Where in Albuquerque can you get a small town feel? (home, private school)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If you only go to places where there are never any criminals then you have no place to go.
Any mall, anywhere, is going to have arrests. They are a shoplifter's paradise. I have never seen anyone get arrested at Coronado but I have no doubt it happens there, at Cottonwood, and ABQ Uptown. If someone shows me there are 10 times more arrests at Coronoado than Cottonwood it still wouldn't faze me, I'm going to go there anyway. I always get lost around Cottonwood, the traffic there scares me more than any shoplifter.
Lol, the traffic around Cottonwood is definitely horrendous! Well, everyone has their own opinions and comfort levels. So that way all the malls get plenty of business .
Don't get me wrong, I still go to Coronado on occasion, but it's not my top choice. I know that crime happens everywhere. But I have never witnessed arrests at the other places, and I have witnessed multiple arrests at Coronado - and that is with going there only 1-2 times per year compared to going to the other two malls 1-2 times per month. That is a turn off for me.
It's great that you feel safe and comfortable there. However when I see people getting arrested there, that tells me that clearly there is SOME kind of criminal activity going on there . And it's not as if this is a rarity. As for classifying certain elements of society as unfavorable, yes, criminals are unfavorable in my opinion.
I've seen on the news people getting arrested at Cottonwood and even someone who was killed at ABQ Uptown not too long ago. Does that mean I won't ever go there? No, of course not.
The Walmarts at Coors and I-40 and at San Mateo and Zuni are the two I frequent most often. They've been on the news recently because of thefts, car chases, and even a few shootings and one stabbbing in the last two years, but that doesn't mean I'm going to go out of my way and shop somewhere else because I think I'd be more safe. In all honesty when I'm at those two stores I don't feel threatened at all, I'm too annoyed having to deal with rude people and then having to wait in those ridiculously long check-out lines.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marmom
Also, there are young Hispanic kids everywhere in Albuquerque (Cottonwood mall, etc), so I really don't know what your point here is.
When I've read here and on other sites about this "thug" element at Coronado it's always been clear to me who you and others are talking about. But who are the "thugs" you are referring to then? And how do you know they are thugs?
Quote:
Originally Posted by karmathecat
The Disney Store had to close the Coronado location even though they had 2x the sales of the Cottonwood store. Reason? 4x the theft rate.
When did the Disney Store close?? LOL. I was in there not that long ago.
Quote:
Originally Posted by aries63
If you only go to places where there are never any criminals then you have no place to go.
Any mall, anywhere, is going to have arrests. They are a shoplifter's paradise. I have never seen anyone get arrested at Coronado but I have no doubt it happens there, at Cottonwood, and ABQ Uptown. If someone shows me there are 10 times more arrests at Coronoado than Cottonwood it still wouldn't faze me, I'm going to go there anyway. I always get lost around Cottonwood, the traffic there scares me more than any shoplifter.
Aries63 has it right and sums up my feelings perfectly.
I believe the store closed in May. We went a couple of times, to buy things on clearance and the manager of the store told me about the reasons for closing.
I will go to Coronado, but I do tend to see more groups of young men, Hispanic and other ethnicities, wandering around, no bags in hand, trying to look intimidating in their gang colors and ridiculous shorts than I do at Cottonwood or especially Uptown. Perhaps they're looking for the now-closed Disney store.
Disney Store Locator | Disney Store (http://www.disneystore.com/misc/disney-store-locator/c/61992/ - broken link)
I will go to Coronado, but I do tend to see more groups of young men, Hispanic and other ethnicities, wandering around, no bags in hand, trying to look intimidating in their gang colors and ridiculous shorts than I do at Cottonwood or especially Uptown. Perhaps they're looking for the now-closed Disney store.
Ah, just as I thought. What absurd reasons to classify people a certain way. I often see a lot of young guys in cargo shorts wandering around with no shopping cart at Target. Sometimes I'll say "hello" or "excuse me" whenever I pass by them, yet they almost never respond. Does that mean they are trying to be intimidating? Or are they looking for their wives?
If a 20 year old young man chooses to hang out with his friends during the day in a mall and chooses to dress in the manner that many gang members do, he is classifying himself.
If a 20 year old young man chooses to hang out with his friends during the day in a mall and chooses to dress in the manner that many gang members do, he is classifying himself.
He does not need me to do it.
You're classifying them as someone out to make trouble based on how they look. Why can't they just be hanging out at the mall with their friends? I mean, that's hardly a novel concept for young kids, of any stripe. Do they not have the same right to be at the mall as you?
