10 reasons to move to ABQ? 10 not!? (Albuquerque: health insurance, homes, neighborhoods)

[ElphinKnight]

Tat, I wasn't trying to suggest that people without degrees are unintelligent. Though I have a Master's, most of my family has no college degree and they are all quite intelligent. Tattoo's don't mean much one way or the other. I have some tattoos myself.

[spyrye]

Do you have any other options? I am telling you this because I was born and raised in this city, left when I was 19, moved to Dallas, moved back (family was here) and have regretted it ever since. Albuquerque is a very angry town, it will never be a "big" city. I did not want to raise my boys here because of fact that they are white. I am sorry to say this because I am half white and it was a problem for me in the public school system. Do your research, spend time talking with other people that live here. Good luck.

Originally Posted by astrosona

hello folks,

i am 24 years old and i want to move to ABQ. my family with my 2 little sisters are coming from other country in the end of the summer so i want to move to a not so expensive city and good schools. they can stay in around the city for the cost and i can take advantage of New Mexico Tech.
i would appreciate if you advise me in 10 reasons why should or why i shouldn't move to ABQ. PLEASE feel free to advise me in the cost of living, roads and driving, schools, crime rate and weather.

best regards

[spyrye]

This sounds really lame, but even if you are slightly educated, you can do really well in the duke city in business!

[rotorhead]

As far as the NM schools go, I'm sure that their public relations folks thank God every day for Mississippi and Lousiana, the only two states which regularly score below the schools here. I suppose they'll have to add the District of Columbia, as its the overall worst school system in the nation now.

Read the latest issue of Time magazine, they have a good article on No Child Left Behind and its impact on the nations school systems. Like it or not, NCLB has served very well to shine a badly needed light on the inadequacies of the US education system. The article has a list of every states aggregate results on both each individual states reading and math tests and their results on a national test (for fourth graders in this case). The most striking issue is that every state is allowed to gin up their own tests, and virtually all of them show a huge and increasing gap between those tests and the national standard. The states which scored the worst on the national test often show excellent results on their own state test. They've lowered the standards to make it look like they're doing a better job. New Mexico is distinguished by both its overall abysmal national average (bottom five out of fifty) and its substantial gap between the NM test results and the national test results.

The teachers are calling it "the race for the bottom", but NM is already pretty much there, by whatever standard you use.

[OREGONRAIN]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

There are pros and cons to Albuquerque, like everywhere. But I moved here about three + years ago from the Midwest, and while I am not certain I will stay here forever, I have to say that it is overall a tremendous place to live.

The pros:

-The weather: Yes, it is colder than Phoenix or southeast Texas, but I am not so sure that that is a bad thing. The sun shines over 310 days a year, there is rarely a day without sun. It is a desert, so the air is very dry (very few mosquitos!). Days are often very hot in the summer, but usually top out only at 102 degrees at most. Springs and falls here are just about the best weather you could imagine - 60s or 70s or 80 in the day, and cool, crisp, clear nights. Winters get very cool at night - 20s and 30s are common once the sun sets - but days generally bring 50s, and even some stretches of 60s. Golf is truly year-round here, but it is true you can still a few times see some snow.

-The natural beauty: Yes, it is brown, but isn't that a given in a desert? Las Vegas and Phoenix are much, much browner! On the east of the city - only a few minutes from much of the eastern portion of the city - are the beautiful Sandia Mountains - (peak is 11,000 feet). On the west is the West Mesa, a very scenic elevated desert area, which includes some dormant volcanoes. Through the middle runs the Rio Grande, which produces a greenish snake of huge green trees - Cottonwoods and the like - that runs through the middle of the city called the bosque - it is truly an oasis in the desert, and is beautiful in late autumn. And often times the first freeze here doesn't come until November, so while there isn't as much "green" as Chicago, per se, the green that is here lasts much longer into fall, and develops again much earlier the next spring again.

-Culture: There is more culture in Albuquerque than most areas. There is a huge blend of Mexican, Native American, Spanish, and "Gringo" cultures here, and as such, you find much more of a NATURAL rich culture than you do in many areas.

I could go on and on. But I have a wife, and we have a 1.5-year old daughter, and I have never felt a shred of crime or aggression in the 3+ years of living here. Sure, I would not hang out on the east portion Central Ave. at midnight on a Friday, but again, there are areas like that in EVERY major city in the nation.

Crime statistics show Albuquerque kind of "below average" for safety in the U.S. for sure, but it is a far safer place statistically than places like Phoenix or Tucson - especially without a few isolated pockets in the SE and South Valley. And you know what? I have spent much time in Phoenix and Tucson, and never for a minute felt threatened there. Just live in the vast majority of areas of the city that are safe and you're fine.

As for the schools, APS is generally not well regarded (although there are some nice APS schools), but Rio Rancho Public Schools are very well regarded and Albuquerque has many great private schools as well (And no, I am by no means rich or even above middle class. There are plenty of affordable private schools out there that are not just for the "elite").

Albuquerque LEADS the country's major cities in percentage of the city covered by parks - with over 25% of the city covered by the beautiful parks here. It is a tremendous city for spending time outdoors.

The sunsets here will take your breath away...almost every night.

