Some questions about Albuquerque. (Rio Rancho, Taos: transplants, real estate, crime rate)

[MitchMZ]

My wife and I have been wanting to relocate to Colorado Springs from Des Moines, IA for a few years now, and were planning on doing so sometime next year. However, the steady influx of new residents into the front range corridor of Colorado has made of reconsider moving there. Some other possible alternatives to Des Moines are Boise, Salt Lake City, Denver, Fort Collins and Manchester, NH.

We are not planning on having any children and will both be recent college graduates; my wife has her MBA and a Bachelor's in engineering, and I will have my Bachelor's in business/management this spring. Our main reason for moving is access to outdoor recreation, mainly hiking and skiing. We would also like to live in a more mild climate (the weather seems perfect in NM). We would also hope that there are some nice parks available for recreation with our dogs as well. We love the mountains so Iowa is not ideal. We are very laid back people.

My main concerns are crime, the job market, and actually...scorpions. We do not have good jobs in Des Moines right now, so even finding a comparable job somewhere else by the mountains is an option. Also, I have heard the crime rate in Albuquerque is fairly high. We would like to know about some nice areas or burbs of town where a couple can find a nice starter home for around $200,000 or less.

Thank you for the help in advance.

[rybert]

So... you want to become the influx of transplants you're trying to avoid? Hmmm.

[berncohomes]

Don't think you have to worry too much about scorpions, I've only seen one in four years. It was however in the laundry room.

You can find plenty of houses under $200k in good areas. Foothills South springs to mind since you like to hike.

[desert sun]

if you do come to ABQ you would probably like the Northwest side, more newer houses and development, scorpions I wouldnt even worry about, Ive only seen 1 in the 5 years Ive been here.
And most of those cities you listed have a good number of transplants, but the weather in ABQ is way better than those other cities though. You can be fine here, I understand that Iowa has such little crime but dont let stats scare you away, its not as bad as it looks on paper.

[MitchMZ]

Yes, I will admit I'm part of the problem for wanting to relocate... but, coming from Iowa I bring my Midwestern values (which many people perceive as a good thing). I don't see my relocation as much of a problem as long as I respect the native culture and become a valuable part of the community. Which is something that a lot of transplants have not done in Colorado. Still, there are many people like me... and too many people = problems.

I guess I'm destined to live my days wanting to be near the mountains and the wonderful outdoor recreation they afford rather than to actually be near them just because my parents settled in Des Moines for work ten years ago. Doesn't seem logical to stay in Iowa at this point in my life.

PS: People from Iowa are generally not the ones driving up real estate prices in the mountain states. We don't have the purchasing power to build huge houses in the city or near the mountains.

[MitchMZ]

desert sun,

We are not too afraid of the crime statistics, but we just wanted to be a bit leery. The neighborhood we live in here is not very safe and we really want to get out of this environment (fine for me, not for my wife). It is hard to find a pizza place that even delivers here because too many delivery men were getting robbed or stiffed, not to mention the fatal shootings that also happened on my street Speaking of, I looked up the the stats for Des Moines and ABQ and they are quite comparable for both violent and property crime.

Thank you for the responses everyone. ABQ seems very nice overall and still seems very affordable. Not going to lie, the pictures I have seen on the forums make the city look very attractive for my preferences.

I'm sure we will get along fine anywhere, my wife is from Bangkok so Des Moines and ABQ are both small by comparison!

[abqsunport]

MitchMZ, my dad's family comes from Iowa (Fairfield) --Huge Cubs Fans--and I think you would love it here. However, I feel like you can find some nice areas in Paradise Hills, and some spots on the westside. If are willing to live a little bit of an older home (and you certainly can fix it up) there are some really nice areas on the east side of town. Come visit, if its right, then talk to a realtor and get the ball rolling. If you visit and don't like it, you'll know you weren't wasting your time!!

[karmathecat]

If your wife is Thai, it might interest her to know that there is quite a thriving SE Asian population here, and we have a couple of very large Asian markets.

You will get more bang ( in general ) on the West Side, and there are some homes very very close to the Petroglyphs with views of the Sandias.

[MitchMZ]

Oh my, this could be the place! I read that there were great Vietnamese restaurants there...which we were tickled by because we only have a small handful of in Des Moines. Also, the Latino culture does not bother us one bit! We find it charming (obviously, else we would not have thought about moving to Colorado either). I have friends in Des Moines that are from Mexico, South America, and even friends that speak fluent Spanish.

I was looking at homes in Rio Rancho, is this a good area? They looked very nice and were very affordable compared to Colorado or Salt Lake City! And, I was planning on having a rock yard even if I wound up somewhere semi-arid. The skiing is Taos looks first rate as well, it was recently on the list of top Western resorts in Ski magazine. We are definitely going to plan a visit sometime this winter or spring.

We hadn't considered ABQ before because I had stopped for gas driving through there in a not so nice area of town around 1am last year and didn't see the mountains or anything really. Wow, after reading more and seeing more pictures... I feel like a fool.

[desert sun]

Originally Posted by MitchMZ

desert sun,

We are not too afraid of the crime statistics, but we just wanted to be a bit leery. The neighborhood we live in here is not very safe and we really want to get out of this environment (fine for me, not for my wife). It is hard to find a pizza place that even delivers here because too many delivery men were getting robbed or stiffed, not to mention the fatal shootings that also happened on my street Speaking of, I looked up the the stats for Des Moines and ABQ and they are quite comparable for both violent and property crime.

Thank you for the responses everyone. ABQ seems very nice overall and still seems very affordable. Not going to lie, the pictures I have seen on the forums make the city look very attractive for my preferences.

I'm sure we will get along fine anywhere, my wife is from Bangkok so Des Moines and ABQ are both small by comparison!

Im glad you are not worried about the stats, but remember ABQ has more murders than the whole state of Iowa, its a different mentality, but it is still a small amount of murders for the size of the city. If you are worried about pizza men getting robbed, then this might not be the city for you, that kinda stuff is so petty than no one really cares about it. That stuff happens in all small towns accross NM.


Rio Rancho is the 2nd safest city in NM, and it is your typical sububan lifestyle, minus the NM culture, there are many people from all over the country there.

and ABQ has alot of asian restaurants for some reason,probably as common as New Mexican cuisine but that is a good thing.

and I like your comment about transplants, I wish all transplants thought like you.