ABQ = A great place to visit
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6/21/2015
My employment with the military is what brought my family to Albuquerque almost 3 years ago. Both my husband and I are educated have lived in many different places, inside and out of the US. Yes, the NM climate is arid and much more pleasant than many other parts of the country. There are some beautiful places to hike, cycle and camp. Albuquerque NM is the most "modern" metropolis you will find in all of NM: more than 2 theaters, 2 "larger" shopping malls and a fraction of the modern conveniences that you expect to find in Denver, Phoenix, and Dallas...just a few decades behind. In a nutshell, Albuquerque is the ideal place to visit but being a resident of Albuquerque is not recommended unless your are independently wealthy. If you: must rely on employment to survive, have a family and cannot afford private schooling, find it difficult to live among illiterate and rather apathetic welfare masses...then you will probably struggle finding happiness here.
Per Capita:
Crime is higher than average and locals strive to avoid criminals and the police as well. (Google DOJ and Albuquerque Police) Very large and growing homeless population.
Traffic:
Few places are accessible on foot, most places take about 30 mins drive time, expressways have not been well planned and most NM drivers don't understand the concept of "merge". Extremely high number of illegal (unlicensed and undocumented) drivers. NM has the worst record for repeat drunk drivers in all of the country...they get something like 13 chances before the state permanently takes their license. (no kidding...Google it).
Health:
Poor in the general population. Many doctors fled NM decades ago and NM continues to lose good practitioners yearly. My family gets a different PCP every 6 months. Although we have the identical level of (excellent) health care coverage, my husband and I don't have the same level of confidence in our healthcare that we had in other states.
Education:
Our children went to public school for less than 1 month before we saw how lacking the NM public education system is. We opted to downsize our home to pay for private schooling, because we want them to stand a chance as functional adults. Public schools here are akin to the inner city schools I remember from Los Angeles and Chicago. Unacceptable.
Cost of Living:
Higher than the national average. You get more than you would get in Bay Area of California or New York City, but significantly less than the MidWest and most of the SouthEast.
Albuquerque is beautiful and a wonderful place to visit.
marli | Albuquerque, NM