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-- The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the world's largest ballooning event. Albuquerque is known as "The Ballooning Capital of the World"
-- The Gathering of Nations Powwow, the largest annual Powwow in North America
-- The National Hispanic Cultural Center, with galleries and auditoriums
-- The National Museum of Nuclear Science & History
-- The National Institute of Flamenco, with the annual Festival Flamenco Internacional de Albuquerque, the largest flamenco festival in the USA
-- The Cervantes Institute (Instituto Cervantes), one of only three in the US (the other two are in Chicago and New York), a cultural institution funded by the government of Spain offering classes in Spanish language and culture along with other programming
-- Sandia Peak Tramway (mentioned earlier), longest aerial tramway in North America
-- A cottonwood forest (Bosque) running the length of the city along the Rio Grande
-- A top rated botanical garden
Our Albuquerque Bio Park Zoo is 64 acres, while Tucson's Reid Park Zoo is 24 acres, El Paso Zoo is 35 acres.
What interesting or unique attractions do Tucson and El Paso have? I don't know El Paso at all, but I really like Tucson's Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Sabino Canyon, but I would only be able to visit them from November to April.
As someone who enjoys outdoor activities year-round in Albuquerque (which I find neither too cold in winter or too hot in summer), I would feel very restricted during the summer months in El Paso and Tucson.
Average number of days per year it hits 90 degrees or higher:
interesting poll: I say that because we considered all 3 when it came time for retirement. ABQ won out. Here is why, the first reason was the climate. No place we have lived or visited has nicer weather, especially for those who want 4 seasons. I will add fall season isn't all the great, but it is better than some places. Overall COL was about the same when we made our move. ABQ was slightly lower, but that was 17 years ago, things may have changed. We also preferred the beauty of ABQ. High desert is much nicer than the lower desert.
As for political atmosphere, I can't imagine anyone choosing a place to live based on that and certainly El Paso isn't like much of Texas. But I guess we all have our own reasons for doing and saying what we do.
Health care wise, that is where ABQ falls down. I don't care what anyone says, they do not have great or even good quality of care. This doesn't mean it if bad, but the metro area doesn't draw top quality doctors, nor do they have a wonderful research facility. As for senior services, many cities offer good benefits to seniors.This was not even an issue for us when we decided to retire in the region. And yes, we were seniors at the time. Otherwise we would not have been retiring. I will add just one more comment: when someone says this or that is the "best" remember that is just an opinion, not fact.
Having spent about 7 years living in Tucson after growing up in Albuquerque and returning here for the last decade, I agree that the two cities are very similar in terms of their layouts, cultural amenities, economic health, crime rate, and many other aspects. Among the main differences, climate is probably foremost: Tucson is definitely a lot hotter than Albuquerque, and much less comfortable during the summer and fall. Conversely, of course, Tucson never really gets cold and is wonderful during the winter months.
Additionally, Albuquerque is probably a good bit more diverse than Tucson: the Hispanic population here is somewhat larger than in Tucson, and although Tucson is adjacent to several O'odham reservations there is not nearly the same kind of large, active Native American community that there is in Albuquerque. Outside of places like the local university's excellent anthropology museum, the Native American presence in Tucson is muted at best. I also found Tucson somewhat more segregated than Albuquerque: there are white neighborhoods and Hispanic neighborhoods to a greater degree than in Albuquerque, and the Tucson Hispanic population - which unlike the northern New Mexican Hispanic population identifies strongly with Mexico - is less integrated into the city's mainstream politics and culture than in Albuquerque. While it all falls into the broad category of "Mexican food," the local food is also quite different between the two cities. In most other respects, though, they have a great deal in common. Someone who enjoys living in Albuquerque will probably enjoy living in Tucson and vice versa.
As for El Paso, I've spent a fair amount of time there as well and while it's certainly not entirely dissimilar to Tucson or Albuquerque, the major differences are in my experience a lot more obvious. El Paso is much more of a border city than either of the other two, and its culture and economy are deeply interwoven with those of Ciudad Juarez, the much larger Mexican city to the south. El Paso's population is more than 80% Hispanic - much higher than either Albuquerque or Tucson - and many people have ongoing social and economic links to Mexico. There's also a large number of people who cross back and forth on a daily basis for work. At one point when the violence in Juarez was at its peak, the Juarez mayor and most of his city government were actually living in El Paso and commuting across the border. The upshot of all this is that El Paso feels less like a "typical" American city than either Tucson or Albuquerque. It's changing somewhat now, but for a long time there were certain amenities you'd expect from an American city El Paso's size - organic groceries, lots of options for ethnic cuisine besides Mexican food, etc. - that were surprisingly hard to come by in El Paso. The other big dynamic in El Paso that's missing in Albuquerque or Tucson is a large military presence: ABQ and TUC each have an Air Force base, but neither is anywhere near the size of the Army's Fort Bliss in EP. Especially on the east side of town, this results in a large number of apartments, restaurants and other businesses catering to enlisted men and their families that you don't have to nearly the same degree in Albuquerque or Tucson.
I can't really speak to health care as much as I rarely used it in Tucson and never had to in El Paso, but from what I've heard anecdotally from doctors and patients Tucson probably has the best care, followed by Albuquerque. I am sure there are good options in El Paso as well, but I've also heard quite a number of real horror stories and it sounds like there are hospitals and health care systems in EP that are really best avoided...
