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Kind of like how they call Gothenburg Sweden "Little London"
Ok well, I know that nobody who has actually lived in LA would think this. But I see some similarities. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, so I can feel a little bit like I'm in LA, but i'll explain.
You've got a lot of suburban communities surrounding the area, and then you've got kinda gangland-ish areas and not very much in between. There are a lot of well off, stereotypical blonde haired California types in the heights (aka.. my friends, haha), a lot of chicano and Mexican gangsters in the South end. Big disparity in income and class, lots of sunlight. Mountains visible from the city, and people from outside NM tell me that ABQ people are very West Coast in their ways.
So yea. Your take?
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Oh and sadly... don't forget, a highly controversial police department.
If I was describing Albuquerque to someone who had never visited, I would compare/contrast it to Tucson and Phoenix before comparing it to LA. Even Dallas or Denver would come to mind before LA.
Start with three landlocked desert situated southwestern cities of size. Phoenix is larger (worse traffic), lower elevation (thus hotter in summer, milder in winters). ABQ is more similar to Tucson in terms of elevation, climate, and size. Regional food is good in all 3, but I prefer "new mexican" cuisine to the more common "tex-mex" found in the others (but Restaurant Mexico, serving more authentic "mexican" food in Tempe, is a personal fave). Culturally, the native american presence is richer in ABQ than Phoenix or even Tucson, or so it feels to me (and I consider it a net positive for ABQ despite the poverty, etc., afflicting this community). And IMO the arts are more vibrant in NM than AZ, from music to museums, opera, etc.
Phoenix, in all honesty, is a bit of a cultural wasteland, and it deserves comparison to LA more than does ABQ...
In reading my opinion, consider that I have never lived in the southwest, but I am moving to ABQ soon. I have traveled extensively in the southwest, though, and I am very familiar with Phoenix/Tempe (one of my children attended ASU), and I did not care much for the area, would never choose to live there myself, nor would I ever choose to live in LA, but Tucson has some possibilities...
Last edited by Westbound and Down; 05-08-2014 at 05:45 AM..
Well, I've described LA as a mix of the New York metro area (where I'm from) and Albuquerque, with the addition of traffic and smog; so I guess it might kind of sort of work in reverse. A little.
But I agree that the city most similar to Albuquerque is Tucson.
The OP asked if anyone else thought of ABQ as a "little Los Angeles", not so much as a comparison, which would be silly being that LA is at least ten times bigger and that city has a whole different vibe and feel about it. If we wanna talk "similar, then I would say most definitely Tucson or El Paso, but in my opinion, I'd say that Albuquerque's more like a "little Denver"
There are a lot of well off, stereotypical blonde haired California types in the heights (aka.. my friends, haha), a lot of chicano and Mexican gangsters in the South end.
The OP asked if anyone else thought of ABQ as a "little Los Angeles", not so much as a comparison, which would be silly being that LA is at least ten times bigger and that city has a whole different vibe and feel about it. If we wanna talk "similar, then I would say most definitely Tucson or El Paso, but in my opinion, I'd say that Albuquerque's more like a "little Denver"
I don't think El Paso is anything like ABQ. Denver, I can see that comparison.
If I was describing Albuquerque to someone who had never visited, I would compare/contrast it to Tucson and Phoenix before comparing it to LA. Even Dallas or Denver would come to mind before LA.
Start with three landlocked desert situated southwestern cities of size. Phoenix is larger (worse traffic), lower elevation (thus hotter in summer, milder in winters). ABQ is more similar to Tucson in terms of elevation, climate, and size. Regional food is good in all 3, but I prefer "new mexican" cuisine to the more common "tex-mex" found in the others (but Restaurant Mexico, serving more authentic "mexican" food in Tempe, is a personal fave). Culturally, the native american presence is richer in ABQ than Phoenix or even Tucson, or so it feels to me (and I consider it a net positive for ABQ despite the poverty, etc., afflicting this community). And IMO the arts are more vibrant in NM than AZ, from music to museums, opera, etc.
Phoenix, in all honesty, is a bit of a cultural wasteland, and it deserves comparison to LA more than does ABQ...
In reading my opinion, consider that I have never lived in the southwest, but I am moving to ABQ soon. I have traveled extensively in the southwest, though, and I am very familiar with Phoenix/Tempe (one of my children attended ASU), and I did not care much for the area, would never choose to live there myself, nor would I ever choose to live in LA, but Tucson has some possibilities...
It's amazing how much misinformation gets thrown around. How in the world do ABQ and Tucson are similar elevation or climate? Tucson is just over 2,000 feet while ABQ is over 5,000 and that enormous gap results in massive climate differences.
Since LA is probably the biggest city I've spent the most amount of time "on the ground" in, I would agree with this.
Mountains surround it, there's a river running through the middle of it that doesn't see much water.
Some of the older homes in various areas remind me of some of the houses I've seen on bike rides through Boyle Heights.
Did I mention food trucks?
The comparison in the OP is about the silliest I've ever read on this forum.
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