JRod -
I had to take your post out of mortimer's Nob Hill thread because it was certainly deserving of some good response, however, was off topic to that thread, and thus I wanted to give it a chance to get responses on its own merits.
As for your main three (two-and-a-half?) questions:
1)
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrod2828
I really like some homes in edgewood, what is that area like? How is the commute to ABQ from there?
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Red-flag alert here 'rod:
Edgewood is a community in Albuquerque metro's East Mountains communities. Tucked well into the east side of the mountains - not only with a more mountainous surrounding environment (and related climate) but also a much higher altitude than Albuquerque.
Thus, with altitude and mountainous proximity comes? Cooler weather. In some cases, much cooler/colder weather. Also, much more rain and snow than Albuquerque gets.
Albuquerque is a desert city. Edgewood assuredly isn't...it is a mountain community. Not that there is anything "wrong" with that...it offers nature, beauty, and clean air, etc., etc., etc. But it is what it is.
I know you've stated the big reason for your interest in relocating to Albuquerque (like many people) is largely due to the milder temps / weather. If that is truly the case, you may want to really think strongly about living in an East Mountain community (this isn't a totally accurate comparison, but loosely, Edgewood's temps year-round would be a bit more akin to Denver's than to Albuquerque's).
Edgewood does get considerable snow often times and much more rainfall as well. Here are the average temp breakdowns (and I don't know if this fully tells the story, as while the average temps are often only 5-10 degree different the "extremes" between ABQ and Edgewood can often be quite significant):
Edgewood:
Average Weather for Edgewood, NM - Temperature and Precipitation
Albuquerque:
Average Weather for Albuquerque, NM - Temperature and Precipitation
If you really were still interested in Edgewood, commute-wise, it is about 20 miles from the outside of ABQ, and that stretch of I-40 through "the canyon" is one that can kind of get crummy in bad weather (again, this is through mountainous area so you'll be more prone to winds, snows, etc.). People do do it, the length of the drive itself isn't a killer (although I probably wouldn't want to do it every day but that is only me), it is more just the terrain in crummy weather that I think would be a pain.
You'll have many days in ABQ's winter where it'll be 48 degrees and relatively sunny and very nice in the heart of ABQ, but you get in that canyon and it can be in the 30s, windy, gusty, flurries whipping around, etc.
2)
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrod2828
In general terms, could you breakdown each quadrant of ABQ (NW, SW, NE, SE, E, W, N, S, downtown). For example, Indy is broken down into these 9 quadrants. Each is unique. Some have good schools, some bad, some have money, some don't, some have a young population, some have older population, good crime, bad crime, etc. Can you break down ABQ like that?
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The Northeast Heights is a very large area. It is somewhat varied. However...
It is the quadrant closest to the heart of the Sandia Mountains / Sandia Peak. As such, it has - with a few exceptions (the North Valley, Los Ranchos, etc.) - the most high-priced homes and is often the most desirable place to live. It is one of the older, more established portions of the city (although there is still some new construction occurring, especially on the northern edges) and thus the streets/infrastructure are typically far better than the newer west side locations.
The retail and restaurant and fast food options are the most plentiful here. The biggest variety of these options too.
It isn't all rich / high priced / expensive areas though. I lived in an older, more middle class section of the NE Heights in the 87109 zip code where homes were more in the small-to-medium ranged size and prices were still in the $120/square foot range.
Overall the most sought-after area to live in ABQ (again in very general, "quadrant" terms), however, there surely is some rif-raff type of stuff that can go on in sections here too (Montgomery Blvd. and San Mateo on weekend nights, etc.).
Overall, a very nice quadrant with a huge assortment of various residents.
The Northwest...
This is the "newest", fastest growing of the four quadrants by far. The NE is limited in where it can grow (mountains to the east, Native American lands to the north) whereas there is more "wiggle room" on the Northwest. Much new growth in the Northwest with tons of new housing construction in the past decade or two.
Very desirable quadrant for younger families as it is overall very nice and safe like the NE but it doesn't carry the price tag that the NE does.
Traffic is more of a pain here as infrastructure/streets haven't kept up with the rapid population growth and residential building. There are still less restaurant / retails options, although that is certainly rapidly changing.
To me, it is a little too "bland" or "vanilla" (see: cookie cutter / suburban) for my tastes - (again in rough, vague, broad general quadrant terms) - in comparison to the Northeast, however, it still beats the pants out of living in most other areas of most other cities in the US. And frankly, if my wife and I end up in ABQ again, we'd probably end up here, as housing is important to us, and keeping the price tag reasonable is too! (Again, this is why so many young families explore this part of the town).
