Fearful (Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Roswell: apartments, condo, hotel)

[Cali-girl]

Originally Posted by finmqa1

These are high-end retailers, what you're talking about are Luxury Retailers. BCBG is high end as is Loop the Denim store at ABQ Uptown, Coach is coming as is Sephora. You will see many more join them in 2007 and beyond. And as for Luxury retailers, Neiman is being recruited and they are scouting a few location. I will admit, I personal do not feel ABQ is ready for Neiman, but certainly Nordstrom would do well.

On another note, someone mentioned if you move here with the right frame of mind you will be enjoy it. This couldn't be more true, my wife moved here in 2001 when Gap moved part of their Corporate Office from San Francisco to ABQ. She absolutely loves it here, she likes the four seasons, and more importantly she likes be able to buy a good size house and still have disposible income left over after paying the mortgage. Of course she misses the museums, parks, and urban core, but we are able to visit often enough.

Hello!

OK, so you are an older man. For future reference, you may want to note that in today's parlance "high-end" means "luxury retailer." (I forgot to include Barney'sNY in that mix, but will add it here. Apologies to fashionistas.) My brother works for GAP, and Corporate is in San Francisco, *not* ALBQ. Sephora has no plans to move here to NM. And neither does NM. (Call them.) The stores you mention (Coach, etc) are NOT high-end.
Respectfully stated: Poverty has no room for recruitment strategies.

That's NM.

~Cali-girl

[LLD]

responsible gun owners somehow made crime go down? Sorry, how does that go? And is there some study showing any kind of correlation.

I'm sort of surprised at the hyperbole I'm seeing here. I nearly fell over when someone suggested you get a gun to feels safe here. Goodness!

I don't doubt any of the personal experiences but you can't generalize to a whole city based on a few personal anecdotal experiences. Statistics don't work that way.

From what I've read the crime rate has been decreasing. But NM still does have a relatively high crime rate. In that Forbes article that rated Albuquerque as #1 for business and careers, it said that Albuquerque had dropped to 173rd in 2006 from 129th in 2005 for cities with the highest crime rates.

Here's an article from Sep 2006 in the New Mexico Business Weekly titled City Cirme Rate Dropping Overall, But Varies Across Town. It has all kinds of interesting stats on various parts of town and some good commentary. You can find it here: http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/a...04/focus3.html

[finmqa1]

Cali Girl - please follow the Gap link below which will show Corporate jobs in San Francisco, New York, and believe it or not Albuquerque. The office in ABQ is where I met my wife. http://www.gapinc.com/public/Careers/car_wwd_hq.shtml
However, my argument here is not over retail, and we can certainly agree to disagree. My argument with this thread is that ABQ and NM are portrayed as some Wild West Shoot Em Up state, which I have to disagree with entirely. There are many problems here, as there are in just about any city in the U.S. You just need to know which neighborhoods to stay out of.

[_yb]

Three lifetime criminals were put out of business permenatly in December alone by homeowners protecting themselves and there property. Something that the judical system failed many, many times to do.
A man in Tome was nearly killed last night when a car thief tried to use the car he was stealing to run him over. The man was able to get a shot into the theif. That car thief will live but he will certainly have to think hard about stealing another car.


Albuquerque police spokeswoman Trish Hoffman said:
"Hopefully this is going to send a message to people who are breaking into homes," "They're engaging in very dangerous behavior, not only to the people they're robbing, but to themselves."

DA Brandenberg says "You have the right to defend yourself from someone who's broken into your home,"

I know it's baby steps LLD but don't you think every little bit helps?

[LLD]

Ah okay I see what you mean. That there have been a few incidents where gun owners positively affected things. I was just struck by the way you phrased things -- that somehow responsible gun owners were responsible for the overall drop in crime. I don't think that is the case and never will be.

Unfortunately there are all kinds of other negative incidents with guns too like accidental shootings. And I'm not sure the few criminals stopped here and there by gun owners outweights those deaths.

That's just my take. I don't like guns, never have and I'm a total supporter of more and better gun control. I have no problem with responsible gun owners if they have had the proper background checks and the proper training.

[_yb]

Originally Posted by LLD

That there have been a few incidents where gun owners positively affected things.

The Tome incident was last night. The other three were from December alone. There are more than just a few incidents where responsible gun ownership positively affected things

Originally Posted by LLD

That's just my take. I don't like guns, never have and I'm a total supporter of more and better gun control. I have no problem with responsible gun owners if they have had the proper background checks and the proper training.

Unfortunatly criminals do NOT adhere to your way of thinking.

I'm sure our gun rights will be eroded soon enough. It all starts with a few "high end" shopping centers that someone from CA thinks we need for NM to be a great place to live. Then they will say we need to mirror the laws of Kalifornia for NM to be a great place to live.

