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I move from Miami, FL to Albuquerque in July of last year (2009) and I lived in the War Zone at the beginning and I moved to Bel Air in December of last year. My feeling is that the city is quite normal.
People is always talking about crime, yet I think 80% of it happens in the war zone (The city ghetto). In the short time I lived there I saw the police two times in my building. The first time was because my neighbor kids were high on drugs an began trowing furniture from the balcony and the second time was because another neighbor was a drug dealer and he received a visit from the SWAT team to "close his business." I have to admit that I never had any crime related problem first hand while I lived there. Now that I live in Belair (a medium class neighborhood) I have never had a problem, nor I have heard of anything happening in the area since I live here.
Most of the stores and commerce are middle class oriented. So, you will find the typical mall stores (gap, hollister, macy's, sears...) and some interesting stores in Nob Hill. What you will not find here are fancy designer brand stores, nor an Ikea, and god knows how much Albuquerque needs an Ikea close by. There are a lot of entertaining like movie theaters, sports (basically the Isotopes baseball team and UNM football and basket team) and probably if you like a certain kind of specific activity there is a club or a place for that. There are also some nice restaurants and prices tend to be in a medium of $8 to $12 p.p.
The job industry is quite simple. There are 3 big employers: Intel, UNM and the Air Force base. There are some other medium and small companies in town but 70% of the city lives directly or indirectly from these 3 main employers. So, if you don't have a college degree, chances are that you will have problems finding a decent job.
People here is a little bit "close". With this I mean that they may be your friend at work, school, but they will not tell you about a party or socialize easily.
As a Venezuelan, I would say 96% of Hispanics here are Mexicans, Central Americans and even New Mexicans who still speak Spanish regularly at home. So, this is not a really diverse Hispanic place and meeting other people outside from these groups is quite a challenge. Thankfully for me, there is a really well organized Venezuelan community here (There are about 250 Venezuelans in all New Mexico). If you are looking for non-Mexican Hispanic food, there is a Venezuelan restaurant (thank god) in the NE, Cuban cafe in Nob Hill and a Colombian in the SE.
Traffic is good. You will rarely get stuck in traffic and everything is about 8 to 15 minutes of distance. There are a few people that drive horribly, but in overall it is not bad. Definitely it is quite the opposite of Miami.
What/Where is this infamous war zone??? Any why is it called a war zone?
It is around Central and Louisiana/Pennsylvania and the surrounding area. I am not sure how it got the name "war zone" other than there being a lot of crime there. It all seems mostly drug related. There are a lot of skanky prostitutes, although I remember there being more in the past so maybe law enforcement has cracked down. There is tons of drug activity in the area, but I don't think there is much gang activity. On the news they always call it "the international district" because of some of the pockets of different ethnic groups that happen to live in the area (e.g. Vietnamese). Years ago I worked in that tall building near Central and San Mateo (sort of on the fringe of the war zone) on one of the top floors and we used to see all kinds of crazy shenanigans in various abandoned buildings (drug deals, prostitution deals, etc). We made numerous police reports, but it didn't make much of a dent.
There was no "War Zone". It was not official, it was not a defined area, it was just a name some people chose to use possibly because of the high crime areas and some of the undefined areas, or possibly out of sheer ignorance, or possibly because some people enjoy being hateful.
NM Senate District 17 officially changed the name of the area to the "The International District" upon passage of Senate Joint Memorial 24, sponsored by Sen. Tim Keller. On the morning of February 26th, 2009, the Memorial was unanimously passed in the Senate. In the afternoon, folks gathered in the Capitol Rotunda to celebrate, meet with neighbors and feast on dishes representing the myriad of cultures that represent the District's diversity: Democracy for New Mexico: Albuquerque's International District Celebrates Name Change
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 10-22-2010 at 11:36 PM..
You act like albuquerque is a slum ghetto. I have lived here for over 25 years. Never once have I had anything done to me or anyone in my family. For awhile I used to leave my house unlocked.. so don't go there.
