazed how much Albuquerque has grown to the north in six years. It's about reached it's limit out to Tramway Blvd., which is of course the line where Sandia Pueblo's lands begin. Albuquerque is filling up!
That is why the west side is exploding, and especially Rio Rancho. Rio Rancho's homes now go all the wayup NM528 to US550, west of Bernalillo! If you decide to come home, you'd probably want to look in the neighborhoods north of El Dorado (Montgomery Blvd.) and between Wyoming and Tramway. Or, RR. The areas west of Paradise Hills, and north, are also relatively new...plus near the Cottonwood Mall on Coors.
Albuquerque has a national low rating in crime, but (as was true when you lived here)...the SE and SW areas contribute the bulk of those low scores. RR has one of the lowest crime ratings in the state, but that doesn't mean your car isn't going to get stolen of course. The "far" Northeast Heights is still a nice place to live, with some of the best schools, and many parks, and shopping opportunities.
Enjoy your visit. I'm sure it will be an "eye-opener!" :-) Good luck!
I left you a helpful post in the "Moving to Albuquerque? Read This!" thread.
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