El paso downtown vs albuquerque downtown vs las cruces downtown (compare, places)

[Shmikker]

this is kinda weird, el paso albuquerque are similar in size were LC is much much smaller. That said Remember Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico and all of the states money and incentives are grately dependent on albuquerque in english that means OF COURSE ABQ is ahead of both citys and will always be. el paso has some awesome old buildings that can be very useful if renovated. Las Cruces is amazingly beautiful for its size and the buildings that it does have really give it a charm especially the new one.

[EnjoyEP]

<Mod message:

Folks, I have already been messaged by a few folks concerned about the argumentative tone / nature of this thread, and the potential that it can spiral out of control.

Just having read through the entire thread, I don't find too much all too offensive - yet.

But I do think that due to the concerned messages, along with the histories on the Albuquerque / El Paso forums with arguments boiling over that things can get very personal, very heated, and very off-forum-TOS very quickly.

So please, let's all take a deep breath, stay calm, and stay friendly with one another.

I know a few of us in here are always faithfully "pro-Albuquerque" on the side of this persistent debate (and we all know who we are) and a few of us are always faithfull "pro-El Paso" on the side of this persistent debate (And we all know who we are)...we obviously, no matter where we fall on the side of the debate, can continue to post our sides and rally our points...but we absolutely need to do so in a respectful, mature, cordial nature.

Remember...this isn't a "personal" subject. El Paso's downtown or Albuquerque's downtown or freaking Amarillo's downtown are just inatimate groups of *things* along with big groups of people - nothing personal needs to be argued or taken when debating or talking over the pros and cons.

-Subsequent posts that are way off topic and personal, attacking, or in any way against forum TOS are subject to (amidst misguided cries of "censorship") deletion or beyond. Bottom-line: let's just keep things cool-headed.

***Thanks in advance very much for your kind cooperation!!***

[EnjoyEP]

OK, off with the "a-hole mod" hat and onto CD Forum poster hat:

I love all three of these cities, and despite having only resided in Albuquerque, I feel no bias either towards the Duke city or towards the southern cities.

One thing I am always baffled by - and we see this through the years on the CD Forums - is the level of intense competition (and not in a friendly way at all) between Albuquerque and El Paso. To me, it is just odd. St. Paul, MN and Minneapolis, MN - the "Twin Cities" - are mere miles from one another and they don't even have the level of animosity and discord often displayed in the level of competition between EP and ABQ.

I would think that EP and ABQ - actually having some real similarities and geographical proximities - would tend to want to embrace each other a bit more (both in terms of just citizens like us on a free message board as well as in civic leadership / economic development in terms of actual-life city leadership).

Having said that...

Las Cruces is a town of less-than-100,000 people. Thus, to try to compare its downtown sky like to Albuquerque (metro area of 850,000) and El Paso (US-side metro area of 725,000) is really quite unfair.

I mean, it would be a bit more fair to compare Las Cruces' Downtown to say, Springfield Missouri or Springfield, Illinois.

Las Cruces just doesn't have the population base, size, or business-base yet to warrant / justify or even realistically have a significant downtown.

Will that change in 25 years? The way Cruces is growing, perhaps.

But beyond that, I always found BOTH Albuquerque's AND El Paso's downtown skylines nice in their own particular unique and quirky ways.

It is true that neither city has the kind of typical massive, gigantic, tall skyline that one envisions in a Denver or Houston or Dallas. Again though, by that token, let's remember that both Albuquerque and El Paso are still metros not even yet a million people. So it is a bit unfair to compare them against much larger population bases.

Secondly, maybe it is just me, but while I don't mind seeing the huge, skyscraper-laden and massively tall skylines in other cities, in many ways, they all start to look so the-same and been-there, done-that that I find beauty in skylines that aren't just one enormous skyscraper stacked right by another.

(I should know, up here in Milwaukee, a city with a 1.5 million metro area, our skyline isn't all that tall compared to other towns of equal size, yet with the Lake Michigan backdrop and the aged / historical buildings, I find it very pretty in its own unique way).

Albuquerque to me always looks quite pretty, from say, I-25 with the backdrop of the West Mesa. While the buildings aren't massive, they stand out in contrast to the desert.

As for Downtown itself, it is clean, a good mix of new with old, has a nice Southwestern accent and charm, and has a good mix of office/business with eclectic. Very walkable.

I have read that Albuquerque has a huge percentage of downtown RESIDENTS in comparison to other cities (often times much bigger cities) meaning that Albuquerque's downtown just in its essence is much different: it is much more a residential area in comparison to the massive but essentially-commercial/commerce only bigger cities. (Go to LA Downtown or Phoenix Downtown at night...huge for sure, but few people around).

As for El Paso, I really actually love the setting butted up to the Franklin Mountains, as well as overlooking the massive sprawl that is Cd. Juarez to the other side. One probably wouldn't want to spend any notable time in Juarez ideally if possible currently, but at nightime it provides the backdrop of millions of twinkling lights against EP's downtown.

I like El Paso's very historic and unique nature in its architecture; in many ways, the architecture and buildings remind me a bit of even Milwaukee's aged downtown buildings.

