I looked through some older threads on Albuquerque, but they related to visiting and not moving. So what do you think of Albuquerque? Is it a nice place to raise a family? Can I get by on a household income of $40-45,000? Do I really have to put the bed in the middle of the room and put cups of water under each foot to keep scorpions out?
How’s the commute to the Journal Center business park from other parts of the city? A cursory search of the housing stock shows a lot of homes with chain-link fences and bars on the windows; what’s up with that? Can I get, say, a 3-bedroom, 2-bath house for $125,000 or less in a decent neighborhood, or should I train my 3-year-old to use mace?
It’s been a while since I lived there, about 8 years, but I grew up in ABQ.
ABQ has some pretty nice areas to live in but there are also some neighborhoods that are less than family friendly. I grew up in the northeast heights and it was a prefectly middle class neighborhood. Most of the city is fine. The south valley is kinda shady, I wouldn’t live in some areas in the south valley and the far northeast area had some fairly bad places. The bad areas aren’t all that big.
The area I lived in, and most areas in town, don’t have fences or bars on the windows. Well, if there are fences they are the kind to keep dogs in, not criminals out.
I don’t know what the house prices have done recently but according to my brother, who still lives there, they have gone up quite a bit, so I can’t really help you there. I would think that 40 to 45 a year would be fine in ABQ.
I lived in ABQ for 27 years and saw a handful of scorpions and they were all out in the desert in the middle of nowhere. There are some brown recluses and millipedes in some areas but it is not really an issue.
I don’t know about the commute now. It wasn’t all that bad when I lived there. If you lived in Rio Rancho it might be a bit long but otherwise it was never too bad though that might have changed since I lived there.
The cool things about ABQ are a) the mountains b) the Balloon Fiesta c) the weather (if you don’t mind HOT for a couple months) and d) the food.
a) One side of the city is the Sandia mountains. It’s a short drive to get to the peak (10,000 feet). The skiing kinda sucks. OK, the skiing really sucks but the mountain is a cool place to go for picnics and stuff. The Sante Fe ski area isn’t too far away and has decent skiing.
b) The Balloon Fiesta is the world largest and it is impressive. It’s like 9 days long and hundreds of balloons take part. They take off from the balloon fiesta park nd land all over the place. It is extremely cool. They have a mass ascension* where all 700 or 800 balloons take off at about the same time. It is simply amazing.
c) The winters aren’t all that cold. It gets a little chilly but it usually doesn’t last too long. It does snow some but is usually gone in a day or so. The summers get pretty hot but it is not too bad.
d) ABQ has some of the best Mexican food around. After the harvest you can go down by the mall and get freshly roasted green chile. It rocks.
All in all, it is a pretty good place to live.
Slee
*When I was growing up it was normal that every October hot air balloons started landing the school yard, down the street in the park, or in the yard. Well, I can only remember a balloon landing in our yard once. I imagine that if you move there your three year old will freak over the balloons.
I know what you mean! Unfortunately, (or fortunately), my son moved there so I had to learn how to spell the damn place.
For the OP, my son has been there for more than a year after moving from California. He really loves it. He first lived in the mountains east of the city, but it was too far to commute so moved into the city.
There are all sorts of really nice neighborhoods, many with mountain or river views. Great biking trails if you are into that. Not that big a city, so not difficult to get around. On our visit, we really enjoyed it.
I’ve lived in Albuquerque, and I’ve visited my folks in northeast Georgia. Never saw a scorpion in Albuquerque. If you want scorpions, go to Georgia. Seriously.
I remember Albuquerque fondly. It’s a pretty city, in a little bowl surrounded by a ring of mountains. There’s a wide range of socioeconomic status, some violent areas but unless it has really deteriorated in recent years it’s pretty peaceful and safe overall.
The streets are laid out in a grid, like New York City. It’s easy to get around. I don’t know where Journal City Park is.
I just moved from NM, and spent my teen years in Albuquerque. My husband and I would love to move back, so you can call this a recommendation.
No scorpions, some black widows, nothing too weird.
Avoid the south valley, unfortunately it’s got a lot of problems. Rio Rancho and Corrales are nice, but working in the Journal Center business park, you’ll be at the wrong end of Paseo Del Norte for your commute. Really, you might look into living at the northeast end of Paseo. Nice area, growing fast (sadly, this means more and more sprawl), no bars on windows, and a straight shot down Paseo to your work.
Unfortunately, I can’t tell you much about cost of living or such. I was a teen while living in Albuquerque, so I don’t have a lot of data on it. I imagine it’s cheaper than DC, though!
Nothing helpful to add. I spent a year living in Los Alamos in '97/'98 working at LANL and will be going back for the first time to visit on Saturday. I’m taking my in-laws who’ve never been (they’re visiting from Taiwan) and am looking forward to the trip. North Central New Mexico is a beautiful area and I have some great memories of motorcycle rides through the area.
I just had to drop in here because I have been thinking about moving permanently to New Mexico. Boston (actually all of Massachusetts) is getting to be a ridiulously difficult (and expensive) place in which to live. Besides high rates of insurance and housing, the lousy weather is finally getting to me. (I’m not a kid anymore )
Still, being somewhat used to city life, how are some of New Mexico’s other major cities? (SantaFe, Las Cruces, Farmington, Gallup, and Roswell)
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