ALBUQUE, NM

“there are a couple of areas im thinking of moving to and one of them is ALBUQUE,NM
if you live there or near there id love to hear what you think
thanks”

“Is that anywhere near Albuquerque?”

“I'm not exactly sure, but I think the English translation for that city is "FREE TACOS FOR EVERYONE"!”

“SWEEEEEETTTT!
I'm there!”

“Where's Albuque? That anywhere near Albuquerque? If so, I hear it's a pretty high crime area. There are other, more suitable places in The Land of Enchantment. I am thinking of going that direction also. I suggest you consult with TT's denizen of New Mexico, Mr. Pathman.”

“I understand from a friend that Santa Fe, NM, is the low spot in the state where all the loose nuts rolled.”

“I don't think I could afford to live in Santa Fe. I'm thinking more like Las Cruces.”

“sorry Albuquerque NM”

“Socorro looks nice. Dead in the middle of 3 or 4 National Forests.
Only about 9000 people though. But hey, maybe that's a plus.”

“I'm working right now (hear that!), but I'll pick up on this later. Shorthand for Albuquerque is ABQ. It's a city, what can I say, better than some, worse than some. Great access to the outdoors in the state, though.

In the meantime, check this out:

Some New Mexico Links in the right column

or my photo albums for pics of the mountains etc.

Home Page”

“i'm still chekin possible sites for my planned relocate. thread "anywhere in the US" lots of good feedbak.

NM talk to the pathman”

“My brother lives in Questa, in the northern part of NM. Me and Prowler are planning on moving out there too. The people are great, the land, and hiking are wonderful. It is a small town, and cost of living is pretty high though.(tourist town)

If Albuquerque is where your thinking, the crime is high, but I have heard of people who like it, you still get the sceanry, but dont have to drive 45 minutes to get to where things are going on!”

“FG, you're showing your age. Las Cruces is a retirement community! jk

No really it is half retirement community half college town. I think the University of NM is there.

My brother and I were stuck there for a week when our truck broke down on our way to California.

We really enjoyed our time there. Met lots of friendly people and did some dayhikes in the desert and surrounding mountains.”

“i live in NYC now and you cant get any higher with crime then here”

“New Mexico State is in Las Cruces, University of New Mexico is in ABQ.

Home of THE PIT!”

“Thanks for the correction Pathman. I just know that we met several nice college girls at the local watering holes.

That was before I was married!”

“Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure it was.”

“I'm not sure if you mean "Albuquerque" or "Abiqiu" (both are in New Mexico) :-) It's a safe bet to assume you're talking about Albuquerque.

I was born and raised in Los Alamos, and moved in 1976 to Albuquerque to go to school there. I wound up staying there until 1992 (I now live in Salt Lake City).

Albuquerque is pretty much smack dab in the middle of a large (> 120,000 sq. miles, which is larger than unified Germany) underpopulated state (< 1.8 million people). As such, it's a pretty remote place to live for someone used to the population centers of the eastern United States.

As General Lew Wallace (the first territorial governor of New Mexico, and author of "Ben Hur") once said, "All calculations based on our experiences elsewhere fail in New Mexico."

My home state has gotten a lot of bad press as of late, citing high crime rates, corrupt/inefficient government, etc. I suppose some of that is deserved (although statistics show that there is actually more "contact" crime - drive-by shootings, kidnappings, etc., here in supposedly pristine Salt Lake City than in Albuquerque). For example, the "Lew Wallace" link above paints a pretty dreary picture of the state.

The New Mexican culture is unique, in that it is a mixture of three cultures in one - Anglo, Hispanic and Native American. New Mexico is the only state in the country in which Anglos were not the majority. When I was living there, it was 50 % Hispanic, 35 % Anglo, 10 % Native American, with the balance taken up pretty much evenly between African Americans and Asians. Because of New Mexico's strong Hispanic culture, virtually every governor elected to office has been fluent in Spanish (even the Anglo ones).

There is not much night life in Albuquerque, although more than one might think. There's been an effort in the last five years to rejuvenate the downtown area, and I was surprised to see how "lively" (a relative term, I realize) the town was on a Saturday night when I was down there visiting family last fall.

It's about a fifteen-minute to half-hour drive to foothills, a one-hour drive to the top of the Sandia Mountains (Elev. > 10,000 feet), and about a ninety minute drive to true wilderness (Jemez Mountains, Manzano Mountains, Sangre de Cristo Mountains, etc.). Since half the people in the state live in Albuquerque, once you get out of the city, it gets -deserted-. We're talking less than one million people spread out over 120,000 sq. miles.

