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That is freakin' hilarious. Yes. I define the quality of a state by how many cities it has. Oh and by how much crap I can buy there. Yup, that's what I do.
Albuquerque does indeed have sprawl, but our entire metro area numbers less than a million folk and encompasses a 10,000+ ft. mountain range with a ski area and designated wilderness and a lush (by SW standards), wooded river that even has water it it! The ratio of sprawl to walkable neighborhoods is far greater than Phoenix.
Albuquerque is more comparable to Tuscon which is an Arizona city that I like even if it is still too hot.
As far as all the concerns about weather, like everything else it is going to be subjective. I'm pretty much miserable when the temperatures climb above 80. I don't like to use air-conditioning.
But... Rio Rancho is also connected to Albuquerque a Suburb city with over 87,000+.
Albuquerque has way better winters, Most are not cold at all. And those that are, we recieve lots of snow. More than Arizona can have.
We dont need a "5th" Most populous city. Honestly have you take a second look at Phoenix. It is behond trash! Crappy Sprawl ruined a great city.. No More..
Word Class Shopping? Sorry dude it isnt much that New Mexico dont got either. World Class.. Haha
Closer to Las Vegas? Thats a bragging right? Wow go let the foolish donate money to those Casino's.. so they can build even bigger resorts.
We have our fair share of Casinos in Albuquerque (4) and (6) in Northern New Mexico.
Now Tucson and Albuquerque have simular weather patterns, do more research!
We have LESS people... We Win. Restore the Beauty, Were the land of Enchantment.
Plus we have better views, mountains and SKIING!!!
as higher incomes are conserned...
Well Santa Fe easily can beat the whole state of Arizona with the amount of Millionaries and Mansions.
You just havent seen them or compared.. so.. you might wanna!
Bradly, honestly. I was hoping this thread wouldn't become another contest, but, If you want to make it another contest...
When it comes to shopping, Albuquerque has just about the same as Scottsdale & Phoenix?? Among the big ones, Neiman Marcus? Sak's Fifth Avenue? Bloomingdales (2010) ? Barney's New York (this year)? Nordstrom's?
What makes Phoenix a trashy city besides what you call sprawl which also exists in Albuquerque?
You say you win because you have less people, but many of your posts are constantly bragging about how fast your city is growing (including the sprawling Rio Ranch area).
Santa Fe easily having more millionaires and mansions than the entire state of AZ (if that's important)? Really? Really???
personally I think ABQ is better than PHX for many reasons but a big reason why I like it better is cause ABQ still feels like a small town and still retains its culture and unique-ness, PHX just dosent feel like it has roots, its just a bunch of transplants in a crowded city. If it werent for the sagauro cactus it would feel like any city USA.
It's odd that someone would classify Phoenix as a sprawling city, when Albuquerque is designed the same way. Try walking from Rio Rancho to downtown Albuquerque and see how easy and fun it is. The difference between Albuquerque and Phoenix is that Phoenix has three times as many people, and thus requires more land. It was Albuquerque in the 1960s that actually considered annexing ALL of Bernalillo County. That would have made Albuquerque city limits almost the size of Rhode Island. Talk about sprawl.
There is quite a bit of shopping that the Phoenix area has than the Albuquerque area does. You want to compare Albuquerque's shopping to Tucson's? Fine. That's a much better comparison. However, the fact that you would compare Albuquerque to Phoenix in the shopping category is laughable.
Being close to Las Vegas is a perk for many. Being able to jump in the car and arrive in Las Vegas five hours laters is very nice.
I will admit that New Mexico has better skiing than Arizona, but Arizona still has mountains and nice views.
Lastly, I highly doubt Santa Fe has more millionaires and mansions than Scottsdale, Glendale, and Paradise Valley.
Albuquerque designed the same as Phoenix? Well, Phoenix has outgrown Albuquerque by a long-shot have you looked at satellite image lately?
Now, Phoenix is just sprawlin with homes.. You dont see Albuquerque like that at all. We put the hold on housing sprawl until there is a certain amount of businesses in the area.
You say Albuquerque wanted to Annex all of Bernalillo County, Thats a lie. I work in the Planning office. Albuquerque wanted to Annex North Valley and South Valley. Those are smaller communites, they do not take up all of Bernalillo County. Albuquerque would only have 610,000+ of its 525,000 it already has.
And shopping...laughable? When did you last come to Albuquerque in the late 60's hahah your laughable.
New Mexico has peaks, and is apart of the Rockies. We get more snow and the snow, the view of the snow in june up on the peaks is a view.
Its not only Santa Fe with the Mansions, Hello... Farmington, Las Cruces, Rio Rancho and Taos...
Who would wanna sweat like crazy when you can enjoy mild temps and our Four Seasons... all in one day NEW MEXICO WINS!
Pluss........ New Mexico is the new buzz in the film industry.
We already have 3 large movie studios including world class, Albuquerque Studios.
Plus We got Paramont and Lions Gate Comin' in late 2009.
Movies much in Arizona? Not even close. We have more green industries moving to New Mexico.
yeah - there has never been any pictures in AZ (you may want to look into this one a bit, maybe......)
you also don't want to compare the wealth
stick to what ABQ does well - small town feel, good community spirit, pretty much 4 seasons, a decent parks system
as for NM they have some decent geographical areas - but most are pretty similar to AZ
AZ also has the grand canyon, which is a big score for any state
ABQ is a lot like Tucson ....... both are way to small for my taste though
Phx has 4 major sports, about any concert that will tour, 2 nascar races, great theater options, spring training, world class resorts & golf and more activities than you can shake a stick at
no where in NM is there a place like Phx that offers so much of a variety of activities, dining, entertainment, etc
all the above run the spectrum and have world class options
they also have all the requisite community events, festivals, etc that you find in most cities
there are also things that can be easily done in both places (hiking, art galleries, etc)
in the past month i've been to a major league baseball game, the Chihuly exhibit at the botanical gardens, a jimmy buffett concert, played a morning round of golf and had dinner at a hole in the wall equadorian restaurant and went to our horse track on derby day for a mix of live racing and KY Derby simulcast
i lean more towards sports and performance art as my interests so that is what i'm most well versed in - but there is a ton of stuff aside from that as well
I like that Albuquerque doesn't depend on sports franchises and shopping places like Nordstroms, et al., for its self-respect. Most Albuquerqueans who need those things to enjoy where they live, move to places like Phoenix.
Personally, I'm sure that Phoenix has a lot to enjoy and a lot to be proud of, but the weather... I could just never live there.
ABQConvict
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