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Actually, the building where Tuco had his headquarters is in reality Java Joe's, a great local coffee shop and cafe . One of the city's best breakfast burritos...
Post #2 makes the most sense. Get a city map, drive around, observe the neighborhoods, take notes and then decide which neighborhood best suits you. Then look for a Realtor. Have fun.
FWIW - I have wanted to move to New Mexico for years but I cannot get my wife to even consider it.
IF you're still in NH (your ID says that), just start printing out the daily forecast….ABQ NM vs NH… and tape it to the refrigerator. She'll get the idea eventually.
I've been in the same rental since January 2008. Never had a break in, triplex nor car. NOthing stolen from my patio. Same goes for the landlord, who also lives here in one of the units. Rarely do you see the cops out here, the few times I have, it was domestic disturbances across the street (those folks have since moved). There was a murder about 3 blocks down, about 2 years ago, that had the cops stumped. They were quoted in the paper as saying, "things like this just don't normally happen in this part of town". Last I heard, they thought it, too, was related to a domestic issue.
So there are good parts of town. Like atxxj said a few posts above, "don't let the concept of what its like to live in NM get in the way of the reality".
And like others posted, come visit, rent a car, drive around and you'll notice pretty fast what areas you're comfortable in and which ones you don't like.
However, do be prepared for a LOT of brown (buildings, land) and stupid burglar bars. The bars don't always mean it's a bad area, but if you're from another part of the country where they aren't as prevalent, you'll think it's a bad spot.
And like others posted, come visit, rent a car, drive around and you'll notice pretty fast what areas you're comfortable in and which ones you don't like.
My problem is I've done this driving around ABQ and "comfortable" feeling to me means higher rent/mortgage payment! Darn it.
My problem is I've done this driving around ABQ and "comfortable" feeling to me means higher rent/mortgage payment! Darn it.
Yep, thats pretty much it. You're gonna have to pay above and beyond for peace of mind in ABQ. If you are willing to commit, there are some quiet places to live in the far NE heights.
That area on that map around the base goes by many names: The Square, The War Zone, and most recently, The "International District". Its a result of the 20th century way of thinking of concentrating low-income at-risk families and parolees to one part of town. Prior to 2011 the whole area was mostly low-income medium-density housing built to minimum code. Many burned down. Many more were razed or replaced. Sometime in the 90's to combat drug trafficking (somehow), the city erected diagonal traffic diverters and turned the square into a maze. In (I think) 2011 the city took the traffic diverters down and put roundabouts in their place, and started building single family homes in an effort to restore the neighborhood as a viable place to live. We'll see.
One can even find signs that bear the International District name. In that map on either link, you can see the ID includes the part that was really bad, from just east of the "Louisiana Blvd" label to about halfway to Wyoming, bound north-south by Zuni and Southern, at least that's the part that had the gates and traffic diverters.
While some folks may have an unhealthy nostalgia for the "War Zone" label, the International District moniker is quite accurate. What other part of town has three Buddhist temples (two Thai, one Vietnamese), a Vietnamese Catholic Church, a Hindu temple society, Mexican, Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese and Laotian markets, (at least) two Native American community centers, and Vietnamese, Colombian, Chinese and Thai restaurants galore?
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. One of the city's best breakfast burritos...
