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I actually think I read that thread when you first posted it. I'll give it another look, though.
Agriculture is the biggest use of water pretty much everywhere. That's true in California and it's true in New Mexico as well. New Mexico grows many things, most notably alfalfa, pecans and of course, chile.
Something that New Mexico doesn't share with places like Arizona, California and Nevada is the abundance of golf courses and a propensity to make arid environments lush and green. Why anybody is trying to minimize that or pretend like it isn't true is beyond me. In all of New Mexico there are 83 golf courses. In Maricopa County alone there are 220. In your city of Tucson there are lots more as well and all across Arizona even more. Some may be watered with wastewater but not all of them and not even close to a majority of them.
But then, here in New Mexico that is true as well, so let's not pretend like Arizona is ahead of the curve and being really innovative in not wasting good water on golf courses by instead using wastewater to water them. Albuquerque has a whole area of town which is hooked up to use wastewater for landscaping and industrial uses. That area is North I-25, which is the biggest office and industrial area in this city and one of the few legacy green and lush areas of the city. (A holdover from the early 1980s when it was believed that Albuquerque sat on top of an "underground Lake Superior" and that our aquifer was limitless and inexhaustible).
It may be irrelevant but I think it is a lot more stimulating and appropriate for this site and forum than dropping one sentence posts and attacking others based on their views and opinions.
The only reason I brought it up is because people were saying how much prettier Phoenix is, I offered my opinion as to why most of that is the case. The natural environments aren't drastically different to where you can say that Phoenix is much more beautiful than Albuquerque, IMO. It is only when one accounts for landscaping that there is much of a difference, which is why I gave my perspective and questioned the use of the West's most precious resource in making the desert green.
The desert around Phoenix is naturally more beautiful than Albuquerque's desert, which is mostly bare dirt and scrubland with some geological features, but Albuquerque has the oasis quality and beauty of the Rio Grande and it's Bosque to offer up as a counterpoint to that disparity in desert environments, which is why I mentioned that as well. There's also the pastoral quality and green made possible by the network of irrigation canals and ditches lining the Rio Grande and throughout the valley floor. The wildlife supported by this is really incredible and adds to the overall beauty.
It also has the Sandia Mountains and its foothills, which are also naturally more varied, greener and taller than the mountains in Phoenix. And when they are snow-covered they are breathtaking. Are Phoenix's mountains ever snow covered? Phoenix does have an advantage in that it is built among its mountains whereas Albuquerque's are to the side of its urban area. The view of the Manzano Mountains and the Four Hills area in Albuquerque are the closest we come to having Phoenix's mountain feel.
Water usage and conservation will eventually impact quality of life in the arid West, and that was one of the OPs criteria for comparison, but excuse me if I went off-topic and didn't just contribute a one line zinger and hostile criticism of others opinions like most outside of this side discussion I caused.
While I will concede that to some people, manicured lawns means "prettier", I never said such a thing. I initially responded (it wasn't an "attack") to Nibbidy who stated that Phoenix was "a lot uglier" by stating that there are far more attractive areas in the Phoenix metro than in ABQ (I am entitled to my opinion as well). You made the assumption that "far more attractive" could possibly have meant greener rather than asking me to clarify what I meant by that and perhaps I could have expanded on that originally. When I said "far more attractive", I meant infrastructure-wise. Then, you went on your diatribe about the perils of landscaping yards, pools, and golf courses - which by the way, I do not disagree with you about. However, I think by stating that people appreciate ABQ more than PHX simply because there aren't as many pools or golf courses and this being the main difference between the two cities is a bit of a stretch, regardless of the huge size difference between the two metros and the fact that AZ has made great strides in water conservation efforts that should be applauded rather than glossed over. There are many more important elements in both of these cities that bring value to residents and visitors alike than the amount of golf courses, pools, and natural resources, or lack thereof.
how about explaining and countering the pro ABQ's here, rather than just saying
I agreee with what he said, In real life it isn't even close Phoenix is the clear winner thus the monumental population growth within the past decades. This site has a tendency to attract people who like to "be different" when it comes to boosting cities thus you have Sacramento being compared to Portland and Philly almost beating LA in polls on this site.
In reality, when asked where one would rather live, people vote with their feet, not through CD polls (however cute they may be). In any case, I still like and find value in ABQ.
Lagos and Mumbai are bigger than New York City, so I guess we should all just accept the fact that they are better than NYC. And all those people voting for New York City over Mexico City in a current thread in this forum are wrong, Mexico City is bigger, so of course it's better than New York City.
When it comes to city feel, Phoenix and Albuquerque are about the same. And that's what I originally said makes me not be impressed by Phoenix. I am impressed by the urban feel in parts of places like Denver and Seattle, especially their downtowns. Even Salt Lake City has impressed me. Boise has really impressed me in that it is smaller than Albuquerque but its downtown feels much bigger and is more built up than ours. Downtown Phoenix and places like Tempe have never wowed me. They feel like our downtown and UNM/Nob Hill areas here in Albuquerque. Are they bigger and are there more and taller buildings in them than in their counterparts in Albuquerque? Yes, but not to the point of huge disparity and imbalance and especially when accounting for size disparity alone. That's why I said Phoenix merely has a greater volume of what you will find here. Phoenix just feels and looks like what Albuquerque would be like if it was five times bigger and it stayed the same as it is now in terms of advancement. Places like Downtown Denver make me imagine what Albuquerque could be like if we really overachieved and had much better indicators than we do now and were three times bigger. Sort of like how Omaha makes me reflect on what Albuquerque could look like as a city now if we were as rich and economically prosperous as they are now at our same size. Is everybody catching my drift here?
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