What do you hate most about ABQ? (Albuquerque, Navajo: military, job)

[catrinac]

poverty/crime
area seems uneducated
high rollin' "Santa Fe" lifestyle unobtainable
same old events every year (Balloon Fiesta, woo hoo!)
cliquey and people are in their own little worlds, hard to make friends

Half of this list is true of most places in these days, of course.

[observe]

Originally Posted by catrinac

poverty/crime
area seems uneducated
high rollin' "Santa Fe" lifestyle unobtainable
same old events every year (Balloon Fiesta, woo hoo!)
cliquey and people are in their own little worlds, hard to make friends

Half of this list is true of most places in these days, of course.

LOL.....Somewhat true!
So tell me what is so exciting to do in Salt Lake City?
Since it is only the same old events here!!

[penelopelp]

Originally Posted by catrinac

poverty/crime
area seems uneducated
high rollin' "Santa Fe" lifestyle unobtainable
same old events every year (Balloon Fiesta, woo hoo!)
cliquey and people are in their own little worlds, hard to make friends

Area "seems" uneducated? What do you mean by "seems?"
From city-data:
education
# High school or higher: 85.9%
# Bachelor's degree or higher: 31.8%
# Graduate or professional degree: 13.4%

I'm very happy with ABQ's "same old events."
This weekend, I went to the Botanical Gardens and Aquarium, I went on a long hike through the Sandia foothills, I saw Jemez and Navajo dancers at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, and I went to the Fiesta de Albuquerque where I saw the young people from the Steps Dance Academy Ballet Folklorico in Old Town.

Poverty? Percent below poverty level 14%. http://www.cabq.gov/investor/cafr/1998/jtable11.pdf. That's around the U.S. average.

We've discussed crime before.

I'm not interested in a "high rollin'" lifestyle, so this seems about right to me.

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by mortimer

EnjoyEP said:

> However, for a city...I LOVE DRIVING DOWN MENAUL in ABQ!!

Do you really love driving down Menaul or just looking at stuff on Menaul?

Both, truthfully. (Yes, I love driving down crazy E-W streets in ABQ's NE Heights such as Menaul, Candelaria, Commanche, heck, even ol' Motgomery!).

But yes, I certainly like to "look" at stuff too! What about the gawdy pink/blue "Juan's Broken Taco" sign on, I believe, Menaul and Eubank?? (Pretty sharp memory / love for ABQ for a guy that hasn't stepped foot in the city in 9 months, hey!? ).

Originally Posted by mortimer

I *like* the non-zoned look of Albuquerque streets with the occasional funky bit (ie. "Paul Bunyan statue ...") and the HUGE arrow at Carlisle just S of the freeway. ...

I also like the goofy barn-thingie-carwash at Eubank and Menaul.
Hoffmantown architecture? good. Fun. Rounded.

Couldn't agree more, mort. Goofy, funky, quirky, etc., these are the things that MAKE Albuquerque.

One of my friends from here in Milwaukee visited me in Albuquerque what, 3, 4 times? Anyway, he wouldn't be the conventional ABQ lover, and yet he LOVED visiting ABQ - he really did.

Anyway, he had a special obsession with visiting / seeing the multitude of cheesy-looking, amazingly numerous local/regional fast food chains (think: Blake's Lottaburger, Mac's Steak in the Rough, Bob's Burgers, the Pop N' Taco, etc.). Anyway, on his final visit, I was trying to think of a place I knew of that he hadn't yet been to. Then I thought of it (and I had never yet been there either): (this place I had seen off of Eubank/Wyoming near the base) GRIFF's!!!! Cheesy sign, cheesy building - ALWAYS SLAMMED with cars!

So I take him on a drive to go to Griff's for lunch. I say, "hey (name-X), look, there's GRIFF's!!" He BURSTS OUT LAUGHING when he sees the Griff's sign, etc. (not in a mocking way mind you, but in kind of that 'wow, is that a cheesy looking place' kind of way).

Well, we go in, order huge burgers, and the rest is history. We become d**n big Griff's fans - tremendous grub.

(Sorry for the sidebar...I guess reviewing it, it didn't have a ton to do with anything here. But that sign really is non-uniform / non-Scottsdale REALLY cheesy...another example of what is endearing about the ABQ)...

Originally Posted by mortimer

I wrote Road Warrior D'Val Westphal (Albuquerque Journal traffic column) about this and soon afterward, my light on Tramway now makes me wait a couple of minutes to get on. ...

I also wrote her about striping on the Northbound access road at Osuna/San Mateo. The city went out and striped it in a couple of days!

Awesome stories, Mort - thanks for sharing! I read the Road Warrior all the time (and still do from afar). I would be a HUGE fan if she wasn't such a flaming...er...didn't wear her politics so strongly on her sleeve in her columns (let's just say she makes Jim Belshaw blush). But that is awesome she got some stuff done!!

