Tucson vs. Albuquerque (live, best, state, better)

[jimdc58]

From brief visits, my two favorite cities in the southwest are Tucson and Albuquerque. From what I have been able to garner, they are very similar. The differences as I can see are:
1. Tucson is slightly more populated.
2. Tucson is a (politically) blue city in a red state; Albuquerque is a purple city in a purple state.
3. Albuquerque is at a higher elevation, and thus gets marginally colder winters and more snow.

Please correct me if I am wrong on any of these conclusions, AND provide any other differences between the two cities. I am especially interested in artsy districts, the % of the population which is Hispanic, museums and entertainment, and crime.....but any input is helpful. Thanks.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Albuquerque and Tucson are peer cities, medium sized metros, fairly similar demographics, and both are college towns. Tucson does get a bit of a second city complex being in Phoenix's shadow as many C-D posters from Phoenix will always remind you of, Albuquerque is the primary hub city of its respective state. Tucson seems to have a cleaner and more vibrant downtown and a better and more eclectic college neighborhood feel and this will likely improve even more in the future with the new streetcar line connecting downtown, eclectic 4th Ave and the U of A campus. Tucson offers a better urban vibe and more walkable areas. Tucson has a bit more variety of vegetation with the saguaro cacti in the surrounding hills, palm trees, and a bit more greenery than Albuquerque.

Albuquerque has Santa Fe nearby (only an hour away) which is one of the country's and arts and cultural destination and a very beautiful area. Santa Fe offers a fairly diverse array of museums pertaining to art and NM's rich history and heritage. Access and roadtrips to Colorado about 3 -4 hours away with cool places like Durango, Telluride, and the San Juan mountains which has some of the best mountain scenery in the US. NM also has cool destinations like White Sands and Taos as well and if you like the idea of soaking in therapeutic hot springs Ojo Caliente is marvelous. Northern NM and nearby Southern Colorado offers great skiing venues if you're a winter recreation type of person.

If you're a big city type person and want occasional access to good shopping and entertainment or would like to have a major metro nearby then Albuquerque can feel very isolated with Denver 6-7 hours away and Phoenix is about the same distance. Tucson will put you much closer to Phoenix within 2 hours or less and access to SoCal in about 5-6 hours. In terms of crime, both cities have above average crime rates, picking the right neighborhood to live in is essential.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Also, this comparison between Tucson and Albuquerque has been done before in a very lengthy past thread.
http://www.city-data.com/forum/city-...tucson-56.html.
Problem here is you have to weed through several pages of boosting and bickering to get to any real substance so a new thread here comparing these two very similar peer medium sized Southwestern metros is probably a good thing. You should add a poll though.

[jimdc58]

Caphillsea77...thank you very much for the feedback. You are correct about the other thread.....lots of bickering.

Hopefully, I'll get some other responses here of substance. I'm not so concerned about which has the better sunset.

The proximity to larger cities, as you mentioned, has come to mind. But then, I have to consider, living here in Akron, just how often I ever go to Cleveland. I guess it's nice, but not a necessity.

Any opinions on the economies, housing, or crime comparisons of the two?

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Originally Posted by jimdc58

Caphillsea77...thank you very much for the feedback. You are correct about the other thread.....lots of bickering.

Hopefully, I'll get some other responses here of substance. I'm not so concerned about which has the better sunset.

The proximity to larger cities, as you mentioned, has come to mind. But then, I have to consider, living here in Akron, just how often I ever go to Cleveland. I guess it's nice, but not a necessity.

Any opinions on the economies, housing, or crime comparisons of the two?

Can't say I have an opinion on those three categories as I don't think either city has a wide advantage over the other in terms of those. Economy here is not bad but not great. Have you visited both cities? Was one city more impressionable to you than the other in any way?

[orzo]

I wouldn't describe Tucson as Blue and Albuquerque as Purple. They are both Purple. Sure, Tucson's reps are moderate democrats but a decent portion of the City leans conservative, like Albequerque.

For example, in 2008 people in Tucson voted for Obama over McCain by a relatively slim margin of 54% to 46%, and in 2004 it went 53% to 47% for Kerry. In Albequerque in 2008, Obama won by nearly 60% to 40%.

I'd say Tucson seems more liberal in comparison to the rest of Arizona than Albequerque does compared to the rest of New Mexico, because Arizona (and especially Phoenix) is very conservative overall. But politically I'd say the two cities are similar - in some respect Albuquerque feels a bit more left wing than Tucson, actually.

[orzo]

Originally Posted by caphillsea77

Tucson seems to have a cleaner and more vibrant downtown and a better and more eclectic college neighborhood feel and this will likely improve even more in the future with the new streetcar line connecting downtown, eclectic 4th Ave and the U of A campus. Tucson offers a better urban vibe and more walkable areas.

Maybe - but both cities are really lacking in terms of walkable areas outside of Downtown (or in Tucson's case - Downtown/4th Ave/University). Much of the rest of Tucson, like Albequerque, is strip malls, large 6-8 lane roads, and chains. Both cities have a walkscore of 48.

Also, until recently I would have argued that Albequerque had the more vibrant downtown, but Tucson's Downtown area has made significant improvements in the last few years (and the streetcar will be great) so it's close and Tucson may even surpass ABQ soon. But, again, I'd argue the two cities are on par in the categories of urbanity and walkability.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Originally Posted by orzo

Maybe - but both cities are really lacking in terms of walkable areas outside of Downtown (or in Tucson's case - Downtown/4th Ave/University). Much of the rest of Tucson, like Albuquerque, is strip malls, large 6-8 lane roads, and chains. .

