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I was attracted by hours of trying to find the "perfect" place to live on the internet. Google Image Search produced some outstanding photographs. When we visited, my pale-skinned Alaskan-born wife-to-be did not like it as much. I'm hoping to one day sway her, because I believe I could happily spend about 100 years in New Mexico.
I would say that I like the Sandia Mountains and the great views you get of them the most. I also like how you can go some of the outer parts of the city and get fantastic views of what I think of as the city's three skylines: Downtown, Uptown, and San Mateo/Central.
I love the variety here. Families that can trace their heritage back to the original Spanish land grants. Native Americans (the various pueblos are fascinating). Newcomers from everywhere, US and other countries. The religious right and the liberal left. The straights and the gays. Christians, Jews, Athiests and Agnostics. White, black, red, brown, shades between. College educated and HS dropouts. I could go on, but you get the drift. For the most part, we all get along. You don't see that in every city. Folks are friendly. I can say "hello" and no one looks at me like I'm going to mug them. I can have real conversations with teenagers here (thank you, ABQ parents!). It's OK to have differing political views here.
The LOW crime. Yes, you read that right. LOW crime. I've been here over 3 years now with no problems and I go all over this city at all kinds of hours. I ride the bus, too. There are many other cities I've lived in that I can't say that about (Miami and Houston come to mind).
The weather. Four seasons and more sunshine than Florida, you can't beat that. I even like our winters. Beautiful sunsets and gorgeous blue skies.
Our tax rate isn't so bad. I look at AZ taxes and cringe.
Lots of space and a mountain with a personality.
It's not a perfect place, but the pros continue to outweigh the cons.
To follow up on the comments about views: I think it's really cool how from some vantage points (east of downtown) the western horizon line is at or above the top of the tallest buildings downtown. I'm not used to seeing anything like that.
The views are great here. I just gave in and bought a car, so hopefully I'll be enjoying that more in the near future. (Now I just need to learn how to drive.)
I remember talking to someone who has lived here for many years (though she did not grow up here) about the view of the volcanoes out my apartment window (not the one I'm currently living in). She said: "Volcanoes?! What volcanoes?" I am amazed that someone could live her for so long without having enough curiosity to learn a little about the basic geography.
Honestly, the only thing keeping me here at the moment is the fact that I have a job I love. If I'm ever unfortunate enough to lose my job, I'm gone. Albuquerque is okay, but I'm still young and I still have a whole lot of world left to discover.
I'm a rare person here in ABQ, having been born in the city in the mid 60's. As a kid I lived in Las Cruces and Valencia County but when I turned 18 I felt I hated it here and wanted to leave. So I moved away for the next 26 years and lived all over the world, finally settling in Louisiana. For 20 of those years, I wanted to come back to live (instead of visiting my family & friends for 2 wks/year). Finally Life enabled me to make the move, so I am back and I will never live anywhere else again.
I have a deep love for ABQ and NM for the following reasons (including the fact that the scenery makes an amature iPhone photographer like me look good) : **Note that all photos were taken within an 45 min drive of downtown ABQ**
Casa de Tierra Rojo y Luminarias
Chevy On a Stick
Tijeras Canyon Sunrise
Sandias y Single Speed
Summer Afternoon Monsoon over ABQ
Riding the Dragon's Back at White Mesa
XC Skiing on Sandia Peak
~NM Love pix by my talented photographer friends~
(where else can you get this much scenery happening into one photograph?)
Last edited by N8!; 01-12-2011 at 04:33 PM..
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