The Balloon Fiesta for 2 weeks in October is great. Roasting chile every year from August through early November brings tremendous smells to the air every day. Old Town is a wonderful area for shopping and historical sight-seeing (there are not many places like Old Town in other major US cities). We are only 45 minutes away from historical Santa Fe. Our International Sunport (airport...you can tell by the name how sunny it is here year-round) is a perfect size - tons of flights, but not nearly the hassles of airports like Atlanta, Chicago, Phoenix, etc.

The Mexican and New Mexican food here is superb (and cheap!). But there are many tremendous Chinese, Thai, Italian, Mediterranean, etc., restaurants as well.

The architecture that some here have maligned is beautiful, and so distinctively unique to New Mexico! The pueblo, adobe styles give you a feeling of living somewhere unique in the nation, and the brown against the beautiful blue skies are a wonderful contrast.

I could go on and on...and already have. But hopefully this gives you a more pleasant picture of Albuquerque. And having just moved here 3 years ago from half-way across the nation, I would have no reason to be "naturally biased" to the area.

I do find it to be polarizing. Some people just will not give Albuquerque a chance. They hate living in a desert - hate the desert landscape - or just think Albuquerque is "too big." (If you think Albuquerque is too big, try spending some time in Phoenix, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin, Las Vegas, Houston...the list goes on). And it is distinctive and different. I find that pleasant about the area, but others hate it. And all opinions deserve respect. But I sometimes wonder, "well, you knew it was a desert, and you knew it was a metro area of 800,000 before you moved here. If you didn't like those aspects, why did you move here in the first place?"

Sure there are negatives. As the city continues to grow, house prices are shooting up rapidly (although, contrasted to many, many places in the nation, houses are still terribly affordable). Traffic is getting much worse with people moving in so rapidly, but it is still far better than many areas in the nation. The tap water doesn't taste good - (although that is what bottled water is for). The job market highly centers around high-tech/engineering, so people with more general business backgrounds sometimes find a tougher go of things (although that is my background, I just have a bachelors degree only, and have done just fine).

There are cons here for sure, but honestly, the pros far outweigh the cons here, and having seen many, many areas and regions of the country and the world in my short life, I can say that Albuquerque is a superb place to live.

That was very well written, I like the fact there is no smoking in public places there also, something I wish Portland could discover

[OREGONRAIN]

Originally Posted by Tat

Oh, and you know what they say about Albuquerque - "Come on vacation, leave on probation!"

They say that about Florida also, probably California and on and on

[cbinbigd]

I really miss living there. I lived in New Mexico for 5 years in the mid-90's before the big population boom hit, so I only have fond memories. Growing up in Dallas, I immediately fell in love with the cool, dry weather and the mountains and forests. Plus, the history of New Mexico is fascinating. Albuquerque is a good central location for many destinations. When we lived there, we could take easy day or weekend trips by car and see something different every time. We moved down from Santa Fe to ABQ due to outrageous cost of living and wound up buying just south of Los Altos Golf Course. Like everywhere else in the world, there are pockets of nice places to live, and that was one. We had first rented in a tri-plex way up in the Heights off Tram and Candelaria and really enjoyed it, but that area was already too expensive for our meager budget to buy. The only reason we moved back to the Dallas area was to help take care of my dad and mom when he got sick. I'd move back in a heartbeat. We still visit friends there, and try to get back at least once every couple of years. I enjoyed the weather, scenery, and I found the natives to be very kind and friendly. I personally never encountered any problemes there, but that was 10 years ago and I was only in ABQ for 4 years, so I might be a bit biased.

Good luck in your move, and I agree that if you are going to NMT, the commute would grow old quickly.

[dmderosa2k]

Originally Posted by dalidon100

I am a 100% disabled Vietnam Vet looking at ABQ for a place to move. I use a power wheel chair to get around and a V.A. Hospital near by is a plus. Also I do not drive. Have looked at an apt. in Southeast part of ABQ. Is it truly and really safe to get around in.

The southeast part of town that the VA is in is the war zone. Very dangerous area to live.

[dmderosa2k]

Originally Posted by spyrye

Do you have any other options? I am telling you this because I was born and raised in this city, left when I was 19, moved to Dallas, moved back (family was here) and have regretted it ever since. Albuquerque is a very angry town, it will never be a "big" city. I did not want to raise my boys here because of fact that they are white. I am sorry to say this because I am half white and it was a problem for me in the public school system. Do your research, spend time talking with other people that live here. Good luck.

He is right. Nothing gets done here. Anything new that tries to come in is usually met with contreversy, lawsuits and battles everywhere. Racism is terrible too.

[rotorhead]

The general situation in ABQ is better than it used to be, but...it used to be pretty bad. The "manana" mentality is alive and well here, nothing ever gets done on time or on budget unless they hire some out-of-state firm like they did on the "big eyesore" freeway interchange.

On the positive side, the city has really spruced up most of the parks and the BioPark/Zoo/Aquarium/Bottanical Gardens complex is really quite nice for a city this size. Tingley Beach is certainly a lot better than it used to be, but...I sure wouldn't eat the fish caught there.

Overall grade still maybe a C-minus, but at least its going the right direction.