Looking for a good Southwest city...need help! (Albuquerque: salary, quality of life)

[rybert]

I don't think welder gets out of the shop much... must be the fumes.

[lalahartma]

"The Springs is a beautiful place, and probably not even the most beautiful place in CO, which is arguably the most beautiful state. "

It is true that the Springs is not the most beautiful place in the state. Colorado is gorgeous!! (I haven't had the pleasure to see rest of the western/sw states.

[welder]

I don't think welder gets out of the shop much... must be the fumes.
I do field construction my man, not shop work. Ive been ALL over this country. You and these other guys like that part of the country, great. I wouldn't live in NM if the rent was free. I like people, way too dry, and isolated for me. Leave a TOWN in NM (cause there aint no MAJOR cities there), and its like you 'fell off the face of the earth' or something. States that dont have any PRO sports teams seem like weired places to live.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by welder

I was trying to give the guy (kid) a head's up. The difference from where he's coming from to were he's going is HUGE. He listed the cities he was considering. I personally think they are ALL boring places that he listed. Who knows, maybe he's been to all of them. People are people. We're ALL different, yet we're ALL the same sometimes. City people for the most part are going to connect and relate to other city people. Country people, the same, they'll relate better to someone from the country more than they would a city person. If he grew up loafing on a street corners in Cleveland, then goes somewhere like Pueblo, he'll probably end up going nuts. Atleast in C.S., he can drive to Denver if he wants to. Them other places, nothing around. People who were born in the west, dont know how weird it feels for someone from the east, to leave a city and it turn into barran isolated land instantly. Driving through parts of the west feels spooky. No people, no houses, sometimes no cars on the interstate. It's hard enough leaving the city you were born an raised in. Then throw all that into the equation on top of it? As far as me liking a "socially and culturally generic environment", I guess nobody can have it all? Im in living in NYC, which everyone knows, cant compare to ALL them MECCA Southwest CULTURE cities you've listed. But NYC does still get 40 plus million visitors a yr (guess NYC's culture fools everyone).

But then -- why would anyone ever consider leaving where they are from?

I think sometimes people from big cities out east are thrilled to find something quite a lot different -- or what's the point in moving at all? Albuquerque is quite big of a city -- for some people Colorado is getting way too crowded.

I'd just as soon a lot of people don't move to New Mexico though. One thing that makes it one of the best states is that it's not overly populated (yet).

[welder]

" Not overly populated yet", LOL LOL LOL, ya, that's putting it MILDLY.........P.S. If the guy moves to ABQ and is happy, God bless him.

[rybert]

[Towanda]

Originally Posted by lalahartma

"The Springs is a beautiful place, and probably not even the most beautiful place in CO, which is arguably the most beautiful state. "

I could argue which is the most beautiful state.

[welder]

You better throw Oregon into the mix! You ever drive and see the 200 miles (going thru the Colombia Gorge) leading up to Portland? Western Montanna, washington oregon, cali ( along their coastline's is unbelievable). Ive been on every stretch of interstate in the US from beginning to end. The east does have some beautiful states, especially the northeast (the falls here are gorgeous). It's very lush and green with mountians. But nothing compares to the beauty out west. Them vistas out there are EYE popping! The only thing I dont like about the western views, after awhile the DRYNESS gets on my nerves. After a month or so out west I feel DEHYDRATED and can't wait to head back east. But the western states are defiantely the most beautiful in the US (some parts, the world).

[ABQConvict]

Originally Posted by welder

But the western states are defiantely the most beautiful in the US (some parts, the world).

Unverified Personal Gnosis

ABQConvict

[Buzz123]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Buzz123
You also might consider the fact that Albuquerque and all of New Mexico has more art, culture, and history than any other state in the country.

Highly disputable. I love the history in this part of the country and there is a lot more here than geology but, come on. Just because Europeans founded Santa Fe seven years earlier than New Amsterdam doesn't validate your statement and there were Native Americans all over this continent for thousands and thousands of years before that. They count too, don't they?


Quote:
Originally Posted by Buzz123
Santa Fe is the oldest, or second oldest by two or three minutes, city in the U.S., and it is the third largest art market in the country behind only New York and Chicago. Santa Fe has an opera that rivals New York City's opera.

For its size, that is very impressive. But so what? I suspect that very few people move to Santa Fe because of the size of its art market. I do suspect that there are people who prioritize Santa Fe when deciding on a SW city based on the presence of the opera, one of the most overlooked qualities of that city (and the state for that matter).

ABQConvict

First of all the OP is looking for a place where the arts are important. Then I base my other statements on this: Europeans arrived in the area in the mid 1500s looking for the Seven Cities of Cibola, not really that long after Chris landed on that Island in the Caribbean. It is estimated that there are over 150,000 Indian ruins in the area that haven't even been excavated yet. There are seven museums in the "little" town of Santa Fe and several in Albuquerque. It was estimated 20 years ago, and it's probably even more now, that between Santa Fe and Taos there were over 10,000 artists. Obviously arrived there for the art. Most of the people I've met in Santa Fe say they hate opera but go to see and be seen by the other locals that hate opera. I'm sure a lot of it is exaggeration, but still makes for good marketing value by NM.