Need safe place to live in ALbuquerque...help!!! (Rio Rancho, Kirtland: low income, apartments)

[moving to ABQ]

Hi. There might have been a post similar to this already, but I must have missed it... my family and I are being sent to Kirtland AFB soon and I need to know where the safer neighborhoods and schools are. It is okay if my husband has to make a daily commute (no more than 30-40 minutes hopefully). I currently live in Tucson so I am familiar with the desert environment, I am just worried about all the crime I've been reading about. I have a middle schooler, a grade schooler, and a newborn so safety and decent schools are the most important issue for us. We don't know if we will rent or try to buy at this point, we just want to be safe. If anyone has information (details are great too, like specific streets or condos, etc.) I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

S

[stupac]

You should look into Rio Rancho, a suburb to the northwest of ABQ. It will be about a 30-40 minute commute for your husband, but it fits the bill for what you are describing.

[observe]

Originally Posted by moving to ABQ

Hi. There might have been a post similar to this already, but I must have missed it... my family and I are being sent to Kirtland AFB soon and I need to know where the safer neighborhoods and schools are. It is okay if my husband has to make a daily commute (no more than 30-40 minutes hopefully). I currently live in Tucson so I am familiar with the desert environment, I am just worried about all the crime I've been reading about. I have a middle schooler, a grade schooler, and a newborn so safety and decent schools are the most important issue for us. We don't know if we will rent or try to buy at this point, we just want to be safe. If anyone has information (details are great too, like specific streets or condos, etc.) I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

S

A great family neighborhood is the Ventana Ranch area, it has good schools and crime is very low. It is a family oriented area with a great trail system throughout the community, it is a master planned community which has a neighborhood association, patroling security and is beatifuly landscaped throughout. There is currently a new high school under construction, also a second area middle school, and a second area elementary school are in the planning stages because the area is experiencing tremendous growth. The commute to Kirtland may be 30-40 minutes however a few of my neighbors who work at Sandia National Labs which are located on Kirtland, say that the commute is worth living in this area.

[Gallit]

I second the Ventana Ranch option. The only downside is that Ventana Ranch is pretty far-removed from the rest of the city. A 30-40 minute commute sounds about right during off-peak hours. If your husband's commute is during rush hour, then getting from one side of the river to the other is going to take at least an hour (Ventana Ranch is on the west side of the Rio Grande river, while KAFB is on the east side). Also, with Ventana Ranch being such an outlying suburb, anticipate spending a pretty penny on gas. But other than that, it's a great neighborhood. Fairly new, safe, and very nice, with parks and decent schools.

[Zoidberg]

I don't quite understand why everyone's pushing the furthest away part of town on you.

My recommendations:
*Willow Wood (Eubank & Southern, Albuquerque). May be fully constructed but the homes there for the most part are quite nice and are very recent. Your commute: <5 minutes.

*Four Hills. Some older homes, some newer construction, more money. Commute: <10 minutes.

I wouldn't live in any of the other areas close to the base, because the schools in those neighborhoods aren't as nice. (More the low income/non-English-speaking students than the quality of the teaching)

[LLD]

Personally I would pass on Ventana Ranch -- just too far out and the traffic is lousy. There are hardly any major roads in and out of that part of town. My mom passed up Ventana Ranch for that specific reason.

Four Hills is nice and close but a bit pricier.

[Gallit]

Oh, I definitely agree that Four Hills is nice. In fact, I'd choose Four Hills over Ventana Ranch anyday, just because of the distance. I guess I was just recommending VR based on the cost of housing/safety ratio, but then again, I don't know the original poster's price range.

[phoebe10]

Ventana Ranch is a nice place, it's just really far. And the Rio Rancho commute to KAFB will be at least an hour during rush hour.

I don't want to confuse you with all these different options, but I would completely disagree with living in Four Hills. It is a nice area..but the school district is not good, which is probably your biggest concern. The houses are nice, but it's a really old neighborhood and when you a go down the street a couple miles there is low income housing. I think I have an idea of what you want and that area is not it.

The Northeast Heights has some nice areas if you know where to look. One area that is nice is the Eastern part of Paseo Del Norte (toward the mountains). I don't know what your budget is, but there are some really nice apartments on Paseo del Norte and Barstow. Desert Ridge Middle School is right down the street (walking distance), there's a church on the corner, and Double Eagle Elementary is nearby. La Cueva High School is also in that district. All of these schools are probably some the best in the city. There are grocery stores and restaurants really close, and the freeway is a few minutes away so your husband's commute would be a realistic 30 minutes.

If these apartments and this area is too expensive, here are some other options in the NE Heights:

Any apartments that you find that are on Academy are in a safe place and in good school districts, and not far from I-25. There are also nice houses in neighborhoods near Academy. There are townhomes, that I know are very affordable on San Antonio and Lousiana.

I could go on and on. There are some placse on the westside too, like Taylor Ranch where I grew up that aren't as bad as everyone says. It is very affordable, (houses under 200,000), and for elementary and middle school, it's not bad.

I hope this helps! If you find a place and are questionable about the area, just ask me and I'll tell you what it's like, I'd be happy to help you out.

[Zoidberg]

I think Phoebe and I can agree to disagree on the subject.

Eubank & Southern has a Costco, Home Depot, ballfields, and new senior ("multigenerational") center all within walking distance.

Knowing price range should be a big help.

Military families (the kind that act as a support network) are much more densely located in the areas I mentioned. If you picture an Albuquerque in 5 years with twice as much traffic (go visit Phoenix if you can't picture it) and $4/gallon gas (no longer unimaginable) it might be good to figure how much an extra hour burning gas money and time every day is worth versus spending them at home with the family.

A lot of people bike to work on base. Your husband may want to as well.

Plus, base services like BX, Commissary, cheap AAFES gas, etc., are much more of a convenience if they're 10 and not 40 minutes away.

Whatever you pick, welcome to Albuquerque. Hope you like the snow! (watch it not snow for 2 winters now that we've had a wet one)

[trailswest]

This is from the Executive Director of the Kirtland Partnership Committee, or KPC, which exists to "support, preserve and grow" Kirtland AFB in Albuquerque. I also have kids in school.
The crime is really about average for a city of this size.
Please respond to kpcabq@aol.com and I can tell you more....cheers