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A little background: I will be traveling to Albuquerque in about a month for business. I am hoping to interview while I'm in town. My husband spent a good portion of his childhood there...and he counts those as his best years as a kid. So...we were thinking of making the move. Frankly, I spent the better half of the weekend looking at pictures...with my oldest kid wanting to know if we could move over the summer. My youngest is calling the Sandia Mountain range, get this...Singing Mountain. She is convinced we will be welcomed by unicorns and fairies. So...
I have read through a ton of threads and I have visited several websites. I am a little unsure of what I have been reading, and find myself wanting to post. Something. So here goes, please be gentle.
-Living north of I-40 is preferable to south if you have kids.
-People who live in Albuquerque either love it or hate it.
-The War Zone is only really scary if you have never successfully navigated South Dallas.
-Traffic on the way to Rio Rancho is only bad if you have never driven in L.A.
-There are less mosquito's in Albuquerque, but more bunnies, hummingbirds, and road runners...all nefarious beasties when you really think about it.
-Possibly the exact same ratio of rednecks in both cities.
-Flash Floods happen far less than Tornadoes. Same with Earthquakes.
-The best sunsets. Ever.
********************
and now the update:
i got a job offer in june and we moved in july. my husband found a job a couple of months after we moved. we are in LOVE with Albuquerque. there is a sense of community that i haven't experienced in any town i have lived. and it is absolutely refreshing. the people i work with are great, and my managers are very supportive. we ended out moving to a nice apartment on the tramway with a mountain view. rent is extremely reasonable. and we are hoping to find a house sometime next year.
a couple of observations:
-i have encountered a total of one mosquito, six flies, and a cornucopia of wildlife and fauna. the hummingbirds that hang out off my porch are sooooo cool.
-flash floods are only really dangerous if you are hanging out in arroyos. really cool to watch from the road though.
-i have successfully made carne adovada, my new favorite food. we also have a freezer full of fresh and roasted green chilis that we eat at nearly every meal.
-summer was beautiful. autumn is shaping up very very nicely. and i can't wait for the snow.
-as far as crime here...not so bad. i read a post a few months ago that summed it up nicely and imho fairly accurate(i'm paraphrasing): as long as your not selling or buying crack you're probably ok
(edit) - also, i think i like the more eclectic parts of town...i've driven through rr a few times. not really my style, although i have now made friends who live there and love it.
in summary, i am never leaving. not even to visit relatives.
Last edited by mordantmonkey; 11-15-2010 at 05:18 PM..
Reason: forgot to mention areas to live
Thanks for taking the time to update your situation and let others know about the area that are planning on relocating.
It is only a matter of time before I will be there (hopefully sooner rather than later) and I applaud your efforts too cook carne adovada.
It was my favorite when I visited but is impossible to make here in the deep south due to the lack of ingredients.
Trust me...I have tried to shop for the right ingredients to emulate a NM dish and love to cook..but it will just not happen.
The best I can get is a can of refried beans at the local mart hispanic section. I'm still kicking myself in the arse for not bringing home a ristra.
A little background: I will be traveling to Albuquerque in about a month for business. I am hoping to interview while I'm in town. My husband spent a good portion of his childhood there...and he counts those as his best years as a kid. So...we were thinking of making the move. Frankly, I spent the better half of the weekend looking at pictures...with my oldest kid wanting to know if we could move over the summer. My youngest is calling the Sandia Mountain range, get this...Singing Mountain. She is convinced we will be welcomed by unicorns and fairies. So...
I have read through a ton of threads and I have visited several websites. I am a little unsure of what I have been reading, and find myself wanting to post. Something. So here goes, please be gentle.
-Living north of I-40 is preferable to south if you have kids.
-People who live in Albuquerque either love it or hate it.
-The War Zone is only really scary if you have never successfully navigated South Dallas.
-Traffic on the way to Rio Rancho is only bad if you have never driven in L.A.
-There are less mosquito's in Albuquerque, but more bunnies, hummingbirds, and road runners...all nefarious beasties when you really think about it.
-Possibly the exact same ratio of rednecks in both cities.
-Flash Floods happen far less than Tornadoes. Same with Earthquakes.
-The best sunsets. Ever.
********************
and now the update:
i got a job offer in june and we moved in july. my husband found a job a couple of months after we moved. we are in LOVE with Albuquerque. there is a sense of community that i haven't experienced in any town i have lived. and it is absolutely refreshing. the people i work with are great, and my managers are very supportive. we ended out moving to a nice apartment on the tramway with a mountain view. rent is extremely reasonable. and we are hoping to find a house sometime next year.
a couple of observations:
-i have encountered a total of one mosquito, six flies, and a cornucopia of wildlife and fauna. the hummingbirds that hang out off my porch are sooooo cool.
-flash floods are only really dangerous if you are hanging out in arroyos. really cool to watch from the road though.
-i have successfully made carne adovada, my new favorite food. we also have a freezer full of fresh and roasted green chilis that we eat at nearly every meal.
