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.
Santa Fe attracts a totally different transplant crowd than Albuquerque. Many of the Albuquerque transplant retirees (not rich Texans or Californians) are here to take advantage of the lower COL and (former) home affordability because they were downsizing and trying to escape weather or density. We have a goldilocks climate and there are places to live with a little room to breathe.
Rio Rancho is 3rd largest city in the state and will probably surpass Las Cruces in a few years. My daughter is looking for a house, so we have been looking at neighborhoods on both sides of the river but in a reasonable price range (not too many of those). There are some nice established areas. There are a few not so nice.
I hear a lot of complaints about traffic but if you come from a bigger metro area, this is not congested at all. The only problem is that folks like to run red lights -- not red enough to stop -- so it pays to be cautious when the light turns green.
Yes, rich transplants don't bother with Albuquerque or Rio Rancho, which are very working-class cities. They turn up their noses at us. Albuquerque's climate, although getting warmer, is what keeps me here. I can't tolerate the humidity east of the "dry line", but like four seasons with snow in the mountains, not much in town.
I don't envy your daughter (or the OP) shopping for houses in this market!
Quote:
Originally Posted by NunnaUrbiz
On a different note, if I look at ABQ as four quadrants bisected N/S by I-40 and E/W by I-25, it seems the SE quadrant has a lot of homes with bars over the windows and doors. Should I read anything into that?
The official quadrant division lines are the Railroad (dividing E from W) and Central Ave. (dividing N from S).
There shouldn't be many houses with bars on windows in your price range, but what you read into it is up to you. You probably know Albuquerque has a high property crime rate. Homeowners respond to this in different ways. I lived for over 25 years in the SE part of town and never had bars on my windows in three different houses (two that I rented and one that I owned). I did have an apartment for a couple of years in the North Valley (NW quadrant) which had bars.
There are probably dozens if not hundreds of references on this forum inquiring or mentioning the (seemingly) common practice of installing external bars on residential windows (and doors in some cases) in Albuquerque and (sometimes) in Rio Rancho. In reality, it is not as common as it seems, but it draws negative attention when someone visits. Some neighborhoods have it and some don't. Many of the homes I see with window bars are from the 1950-1970 era when the city would have been experiencing growth significant. Few, if any, from the 1990s to today have bars. You don't see many "old" homes with window bars or bars installed on new construction homes. You don't see them on apartments or townhomes.
I've heard several explanations. Many relate to the fear of crime or the notion that crime is rampant in Albuquerque. If so, do criminals only go after homes from the 1950-1970 era?
The most convincing explanation has to do with swamp (evaporative) coolers. Many (most) homes in Albuquerque are cooled by swamp coolers, not air conditioning. With swamp coolers you need to keep windows open slightly (and unlocked) to allow the cool/damp air coming into the house a means of exiting. Therefore, as a homeowner, you might think that an open or unlocked window would allow easy access to someone with evil intentions. Albuquerque grew rapidly from about 35,000 in 1940 to over 500k by 2010 so folks in the 1950s-1970s were transitioning from small town to urban city. Small-town crime was also becoming city crime. It was common for homes to be empty if husband and wife were working.
In recent years "refrigerated air" (AKA air conditioning) has been more commonly in use. I recall advertisers as recently as ten years ago trying to educate homeowners that they had to shut the windows and keep the AC on 24/7, unlike swamp coolers. ABQ has a lot of transplants coming from places where AC is the common cooling system. I was skeptical of swamp coolers when I moved here from the Midwest, but mine does a bang-up job at a fraction of the cost of AC. (I don't have bars on my windows.)
ALB seems like Tucson in that there aren't "good" and "bad" neighborhoods. It seems there are expensive homes situated next to run down houses. That said, are there preferred areas in terms of lower crime, less traffic, newer homes? In the past, I would have referred to these as "areas in transition" (in a positive sense.)
What can I expect to pay for a 2-3 BR, 2 BA, 1800 sqft home with a 500 sqft studio/casita on 1/2 acre? Thanks for any input.
Just fyi: You mentioned that you weren't exactly young, so I thought I'd bring up healthcare. NM isn't exactly known for its great healthcare. But, to be fair, healthcare all over The US has gone to H.
That's the most logical, rational explanation I've heard. I'd never had a swamp cooler so don't know how they work. Even my motorhome has a heat pump! OK, so I won't draw any conclusions from bars over windows and doors but may still look askance at old dead cars leaking oil on the yards and/or neighborhood "youths" exchanging pharmaceuticals on the street corners. LOL
One reason I'm looking at ABQ is the good reputation of Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center. Currently, I'm at NAVAHCS (Northern AZ VA Healthcare System) one of the best. Plus, as you note, health care in general in the US is declining rapidly. I recently cancelled my United Healthcare coverage bc they messed up (possibly on purpose) my enrollment. I was transferred around to 12 people before I finally blew up and started yelling. That finally got them to cancel my plan. That's also how they treat medical practices. Making more money while delivering fewer services is the mantra of all large companies these days. Gotta keep the billionaires happy.
As I mentioned above, I lived in three different places in SE ABQ, none had bars on the windows. And all had swamp coolers, and were built in the 1950's and earlier. In one house I slept under an open window that didn't even have a screen. There was no barrier between my bedroom and the street (which was Carlisle Blvd.).
My apartment in the North Valley that had bars also had refrigerated air.
But I agree in general, people with swamp coolers probably prefer bars more than people without it, but I don't think there are any data on this. Also women who live alone or spend most of the day alone often prefer bars for added security. An elderly woman neighbor I had for many years had bars on her windows and enclosing her front porch, and her children called her house "The Bird Cage."
The map shows Corrales is just 10-15 miles from RR. I'll have to check that out as well when I visit. I'll look for an RV park on the NW side of ABQ. I like burros, mules, goats and alpaca, horses not so much. Placitas also sounds interesting.
You mentioned an interest in a studio. This weekend is our annual studio tour.
Darn, I wish I could be there for the tour. I saw a home on realtor.com on 1 acre that could work well except a few nits. It's a bit smaller than I want but, on 1 acre, I can build a casita/studio as well as an RV shelter. Of course, like all the possible homes, it's already PENDING! Thanks for the tip.
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.
