Albuquerque?!?
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So it looks like that when I finish grad school this summer, my current employer will hire me only if I move to Albuquerque, NM from Golden, CO. I've never been to New Mexico so I don't know anything about it. I'm wondering if I should stay with these guys and move to NM or find another job and try to stay in the Denver area. |
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You should drive down there this weekend. It's only 5-6 hours...see for yourself. |
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Well the first thing that you will like about Albuquerque is that there is less people than where you are located. Yes, there is mountains also. |
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Albuquerque is only 6hrs from Denver. Having grown up in the area I can't say I appreciate the rusty trucks and liquor stores comment, as you'll find that in most states and cities. For general terrain - look at a map, it has similarities to Co but is also the US edge of the Rockies. |
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jfox wrote:. So, a few Q's: 1) Schools? I'm a dad so how are the public schools down there? 2) Would you raise your kids in Alb. NM? 3) Crime? 4) Weather? 5) Any ice climbing within a reasonable distance? Short drive. 6) Rock climbing? I'm not much of a rock climber, but I can do so. 7) Any mountains? If not, how far to drive? I've got in my head an image of a giant wasteland of rusty trucks, liquor stores, and trailer parks with blowing tumble weeds and dust storms. Are these fears unfounded? Thx, jIf it's not enough that I'm originally from the "Duke City", and now reside on Colorado's Front Range, here's my take: 1)schools- Having graduated from an "affluent" high school, I still think the school system (buildings, standards, test scores) is very dilapidated. 2)I would not choose to raise my kids there primarily because of the crime and poor schools (not that I have kids as of yet) 3)I have personally seen violent crimes occur in the "affluent" neighborhoods. Watch a "COPS" marathon on T.V. and every third episode will be about Albuquerque (so much so that the Mayor no longer allows the COPS television series to film in his city). NM is very high in DWI fatalities. When you visit there you find a huge amount of graffiti (most of which is from what I call "real" gangs). Like most cities there are neighborhoods to avoid, but Albuquerque is very similar to LA when it comes to the degree of violence and gang activity (again IMO). 4)Albuquerque scores highest here... The weather is roughly identical to that of Golden! Add about 5 degrees on average and you have it. 5)no ice climbing unless you drive to Colorado (wait you already live here!) 6)Lots of rock climbing! For the Sandias you have a heinous approach and plan on spending roughly a whole day on anything you do there (but super fun adventure). Big block and Palomas Peak are great sport areas. Short day trips to many other quality crags. I particularly like the gym there, good people and something to do when you'd otherwise be in Clear Creek after work. 7)Mountains are ok, but nothing technical. Again Colorado is closest thing for that. Your perception of Albuquerque is definitely wrong. It's a major city, it's BEAUTIFUL, but IMO it has been ruined by a small number of bad people. All my family is there and I visit often enough. It has major city problems, but I think those problems are on the high side compared to other cities of similar population. It's not all bad, and I would strongly encourage you, as others have, to visit for yourself and check it out. I also encouage you to look at crime, dui, sex offender, and other crimes stats as a percentage of population. Good luck! |
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In my opinion, Albuquerque is one of the most underrated places to live in the west. The people are generally more laid back than Coloradans, which can be good or bad depending on the situation. The food is truly world class. Probably the best collection of under $10/person high quality restaurants in the US. There is excellent access to the outdoors, and the bigger mountains of Colorado are not too far away (4 hours to the San Juans, 3.5 hours to the Sangres near Alamosa). |
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Hey thanks for the info so far. Keep it coming! This is what I was asking for...first hand experiences, good and bad. Of course I could drive there and spend a day or two, but without knowing where to "look", I'll never really get a feel for the place, bad-parts, good-parts etc. |
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south east is OK, north east is best. Living near the base is bad mojo (is this normal for military bases?). As long as your not commuting east to west you're prolly set. I hope I didn't paint to grim of a picture for you. |
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Well I posted this same thing over at SP to get as many responses as possible and I've been told the south/south-east end of town is called the "War-Zone" because of all the gang crime! |
