Thinking of Moving to Albuquerque

[joeyx09]

Hey guys,

I'm currently thinking of moving to Albuquerque from Austin, TX I can't stand the allergies here plus traffic is pretty bad has anyone else here made this move? I also would like to at least see some snow

[ApartmentNomad]

What sort of allergens are you moving in order to avoid?

I moved here from Philadelphia to escape airborne grass mold. And overall it is an improvement, but not nearly the improvement I had hoped for. My pollen allergies are still quite bad here.

Are you familiar with these rankings for allergy capitals? Personally I focus more on the raw pollen score for specific cities:

http://www.aafa.org/display.cfm?id=9&sub=33

There are lower pollen cities than Albuquerque, but there's no way to be sure exactly how your allergies will respond to relocating, in advance.

[yukon]

If you're allergic to mold, you'll love it here. Very little mold. If you're allergic to trees or weeds, don't expect your allergies to be better here. In fact, they may be much worse here.

[TrueGrit13]

I was born In Albuquerque in 1980 and lived there until I was about nine before we moved to Madison Wisconsin.

A lot of sites will say that Madison is one of the best places to live in the nation but I was never able to appreciate it as my heart has always been in New Mexico. Even though I was young when I lived there I still remember everything vividly and have discussed many times with my wife about moving there. Being here has made me appreciate everything New Mexico such as the food, the people (far more laid back, you can get along with almost anyone while in Madison everyone is such a stuck up wanna be elitist douchebag), the mountians, going to Taos to take in the culture and pick up a bunch of Indian fry bread with honey, the balloon fiesta and did I mention the food

We always lived in some of the more questionable areas but we never felt the crime that we knew was around us except for two of my bikes getting stolen. I learned at a young age there that if you don't start anything you won't have many issues.

Anyway, I was just coming here to get some feedback as to what has changed as I am seriously considering moving back.

[Zeid]

So since about 1990? A lot. A whole lot. Albuquerque now has flying cars and there's an enormous dinosaur that randomly appears, it only feeds on old astro vans though, strangely enough.

All joking aside, the city has cleaned up a lot. It's a very very clean place, although it generally always has been. There's a big health food movement in Albuquerque now, lots of whole foods, sprouts, smaller co-op and market shops. Lots of really nice shopping areas have been built and gone up, the old ones have been renovated. Luckily, not only does Blakes still exist but they have even more locations than ever and are thriving quite well, same with Dions. The Balloon Fiesta park is a lot nicer now, I think the new one has been built since you left? There's a Balloon museum there and the Balloon field is now actually made out of grass.

There's more to love about Albuquerque now than ever!

[Poncho_NM]

We moved here in 1998/99 but I had been out here in the 60's, 70's and 80's on various business trips... But I use to travel and some things get confused.

Population has grown. Ironically we had a Popeye's Chicken and Godfather's Pizza that went out of business, and years later came back... Krispy Kreme also?

More traffic, but not so bad.

Cottonwood Mall was built! Quite a change for the area, maybe mid '90's'.

[aries63]

Originally Posted by TrueGrit13

I was born In Albuquerque in 1980 and lived there until I was about nine before we moved to Madison Wisconsin..

Then I moved here just as you left. But since you were a child you may not remember most things. I guess a lot would depend on where in town you lived.

Some changes:

Explosive growth on the West Side and Rio Rancho. Lots of housing and traffic where there was wide open space before 1990.

Upgrades to interstate network, such as the Big-I (interchange of I-40 and I-25), multiple widening projects, and another bridge over the Rio Grande: Montaño Road, which was once a quiet, dead-end street in the North Valley, became another major thoroughfare to the West Side in 1997.

New Botanical Gardens and Aquarium near Old Town since about 1994. The Gardens are especially worth a visit. Lots of improvements and additions also to the Rio Grande Zoo.

New Open Space Visitor Center on the West Side.

Lots of forest land in surrounding areas has burned, but plenty still remains for recreation.

The Old Albuquerque High School was converted into condominiums. There has been quite a lot of infill development in that area (called "Edo" or East Downtown) and in downtown itself.

The famous Baca's restaurant in Nob Hill closed and condos were built on the site. Double Rainbow (former Nob Hill restaurant) is now known as Flying Star and has spread out to multiple locations around town, and spawned the Satellite coffee shops. Lots of new development and dining in Nob Hill. But bookstores that used to dot the area have all closed or moved.

The Dukes baseball team is now the Isotopes with a new stadium.

A commuter train called the Rail Runner now connects ABQ to Santa Fe and Belen. The new train station in ABQ is in imitation of the old Alvarado Hotel.

Nearby Pueblos (Sandia, Isleta, San Felipe, Laguna) built enormous casinos along the interstates between the mid-90's and 2000s.

You mentioned Taos, it has developed quite a bit (including a casino at the Pueblo), but much of the old part remains the same. Also the highway north from Santa Fe to Española has multiple casinos now and has developed a lot commercially.

[georgste]

Kudos to every one of you natives for providing very valuable info for all future relocatees to Albuquerque. Thanks.