Southeast and Southwest...
These two quadrants are the ones that have less population in them (especially many areas of the SW) and have more of a history for low income, crime, etc., in certain spots. The crummier-for-crime area of Central Ave. is in the Southeast, as are some of the crummier areas around Gibson Blvd., etc.
The Southwest has the highest Hispanic population, and has often times the most "Mexican" feel in terms of culture, signage, etc. It has some very nice areas, and also some areas ("the South Valley") more reputed with crime.
Both the Southeast (on the extreme southeast) and the Southwest (on the extreme SW - the "Southwest Heights") - have areas with new developments / homes, etc., that are attracting young families, young professionals, etc.
Having said all of that...it is hard to classify some specific areas of ABQ as being in one of the four quadrants even though geographically you could likely slot them into one of the four:
-Nob Hill / UNM area
-Downtown
-Uptown area
-North Valley
-Rio Rancho / Corrales (suburbs)
*All of these above mentioned areas are overall quite nice, and all would be very desirable in most spots to live.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrod2828
Plus maybe some of the burbs if you get a chance (Rio Rancho, Edgewood, etc.)
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One area where Albuquerque is quite a bit different than some bigger Midwestern cities like Milwaukee or Indianapolis is that it largely still is a very non-suburbanized city.
For instance, while the city of Milwaukee is 600,000, the metro of Milwaukee is about 1.7 million. The 1.1+ million folks not in Milwaukee still often will identify themselves as being from "Milwaukee" even though they are suburbanites...I am one of them currently.
This is very common in other big cities like Indianapolis, the Twin Cities, etc. Heck, Denver is another great example. Denver - the city itself - isn't much bigger than Albuquerque. But the suburbs are massive around Denver (Aurora, a big Denver 'burb, is over 1/2 the size of ABQ!).
Even though city-data forumites typically seem to despise the concept of suburban living, frankly, it is just how things are for millions and millions in most big city metros.
Transversely, in Albuquerque, the city's population is for all intents and purposes about 500,000 but the metro is only 850,000. Thus, as you can tell, the BULK of the residents in the metro area are actually living in Albuquerque itself. Even many of the suburbs (thinking of 'burbs like Placitas, Bernalillo, Los Lunas, and East Mountain communities like Edgewood, Moriarty, Cedar Crest, Tijeras, etc.) are not directly connected to Albuquerque (or even to another direct suburb).
Having said that, most of the main suburbs would be offhand:
-Rio Rancho (the biggie...one of the fastest growing cities in the US and closing in on 80,000 residents)
-Corrales
-Los Ranchos de Albuquerque
-Bernalillo
-Placitas
-Los Lunas
-East Mountain communities (Edgewood, Moriarty, Cedar Crest, Tijeras, etc.)
Rio Rancho isn't much different than Northwest Albuquerque. New. Rapidly growing. Traffic/infrastructure trying to keep up. Safe. Middle class to middle-upper class. Nice.
Corrales is more rural in nature. Quite pricey for the most part. Located on the Rio Grande so more lush and tree-laden. Artsy and pricey but quite nice.
Los Ranchos...very small community in the middle of Albuquerque. Very affluent. Lots of stables, huge lands/houses. Very pricey.
Bernalillo used to have a very crime-laden reputation. Some of the older areas are still mediocre to sketchy but there are some very new, nice big chunks now too as kind of a spill-over from Rio Rancho. Parts of Bernalillo, Rio Rancho, and NW Albuquerque are almost indistinguishable from one another. Some nice restaurants and shops in little Bernalillo. Bern is growing.
Placitas...affluent / pricey. In the mountain foothills with spectacular scenery and views, but also much cooler weather than ABQ itself. Gorgeous suburb, but it carries a price tag and cooler weather.
Los Lunas...rapidly growing suburb about 15 miles south of Albuquerque. Like Bernalillo, parts had a reputation for higher crime, however, there are so many new developments / housing projects, etc., that much of LL is now suburbia USA with a lower price tag than ABQ. This area is still developing, and once Mesa del Sol hits big in ABQ (the huge new development on the south of ABQ), I would imagine the spillover into Los Lunas will be even more of a boom for LL.
East Mountain Communities...probably see my explanation above about Edgewood.
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