Albuquerque vs Charlotte. which is preferred?

[jell-o94]

Having lived in a city situated at the edge of Chihuahuan desert of Northern Mexico for years and now living in central TX, I'm very much familiar with Southwestern US atmosphere. I've been to almost all of the cities in NM -- ABQ, Las Cruces, Santa Fe, Hatch(known for Hatch Green Chile!), and El Paso, TX... Now kind of tired of all the dryness, hot, dead-looking environment. Don't get me wrong. I actually do love 'desert'. Anything in NC cannot match all these gorgeous National Parks in NM. And I know there are beautifully forested mountains in NM & CO. But actually miss all the lushness and greeneries you get in the Eastern US. Charlotte just has more diversity, much stronger universities, proximity to major cities, etc. Charlotte is my cup of tea.

[Prickly Pear]

Originally Posted by jell-o94

Having lived in a city situated at the edge of Chihuahuan desert of Northern Mexico for years and now living in central TX, I'm very much familiar with Southwestern US atmosphere. I've been to almost all of the cities in NM -- ABQ, Las Cruces, Santa Fe, Hatch(known for Hatch Green Chile!), and El Paso, TX... Now kind of tired of all the dryness, hot, dead-looking environment. Don't get me wrong. I actually do love 'desert'. Anything in NC cannot match all these gorgeous National Parks in NM. And I know there are beautifully forested mountains in NM & CO. But actually miss all the lushness and greeneries you get in the Eastern US. Charlotte just has more diversity, much stronger universities, proximity to major cities, etc. Charlotte is my cup of tea.

You're absolutely right it's all about preferences.

When it comes down to the nitty gritty I would rather be in a prettier area with a "worse" city than a better city in an "uglier" area. I enjoy having beautiful, open spaces. I don't imagine Charlotte would satisfy me in that area where Albuquerque would.

City amenities while important aren't that big on my list. The ultimate con with having all those city amenities is high COL and traffic. My favorite thing about living in the Southwest is the slower pace of life here. In my vacations where I visited places with faster paces of life (DC, NYC, LA, etc.) I felt stressed and even uncomfortable--in the sense that the people felt cold--and I would rather not deal with that.