parkland hills neighborhood (crime, buying a house, buying)

[nutmeg398]

we're moving and thinking of buying a house in parkland hills close to san mateo and zuni. know nothing about city other than short realtor trip/crime map doesn't indicate much/realtor useless. house has 1 car garage, we have 2, opinions about leaving 1 car out/not high end cars (honda/new small hyundai)would appreciate any insight into the area and surrounding re: safety/we don't have kids/we do like to walk and cycle. thank you so very much.

[rybert]

That area is sometimes called Fringecrest (very near Ridgecrest).

There is a group on Duke City Fix dedicated to the area:

Fringecresters - Duke City Fix

I would move there, Bandalier Elementary School is a desireable school.

[berncohomes]

The Duke city fix group will give you a much greater insight to the neighborhood than any Realtor can simply because it is composed of people who actually live there.

However, having said that, traffic can be quite busy on San Mateo so the further west from there the better, that will also be better for you when it comes to walking/cycling. There is a very nice park on Ridgecrest and if you like coffee shops then there is an absolute gem of a coffee shop on Carlisle just north of Gibson that you can either walk or cycle to and sit outside and enjoy the sun.

The area you are looking at isn't too far from what is considered the "warzone" so crime might be a problem depending on how close to the main thoroughfare you are. I would make sure that my car has a very loud alarm and make sure you never leave valuables in it.

[rybert]

Let's be clear on where to warzone really is... I'll get a map going in a minute...

Ok here we go:



As you go more toward th West (in the perceived Warzone) is becomes a much more tame area. Honestly, The areas West of Louisiana are A LOT more tame than East of Louisiana. There are pockets of poor ABQ residents, but that in itself does not make it dangerous.

[berncohomes]

That's a good map, however I would say that it starts getting worse from San Pedro.

I only said that Fringecrest is relatively close to the war zone, not part of it, and the properties closest to San Mateo will be more susceptible to crime than the ones further west.

[rybert]

I know you never said that it was a part of it. I'll have to disagree about San Pedro, but we're only talking a few blocks, so it doesn't really matter.

[nutmeg398]

thank you both of you for the excellent replies and the map. I looked at the website you recommended and it appears there has been quite a few break ins lately. we're going to keep looking - thank you again.

[rybert]

Have you visited ABQ yet?

[berncohomes]

The first post said they had a short Realtor trip.