Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I go on Google Earth very often. I want to live in NM if I get an IT job after graduating college next year. Obviously, I am not going to buy a house right away, because I obviously never visited NM and I won't get a chance to visit it enough to examine the state. When applying for jobs, I have to read what area of ABQ it is in or if it is in Santa Fe and then I would determine if I should live above or below ABQ.
When I buy a house, I prefer to have a house that is spaced out from the other houses. The problem with the desert and most of the West (especially California) is that houses tend to be crowded together even though the particular neighborhood is considered a "suburb". I want a small house (I have no desire to have children) even if it looks a bit like a shack. Also, I would want property in a desert where I don't have to worry about mowing a lawn full of greenery. I just want to do minor landscape care.
It seems like towns north of ABQ that have space out houses tend to have houses for rich people. I never got a chance to view the street view, but from Google Earth, those houses tend to look like the shape and size of mansions to be honest, but south of ABQ where there are spaced out homes, there are more regular and shack-like houses down there. It seems like places south below ABQ tend to be for me (That probably means warmer weather for me lol!!).
There's not really "above" and "below" Albuquerque or "north" and "south" the way you describe. There's nice and nasty stuff in both directions.
The river's about 4700 feet. Uptown is a mile high. Tramway's about 6000 feet. The westside similarly flirts with a mile high. These have almost nothing to do with anything in terms of lot sizes or types of greenery, other than you'll find more grass and trees close to the river.
Sounds like you want older neighborhoods where setbacks and lot size requirements were more sparse. These tend to have smaller houses as well. Look for pre-1984 construction.
In 1960's NE Heights, there's a lot more greenery and trees than other neighborhoods would suggest, but there's nothing to keep one from xeriscaping (or neglecting) it to desert.
The difference between north and south in terms of climate is minor compared to west and east.
Take a look at Algodones (north of Bernalillo). Used to be cheap. I don't know anymore.
In my view, north of Albq vs. south depends on whether you want to be closer to the more varied, larger mountains of the north for outdoors activities, or if you prefer the fewer, more deserty, and more separated mountains of the south. Most of the mountains from Albuquerque on southwards (Sandias, Manzanos, Magdalenas) are devoid of running water/streams and so offer a somewhat different type of outdoors experience. Up north, the mountains become more accessible, more vast, lakes, rivers, streams, which means there's fishing and water for your backpacking opportunities is more readily available.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
