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Albuquerque?!?

Original Post
Jeff Fox · · Delaware, OH · Joined Mar 2007 · Points: 1,320

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.

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 mountians? 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,

j

Mike Anderson · · Colorado Springs, CO · Joined Nov 2004 · Points: 3,265

You should drive down there this weekend. It's only 5-6 hours...see for yourself.

mattb19 · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2007 · Points: 250

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.

1) Schools? I'm a dad so how are the public schools down there? The schools can be very good if you live in a nice part of town. There are three areas that have very good public schools. This is due to higher property tax which benefits the schools.
2) Would you raise your kids in Alb. NM? I do not have kids but would have no problems raising kids here. Come check it out. You are just a 5 hour drive away.
3) Crime? We are not the best when it comes to DWI and we do have other issues that cities of our size face but overall I feel very comfortable here.
4) Weather? This is where we really shine. We actually have 4 seasons but overall we have lots of days of sunshine. Our weather is very similar to Denver weather as we are close in elevation.
5) Any ice climbing within a reasonable distance? Short drive. Real ice climbing, no. We do have a few routes up in the Sanidas right outside of town but nothing too great. You can drive to Wolf Creek in about 2 1/2hours or Ouray in 4- 4 1/2 hours.
6) Rock climbing? I'm not much of a rock climber, but I can do so. There is lots of rock climbing. Its all over.
7) Any mountians? If not, how far to drive? We have the Jemez Moutains about 1 1/2 hours away and then the great Sanidas in our back yard.

I would say what you think of Albuquerque is very wrong and you would be very suprised once you visited. We were voted #1 place in the country to live and work by Forbes Magazine in 2006.

Now if you love big mountains you are going to be very sad here. Otherwise you will put lots of mileage on your car driving to Colorado to play up high. You will probably end up getting into rock climbing due to there is lots to do here.

I would make a trip to come down and check things out. This is a great place to live. You will also notice that it is also a cheaper place to live as well. So if you were going to be getting a raise I would seriously take a look at checking us out.

Chris JD · · Golden, Co · Joined Oct 2005 · Points: 390

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.

Schools - Rio Rancho is east of Albuquerque and has pretty good schools I'm told. The NE side of Alb is more affluent and the schools tend to be better, bigger than if you were to move to the south valley.

I don't know much about ice climbing, I think there are a couple of places in Los Alamos - about 1.5 -2hrs drive north. I'm sure there's more near Taos or even the other side of the Sandia Mountains from Alb. The Sandias are 10,600' or so and Alb sits at 5200'. The tallest peak is a 13er near Taos. There is a ruggedness to the mountains but you do not have the alpine setting you get in Co.

There is abundant rock climbing, and while most of it may be a farther drive than Clear Creek or Table Mesa outside of Golden, you'll also find substantially less crowds and attitudes.

Crime... get a subscription to albuquerque journal, see what progresses. I honestly couldn't tell you.

Weather - In Alb, it seems to get just over 100F in summer and in the 20-30s over winter. Not too much snow in town however there are some good ski areas in the state.

Best thing to do is visit the area. See if your family wants to move. And if you do move let me know, I'm looking for a house in Golden....

Micahisaac · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 80
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, j
If 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!
Joe Collins · · Boulder, CO · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 930

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).

Answers to your questions:
1) Not sure. Teachers are paid absurdly low in NM.
2) Sure. Its a great place. Albuquerque is a tricky town because the good neighboorhoods don't look too different from the not so good ones. The best neighboorhoods are in the areas just NE and SE of UNM, the far NE and SE Heights against the Foothills, and along the bosque in the North Valley. I personally do not like Rio Rancho too much, a little too cookie cutter, but some people may like that sort of thing.
3) Albuqueruqe gets a bad rap b/c of some gang activity that spills over from the South Valley. NM is a much poorer state than CO, so naturally there are going to be a few unsavory characters. If you actually look at the stats though, I would imagine it compares pretty favorably to most big western cities, including Denver.
4) One of the best climates in the US. Summer temps are very similar to Denver and cooler than Salt Lake City. It usually rains every day in the late afternoon in the late summer (the monsoon). It rarely exceeds 100F. Winter is very mild, yet still feels like winter (average Jan highs are in the 40s),minus the snow.
5) Nope. Ouray is more like 5+ hours away.
6) Lots of good rock climbing, mainly sport. I would maintain that NM has more varied high quality sport climbing than Colorado. For trad climbing, well, there ain't much good.
7) Sandias are more like a high mesa, though they do exceed 10,000 ft, and have a very small handful (emphasize small) of quality trad climbs. The Sangres near Santa Fe have several 12-13,000 ft peaks.