To think I took my then-82-year-old mother on her walker to Coronado so she could get her Nantucket Brier perfume at Crabtree & Evelyn. I suppose that was reckless endangerment and elder abuse? I'm surprised we got in and out without getting mugged a few times by someone in baggy shorts, or pistol-whipped by a cowboy wannabe from Western Warehouse. But then she has been disapproving of young people's clothing since about 1965 so it doesn't really bug her anymore.
I think that aries63 is right, classification of a person as a thug based on appearence is not the best way to go. But don't discount those gut feelings folks. Sometimes the warning bell is going off because the brain is seeing activity you aren't recognizing. I hope this helps though.
There are about 90 gangs and subsets in Albuquerque, not every WS'r knows every other WS'r...etc so the form separate groups.
There are about 10,000 to 12,000 gang members and wanna-be's. They are not all blood thirsty animals (we all have mom's folks) but criminal activity is a way of life in gangs. Drugs, disrespect for females, petty crime to act out and violent crime to prove status.
The predominate gangs in Albuq identifiy themselves through items of clothing. That's what you want to look for. Hats for example are really common. Washington Nationals hats are worn by WestSiders as well as DC hats, (Both the ska8er, and the team) White Sox Hats (WS = WHITESOX to you but West Side to them) and the number 23 (23= w in the alphabet)..etc, belt buckles, sunglasses, jersey's are all fav's. And then there are Tattoos....ooo boy. Too much to go into there. Other hats though that have meanings are the Pittsburgh hats, P for Los Padillas(a street gang involved in drugs) Boston Hats for Brewtown (North Vally Gang), Nebraska hats for Nortenos, Seattle hats for South Side, Cincinatti Twins hat or Cubs hats for TCK (Another and very violent street gang out of the south valley.)...etc so before you decide that they are gang members look for those hats. Then weigh the odds if they are fans. There are so many more but I don't have the time: Tampa Bay, Kansas City, LA. The color blue,red, etc.
There are fans out there too of those teams so don't everyone jump on me. But those are a good start of what to look out for in gang activity. Hope that helps.
And I see a lot of them at Coronado mall.
Last edited by West Side Shopper; 09-15-2010 at 01:48 PM..
You're classifying them as someone out to make trouble based on how they look. Why can't they just be hanging out at the mall with their friends? I mean, that's hardly a novel concept for young kids, of any stripe. Do they not have the same right to be at the mall as you?
Agreed, thats everywhere. Not just in Albuquerque.
You're classifying them as someone out to make trouble based on how they look.
While it's true you cannot tell everything about a person based on how they look, people often make statements about who they are with their appearance, and it is a natural tendency to judge people based on appearance. I'm not saying this is right or wrong, I am saying it's a tendency.
This is true of someone who chooses to get gang related tattoos and walk around with those tattoos exposed. Or the person who chooses to walk around throwing gang signs. This person is saying "I am in a gang." It's also true of the person who dresses in head to toe in the Harley Davidson gear. This person is saying "I like Harley Davidson." Or the woman who wears huge blingy diamonds and drives a BMW. She is saying "Look at me, I have money." Or the person who wears dreadlocks and hemp clothes. Or the person who wears a crucifix around their neck. Or people who dress emo or goth. Or people who wear sports related paraphernalia. My point is that it is not at all uncommon for people to be making a personal statement about who they are, what they believe, etc in how they present themselves to the world.
As for your question about who I classify as a thug - well, generally when I see someone being hauled off in handcuffs I think something along the lines of thug. No, I do not think that about every young Hispanic kid wearing baggy pants. Otherwise I would think that about half my family. I am more focused on the behavior. When I see gang signs, yes, I think thug. There are definite negative associations with gangs. I do not think all gang members are bad. I've known some and my husband works with them. Many of them are just kids in unfortunate circumstances. But there is definitely a correlation between gangs and crime. If you want to act like I am some kind of intolerant judgmental weenie because I don't embrace gangs, that is fine, you are entitled to your opinion... If you want to act like I am a jerk because I (with my 1 and 3 year old daughters) prefer to go places where I believe crime is less likely to occur, that is fine too . If you want to point out how everything I say is wrong in your opinion, hey, that's cool too!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
. 
. And it's not as if this is a rarity. As for classifying certain elements of society as unfavorable, yes, criminals are unfavorable in my opinion.
