Relocating to ABQ from LA (Albuquerque, Santa Fe: living, mall, bus)

[ABQBound84]

I am leaning towards a relocation to ABQ from LA, I love the southwest and New Mexico looks like a beautiful state, but I have a couple questions that I would greatly appreciate answers to. First and foremost, I am leaving LA because of the traffic and smog, does ABQ have pretty decent air quality? Is the traffic flow decent and is there any public transit? Second, I just got out of a 3 year relationship and am looking to have some fun and live the single life, so how is the singles scene and nightlife in ABQ? Is it a good place to meet other singles? Third, is there fun recreation in ABQ such as hiking trails and river holes to swim or raft in? Sorry about all the questions but if anyone has answers I would be extremely thankful.

[nmguy]

I'm a retired teacher, so will respond to your questions by using grades.

I moved to the Abq. area five years ago from the Bay Area, after having grown up in San Diego. So that's my basis of comparison.

Air quality: A-
Traffic flow: B+
Nightlife: B
Meeting Singles: B-
Recreation: A
Hiking: A

[Towanda]

Hi ABQbound84,

So you are thinking of relocating to ABQ .. great! This forum is an excellent place to come for information, so make sure you search the Albuquerque forum for many threads with good useful info for you.

My other suggestion I make to everyone who is contemplating a move here is to do a lot of research, and then visit the state - more than once if that is possible. You really will not know if you will like living here unless you check it out personally. New Mexico really is unlike any other state in the country and some people like it and some don't. That is the first thing you will need to find out before you make any decision.

Good luck on your search and your decision! Keep posting and keep asking questions!

[ABQSunseeker]

ABQbound84, according to an American Lung Association "State of the Air" Ranking in 2004, Albuquerque was #5 in the country on the list for "Cleanest Cities for Year-Round Particle Pollution" Santa Fe was no. 1, the best. LA was the worst.

[yukon]

Originally Posted by ABQBound84

I am leaning towards a relocation to ABQ from LA, I love the southwest and New Mexico looks like a beautiful state, but I have a couple questions that I would greatly appreciate answers to. First and foremost, I am leaving LA because of the traffic and smog, does ABQ have pretty decent air quality? Is the traffic flow decent and is there any public transit? Second, I just got out of a 3 year relationship and am looking to have some fun and live the single life, so how is the singles scene and nightlife in ABQ? Is it a good place to meet other singles? Third, is there fun recreation in ABQ such as hiking trails and river holes to swim or raft in? Sorry about all the questions but if anyone has answers I would be extremely thankful.

I can compare ABQ to Miami, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas and Phoenix, if that helps. Just not to LA, although my sister lives in Santa Monica and is jealous I got to move to NM before she did.

Air Quality: ABQ is the second best place I've lived, Tampa being the best. Houston was the worst, it hurt to breathe there. Only reason I don't rank ABQ higher than Tampa is due to the particulate matter in the air on very windy days, but that's to be expected - it IS a desert, with lots of dust. On non-windy days, ABQ would be in a VERY close tie with Tampa. The dry air will do a number on your sinus the first year, but there are ways to help that. And no mold - that has to be worth a few brownie points.

Traffic: ABQ has a rush half-hour. Seriously. Compared to the big cities I've lived in, traffic here is a breeze. Only place I find annoying is part of the NW section, in the Coors/Paseo/Cottonwood Mall area. Pretty congested there, any time of day. Rest of the city is great. My road rage is a thing of the past.

Public Transit: Depends on what you compare it to. Compared to DART (Dallas) or MARTA (Atlanta), our ABQ Ride is a joke. Compared to Houston, ABQ holds it's own. Compared to Miami, ABQ Ride is MUCH safer. Compared to Tampa or Phoenix, ABQ Ride rocks. Keep it in perspective - for a city of about 700,000 or so, the transit is pretty good. I managed to get everywhere I needed to on the bus when my car was out of commission for a month. My main complaint is the bus service stops too early on Saturday.

Recreation: It's a desert, so I haven't found too many swimming holes in town . OTOH, the bike, hiking and walking trails are spectacular and are all over the city. The pocket parks, scattered all over the place, are great. New dog parks popping up everywhere too.

Dating: Can't really say on this one, since I haven't checked anything out yet (although a client did offer to fix me up with his dad, LOL!). I get the feeling that if you're out of the 20-something bar hopping demographic, it might be tough to find things to do to meet people. Dallas seemed to have more going on for 30, 40 and 50-something singles, but then, it's a much larger city, too. I will say one thing, most everyone I've met here so far is really friendly, and that can go a long way in making it easier to meet other singles.

BTW, the aforementioned dog parks? Dogs can be a great way to meet people.....