-summer was beautiful. autumn is shaping up very very nicely. and i can't wait for the snow.
-as far as crime here...not so bad. i read a post a few months ago that summed it up nicely and imho fairly accurate(i'm paraphrasing): as long as your not selling or buying crack you're probably ok
(edit) - also, i think i like the more eclectic parts of town...i've driven through rr a few times. not really my style, although i have now made friends who live there and love it.
in summary, i am never leaving. not even to visit relatives.
Great to hear what you have to say about the area, mordant monkey! I have been to Dallas many times (lived there one & have family there); I haven't navigated S. Dallas except for one time when I was 30 and went to the Fair alone and then couldn't find my car (s c a r e d)! Husband and I are seriously considering Albuquerque as the place to move (in 5 mos) from E NM. It truly is great to hear info like your's! Wish you much happiness!
A little background: I will be traveling to Albuquerque in about a month for business. I am hoping to interview while I'm in town. My husband spent a good portion of his childhood there...and he counts those as his best years as a kid. So...we were thinking of making the move. Frankly, I spent the better half of the weekend looking at pictures...with my oldest kid wanting to know if we could move over the summer. My youngest is calling the Sandia Mountain range, get this...Singing Mountain. She is convinced we will be welcomed by unicorns and fairies. So...
I have read through a ton of threads and I have visited several websites. I am a little unsure of what I have been reading, and find myself wanting to post. Something. So here goes, please be gentle.
-Living north of I-40 is preferable to south if you have kids.
-People who live in Albuquerque either love it or hate it.
-The War Zone is only really scary if you have never successfully navigated South Dallas.
-Traffic on the way to Rio Rancho is only bad if you have never driven in L.A.
-There are less mosquito's in Albuquerque, but more bunnies, hummingbirds, and road runners...all nefarious beasties when you really think about it.
-Possibly the exact same ratio of rednecks in both cities.
-Flash Floods happen far less than Tornadoes. Same with Earthquakes.
-The best sunsets. Ever.
********************
and now the update:
i got a job offer in june and we moved in july. my husband found a job a couple of months after we moved. we are in LOVE with Albuquerque. there is a sense of community that i haven't experienced in any town i have lived. and it is absolutely refreshing. the people i work with are great, and my managers are very supportive. we ended out moving to a nice apartment on the tramway with a mountain view. rent is extremely reasonable. and we are hoping to find a house sometime next year.
a couple of observations:
-i have encountered a total of one mosquito, six flies, and a cornucopia of wildlife and fauna. the hummingbirds that hang out off my porch are sooooo cool.
-flash floods are only really dangerous if you are hanging out in arroyos. really cool to watch from the road though.
-i have successfully made carne adovada, my new favorite food. we also have a freezer full of fresh and roasted green chilis that we eat at nearly every meal.
-summer was beautiful. autumn is shaping up very very nicely. and i can't wait for the snow.
-as far as crime here...not so bad. i read a post a few months ago that summed it up nicely and imho fairly accurate(i'm paraphrasing): as long as your not selling or buying crack you're probably ok
(edit) - also, i think i like the more eclectic parts of town...i've driven through rr a few times. not really my style, although i have now made friends who live there and love it.
in summary, i am never leaving. not even to visit relatives.
Sounds like you have found a perfect match. Good for you. We also moved from Dallas to the ABQ area. We loved it for the fiirst 5 years, but then decided it just wasn't quite us, but we still miss some things.
mordantmonky: Great and informative post. I live in Fort Worth and am considering moving to NM. Socorro is at the top of my list, partly because it's about an hour from Albuquerque.
Thanks for taking the time to update your situation and let others know about the area that are planning on relocating.
It is only a matter of time before I will be there (hopefully sooner rather than later) and I applaud your efforts too cook carne adovada.
It was my favorite when I visited but is impossible to make here in the deep south due to the lack of ingredients.
Trust me...I have tried to shop for the right ingredients to emulate a NM dish and love to cook..but it will just not happen.
The best I can get is a can of refried beans at the local mart hispanic section. I'm still kicking myself in the arse for not bringing home a ristra.
You can buy the boneless pork shoulder for carne adovada locally, correct?
If so, it's very easy to order the other ingredients by mail at several places. I order all of my dried chiles/spices/etc. from Pendery's in Dallas, but there are other sources.
do you mean Penzey's? i do miss some of the shopping in Dallas...thank you internet!
LOL! A LOT of folks from here go to PHX for the weekend to shop. I have yet to run into anyone I know from here, but often run into folks from ABQ - we chat as we wait in the checkout line.
BTW - a Mexican 'fast food' restaurant is opening on Cutler NE, in the Pavillions (between PakMail and Starbucks). It's Salsitas (or Las Salsitas maybe?). They're traditional Mexican and have 17 locations in Phoenix. The manager promised me no red or green chiles (It's NOT "New" Mexican, for you NM natives.) They were supposed to open this past Monday.
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(It's NOT "New" Mexican, for you NM natives.) They were supposed to open this past Monday.