Consider yourself lucky. I was in a shootout in the Ladera area 2 months ago. I was in 2 other shootouts in the Northeast heights before that. I've been carjacked, robbed at gunpoint twice while I was walking, jumped at the movie theater. People have broken into my cars 7 times and tried to steal them twice. I've lived all over the Western states and nowhere have I been involved in this much violence.
Consider yourself lucky. I was in a shootout in the Ladera area 2 months ago. I was in 2 other shootouts in the Northeast heights before that. I've been carjacked, robbed at gunpoint twice while I was walking, jumped at the movie theater. People have broken into my cars 7 times and tried to steal them twice. I've lived all over the Western states and nowhere have I been involved in this much violence.
By the same token shouldn't you consider yourself unlucky? It's horrible that those things have happened to you, but will most people in this city experience the same thing? No.
The Albuquerque Area and New Mexico Like/Dislike Thread
I moved here 8 years ago and disappointed that New Mexico isn't what i thought it was. I feel being an "outsider" that your not accepted. If you werent born here or have any connections you're pretty much screwed. Honestly i have met so many cold people here its sad. Racism surprisingly is a huge problem. Very cliquish... people aren't open to meeting new people. I feel very unsafe no mater which area i go. Coming from a person from Southern California i got to say this is the most unfriendliest place i have lived.
Don't get me wrong I'm not hating on it completely there's some things that i like about it. Soon i'll be moving out of state though.
As you know, no place is friendly or unfriendly. Always, it's the people. Perhaps some of what you are describing is a reflection of yourself.
Moderator cut: Please, we don't need to bash other states.
You might also enroll in some post-secondary communication classes to improve your skills with the language. I noted a dozen or so grammatical, spelling, mechanics errors in your short blurb.
My wife and I have owned property in the Cloudcroft area for several years, visiting it and NM regularly, but are not native NM folks. We were planning to build here until existing housing prices, especially 2nd homes, began crashing. Now one can get a much better buy on an existing cabin than building new.
However, and this is the important point, if I may, if you are not happy where you are, and if you have looked within yourself to examine the source of the problems you're having with acceptance, then exercise your God-given right to live where you wish.
My wife and I are going on a great trek this Thanksgiving having heard of hundreds of rich folks' 2nd homes being in distressed sale condition, foreclosed, or short sales in the Denver foothills subdivisions. Since we are retiring, we will choose to live where we wish, without care/concern about neighbors or relatives.
To visit relatives, God allowed man to invent the airplane and automobile.
As for neighbors, as Robert Frost wrote, "...Good fences make good neighbors..."
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 03-16-2011 at 11:10 PM..
Sorry to hear that NM is not a good match for you. Do you mind sharing where in NM you live? Hopefully the next place you live will be a better match and will allow you to be happier.
It is true when people talk about "looking within" if you are unhappy, but I am a believer that some places simply are not a good match. It is very hard to be happy living in a place that is not a good match.
For the most part I have been happy living in NM (have only lived in Albuquerque), but there is a lot that I don't like about it too. Now that we have children the negatives outweigh the positives for us, so we are also looking to relocate.
No place is perfect, but it's always great when you can find a place that is agreeable with you, your personality, and your lifestyle in most ways.
Happiness comes from within. I hate cold weather but I lived in Illinois for 25 years. My DH was from there and his family was there. Although I don't like winter I did not hate Illinois. I made it my home and I loved the house we had, the big yard, and the small town we lived in. When DH retired we moved here. I missed the place although I never miss winter. I love this area and there is so much to see that is beautiful. Try thinking about positive things and your life will be positive. My dad was in the military so we moved often. He was stationed here in the early 70's. We moved in the spring of the year. I had chapped lips for 3 months and thought it was horrible here. Then I started to notice the beauty. Visit all of the different national parks around and see the diversity of this enchanted land. As far as people are concerned, if you open up and are friendly around them then they are friendly towards you. Smile at people as you look them in the eye and in my experience most of the time they smile back. I know this is true because many times total strangers in stores will strike up a conversation with me. I must look approachable.
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The Albuquerque Area and New Mexico Like/Dislike Thread