[winnie]

Originally Posted by LLD

That's just my take. I don't like guns, never have and I'm a total supporter of more and better gun control. I have no problem with responsible gun owners if they have had the proper background checks and the proper training.

There is something to be said for NM and TX here. In NM you can defend your home or car and not be looked at as a criminal. Up here in many parts of NY and the New England people look at you like you are the criminal if you are a law abiding gun owner. Criminals have no fear here they just abuse citizens and take what they will with little fear of reprocussion because the state govt practically wants the victim to jump out their second floor window as their wife is getting raped and the house burglarized rather than taking action to defend himself.

My first week in TX I saw a pickup truck with a bumper sticker saying "this vehicle protected by Remmington" that pretty much sums it all up LOL! I am happy that the southwest still allows their citizens to defend their castle because up here law abiding people and victims seem to be losing their rights. If criminals up here thought there was a chance they would catch some buckshot in the a$$ when breaking into a home or carjacking someone I think it would make a huge difference.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by winnie

There is something to be said for NM and TX here. In NM you can defend your home or car and not be looked at as a criminal. Up here in many parts of NY and the New England people look at you like you are the criminal if you are a law abiding gun owner. Criminals have no fear here they just abuse citizens and take what they will with little fear of reprocussion because the state govt practically wants the victim to jump out their second floor window as their wife is getting raped and the house burglarized rather than taking action to defend himself.

My first week in TX I saw a pickup truck with a bumper sticker saying "this vehicle protected by Remmington" that pretty much sums it all up LOL! I am happy that the southwest still allows their citizens to defend their castle because up here law abiding people and victims seem to be losing their rights. If criminals up here thought there was a chance they would catch some buckshot in the a$$ when breaking into a home or carjacking someone I think it would make a huge difference.

Winnie, I could not agree more. Having grown up in (and still currently living in my home state of TX).....it really shocks me to see that gun ownership rights are so restricted in some other states.

You attempt to rob my house..? If I'm home, you will get a .357 magnum in your face.

That same .357 magnum is going with me to NM/CO....or wherever else I end up.

[Cali-girl]

Originally Posted by finmqa1

Cali Girl - please follow the Gap link below which will show Corporate jobs in San Francisco, New York, and believe it or not Albuquerque. The office in ABQ is where I met my wife. http://www.gapinc.com/public/Careers/car_wwd_hq.shtml
However, my argument here is not over retail, and we can certainly agree to disagree. My argument with this thread is that ABQ and NM are portrayed as some Wild West Shoot Em Up state, which I have to disagree with entirely. There are many problems here, as there are in just about any city in the U.S. You just need to know which neighborhoods to stay out of.

Hello!

Politely disagree: The ALBQ office is just that, a GAP Inc. company office but it is not Corporate Headquarters (San Fransisco) and should not be interpreted as anything other than that.

~Cali-girl

[bigglynals]

Originally Posted by gaby

Hi everyone-

My husband and I are seriously thinking of moving to Albuquerque in August. We have only visited two times. The first time nothing bad happened but I just had a gut feeling that there was something very dangerous about the city. I know this sounds nuts but I am someone who pays close attention to "gut feelings." The second time we had a much better time and stayed with an aquaintance.

To make a long story short the fear is still nagging and I have been doing research on the safety of the city. Now that i found this webiste I am completely panicking. Is it really as bad as all of you say? I'm just not sure how an entire state or city could be so awful in this country. Even Louisiana is not that way. I feel that it must be an exaggeration. However, reading this website makes me seriously want to reconsider moving there.

Am I going to be a victim of a crime if I try to raise a family in New Mexico?

Please help us so that we don't make a huge mistake.

Thanks!
Becca

My husband & I were born & raised here in ABQ. While growing up, it was a great city. There are definitley pluses to living here:
-Weather is mild, no extreemes (well, maybe fires in rural)
-great outdoors stuff, good bike trails along the Rio Grande river
-Sandia mts, the Tram
-rich culture, historical sites (old town, petroglyph national park, route 66)
-affordable housing
-good university, UNM

Minuses:
- a lot of crime. My husband's truck got broken into 2x in 2 mo..different locations & in "good" neighborhoods. We witnessed a drive-by shooting. Our home we're in now (a really good neighborhood near Rio Rancho); the guy down the street shot/killed a guy breaking into his car.
-poverty
-bad economy
- big gang problems
-big drunk driving problems
-it's getting too crowed & making the traffic get worse. My husband & I lived 20min north of Boston & ABQ traffic is worse than where we lived!
-schools are very poor. There are a few good ones in-throughtout diff neighborhoods, but the majority dont get enough funding for educational tools. I taught in the ABQ school district. Classes are overcrowed & the administration is very disorganized & turns the other cheek to a lot of problems.

I would go w/ your gut feeling. My husband & I are moving to Co in the spring; we dont feel this is a good or safe environment to raise our 16 month old. Listen to that little voice in your head & just pray you'll make the right decision. Best of luck!