El Paso has that cathedral/square in the middle of its downtown which is a nice, neat thing, and all of the outdoor Mexican markets at the edge which is unique for a downtown.

To me, El Paso seemed like it has more buildings with size than ABQ's, although ABQ has more "bigger" sized buildings, if that makes sense.

I don't know...ABQ's is definitely newer and cleaner, but El Paso's has more history and charm. I think they are both really decent, nice Downtowns which will only continue to improve. Remember - new size doesn't mean better necessarily. I think both will be better and better for years to come.

[mortimer]

I find it interesting that most of the comments I've seen about
who has the "better" downtown seem to focus on the "skyline."

Maybe it's just me, but I could care less about the "skyline" or
profile of the downtown. I care about what I see at street level
whilst I'm there IN DOWNTOWN Albuquerque.

While waiting for a sandwich to be prepared in the little restaurant
called Roosters' at 4th and Central, I have a chance to examine the
architecture around there. Buildings with plaques stating that they
were erected in 1896 or something like that make me fantasize about
what it must have looked like back then when there were no cars and
people either walked or rode a horse.

I like the quirky shapes and forms of the buildings I see.

I've seen very little of downtown Las Cruces and nothing of downtown
El Paso, but I think these towns should be judged by how they are to
walk around in and not how they appear to the viewer five miles out.

I can't really speak for LC and EP, but Albuquerque downtown
fascinates me at every turn. There are brand new buildings and very
old stuff all mixed together. I can see why the film industry wants to
locate there.

So many streetscapes in Albuquerque are really interesting just to
look at. They are not stunning or striking or magnificent, but are
on a human scale that I can relate to.

That's something that Chicago or New York have lost forever.

[Spoonman]

I tend to include the mountains overlooking the city when rating a skyline so Las Cruces (with those gorgeous Organ Mountains) certainly holds its own. Its downtown doesn't seem to get much business but there seem to be a few locals who want this to change.

ABQ and El Paso's downtowns are becoming more similar these days even though ABQ seems to have more cash flowing into its private sector while El Paso has the huge influx of Army personnel and money. The portions of these cities I prefer are the areas around UNM and UTEP, in which case the UNM neighborhood takes the cake.

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by Spoonman

ABQ and El Paso's downtowns are becoming more similar these days

I don't know...I guess I kind of see what you are saying, although when - just in basics / generalities - when I think of the downtowns, I think of the general views from the respective interstates (I-25 to ABQ and I-10 to EP)...although admittedly that is just a "view" thing, nothing to do with actually walking / experiencing the downtowns.

To me, El Paso's "view" always has either the backdrop of the massive sprawl of humanity with Juarez behind (or, if viewing from Juarez, etc.), the Franklin mountains near-in.

For ABQ, the "view" is the very different backdrop (from the millions of lights of Juarez to the barren, empty, open and very beautiful West Mesa). Again, if you are viewing from the other side, the Sandias are the gorgeous backdrop, but "farther out".

As for the buildings themselves, ABQ has kind of the "twins" that stick out as particularly noticeable. El Paso's is wider with more aged / historic looking buildings.

I find both towns to have kind of a different look / feel to their Downtowns, but both very nice in their own respective ways.

[bradly]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

As for the buildings themselves, ABQ has kind of the "twins" that stick out as particularly noticeable. El Paso's is wider with more aged / historic looking buildings.

Albuquerque had tons of historic and more aged buildings, most were torn down over the years.. The downtown went threw several stages. The condos took over.

Same happened with towns up in northern New Mexico, Espanola to be exact.. but who would have ever thought they are palnning a whole area of highrises, the first to go up is the Big Rock Resort standing at 8 stories. Now Espanola having taller buildings in the future will make cities like Las Cruces and Santa Fe look bad.

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by bradly

Albuquerque had tons of historic and more aged buildings, most were torn down over the years.. The downtown went threw several stages. The condos took over.

Agreed.

I actually really like ABQ's downtown from "ground" or "street" level. It is definitely a feeling of "new", "clean" and growing. I like the area around the Marquette Street area, 1st Street, etc.

[domino]

Originally Posted by bradly

Albuquerque had tons of historic and more aged buildings, most were torn down over the years.. The downtown went threw several stages. The condos took over.

Same happened with towns up in northern New Mexico, Espanola to be exact.. but who would have ever thought they are palnning a whole area of highrises, the first to go up is the Big Rock Resort standing at 8 stories. Now Espanola having taller buildings in the future will make cities like Las Cruces and Santa Fe look bad.

Espanola has some cleaning up to do before it makes any place look bad.

[bradly]

Originally Posted by EnjoyEP

Agreed.

I actually really like ABQ's downtown from "ground" or "street" level. It is definitely a feeling of "new", "clean" and growing. I like the area around the Marquette Street area, 1st Street, etc.

Just Imagine when the Packard Place tower is built. The blue glass tower will make the downtown glow. The 7 retailers inside are going to be major.
I think the downtown action team just needs to work harder. Plus more condos are in the future, I know several days ago there was a ground breaking for condos..