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Phoenix is one of the largest metros in the nation of course it's going to win the thread in most of those criteria.
However as someone who lives in Phoenix for half the year now and was raised there I'd rather live in Albuquerque. I dislike a lot of things about Phoenix but that's my personal opinion. It has nothing to do with the criteria listed, as I already stated Phoenix would do better on those. I personally believe my quality of life would be better in Albuquerque. But that would be my quality of life and I couldn't speak for anyone else.
Phoenix is nice, but it has never impressed me as a city. It's true that it is much bigger but for the most part it just feels like a bigger version of Albuquerque with a greater volume of what you will find here. Nothing there is really spectacularly or amazingly better than Albuquerque, IMO. Phoenix has the same problems as Albuquerque when it comes to crime, poverty, education and its economy. On its economy, consider that Phoenix has a GDP per capita of $47,000 while Albuquerque is close behind at $46,000. Not much difference there. It's only when you account for overall size that Phoenix crushes Albuquerque. But again, it's more a matter of greater volume due to size as opposed to truly being spectacularly ahead or advanced.
As for scenery, yeah, Phoenix has a beautiful desert setting, but Albuquerque has plenty of unique things going for it which set it apart. The Bosque along the Rio Grande and the various irrigation ditches lush with vegetation really provide Albuquerque with a natural green. Phoenix for the most part has chosen to make itself unnaturally green. The greater amount of lush landscaping there may be beautiful, but is it really wise in the long run? A lot of Albuquerque can be ugly because of the amount of gravel yard zeroscaping (as opposed to actual xeriscaping), but at least it isn't squandering its precious water resources to make the desert green.
Let's not even get into the disparity in the amount of private pools and water-hogging golf courses between the two cities. I think these things illustrate the main differences between the two cities. Phoenix cares about appearances and Albuquerque for the most part couldn't give a f*ck. This can be a bad thing for Albuquerque, but I think in the long run people appreciate a city like ours much more than a city like Phoenix.
Phoenix is nice, but it has never impressed me as a city. It's true that it is much bigger but for the most part it just feels like a bigger version of Albuquerque with a greater volume of what you will find here. Nothing there is really spectacularly or amazingly better than Albuquerque, IMO. Phoenix has the same problems as Albuquerque when it comes to crime, poverty, education and its economy. On its economy, consider that Phoenix has a GDP per capita of $47,000 while Albuquerque is close behind at $46,000. Not much difference there. It's only when you account for overall size that Phoenix crushes Albuquerque. But again, it's more a matter of greater volume due to size as opposed to truly being spectacularly ahead or advanced.
As for scenery, yeah, Phoenix has a beautiful desert setting, but Albuquerque has plenty of unique things going for it which set it apart. The Bosque along the Rio Grande and the various irrigation ditches lush with vegetation really provide Albuquerque with a natural green. Phoenix for the most part has chosen to make itself unnaturally green. The greater amount of lush landscaping there may be beautiful, but is it really wise in the long run? A lot of Albuquerque can be ugly because of the amount of gravel yard zeroscaping (as opposed to actual xeriscaping), but at least it isn't squandering its precious water resources to make the desert green.
Let's not even get into the disparity in the amount of private pools and water-hogging golf courses between the two cities. I think these things illustrate the main differences between the two cities. Phoenix cares about appearances and Albuquerque for the most part couldn't give a f*ck. This can be a bad thing for Albuquerque, but I think in the long run people appreciate a city like ours much more than a city like Phoenix.
Yes, maybe ABQ people appreciate it more. I think ABQ is a cute little city, but I want to add that while it is true that Phoenix has a greater volume of what you'll find in ABQ, it also offers a greater variety and standard of things that you simply will not find in ABQ, no matter how you choose to word it.
Regarding water usage, AZ leads most other states in water conservation (including New Mexico I believe), so I'm not quite sure why you had to interject that tidbit, unless you're pulling at straws to find ways of expressing your disdain for Phoenix.
In any case, it appears that New Mexico residents prefer to visit Arizona more than any other state based upon hotel bookings according to this site (scroll down), so we must be offering something: https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nat...a-top-our-list
Last edited by AZLiam; 03-05-2016 at 01:04 PM..
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