The Duke City
-
1/15/2008
I have lived in Albuquerque for two years now. I moved from Phoenix Arizona. Starting out with the pros, the city has some beautiful architecture and a great 300 year old history. It seems that there is always an event being planned by the city and live music can be found at some point on every plazuela in the city. If you are latino (like myself) there are a million things to do that honor our culture. The National Hispanic Cultural Center is the largest organization of it's kind outside of Latin America. Albuquerque is well connected to the rest of the nation via many transportation options to include our road network and the International Sunport. Options abound for the nature enthusiast, as the trailheads to the Sandias are no more than a ten minute drive from downtown. Just north of ABQ is the nations oldest capitol, home to the oldest church, house and government building in Santa Fe. If you like history and culture, northern New Mexico should not be missed as we always extend our warmest "Bienvenidos" to everyone. Albuquerque also has an excellent hospital network; which will bring us to the cons. We have a necessity for the hospital network due to the high rate of violent crime in this city. Drug use is rampant, and you can always find police, on and off patrol, hanging out at the Frontier restaurant on Central Avenue. If you have a penchant for heroine with you red and green chile, please make ABQ your home. Although the highway network connects us to the nation in tandem with our beautiful Sunport, the roads in the city are lacking. Marked with Texas sized potholes, you will want an SUV or a pickup to navigate our city. Shopping is lack luster, unless your end goal is to find Spanish colonial furniture, statues of patron Saints for every ailment imaginable or "ristras"; which are chile pepper swags or wreaths. For the seriously clothing fiend you will have to visit Phoenix, Denver or Dallas, all reachable in less than an hour and a half via plane from ABQ.
All in all, Albuquerque is a great city, with a great history, and a love of food, friends and family. The New Mexico way of life and submersion in Spanish, Mexican and native cultures is unmatched in the US, where New Mexican is not just the name of our people, but also encompasses an attitude and an entire culture separate from the grind of life outside of our cities, towns and "villas". I give Albuquerque five stars in all aspects, even considering the crime, roads and lack of shopping. Come and visit, find out what a green chile cheeseburger is all about. Visit our three-hundred year old "Plaza Vieja" and enjoy one of the best tourist experiances of your life. Bienvenidos a todos (welcome to all).
Jacob | Albuquerque, NM