ABQ ranks 2nd for best cities

[domino]

Originally Posted by mortimer

domino reported:

> ... I question a survey that puts Huntsville, AL first.
> I have been there and wouldn't want to live and work there, ...

I lived and worded there in all of 1992 and my sister lived there
from about 1988 to 2004 or so.

It was a nice enough place. Small enough to get around town easily,
but big enough to have decent services.

It was visually attractive with outdoor recreation. There was a
beautiful historic section of town with huge trees. I liked it well
enough, but missed living in Albuquerque.

It was difficult to get a decent breakfast there. This is a definite
downer for me in any place I've lived.

I could see it placing high in a survey, but like others have stated,
these surveys are goofy.

I was thinking more in terms of bible-thumping conservatism, rather than physical attributes. I guess there's some place for everyone.

[yukon]

Huntsville isn't too bad, if I HAD to live in Alabama, I wouldn't mind Huntsville. Very pretty area and not as humid as the south part of the state. But I'd still pick NM over AL any day

[yukon]

Did anyone listen to the video on ABQ? I quote: "Mesa del Sol, which translates to sun baked no man's land". ROFLMBO.

[rybert]

Originally Posted by nmnita

Actually Huntsville is becoming a very popular place for business as is so much of the south, as well as ABQ.

Nita

Cheap labor, loose environmental regs... bring on the corporations! Yeah baby!

[joanie55]

As some of you have stated, I, too, put little confidence in these studies. I've taken quizzes that tell me I'd love living in El Paso as the number 1 place, and I do not like El Paso at all. It confuses me how they come up with this stuff. To me, Alb is not a good place to work - they pay little compared to the cost of living (not as little as se Florida compared to the cost but still not enough IMO) and it's most definately a who you know will get you the best job kind of town - maybe more typical for a city of its size than a big city but true nonetheless. As far as ATTITUDE in the workplace I'm more inclined to agree - it's more laid back in that regard than alot of places. I just don't know what they are basing this on.

[bradly]

They should just admit ..that Albuquerque is actually the BEST city..

Where's my support!!?!

[yukon]

Originally Posted by joanie55

As some of you have stated, I, too, put little confidence in these studies. I've taken quizzes that tell me I'd love living in El Paso as the number 1 place, and I do not like El Paso at all. It confuses me how they come up with this stuff. To me, Alb is not a good place to work - they pay little compared to the cost of living (not as little as se Florida compared to the cost but still not enough IMO) and it's most definately a who you know will get you the best job kind of town - maybe more typical for a city of its size than a big city but true nonetheless. As far as ATTITUDE in the workplace I'm more inclined to agree - it's more laid back in that regard than alot of places. I just don't know what they are basing this on.

What field do you work in? I moved here from Tampa and my cost of living decreased significantly and my pay went up. I now make more than I made in Tampa, Ft Lauderdale, Houston or Dallas. I work for a very good, respected firm and landed the job solely on my resume and interview - I didn't know a soul in town. It does help to know people, and good jobs do tend to be filled by referrals. This is true in any city, although probably more so in smaller areas like ABQ, but it also holds true for places like Dallas too. There are just more employers and more jobs in a larger city, so the knowing someone factor doesn't seem as visible as it does in a place the size of ABQ (IMO anyway). BTW, you might check into the west side of FL - Tampa pays better than FLL/Miami area (or it used to).

[joanie55]

Originally Posted by yukon

What field do you work in? I moved here from Tampa and my cost of living decreased significantly and my pay went up. I now make more than I made in Tampa, Ft Lauderdale, Houston or Dallas. I work for a very good, respected firm and landed the job solely on my resume and interview - I didn't know a soul in town. It does help to know people, and good jobs do tend to be filled by referrals. This is true in any city, although probably more so in smaller areas like ABQ, but it also holds true for places like Dallas too. There are just more employers and more jobs in a larger city, so the knowing someone factor doesn't seem as visible as it does in a place the size of ABQ (IMO anyway). BTW, you might check into the west side of FL - Tampa pays better than FLL/Miami area (or it used to).

You are right, Tampa does pay better and used to have more jobs as well. Unfortunately, Tampa has taken a bigger hit in the economy than se Florida. Right now I'm retired. I was a spokesperson for the Army Corps of Engineers in Alb when I retired. Pay wasn't an issue for me but one of my boyfriends there was given a much lower salary in a sales position and everyone there told me the federal government paid better for nearly every career field, including engineering,d than the private sector which is not true for most places. With the exception of housing, I did not find that Alb was THAT low in cost of living. But at the time I was comparing it to st louis where I came from, which was truly lower and had more jobs, being a large city, and paid better. Everything was lower in cost in STL - housing, food, gas, etc. But Alb is a more popular place to live than STL and I've found that as a general rule the more popular places cost more.

[mortimer]

yukon related:

> I moved here from Tampa and my cost of living
> decreased significantly and my pay went up.

Of course, anyone can have an opposite experience to statistical norms.
That is why anecdotal evidence is not proof.

Also, you work in the accounting field which is experiencing a nationwide
boom. Pay is up across the board from starting to experienced. You
might have had that experience wherever you moved.

In any case, I'm happy for you and from your posts, you appear to be
really happy with ***HERE***. I suspect that you are happier with
being in this place than you are with your extra pay. (The extra pay
just makes it sweeter.)

Our company is having problems finding and keeping controllers. They
keep getting better jobs elsewhere - even though it's good at our place.

In general, someone moving here without a job or taking a job out of
school, should expect lower pay in all of New Mexico. It doesn't have
to happen, but it is a likely outcome.

Those that choose to whine about the pay rate are just miserable
whiners and should move elsewhere if that's really so important to them.

[yukon]

(The extra pay just makes it sweeter.)

Actually, the "extra pay" is due to the small business market in ABQ and the preference of businesses here to network heavily. I've taken those two things and made them work in my favor by taking my personal business in a different direction (yet still in accounting). I saw a need, and I'm capitalizing on it. My starting pay at the main firm I contract with is the same as I made in Houston, Ft Lauderdale and Tampa. No change there. My "regular" pay would be LESS had I moved to Dallas or Phoenix.

But it's like that everywhere. Each metro area has industries where the pay is good, and industries where the pay is bad. Industries vary by area. The trick is to find the areas with the better or best pay for your field of expertise.

Back on topic....one point in the article seems to be overlooked by many of us - some of the ranking was based on the ability of the area to recover quickly from the recession. I think the top 3 will definitely do that.