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I guess you can say I am sort of a state hopper, but I am getting older and looking for some place to settle where the weather, cost of living, and overall quality of life is decent. I am currently living in Indiana about 30 mins from Chicago. I HATE IT HERE! Mostly because of the weather. I moved here 2 years ago due to family reasons. I am originally from the San Francisco bay area, but have spent some time in Nevada and Arizona. I was thinking of relocating to AZ again, but I just don't think it's a good fit for me anymore. Won't even consider going back to CA because the cost of living is outrageous. I have a son in middle school so I am looking for an area with pretty good schools, low crime.
I've worked in Customer Service for over 10 years and see the ABQ area has several call centers, HP, Sprint, T-Mobile etc., plus many other CS related jobs. So I don't think finding work would be much of an issue, hopefully.
I will be renting, looking for a 2bd in the $550 to $650 range that is in a nice location with good schools. Can you tell me which parts of the city I should look in, and what apartment complexes are nice? Most of the ones I've seen on apartmentratings.com had bad ratings.
Another big factor is weather. OK so I HATE thunderstorms and snow. I know that ABQ has both, but I don't think it's as bad as here. Are there tornadoes or very bad wind/hail storms very often? As far as snow, is it really bad? I hate having to shovel my car out almost every morning in winter. Not to mention the below 0 temps aren't too nice either.
Oh almost forgot. What about the cities diversity? Any info would be greatly appreciated!
I don't live in ABQ, but it seems to me that the chances of finding a 2 bedroom in that price range in a "nice" area with "good" schools are not very high. Everything is relative, of course, but the schools in general in NM, and in ABQ in particular, are not great. I've read that the best schools are in the NE section of the city.
Hopefully folks who actually live there will chime in soon, and will prove me wrong -- that would be great!
Last edited by lawmom; 11-22-2009 at 09:35 AM..
Reason: added something
I don't live in ABQ, but it seems to me that the chances of finding a 2 bedroom in that price range in a "nice" area with "good" schools are not very high. Everything is relative, of course, but the schools in general in NM, and in ABQ in particular, are not great. I've read that the best schools are in the NE section of the city.
Hopefully folks who actually live there will chime in soon, and will prove me wrong -- that would be great!
Thanks for the info. I've seen lots of apts in that range but the reviews on them weren't that good. But, I ran into that issue when I was in NV. Apt complex I lived in had a horrible rating online, but I didn't have any issues during my stay there. As far as schools in NM, when you say they are not great do you mean academic wise? Is there lots of problems with gangs etc.? I know every big city has its issues. Thanks!
I will be renting, looking for a 2bd in the $550 to $650 range
that is in a nice location with good schools. ...
... Most of the ones I've seen ... had bad ratings.
That's because a $550-650 apartment is generally a 1bd apartment
that is a compromise. It's likely to be old with little amenities. It
might be in a convenient area, but unlikely to be very nice.
Moderator cut: Off Topic
Quote:
Are there tornadoes or very bad wind/hail storms very often?
Cultural Diversity ----- Black Experience in NM
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You get instant gratification plus more and better answers.
The only people who answer a lot of these questions are people
who have only answered these questions 5 or 6 times. The people
who have already posted on this subject a dozen or so times, are
probably expecting you to read what they wrote at an earlier time.
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 12-04-2009 at 02:10 PM..
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You get instant gratification plus more and better answers.
The only people who answer a lot of these questions are people
who have only answered these questions 5 or 6 times. The people
who have already posted on this subject a dozen or so times, are
probably expecting you to read what they wrote at an earlier time.
Thank you for the info and the links Moderator cut: Off Topic
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 12-04-2009 at 02:13 PM..
Mortimer does have a good point. There are TONS of past discussions that might
help you find and evaluate the information you seek. The search function is a very
valuable tool.
OK I get Mortimer's point and have taken his advice. So there's no need for anyone else to reply to this post to give me advice, or tell me to use the 'Search' tool.
I suggest staying in an extended stay hotel if you can, for the first week or two, and rent once you get here. This is not the best city for distance renting, unless you get someone who posts here that can give you current info on their specific apartment. As for pricing, you can find a good number of rentals by private landlords in the price range you want. I have a 2 bedroom/1 bath in the NE for $650, great landlord. There are a lot of units like mine - duplex, triplex, quadplex and small private apartment units - in the area bounded by Juan Tabo north to Montgomery, Montgomery east to Tramway, Tramway south to Lomas (actually even down to Copper) and then west back over to Juan Tabo. Also, just east of Tramway between Manitoba and Copper. Sorry, but I don't have kids so I have no idea what schools service this area. The big problem you're going to encounter is most of the landlords in this area don't advertise on Craigslist, nor do they put an ad in the paper. They usually just pop a for rent sign in the front yard and wait for drive bys.
"The driest month in Albuquerque is February with 0.44 inches of precipitation, and with 1.73 inches August is the wettest month." Climate in Albuquerque, New Mexico
So let's get real. Albuquerque does not have a moonsoon by any reasonable standard. Water coming down out of the sky is just not a big problem.
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