Moving to Albuquerque (Rio Rancho, South Valley, Placitas: safe area, gated, living in)

[souladventurer]

What about Corrales?

[_yb]

Corrales has a real nice rural feel to it. It's a higher priced area. You may be able to find some acerage for 150k per acre. Maybe a little less the futher west up the hill you go. You will still have to cross the river if you work on east side of the river. Those river crossing or going to continue to be a major problem until addressed properly. An estimated 500 million more state dollars are needed to be thrown at the rail runner project. You can bet a bunch of that cash will have to come from the road fund.

I have driven trough the new Mariposa area a few times it's really nice up in the hills on the west side of the development.

[LLD]

Corrales is nice but not much left available for anything new -- you'd probalby have to get something existing. Depends what you want. I've always liked Corralles, it's quirky -- million horse place then a trailer down the road with some goats...LOL. And beautiful views of the Sandias.

The major issue though is access, only one road in and out. Placitas has fiarly good access to I-25 and Mariposa has access to 550, then I-25 or you can go all the way down Unser to I-40.

[souladventurer]

Thanks for all the ideas!

FR

[EnjoyEP]

I have to second the respective ideas of Placitas and Corrales. Both are just gorgeous in their own ways!

Both though, as mentioned already, are extremely expensive for the most part. Very pricey places to live. I know once before I bought a home in ABQ though I viewed apartments on the edge of Corrales that were relatively nice and not terribly expensive to rent.

Both are "colder" than Albuquerque - Placitas moreso than Corrales (Corrales often gets warmer in the daytimes but colder at night than ABQ / Placitas is just always cooler due to its elevation and proximity to the mountains). So if temps are a consideration, Corrales is warmer.

But the architecture, small-town feel, and overall scenery make both just wonderful places to live. Beautiful nighttime skies - especially in Placitas. Just gorgeous country.

[Towanda]

Hey LLD! I just saw "Moderator" under your name! When did this happen??

CONGRATULATIONS!

We will try to behave....

[LLD]

LOL... now don't get off topic. :-)

I was asked because of my spakling personality (teasing). And I decided to try for a while to help out.

[liveit2day]

Originally Posted by stupac

Ditto to what yb said. The city is def. worth a try though. East-West traffic across the river can be horrendous and is exacerbated by limited trans-river crossings and the exploding west side population. Illegals do exist, but they fly under the radar so the true extent of their presence is unknown. I suspect that their tax drain is not any worse then a comprable southwestern city, though. As for "tearing up the place", that seems a bit drastic. Crime seems to be down in the ABQ metro area and the quality of life has never been better IMO. Come on out and check see it for yourself though. It's not everyone's cup-o-tea, but it certainly has its charms.

Stupac,

I disagree with you. Crime has increased recently, not decreased. Check out crime stats on the APD website to see for yourself. The FBI even rated ABQ metro as being in the top 5% in the country when it comes to crime. And that was within the last 6 months.

If you are moving here and can afford it, move to Sandia Heights. It's clean, beautiful, and crime is rare. Corrales and parts of the NW valley 9such as Eakes Rd) are also lovely, but count on spending $$$$$.

In terms of the comment about illegals "tearing up the place" that does seem a little drastic. It's not so much illegal immigrants, but the legal immigrants that have no respect for life and cause the most economic and physical destruction in this community.

[abqsunport]

Yes, but the FBI used dated data. It think the FBI used data from 3 or 4 years ago. Crime has steadily improved.

[Route240W]

I'm sorry to say that I could never recommend ABQ to anyone. The health care system is not fit for humans. Lovelace is the WORST! So, please be very aware of this before relocating. Your life depends on it.
Also, stay away from Centex Builders. I bought a tiny piece of land in a development and gave them a $5,000 deposit. One month later for reasons out of my control I had to move out of ABQ. They refused to return my deposit back. Not even half?
I guess I had no luck in ABQ and found it not to be the "Land of Enchantment"
So beware all.