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by penelopelp

Area "seems" uneducated? What do you mean by "seems?"
From city-data:
education
# High school or higher: 85.9%
# Bachelor's degree or higher: 31.8%
# Graduate or professional degree: 13.4%

Yeah, ABQ has a large blue collar (not that there is anything in the world wrong with that - most of those folks make well more than I do! ) population that maybe is not college / Master degreed, but then you have a HUGE PhD / tech-degreed segment that is more educated / smarter than I could even phathom. ABQ is unique like that.

Originally Posted by penelopelp

I'm very happy with ABQ's "same old events."

Agreed.

I know that kind of a common complaint / trend for the "younger folk" on the CD-forums to do is to bemoan there is "nothing to do" in "(city X)", etc., but largely, there are the same things to do in terms of restaurants, bars, nightlife, etc., in every city. I mean, how many ways can one consume a Dos Equis or a Sam Adams?

However, most cities have that "same old thing" element. NYC drops the ball every NY Eve. Boston has Red Sox games every summer. Milwaukee has SummerFest every year. And Albuquerque has a Balloon Fiesta. To me that isn't boring, instead, it is something to cling to and look forward to with excitement!

Originally Posted by penelopelp

Poverty? Percent below poverty level 14%. http://www.cabq.gov/investor/cafr/1998/jtable11.pdf. That's around the U.S. average.

We've discussed crime before.

Agreed on both counts too.

Actually, I challenge any regular ABQ forum participant to go onto ANY of the "big city forums" on this entire message board - seriously ANY one (off the top of my head completely randomly, let's say, Miami, Atlanta, Oklahoma City, Sacramento, Denver, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Tucson, Baltimore, and oh, what the heck, Birmingham - but you could do any big city otherwise you'd like) - do a forum search, and you'll find folks complaining mightily up and down about what? A) the poverty, and B) the crime. EVERY SINGLE CITY! Is that to say poverty or crime doesn't exist in those cities? Of course not! Of course it does. But I find it really no better / worse - either one - in ABQ than any other big cities in the US (and I have spent a heckuva lotta time / lived in many of them).

Originally Posted by penelopelp

I'm not interested in a "high rollin'" lifestyle, so this seems about right to me.

Amen to that. For those folks, there is the LAs, the Chicagos, the NYCs, the Bostons, the Seattles, the San Frans, etc., of the world. And as cat said, Santa Fe in doses too. Thank goodness ABQ offers an alternative in many spots!!!

[abqsunport]

Albuquerque has its high rollers too, but they are often more grounded than the traditionaly high rollers. A high roller in Albuquerque's favorite place to hang out might be Kelly's Brew Pub with the assortment of normal joes. A high rollers favorite place to get some good mexican food might be Papa Felipes or El Patio in the mixed end of all sorts of people. That is how Albuquerque is so funny, the haves and have nots mesh greatly.

[trappedinNM]

If I had a dollar...

for every time I ran the light at Holbrook and Paseo, I could afford the Santa Fe lifestyle that my friend above cannot.

I used to wait for it...really. Now, I look both ways, and if I don't see headlights, I'm gone. The benefits of leaving for work early! I complained to the traffic people, and all they could tell me was the lights were all timed. I think they are on the wrong time zone - I swear one could wait an hour at the light!

[abqsunport]

Thats funny trappedinNM, because i have never sat at that light for longer than a minute. Barstow and Paseo used to be absolutely attrocious, but it has gotten much better. Paseo aggrivates me because I seem to catch every single light from the moment I get off of I-25(taking the frontage roads from two exits ahead ofcourse) all the way up to tramway(if thats how far I am headed). I take that back, I usually manage to catch the light at lowell--but thats about it!

[desert sun]

Originally Posted by abqsunport

Albuquerque has its high rollers too, but they are often more grounded than the traditionaly high rollers. A high roller in Albuquerque's favorite place to hang out might be Kelly's Brew Pub with the assortment of normal joes. A high rollers favorite place to get some good mexican food might be Papa Felipes or El Patio in the mixed end of all sorts of people. That is how Albuquerque is so funny, the haves and have nots mesh greatly.

I agree,I've noticed this too.

[trappedinNM]

Originally Posted by abqsunport

Thats funny trappedinNM, because i have never sat at that light for longer than a minute. Barstow and Paseo used to be absolutely attrocious, but it has gotten much better. Paseo aggrivates me because I seem to catch every single light from the moment I get off of I-25(taking the frontage roads from two exits ahead ofcourse) all the way up to tramway(if thats how far I am headed). I take that back, I usually manage to catch the light at lowell--but thats about it!

Maybe at 5am they are timed different?