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jfox wrote:Well I posted this same thing over at SP to get as many responses as possible and I've been told the south/south-east end of town is called the "War-Zone" because of all the gang crime! I've gotta consolidate all this info tomorrow.I gotta tell you if you are serious about considering on moving here you should really come check it out. We can all tell you what we like and dislike but you just never know. You might have different things in mind as far as what you are looking for. I would call up a realtor and tell them you are looking at Albuquerque and have them take you around. If you need a name of someone who could help you with that let me know and I will put you in contact with a nice lady that I know. The internet is a great place to get some feed back as to what you might expect but I would not leave it up to people on the internet to decide if I was even going to be coming out here. I would also be a little leary about listening to people who have not been out here in the last 5 years. We have really grown over the years and things have changed alot. This is either good or bad depending on what you like. |
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Thanks! Not really serious, its that I may have no choice. Of course, that depends on how sweet the deal is from my employer. |
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jfox, |
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Here's what the link says: |
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jfox wrote:Well I posted this same thing over at SP to get as many responses as possible and I've been told the south/south-east end of town is called the "War-Zone" because of all the gang crime! I've gotta consolidate all this info tomorrow.I disagree about the SE part of town. The Ridgecrest area is very nice... it is just SE of the Knob Hill area. I lived in a great neighboorhood there for 5 years, right across from a nice little park. We were two blocks from Gibson, which separates Albq from Kirtland AFB. Not sure about the schools in that part of town, but lots of cool houses and some wealth, so the schools are probably just fine. |
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jfox wrote:1) Schools? I'm a dad so how are the public schools down there?Eh, the public schools here range from fair to abysmal, depending on area (as others have alluded to). We do have some first rate private schools, if you can afford them. jfox wrote:2) Would you raise your kids in Alb. NM?Well, I was raised here, and I like to think I turned out ok :-) . However, I would say that if your kids are heavily into outdoor activities, then this is a fine place to raise them. Unfortunately, other than outdoor activities, there isn't much else for kids to do here other than drugs (which are cheap and plentiful). jfox wrote:3) Crime?Certainly, there are neighborhoods that I wouldn't walk through during the day, much less at night, but there is a large part of town (north east heights, mostly) that is pretty safe and secure. Basically, just like anywhere, if you want to live somewhere really safe, be prepared to pay. jfox wrote:4) Weather?Probably among the nicest weather overall you'll find anywhere. Mild winters, hot (but not Pheonix hot) summers, plenty of sunshine, no natural disasters to speak of. jfox wrote:5) Any ice climbing within a reasonable distance? Short drive.Is Colorado a short drive? jfox wrote:6) Rock climbing? I'm not much of a rock climber, but I can do so.Copious. Plenty of nice little sport crags, plus the Sandias offer some fairly nice G-PG13 trad / adventure routes, with more waiting to be discovered. jfox wrote:7) Any mountians? If not, how far to drive?Well, the base of the 10,000 foot Sandias is a 5 minute WALK from my house (great for snowy days when the roads are bad), plus the state has various other ranges, including some of the largest wilderness areas in the lower 48 (Gila and Aldo Leopauld), also the excellent Pecos above Santa Fe. jfox wrote:I've got in my head an image of a giant wasteland of rusty trucks, liquor stores, and trailer parks with blowing tumble weeds and dust storms. Are these fears unfounded? Thx, jCome check it out, you may be surprised. Think more "high mountain desert" rather than "death valley" sand dunes desert. |
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Thank you James! |
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I moved to Albuquerque 30 years ago because of the Sandias. Someone called them mesa like? This photo is just one of the dozens of large formations on the west face (towards town). The eastern slopes are gentler, home to a cruiser kind of ski area. The snowfall is unreliable, but occasionally terrific. The biggest cliff in this photo is about 6-7 hundred feet tall. The biggest cliff in the range is about a thousand. The rock is alpine granite, don't expect Yosemite. Do expect BIG adventure! If you like to ride bicycles there is great riding here. I live downtown, and I can ride my mountainbike to high quality singletrack in less than an hour. Some of the riding gets snowed out, but there is good riding, on and off-road year round. The Astana team just spent several weeks training here. I don't have kids, but I think your school experience is what you make it. Could your kids fit in with a bunch of millionaire's in Boulder? Frankly, there is something to be said for growing up in the real world. I love it here, I think Albuquerque is one of the best places anywhere. |