Jeff Fox · · Delaware, OH · Joined Mar 2007 · Points: 1,320

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.

Oh, and the "image in my head" of the place was/is a joke! Lighten up! I'm really having a hard time with leaving Colorado. I really like Golden but my other option would probably be Big-Oil if I don't find anything decent here so at least NM isn't TX! ;) ('nother joke).

Oh, and I'd be working on Kirtland AFB, the extreme south end, so I'd probably be looking for housing on the south/south-east side of Alb. Good area?

Micahisaac · · Fort Collins, CO · Joined Apr 2006 · Points: 80

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.
And someone is right: the food is outstanding!

Jeff Fox · · Delaware, OH · Joined Mar 2007 · Points: 1,320

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.

mattb19 · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Jan 2007 · Points: 250
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.
Jeff Fox · · Delaware, OH · Joined Mar 2007 · Points: 1,320

Thanks! Not really serious, its that I may have no choice. Of course, that depends on how sweet the deal is from my employer.

Anyway, I have of course gotten a lot of conflicting advice on the city, as is to be expected from the internets! If it really looks like I will be moving down there, of course I'll visit first.

Aside from climbing, the most important aspect for me is: Would I rather raise my son and have him grow up in Golden, CO or Albuquerque, NM?

As far as climbing goes, I guess I could switch focus to lesser peaks and to sport climbing. How is the canyoneering/desert stuff in NM? I've done a bit of that in CO and like it.

Monomaniac · · Morrison, CO · Joined Oct 2006 · Points: 17,295

jfox,

There are nice areas to live near the base (Nob Hill, Four Hills), but if you are primarily concerned about the schools, you won't want to live near the base. I work at the base and I live in the "affluent" NE heights. My commute is ~25 minutes each way. I would suggest a similar living situation if schools are your top priority. It also depends on where on base you will be working. The base is rather large, and the commutes are significantly different for the "east side" or "west side" of base.

I would strongly second Joe's comments, except that I seem to enjoy the trad climbing more than he does. Granted, it is no where near the qty/quality of trad climbing you have within an hour or two of Golden.

There is no serious ice climbing in NM. There are a few things in the Sandias that form up every second or third year, but they are a joke. When we want ice, we go to Ouray, which is definately a 6 hour drive in winter conditions. Silverton is about an hour closer, and Durango another hour closer. Not sure about Wolf Creek, probalby at least 4 hours?

As for the "war-zone" thing, I've lived here for 7 years and never heard gunfire, which is apparently a common occurrence near Golden. :)

FWIW, I'm moving from ABQ to Denver, primarily for the climbing. I've loved living here, but I've run out of routes to climb....

Monomaniac · · Morrison, CO · Joined Oct 2006 · Points: 17,295

Here's what the link says:

"... My borther (Dan Miller), my roomate ( Rossin Richardson ) and myself (Craig Miller) were actually the ones who were shot at in the Primo cave. This episode went on for about 45 minutes back in 91 or 92 and ended with 7 Colorado State Patrol cars arresting the wacko perpatrator. At the time he had a mini 14 semi-automatic assault rifle with collapsible butt, scope ( he claimed he didn't see us), and 50 round banana clips, a loaded pistol in his pants, and a monster hunting knife. He took his first volley while I had just gotten off Predator and my brother and I felt the air move next to our heads ( we were 3-5 feet apart ). He then proceeded to shoot at us anytime we became visible for the next 45 minutes, including at Rossin while he being the only one with shoes bolted and barely made it around the cave exit towards the bridge before flagging down a car and calling for help.It looked like a movie but was a whole lot scarier watching the dirt and branches fly behind Rossin.In the end the guy got off with wreckless endangerment as there was no proof that he saw us, although from his vantage point near the now tyrolean it was pretty clear, and the fact that clear creek is a "free fire zone". The route now called Pro-Choice was originally called Bad Day Mining in psycho boy's honor........."

Joe Collins · · Boulder, CO · Joined Jan 2001 · Points: 930
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.
James W · · Boulder, CO · Joined Jan 2008 · Points: 55
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, j
Come check it out, you may be surprised. Think more "high mountain desert" rather than "death valley" sand dunes desert.
Jeff Fox · · Delaware, OH · Joined Mar 2007 · Points: 1,320

Thank you James!

nick d · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Feb 2008 · Points: 0

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.
Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Arizona & New Mexico
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