Depending on the year, skiing can actually be quite good in New Mexico. There's Sandia Peak (bunny-hill quality), Santa Fe (intermediate quality) and Taos (world class), to name the biggest resorts. Because of its arid setting, the snow in New Mexico (it can snow a lot there, if the conditions are right) is VERY dry, partly because New Mexico is quite high in average altitude.

70 % of the state is above 5,000 feet. Albuquerque's airport is the highest major airport in the country (it's higher than Denver's). Santa Fe is the country's highest state capital (7,200 feet).

Much of the New Mexican mindset revolves around the antiquity of the settlements there. For example, Santa Fe was founded in the late 1500's, and Albuquerque was founded in the early 1600's. Many of the pueblos have been continuously occupied since ~ 900 AD.

This actually is a big deal in northern New Mexico, especially in old communities like Questa or Penyasco, which date back to the Conquistadores (Coronado, Onyate, etc.). They don't look kindly on newcomers there. There have been cases of rich outsiders (Hollywood actors, for example) coming in and trying to build their dream cabins in out-of-the-way areas like Truchas, only to have the building burned to the ground by the locals. I guess you might say that they're a little "insular."

But Albuquerque is pretty friendly to "immigrants," I think. The city -does- have some interesting things going on at different times of the year, like the International Balloon Fiesta. After you've seen > 750 hot-air balloons take off at the same time, you'll never look at the "little" balloon gatherings offered elsewhere in the same way.

Summers are hot, although not as hot as one might imagine (see the discussion about altitude above). Temperatures over 100 F are rare. Winters are somewhat mild, although sub-freezing lows in the winter are the norm. Basically, because of the altitude and the lack of humidity (5 % humidity is not uncommon), the temperature can swing 40 degrees F in the course of the day.

Albuquerque and New Mexico are deceptively complex in their makeup, so that it's hard to convey an accurate "feel" of life there in just a few words. But I will say that I have found that there are generally two types of people: those that "get" New Mexico, and those that hate the place. The Land of Enchantment leaves little ground for any other reaction.

If you can't tell by my writing, I love the place. I plan to retire there...”

“thanks forrest! saved me lots of writing! I agree with all you have said. UNM adds much to the city-concerts, great anthro museum, medical center.....

I was not born here, but I was conceived here. ;-)”

“thank you very much for all the input. its very hard to decide where to go. i have 2 children still at home and they have been real good about moving. its just i want out of the city real bad. i didnt grow up here. i grew up in a small town and looking to get back to that. the cost of living here has gone out the roof and its hard to do. for what we are paying rent here, we could afford a 3 bedroom home on 1 1/2 acrea. i know this may not seem alot to some of you but to me thats heaven!
we are 4 people in a very small apartment. children share the bedroom and we get the pull out in the livingroom. so thats why i want out. the cost of living out in the southwest is alot better then here.”

“when we first started talking about moving i thought it would be easy. I WAS WRONG
you have to consider, housing, jobs, school, weather, crime,
did i miss anything?
LOL
but at the same time it is alot of fun planning your future
its also very scary.”

“Hey Maple Leaf I read this column in the NYT a few years ago about this New Yorker who moved to Taos NM. Told how she got scared out of her wits by some kids drinking out of their pickup. One of them was fooling around with a gun, and they looked dirty at her!!!

The subtext: Forget about moving away from safe, familiar NYC. Those outlanders are SAVAGES!

I still laugh when I think about that article. What do they call it, boosterism?”

“BTW the gun was probably a hunting rifle. Scare a NYC person to deaf!”

“New Mexico Magazine, what they want tourists to see

The real NM is a bizarre mix of high tech, ancient cultures and rough and tumble frontier.”

“SH
LOl
that reminded me of my sister.
she always said how she hated NY cause of the crime. (shes in PA)
so when she comes to visit she will not drive for fear of her car getting stolen.
well one day she went out into her backyard to go to work, guess what?
she had to call work and tell them she was going to be late. LOL
they took it right out of her OWN backyard. but the kicker is, is that the cops told her that they prob. took her car to NY. so i guess i cant win either way huh?”

“Maple, I was raised in Albuquerque for the most part. I lived there for a good portion of my adult life, as well. I would move back, but for just one thing: the economy of NM is terrible. I believe that it's the second worst in the nation - Mississippi being first.


I love the feel of the place, the food, the outdoors, the landscape and the people (generally). If I could be surer of a job in my field, I would move back.”

“then there is the weather. I've gotta hustle out of here right now. I'm on my bike and there's big T-storm heading my way.”