Did I move to mos isley? (Albuquerque, Las Cruces: apartment, vacation, jobs)

[mortimer]

iriegirl on commuting:

> ... Madrid, to Abuquerque , commutable? ... too far to commute from Santa Fe.

Madrid to Albuquerque IMO is not commutable. You can go for groceries (or getting art supplies) once a week. It would be a nice drive.

Note that by many people's standards, commuting from Madrid to Albuquerque is an easy commute, but it's the better part of an hour just to reach the city limits.

When you say "commute from Santa Fe" are you talking about Madrid to Santa Fe or Albuquerque to Santa Fe? Madrid to Santa Fe would be an OK commute (kinda long for me at just under 20 miles to city center), but a really nice drive for, say 60% of the trip and Cerrillos Road for the rest of the way.

The resident curmudgeon on this forum has made many comments on the irritations of driving *in* Santa Fe so that bit won't be pleasant.

The commute from Santa Fe to Albuquerque would be much easier than that from Madrid to Albuquerque.

Madrid to Tijeras is about 30 miles. Given the nice weather and clear roads that you will have 98% of the time, that might take you 45 minutes unless you are really aggressive about it in which case you can make it in 40.

Tijeras to Nob Hill is about 18 miles. This is doable in 30 minutes.

Santa Fe to Albuquerque is doable in about one hour.

Note that a commute from Albuquerque to Santa Fe via the new train is going to be very doable if you can get past the fare which is likely to be $25 or so which is still cheaper than driving for a single passenger.

[iriegirl]

ziaAirmac, Thanks for such a good reply post! I enjoyed reading it, and I value your input. I think I'm gonna have to read it over a few times to really get it all in.
I really like this, its something I haven't thought of:

As an artist, I've looked back on certain times and places as 'friendly'. When I really look at what it took to have that, it was a connection with just a few places or people. I'd step away from a search for a third party nebulous feeling of area friendliness and move towards seeing if some of those connections can be fostered from where you are.

I guess I thought, (& I am naive), that I would like being in a place surrounded by artists, & where people value art. Its just not like that here in NJ. No one thinks about art, and the art alliances are just full of retired folks painting the shore scenes. And to get into the NYC art world is just beyond comprehension to me.

I 'm gonna think a lot about where we are gonna go when we sell. And we are gonna visit there, and AZ, and CA. and see what feels right.

mortimer,
thank you too, for the good reply post. I appreciate it, as I have no idea of the distances and time travelling them. Here, a 40 minute commute is about average, but it's straight driving, not thru mountainous roads.

[ABQSunseeker]

Iriegirl,
Yes, I understand your need to move away. I lived in NYC for 33 years and used to love it much, but it's changed. It's better in some ways, but terribly expensive to retire in now. Manhattan and parts of the boroughs and many suburbs are now wealthy enclaves. So I chose ABQ for a variety of reasons. I can't blame anyone for making NYC "unliveable" for me, things change and we adapt.

As much as I love Santa Fe, yes, I think it's become commercialized and very expensive. It's become a wealthy art mart---a place to market, sell, package art. Many artists have dispersed into the rest of New Mexico. ABQ has been a beneficiary of this movement, but other towns as well.

[casden]

Yeah - From what I understand, Santa Fe has become the third largest Art Market in the United States - after New York and Los Angeles. So of course there would be much commercialization.

[iriegirl]

ABQSunseeker,
wow, 33 years in the city, you were there for the rough times too. I used to send my kids in ,on the train, to visit their dad, who had a store across from the library...And they had to walk down 42nd st, and I remember giving them $$for a cab, (which of course they kept,)
because at that time , 42nd was awful, full of sleazy places. talk about change!

I would love to retire there, talk about having everything at your fingertips, delivered even! and being able to walk everywhere. but, who can afford that?
Where we live is one of those wealthy enclaves,(just on the cheaper edge of town)
Monmouth County is like that, (Deal, Rumson, Monmouth Beach, Colts Neck, Holmdel,...)
I'm sure you recognize the names. I have been here for over 30 years now, & I am just so ready to get out of here.

Having only been to Albuquerque for 2 days, a few years ago, I have to say I had an incredible feeling when we arrived there. It was weird, almost overwhelming. (well, now that you think I'm a total nut!) But, really, it sounds like you found a great place to live and are happy there.

Maybe its the place for me too. who knows?

[yukon]

Having only been to Albuquerque for 2 days, a few years ago, I have to say I had an incredible feeling when we arrived there. It was weird, almost overwhelming. (well, now that you think I'm a total nut!) But, really, it sounds like you found a great place to live and are happy there.

Maybe its the place for me too. who knows?

Before I moved here, I was told you didn't pick NM, it picked you. And I believe it now. See? If you're nuts, you're in good company here

[iriegirl]

Yukon,
Thanks,
I know I'm nuts , who else would decide to sell in this market? !

Seriously, when we were driving out there, approaching the mountains, I felt an overwhelming desire to cry. My husband was driving, it was a spur of the moment trip, went to CA to visit family,and drove back thru ALB. I asked him yesterday if he remembered me feeling that way, and he did.
Now I can tell him what you said, and that I'm not the only one!

[ziaAirmac]

When my 10th reunion came up I decided to make a road trip of it from my life out east. As soon as I hit New Mexico I felt at home and wondered why I ever left (I know now that I needed the perspective of other places to appreciate what I left behind). If I didn't have a job and house to wrap up, I'm not sure I would've bothered to drive back east! Six months later I had tied up the loose ends into neat little bows and came back home. Best part is that everything I used to take for granted I get to take in with fresh eyes.

[ABQSunseeker]

Iriegirl, sounds like you may have a calling for Albuquerque. Funny how these things work, but this might be the place for you.
Sure I know the Jersey towns. I had friends in Marlboro and went down there often to Spring Lake, Colts Neck, and round. Nice area, but $$$$.
And yes, 42nd street was horrible. The seventies esp. were tough in NY, but at least the city was affordable. Some say they hate the Disneyification of Times Square, but compared to what it once was, I'll take it.

[GregW]

The same thing happened to me one morning 30 years ago in Alamogordo. I was sitting on the wall at the White Sands monument parking lot brewing a cup of coffee on an Optimus stove watching the sunrise over the Sacramento Mountains. I remember saying to my self, “Self, someday we have to live here." Still working on that part but, as I’ll retire in a few years, if not sooner, it is likely to actually happen.

FWIW - In the late 70's I worked in Manhattan and walked through Times Square every morning. It was more like mos isley than Albuquerque will ever be. Tough place.