What interesting or unique attractions do Tucson and El Paso have? I don't know El Paso at all, but I really like Tucson's Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and Sabino Canyon, but I would only be able to visit them from November to April.
I don't know El Paso at all either, but here's some more things for Tucson:
- Pima Air & Space Museum (absolutely great place)
- Saguro National Park
- Tohono Chul
- Mt. Lemmon Scenic Byway and SkyCenter (observatory)
- ASARCO Mineral Discovery Center (interesting open pit copper mine)
- Mission San Xavier Del Bac
- Old Tucson
- Titan Missile National Historic Landmark (great place to tour)
- Kartchner Caverns State Park (within a short drive)
- Tumacácori National Historic Park (another short drive)
- Tubac Village (next to the historic park)
- Casa Grande Ruins National Monument (another short drive)
- Tombstone (little longer drive)
- February gem and mineral show
I couldn't take the summer heat there either, but there are some great places to visit.
I don't know El Paso at all either, but here's some more things for Tucson:
- Pima Air & Space Museum (absolutely great place)
- Saguro National Park
- Tohono Chul
- Mt. Lemmon Scenic Byway and SkyCenter (observatory)
- ASARCO Mineral Discovery Center (interesting open pit copper mine)
- Mission San Xavier Del Bac
- Old Tucson
- Titan Missile National Historic Landmark (great place to tour)
- Kartchner Caverns State Park (within a short drive)
- Tumacácori National Historic Park (another short drive)
- Tubac Village (next to the historic park)
- Casa Grande Ruins National Monument (another short drive)
- Tombstone (little longer drive)
- February gem and mineral show
Yes, I have visited many of those places but several are well outside the city limits of Tucson-- Casa Grande and Tombstone over an hour away; Tubac and Tumacácori almost an hour away. I restricted my list of Albuquerque attractions to the city limits or the Sandias at the city's edge. If I applied an hour-plus driving distance to my list of Albuquerque attractions I would have included many more (including all of Santa Fe!).
I'm planning on doing a scouting trip to ABQ in the winter this year to check it out. My buddy is a long distance truck driver and drives the 40 across country and he frequently stops in ABQ and he's told me repeatedly that ABQ is quote a "crap hole" that looks like crap to him.
In all fairness a city should be judged by more than driving through the highway and hitting up truck stops. I've told this to him and he said he's seen more of the area than just truck stops and still insists that it's a craphole.
There's a truck stop in Albuquerque. I was told there's riff-raff there 24/7.
I'm surprised he said that about Albuquerque. Maybe he was referring to areas outside the city limits. NM as a whole is poorer than AZ or CA.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SunGrins
I don't have sufficient experience with Tucson or El Paso to weigh in on the initial question. Friends that lived in Tucson say it is very much like Albuquerque. I've only driven through El Paso and it seems very spread out but much of it is across the border.
I heard the same about Tuscon and Albuquerque.
Something interesting about El Paso: I read someone claim that 30 or 40 years ago, El Paso and Juarez was like one big city with people coming and going all the time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by C24L
I prefer to visit Albuquerque but I would prefer to live in El Paso, Texas.
I'd probably prefer to visit Southern California but prefer to live in El Paso. Visiting and day to day life are two different things.
Health care wise, that is where ABQ falls down. I don't care what anyone says, they do not have great or even good quality of care. This doesn't mean it if bad, but the metro area doesn't draw top quality doctors, nor do they have a wonderful research facility. As for senior services, many cities offer good benefits to seniors.This was not even an issue for us when we decided to retire in the region. And yes, we were seniors at the time. Otherwise we would not have been retiring. I will add just one more comment: when someone says this or that is the "best" remember that is just an opinion, not fact.
There is a very real doctor shortage in ABQ. It can be hard to get a first visit with a doctor here; we have lived here 3 years, and it took me a year to get an initial appointment with a dermatologist. And for other specialties, increasingly you can only get appointments with NPs or PAs - my wife sees an NP for gynecology because there were no MDs available. And we have experienced high turnover in our doctors here - for primary care, I am on my 3rd doctor - the first two i had moved away, one of them before I ever got in for my initial visit. My wife has gone through 3 different primary care doctors, too, and for a year she had to see a PA for general stuff. Between visits, you never know if the last doc you saw is still around for your next visit.
Even though ABQ has UNM medical school and a full slate of residency programs, in large numbers graduates of these programs leave ABQ when their training is up, heading for the "greener grass" in Colorado, Texas, AZ, and beyond. For many newly minted docs who are in their late 20s and 30s, ABQ is undesirable as a place to live, especially to raise kids, poor schools, crime issues. And NM is regarded, in surveys of physicians and objective measures, as one of the least desirable states to practice medicine due to lower than average compensation and one of the most punitive medical boards in the country, along with higher rates of malpractice suits and awards.
I know there are doctor shortages here and all over the country, but for some reason I have never had a problem getting an appointment with my primary care in ABQ (I've had the same one for almost 10 years) or a specialist. The last time I called to see my primary care I was scheduled in the next day. And I was seen by my PC, not a PA or NP (although I think those would have done just as well). First time I called the dermatologist I had to wait for a whole 2 days to see him. I'm not sure what I'm doing right or what others are doing wrong.
According to this survey of 2017's best and worst states for doctors, NM ranks just below the middle at no. 30, better than California, New York, Massachusetts.
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