Considering Relocating to ABQ (Albuquerque, Rio Rancho: sales, apartment complexes, low crime)

[DesMoinesNative]

My wife and I have lived in Des Moines, IA our whole lives. We are now considering Albuquerque or Rio Rancho as a new place to move our family. I have a couple of questions, I hope I can get answers for. For starters I am African American and would like to know is there a pretty good sized African American population in these two cities. And is Albuquerque or Rio Rancho a good place to raise elementary aged children

[consultant]

I am from Iowa also (Adel) and am relocating to Albuquerque within two weeks. I am a Caucasian female senior and am relocating for a job opportunity. I have lived in Arizona for the past three years. I have been told the African American population is small ... the hispanic population is, of course, much larger. I don't know about raising a family there ... Iowa used to be a good place, however, I believe that has changed. I've heard Rio Rancho is a very nice place to live. Depending on your financial situation, I believe there is a community between Albuquerque and Sante Fe that is beautiful and outstanding .... also very expensive. Albuquerque is windy, or so I've been told ..... Iowa is windy also. Climate is FAR better than Iowa. There is little grass .... when the wind blows, the dirt blows also. I'll know more next month.

[DesMoinesNative]

Thanks Consultant any info I can get is welcome. I'm interested to know what more you'll find out thanks again

[corraleno]

The African-American population here is fairly small, but Albuquerque is a pretty open and very multicultural place. If you are looking for a place where there will be a large AA community to tie into, NM probably wouldn't be your first choice, but if you are looking for a place where race is much less of an issue than it is in most other parts of the country, then Albuquerque is a great place.

One of the reasons we chose NM, after living in England for 10 years, was because we have an adopted Vietnamese daughter and we were looking for a place where her race would not be an issue. Whenever we visit friends or relatives back East or in the South, people constantly ask me where she's from, was she adopted, etc. Even though the Asian population in Albuquerque is even smaller than the African-American population, no one ever says a thing, except how cute she is. The fact that she's Asian is not a big deal here. (Whereas it apparently is a big deal to every Walmart cashier in New Jersey. )

I've never found any of the inter-racial awkwardness here that I so often experience in the East or the South -- the subtle stuff like not making eye contact, or putting the change on the counter to avoid touching someone, or African-Americans being followed around stores by suspicious sales clerks, that kind of crap. People are really open and friendly here, and many people are a "mix" of something: Hispanic/Anglo, Native American/Hispanic, or whatever, so I think there is generally less race consciousness. Whites are the minority in NM, and that makes a big difference in terms of people being treated just as people, rather than as "minorities."

As for the school system, that is another story. The public school system here is pretty bad. My kids are in a private Montessori school, which we love -- very muticultural, excellent academics, but also very expensive. There are some good public (free) charter schools here, but application is by lottery, so there is no guarantee of admission. Several good private schools, and a number of Christian/Catholic schools, too. NM is excellent for home-schooling, if you have any interest in that, and they have a "Family School" program that is 4 half-days a week, to be supplemented by home-schooling.

I don't know anything about the Rio Rancho school system, and I have no idea if African-American kids would be bullied more than any other kids in the schools there, or in Albuquerque. Corrales Elementary is one of the better public schools in NM and pretty progressive, with lots of parent involvement, but housing is more expensive here -- expect to pay at least $300K for a 3BR house on an acre of land (versus maybe $200K for a 3BR on a 1/4 acre lot in RR). It is a great little town, though, between Rio Rancho and the Rio Grande river, on the northern border of Albuquerque. Very rural and family friendly, very safe (low crime, no gangs) and a great place to raise kids.

I hope that helps some, if you have any other questions, I will try to check back tomorrow.

[DesMoinesNative]

Thanks Corraleno I am actually looking for that diversity, and in doing my research on the public school system in ABQ you answered my question about private schools.

I'm also wondering about of course crime, I know there is more then in Des Moines because its a larger city but is it really as bad as I'm hearing?

[6 FOOT 3]

DesMoinesNative....This is a very diverse state as i believed the last census showed New Mexico the most diverse state in the nation. Hispanics are the majority followed by Anglos then Native Americans and then African Americans. There is also lots of mix races as the other poster noted. I used to live in Jacksonville, Fla and it was bad there as Whites and Blacks had a mistrust of each other and i was very uncomfortable being around that type of setting.

Rio Rancho from what i understand has a very good school system and New Mexico has made great strides over the last 4 or 5 years in new school reforms and standards, higher teacher pay and 2 billion dollars of state and local bonds of new construction. I'm a life long Military Republican (Go Navy) but i think Gov.Richardson is doing a good job to move the state forward.

You may want to explore the old forts (ruins) along the Rio Grande as in the 1880's the ''Buffalo Soilder'' regiments were station here to help support the army in its battles with the Apaches. (Ft.Cummins, Ft.Selden and Ft.Craig)

[corraleno]

Originally Posted by DesMoinesNative

Thanks Corraleno I am actually looking for that diversity, and in doing my research on the public school system in ABQ you answered my question about private schools.

I'm also wondering about of course crime, I know there is more then in Des Moines because its a larger city but is it really as bad as I'm hearing?

Albuquerque has very high crime statistics, but they are somewhat misleading. A large percentage of the crime is in the barrio in the South Valley, and much of it is drug/gang related. There are other areas (like Corrales) that have practically no crime. Rio Rancho seems to have a fair number of drug busts, but what I see on the news is mostly confined to low-income apartment complexes, and there doesn't seem to be much violent crime there, other than domestic abuse type issues. Also, RR is a very spread out town, and there are many many developments of single-family housing that seem safe and family friendly.

Rio Rancho is also pretty self-contained, in the sense that there are lots of shops and businesses, a good medical system (lots of doctors and dentists, a good Urgent Care clininc, and a couple of nearby hospitals) and there is a huge mall and shopping complex just south of it that has everything you would need. I go into Albuquerque maybe a couple of times a month, and most of the northside is quite safe. There is the occasional drug bust or hold-up, like any big city, but as long as you are not spending a lot of time in the barrio or around the airforce base, it's a lot safer than you would think from the statistics. I lived in Los Angeles for about 12 years, and I feel much safer here! I would certainly not let the crime statistics stop you from moving here.

One caveat is that I've heard there are a lot of drugs in the public schools, but I'm not sure if that's avoidable in any city these days. I think it's more a matter of teaching our kids not to be stupid, rather than trying to make sure they never see it. There is a really cool charter high school downtown (the Amy Biehl School) which focuses on issues of social responsibility and community action, and I've heard that the kids there are more academically oriented and less into drugs than many other high schools. There is also a new science and math charter high school that is part of the "High Tech High" system (sponsored by Bill Gates). It's located on the University of NM campus and is supposed to be very good (and strict -- kids wear uniforms and the curriculum is quite intense). Admission is by lottery, but there are probably enough decent charter schools here that you could apply to several and get into at least one. We are looking into Amy Biehl and High Tech High as possibilities for our kids in the future (they're currently in pre-K and 3rd grade)

Other than possible school issues (and those are probably solvable), I would highly recommend Rio Rancho, and the Albuquerque metro area, as a place to raise kids. There are so many great activities for kids here: a zoo, aquarium, and botanic garden, a great Museum of Natural History with lots of hands-on exhibits and kids activities, a Planetarium, a hands-on children's science museum (Explora), lots of parks and summer programs, etc. Albuquerque also has a large university, and the cultural opportunities that go with that (diverse musical concerts and theater performances, interesting movies, lots of bookstores, etc.). Not to mention the great weather, which means kids can play outside all the time!