This is true

Originally Posted by orzo

Also, until recently I would have argued that Albequerque had the more vibrant downtown, but Tucson's Downtown area has made significant improvements in the last few years (and the streetcar will be great) so it's close and Tucson may even surpass ABQ soon. But, again, I'd argue the two cities are on par in the categories of urbanity and walkability.

My first visit to Tucson was in this past spring and I was there for three days. While my tourist perspective may be a bit rosey, and a residents perhaps more jaded in bias terms, I would have to say downtown Tucson and surrounding areas have already well exceeded Albuquerque already. Downtown Tucson seemed cleaner, it's nearby historical district seemed more well-kept, and the eclectic 4th Ave district and retail area near the U of A campus all seemed a lot more cohesive to me and more inviting to the pedestrian than the Central Ave corridor in Albuquerque. Downtown Tucson, while it hasn't exactly arrived yet seemed pleasant enough with aesthetically nice civic spaces and plazas (ABQ's civic plaza is a brutalist 60's urban planning failure) and I found some trendy lounges that packed a good happy hour crowd. It's on its way up in a most palpable way and the coming streetcar line will only make it more successful.

Nob Hill/UNM area in Albuquerque is pretty cool and eclectic, but its only for a few blocks that it seems inviting and vibrant for the pedestrian and it's not cohesive to downtown. Old Town has its charm, but it's tiny and also not cohesive to downtown, though it could be. Central Ave between Old Town and downtown, and Nob Hill and downtown has too many dicey and derelict blocks and divey run down motels in between. Downtown ABQ itself is improving, though very slowly. There are some good dining options, nightlife, not so much as Nob Hill is better for that. The surrounding historical areas with charming craftsman homes don't seem very well kept. Albuquerque does have abundant character, and the Central Ave corridor could very well evolve into a very vibrant and cohesive urban corridor (perhaps with a light rail/streetcar between Old Town/Downtown/UNM-Nob Hill/Uptown shopping district), but ABQ tapping into that potential seems a like very long way off for now.
.

[orzo]

Originally Posted by caphillsea77

This is true



My first visit to Tucson was in this past spring and I was there for three days. While my tourist perspective may be a bit rosey, and a residents perhaps more jaded in bias terms, I would have to say downtown Tucson and surrounding areas have already well exceeded Albuquerque already. Downtown Tucson seemed cleaner, it's nearby historical district seemed more well-kept, and the eclectic 4th Ave district and retail area near the U of A campus all seemed a lot more cohesive to me and more inviting to the pedestrian than the Central Ave corridor in Albuquerque. Downtown Tucson, while it hasn't exactly arrived yet seemed pleasant enough with aesthetically nice civic spaces and plazas (ABQ's civic plaza is a brutalist 60's urban planning failure) and I found some trendy lounges that packed a good happy hour crowd. It's on its way up in a most palpable way and the coming streetcar line will only make it more successful.

Nob Hill/UNM area in Albuquerque is pretty cool and eclectic, but its only for a few blocks that it seems inviting and vibrant for the pedestrian and it's not cohesive to downtown. Old Town has its charm, but it's tiny and also not cohesive to downtown, though it could be. Central Ave between Old Town and downtown, and Nob Hill and downtown has too many dicey and derelict blocks and divey run down motels in between. Downtown ABQ itself is improving, though very slowly. There are some good dining options, nightlife, not so much as Nob Hill is better for that. The surrounding historical areas with charming craftsman homes don't seem very well kept. Albuquerque does have abundant character, and the Central Ave corridor could very well evolve into a very vibrant and cohesive urban corridor (perhaps with a light rail/streetcar between Old Town/Downtown/UNM-Nob Hill/Uptown shopping district), but ABQ tapping into that potential seems a like very long way off for now.
.

It's interesting, because in the early 2000s, ABQ clearly had the better and more vibrant downtown, but I suppose Tucson has made significant strides (especially in the last 5 years) while ABQ has remained more stagnant. Although, I will say that the couple of miles Central Avenue Corridor in ABQ stretching from Downtown to - I don't know - Washington in Nob Hill is more impressive than anything in Tucson in some ways. Sure, there are significant gaps but it's a longer relatively pedestrian-oriented corridor than anything in Tucson.

Also, I don't think you can disregard Old Town, as it is the type of neighborhood commercial district (albeit tourist-oriented) that Tucson completely lacks outside of its core area. I wouldn't say Old town is within ABQs core area as there is a long stretch without much between Downtown and Old Town.

[Champ le monstre du lac]

Originally Posted by orzo

Also, I don't think you can disregard Old Town, as it is the type of neighborhood commercial district (albeit tourist-oriented) that Tucson completely lacks outside of its core area. I wouldn't say Old town is within ABQs core area as there is a long stretch without much between Downtown and Old Town.

Old Town is cute, all 2-3 blocks of it. I take visitors from out of town there when a margarita and some New Mexican food is in order. It's a nice place to be around the holidays or when one of the little festivals are happening. Everytime I suggest going there to my partner, he usually responds "why don't we just take a ride up to Santa Fe instead"? I usually oblige.