Albuquerque VS Tucson VS El Paso (state, better, largest, crime)

[DANNYY]

These cities are actually in the same region, hardly talked about, and mostly ignored. They're heavily underrated.
They are all in the Mountain Time Zone (El Paso and it's suburbs are the only cities/area in Texas that's in mountain time zone)

And their population figures are strikingly similar, well 2 are for cities, and 2 are for Metropolitan areas.

Here is my criteria:

- Diversity (economy)
- Diversity (culture/people)
- Education
- Lifestyle
- Friendly people
- Climate
- Medicine (Hospitals, clinics, health related things)
- Natural scenery
- Shopping
- Economy overall
- Population city proper
- Population metropolitan area (which is largest to smallest)
- Benefits from location
- Public Transportation
- Sports teams
- Airports
- Skyline
- Vibrancy of downtown
- Food
- Anything else you can come up with to compare these two cities.

Population:

Albuquerque:
City Proper: 521,999
Metropolitan Area: 857,903

El Paso:
City Proper: 613,190
Metropolitan Area: 751,296

Tucson:
City Proper: 541,811
Metropolitan Area: 1,020,200

For me, it's Tucson. (It being my favorite city in America and all) And Albuquerque at a close second.

[Wonderful Jellal]

It's too long
But I say Albuquerque for its economy and its tech industry

[casden]

Albuquerque because of its natural beauty, it's food, because of its quirky people, and because of its proximity to a number of outdoor activities.

[bgrn198]

I love Arizona so i'm going with Tucson lol it's got good shopping and restaurants the backdrop of the Catilina mountains is beautiful you have the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum,Biosphere 2,Old Tucson Studios,Pima Air and Space Museum. Plus your not too far from Phoenix I haven't been to Tucson in years so not shure about the other stuff the airport's are probably about the same.

[DANNYY]

Originally Posted by bgrn198

I love Arizona so i'm going with Tucson lol it's got good shopping and restaurants the backdrop of the Catilina mountains is beautiful you have the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum,Biosphere 2,Old Tucson Studios,Pima Air and Space Museum. Plus your not too far from Phoenix I haven't been to Tucson in years so not shure about the other stuff the airport's are probably about the same.

After California, Illinois, Texas, and New York (because of Buffalo), Arizona is definitely my next favorite state.

Tucson is a great city, goes uncredited. People who hate on Phoenix think of Tucson being a smaller but same thing version of Phoenix, when it's not.

In fact all three of these cities go unnoticed quite often.
The only city (cities) I can name that go more under the radar are the Quad Cities. I have actually never heard anyone on this site mention the Quad Cities before.

[bgrn198]

I know it does and Albuquerque form what i've seen on the internet looks nice and I think El Paso is ok i've only been to the El Paso airport when i've flown out to Phoenix and have connected in El Paso.

[eek]

i love el paso. the women there >>>>
my friends there >>>

[JBM]

Definitely Albuquerque. . . . . .

- Diversity (economy)
Probably ABQ, with Sandia Labs and Kirtland, the University, and high tech firms moving in along with new companies. It also helps that ABQ is really the only city in an entire state.

- Diversity (culture/people)
Culture wise, ABQ… People wise, I feel that they're all pretty similar in this regard.

- Education
Probably a draw… But being a Lobo, I have to say that UNM > UTEP and UoA

- Lifestyle
Albuquerque

- Friendly people
Albuquerque

- Climate
Albuquerque

- Medicine (Hospitals, clinics, health related things)
tie?

- Natural scenery
Albuquerque, Tucson, El Paso in that order

- Shopping
Tie, but Tucson is close to PHX so it may have the advantage if you count nearby areas… EP would be ranked Last

- Economy overall
I read somewhere that ABQ has weathered the downturn better than most cities, so i'd say ABQ

- Population city proper
Doesn't matter as long as the people are awesome, and they all seem to have awesome people

- Population metropolitan area (which is largest to smallest)
Depends if you count Juarez, but if you count it for population, than you have to include its crime stats, so I wouldn't. Having more or less people in a metro area doesn't matter in my book so long as a high quality of life is found there.

- Benefits from location
Depends on the person. For me, ABQ. It has the Sandias and Santa Fe. It's also central relative to the rest of New Mexico. El Paso has Mexico, and Tucson has Phoenix and some pretty places in AZ… So it is based on personal choice.

- Public Transportation
I've only used ABQs transit system, and it works great for me. I'd guess that ABQ=Tucson followed by El Paso

- Sports teams
Draw? But GO LOBOS! I don't think any of these cities have teams on the professional level.

- Airports
I've only used ABQs… All seem to have somewhat similar service, however.

- Skyline
Albuquerque, probably because of the Albuquerque Plaza Building and also because of the awesome Sandia Mountains, which are a great with or without Albuquerque in the foreground. I'd say Tucson comes in a very close second, and EP actually seems to have a somewhat small skyline, especially considering how massive a city it has become.

- Vibrancy of downtown
Probably ABQ, but Tucson is alright too. EP seems to be struggling with theirs, but I'm not the most familiar person when it comes to downtown EP.

- Food
Can't beat New Mexico, what can I say

- Anything else you can come up with to compare these two cities.
Seems that ABQ and EP have better freeway coverage than Tucson, but I wouldn't really say freeways are all that wonderful anyway..

[ctr88]

Overall I would take ABQ. Although I like Tucson's winter weather better and prettier desert with the Saguaro's. El Paso is a far distant 3rd.

[bradly]

Albuquerque, Albuquerque, Albuquerque and oh wait, Albuquerque!

We have already had a discussion in the past ... about Albuquerque and Tucson. Albuquerque won, the poll.