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Originally Posted by TAM88
It was supposed to take place in Riverside specifically I believe. But Sony suggested they look at New Mexico due to the financial benefits they would give them.
Has Breaking Bad lead to any influx of tourists?
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Yes, it has. Many people and businesses locally have tried to capitalize on all the tourism generated by the show. There's a Breaking Bad tour on a trolly and the lady who made the prop meth for early seasons of the show sells bags of the same blue-colored rock candy which they used originally. The lady and her business is known as The Candy Lady. She was already somewhat notorious locally for her naughty treats and cakes (naughty as in X-rated), which anyone visiting her candy store in Old Town Albuquerque can see (and perhaps buy) in the separate section devoted to that adults-only fare.
It's somewhat odd, but people do make pilgrimages to see the show's most famous sites, such as the White home and their car wash and also the restaurant used to portray Los Pollos Hermanos. It's odd because they are all rather ordinary buildings. It's not like people are coming to see the Taj Mahal or anything. And too many people have came here just to throw a pizza on top of the White home. The lady who actually lives there has been having problems with that specific activity which led Vince Gilligan to plead with people not to do it anymore and proclaimed anyone who did it is not a true fan of the show.
Just yesterday it made the news here in Albuquerque that the home used to portray Jesse Pinkman's (his aunt's) house is up for sale for $1.6 million. They also mentioned that the home used to portray Gretchen and Elliott's new home in Santa Fe in the series finale is also up for sale. But it's actually located in Albuquerque's North Valley. It's about twice as expensive as the Pinkman house, which is in Albuquerque's Country Club neighborhood near Downtown.
His parents' house in the show is located near Downtown Albuquerque as well. Gretchen and Elliott's old house in Albuquerque is also located in Albuquerque's Country Club neighborhood. Hank and Marie's house is in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains in an area known as High Desert. The duplex where Jesse rents and fatefully meets Jane is located near UNM and CNM, which are the city's institutions of higher learning - one a university and the other a community college. Walt's condo is in fact located in Albuquerque's Nob Hill area, as Skyler says to 411 when she's looking for a locksmith to get into Walt's pad when he and Jesse are held by Mike.
Which leads me to this question...
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Originally Posted by NativeOrange
Interesting. I can see why they originally went for the IE as that is probably the meth capital of CA. Does ABQ have a meth problem?
I am glad they chose ABQ. Like you and Gilligan said it really does play an integral part of the show and you get to see a lot of the city, assuming they filmed it their entirely.
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They did film nearly all of the show in the city itself. Some of the more famous desert scenes (the place of Walt and Jesse's initial cook in the series opener and the location of Walt's buried money where Hank is killed) were filmed on an Indian reservation about 20 miles west of town. The episode To'hajiilee is actually named for that Indian reservation.
A few other iconic desert scenes (the pilgrimage scene where Leonel and Marco crawl, for example) were filmed at and around Cabezon Peak, which is just to the northwest of Rio Rancho, which is Albuquerque's largest suburb. It's an old volcano and has a very distinctive shape which is reminiscent of a head, hence its name.
Other desert scenes (the meetings with Gus, with Mike, etc.) were filmed even closer to town, on the city's as-yet-undeveloped far West Mesa area near Albuquerque's own three dormant volcanoes and the Petroglyph National Monument.
Much of the interior shots were filmed on sets at Albuquerque Studios. They even replicated the interiors of all the homes selected for the show and eventually filmed most of those scenes on set rather than on-location. Albuquerque Studios is a pretty nice and impressive complex reminiscent of the studios in Hollywood. It's the largest one of three studio complexes in the city.
The road which Walt is often seen driving on in the show (most famously when he is arrested after singing along to "A Horse With No Name" and when Gus' henchman delivers his half of the money from Jesse's first solo cook) is actually the road leading to Albuquerque Studios, which is located in a new development and addition to the city called Mesa del Sol. Like with
Lonely Are the Brave, I think it will be cool and interesting for people in future years to see what that area was like before it was developed.
Another location for famous scenes from the show near Albuquerque Studios on Mesa del Sol is the parking lot of Isleta Ampitheater, a popular outdoor concert venue. The scenes where Walt gets frustrated teaching Walter Jr. to drive, and where he eventually goes on a joyride and torches the car he bought for him, were filmed in that parking lot.
One scene location I thought I'd mention which goes to the question of whether the entire show was shot in Albuquerque (or New Mexico) is the place used to depict Lydia's office when the DEA comes to investigate and ask questions. It's supposed to be in Houston, but it is actually just east of Downtown Albuquerque in either the UNM Cancer Center or the Office of the Medical Investigator buildings. (I'm not sure which one, because they are located next to each other). The view from her office window shows an apartment building located in this area on a hill east of I-25 from Downtown Albuquerque. The notorious Crystal Palace is also located in this area east of I-25 just south of that apartment building. It's at Central Avenue and I-25. Central Avenue is Albuquerque's main street and was a part of old Route 66.
I'm fairly certain the non-desert Mexico locations (Don Eladio's house and his meth factory) were actually shot somewhere in New Mexico too and perhaps in the city itself, but I can't recognize where they might be to say for sure. And even the snowy New Hampshire cabin location was filmed in New Mexico. It was filmed in the northern New Mexico mountains.
So, I think it's safe to say the entire show was most likely filmed in Albuquerque and elsewhere within New Mexico.
As to whether the city has a problem with meth - Yes, I'd say it does. But heroin is probably a bigger problem these days.
Albuquerque has quite a few problems. Crime, drugs, poverty and bad schools are big issues here. The problems with our police department and our homeless population have also come into the mix lately.
Albuquerque's not a perfect place, but it does have many redeeming qualities and good things going for it.
Further in its defense I will say that too many people blow these problems out of proportion or try to make it look like that's all there is to the city.
Crime is worse here than the national average, but is not at all on the level of the worst cities in the country for crime. Poverty is a problem (it's worse in New Mexico overall) but I wouldn't say it is dramatically higher than the rest of the country (17.9% for the city versus 15.4% nationally). The schools are bad overall, but there are many great individual schools. Like most places, there are certain areas of the city and suburbs like Rio Rancho which have good or great schools overall. And, thankfully, increasingly not all of these are the wealthiest or even middle class areas.
That's why I said Breaking Bad portrayed the city honestly and fairly. It showed the good and the bad.
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