Well, a few things here, ABQBound84, then I will get around to answering some of your questions:
1. As much as I would be highly biased towards New Mexico being "better" (depending upon how one defines that) than Cali, however, admittedly, you posted this poll on a NM forum. Thus, I would take your (predicted) 18-1 final "vote" for NM kind of with a grain of salt. Obviously most folks here are going to be fairly biased towards the NM side of things.
2. I do kind of shudder when I see a poll like this on the CD forums - two reasons:
a) "Better" is so subjective and can be defined in so many ways by so many people. EXAMPLES (I am not throwing these out there for you to respond to literally, but more just for food for thought on the question): If by "better" you mean closer to water (lakes, oceans, etc.) than Cali is certainly far better than dry, landlocked New Mexico. If better means limitless options for: restaurant, entertainment, tourist-type, major league sports (NBA, MLB, NFL, NHL, etc.) than California is better to live in. If you are looking for less population / more room, then New Mexico is better. If you are looking for affordable housing/taxes, then New Mexico is better. Etc., etc., etc. It just depends on what one means by "better" - the items important to you.
To *me*, New Mexico is far better. However, I would imagine to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cali would be a better fit. Etc.
b) New Mexico and California are HUGE and incredibly diverse states!! (And by diverse, I don't mean in terms of ethnicity; I am speaking geographical diversity).
For example, San Diego is nothing like San Fran which is nothing like Riverside which is nothing like Oakland which is nothing like Orange County.
Thus, it is hard to evaluate "living in California", because living in California can mean so many different things depending upon *where* in Cali you are living.
Similarly, living in Taos is NOTHING like living in Las Cruces which is NOTHING like living in Hobbs which is NOTHING like living in Chama which is NOTHING like living in Portales, which is NOTHING like living in Albuquerque which is NOTHING like living in Floyd.
So, I think in "comparative" type of posts like this, it is much more helpful to compare cities or at least metro regions, rather than two states.
Having said that, with my rudimentary "detective" work
, I see that for your "current location" I see you are in Sacramento.
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So I will base my response below here to you more on the basis of ABQ v. Sacramento rather than NM v. CA:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ABQBound84
Is their alot of outdoor stuff to do their (i.e. Hiking, biking, skiing, swimming).
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BIG YES: Hiking, biking, skiing (in addition to running, walking, golf, etc.).
BIG NO:
For the most part swimming.
Albuquerque is a desert city. It is on the northern tip of the Chihuahuan Desert. It is a landlocked arid city in a landlocked arid state. The only swimming as a general rule you'll be doing in Albuquerque is in a pool, and surely there are plenty of those to be found in the Duke City.
If water is important to you for recreation (outside of the chlorinated version), Albuquerque or New Mexico in general isn't ideal or even close.
But in terms of everything else, yes, yes, yes! ABQ averages 300+ days of sunshine per year, relatively moderate year-round temperatures (actually semi-comparable temps wise to Sacramento...probably a hare cooler in the winter and a hare warmer in the summer), low humidities, only 8.5 inches of rainfall annually, etc. With the closeby proximity of the Sandia Mountains (on the eastern ridge of the city - only a 10 to 25 minute drive from most locales in the city), the ideal outdoor conditions year-round, and the Rio Grande snaking through the middle of town, the hilly Petroglyphs on the western edges of the town, ABQ is an outdoor recreationist's "dream city".
Skiing sometimes isn't golden in ABQ's Sandia Mountains as they are a hare too low and a hare too warm to be Colorado-esque ideal many winters, however, Santa Fe has very nice skiing (only 60 miles away) and Taos has excellent skiing (only 120 miles away). When things get a little toasty in ABQ in the summertime, SF and Taos (and other similar high altitude cities) make for great, quick road trips to do related outdoor activities: hiking, running, biking, etc.
Outside of water stuff, I am hard pressed to think of many other cities that could rival ABQ in its ability for hiking, biking, etc., in such ideal geographic and climatic conditions.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ABQBound84
Is their a descent single scene in ABQ?
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It is improving as ABQ's rapid growth and attraction of new professional jobs continues, but my perception is still that the single scene in ABQ isn't quite as up to snuff with bigger cities like Sacto as the ABQ singles would like it to be.
I think as a single in ABQ you'd have to *look* a little harder and it wouldn't have the mass quantity of choices and variations as you'd have in other bigger cities. But having said that, you find a lot of very educated, quality folks living in ABQ (instead of the stereotypical Cali airhead - which I fully realize is a stereotype), so I think you'd have some decent quality in the dating scene if not as great a quantity.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ABQBound84
How is the traffic and is their good public transportation within ABQ? (Moving from LA to get away from to much traffic).
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See, now I am not sure if you are coming from Sacramento or LA? Well, either way, I guess my answers would still hold the same (except that ABQ's weather is loosely more comparable to Sacramento - especially temps-wise - than LA's coastal climate).
Traffic wise, obviously, compared to LA, ABQ's traffic is a joke. LA is a metro of what, 14-million? ABQ is a small little town in comparison (even though it isn't) at a metro of 850,000. ABQ's rush hour can get congested in some places - especially trying to cross the Rio Grande going west-bound in the late afternoon/early evening, but you'll rarely be stuck in traffic going anywhere from anywhere more than 30, 40 minutes. And if it isn't rush hour, traffic in ABQ is always an incredible breeze. Compared to an LA or even a Sacramento, you'd find ABQ's traffic absolutely nothing.
Public transportation has been talked about much here. I think Yukon, a poster here who has lived in many big cities, summed it up well here:
Relocating to ABQ from LA
Good luck to you!!
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