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Shortly, I will relocate; possibly, Albuquerque or Santa Fe.
I think the weather is better in Albuquerque. I am retired,
I've lived in D.C., San Francisco, Greece, and Mexico; currently in
Upstate NY. My heart weeps for Mexico; I lived in Chihuahua, and loved it;
this was before the violence got out of control. Some sites
tell me Albuquerque is boring, I've only been there once for about 2
hours, on my way to Atlanta. I was not impressed; again, this was
a Sunday afternoon downtown, and everything looked closed. Not
quite, I found an Asian place for a late lunch. I do not like it
here in Upstate NY, I don't understand this culture. I have
no desire to return to SF, or the Bay area; even, D.C. because it is too
dangerous. I like things that change every now and then.
SF did change, not for the better; it became more expensive,
and snobbish. My background is teaching, and I love reading,
mountain biking, nature walks, and doing volunteer work, and shopping;
basically, I can make my own excitement. I am not looking for
an Art scene, I'm now an "anti-artist -" a geek. I am not a bar hopper,
I drink only water or tea to remain slim. I do fear restaurant food
because of the "manteca." In Chihuahua, I had to prepare everything
I ate due to being a Vegan vegetarian.
A teaching job may be a problem in Albuquerque as APS is having budget problems and I believe the solution is the let teachers retire/move on without replacing them so I imagine getting a job here will be a bit difficult. There is always private schools and the neighboring districts, but I assume a lot of people are looking there for teaching jobs too.
You can definitely do mountain biking and nature walks here. There are lots of hiking and biking trails, both in Albuquerque itself, and in the Sandia Mountains. Shopping is also pretty easy to do around here. There are three major malls, including two that are very close together.
That was quite possibly one of the strangest extended paragraphs I've read on these boards, and that's saying something.
P.S. If you mention that you are thinking about moving here, while in the same breath mention that you've been here once and were "not impressed", there are probably more, ahem, appropriate boards I could point you towards.
The first time I visited I was unimpressed to say the least. (This was a visit due to a forced relocation.) But subsequent visits proved the first one wrong, now I really like it!
I'm a retired teacher from the Bay Area, and I've lived in this part of the world for seven years now.
My question to the OP is: What are your reasons for considering Albuquerque if you visited once, albeit for only a short time, and were unimpressed?
Maybe a week or so of investigating the area would help you decide where you'd like to live next.
As someone on this forum once said, You don't choose New Mexico; it chooses you.
While living in SF, I was taken in by the Mission District's culture and
spent most of my time in SF among Spanish Speakers from different
Latin American countries.
The reason I chose New Mexico over Arizona: I love Mexico, if Mexico
were less violent, I'd be there tomorrow. The ultra conservative attitude
of Arizona keeps me out of that state; that said, if the Bay Area were more
affordable, it would also be a choice; but I liked Mexico more. I am considering
Albuquerque for the weather; and, possibly, the culture.
New Mexico struck me as being rather laid back. There are also
Native American reservations nearby, which is my own culture. Why I was
not impressed: a Sunday afternoon and Downtown is almost abandoned.
I wasn't sure if this was normal or not. What sets me apart form most other Native Americans:
I'm very corporate now. I am a former teacher who became in IT Manager before retiring,
my teaching now is voluntary, in Spanish. Here, Upstate NY, no one seems to want more knowledge;
English, or Spanish speakers. No wonder the Poverty rate is high here,
I came for the climate, but the culture is odd, I'll never get accustomed to this.
I like being friendly, multilingual, and compassionate. The
languages I spoke in Mexico were Spanish, Mandarin, and a tiny bit
of English (for the tourists). LOL
You might want to consider El Paso, TX as well. I haven't been there myself, but from what I've heard it's probably more like living in Mexico without actually being in Mexico than Albuquerque would be.
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