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After 11 years of living in Placitas, I left for San Diego in 2013 and am thinking about returning.
I am 76 years old, retired, and in good health. I can afford a home in the $500k-$600k price range. My goal is to live out the rest of my life with peace of mind in a safe environment. My priorities are healthcare, safety, and a waiter/waitress asking whether I'd like red or green.
Albuquerque has probably changed since I left, and I am not sure whether it has changed for better or worse. I am seeking advice from those who really know the area and are willing to be honest.
After 11 years of living in Placitas, I left for San Diego in 2013 and am thinking about returning.
I am 76 years old, retired, and in good health. I can afford a home in the $500k-$600k price range. My goal is to live out the rest of my life with peace of mind in a safe environment. My priorities are healthcare, safety, and a waiter/waitress asking whether I'd like red or green.
Albuquerque has probably changed since I left, and I am not sure whether it has changed for better or worse. I am seeking advice from those who really know the area and are willing to be honest.
I am looking forward to reading your responses.
Gracias,
Paul
I love NM. I was a consultant a year ago in ABQ. I also went to HS in Santa Fe back in the 80s. The main problem with ABQ the past ten years is that the crime rate went up - albeit I think it was starting to trend downwards until the pandemic hit. In the summer of 2019, I spoke to a guy who told me when he first moved to ABQ around ten years ago he actually felt safe enough to leave his car door unlocked or window down. It used to be like that. But in recent years there has been an explosion in car thefts, so a lot of renters seek out gated communities. The same goes for home owners.
If I were to live in ABQ, I would get a home near Rio Rancho in a gated community and a garage that fits my car or truck. For a retiree, there are many other options in the state. For example, I knew a retiree who left the SF Bay Area and returned to her childhood home state to a retirement community at Silver City. There are clusters of retired Californians living in these smaller, quite towns throughout the state. I can envision other areas like Las Vegas, Las Cruces, etc. 500K would stretch very far for a good NM style home with local access to green or red. I would recommend El Capitan in ABQ.
As for me, the local consulting market was too small even before the pandemic. I had to leave after my brief contract. The only job options were at Sandia Lab which take a long time for processing due to government security clearance. It can take months. Meanwhile, the IT job market is hot in the private sector with many more options in Denver, Austin, or Phoenix. Hence, I am back in AZ. But I miss NM.
You mentioned healthcare, safety, and a waiter/waitress asking whether I'd like red or green. My thoughts on those are below. But another part (maybe a big portion) of whether ABQ is the best choice for you involves what interests and engages you, what you think you will be doing each day to stay active, and whether ABQ is a good fit for those interests/activities. One way to read your post is that you're looking for a place to die in, but the better way to view this (which given your past posts seems to be where your head is at) is you're looking for a place to live the rest your life in the best possible way. Which would make the fit between your interests/activities and what ABQ offers extremely important. So I have some thoughts on this below as well. This post will be a little long-winded, and includes a bit of politics, but hopefully my thoughts might provide some useful insights.
As background, my wife and I are 69 years old, so just a little younger than you. I have significant health challenges (heart-related), while my wife is relatively problem-free from a health perspective. We moved to the ABQ area about 11 years ago from KY. Before living in KY for 4 years, we lived in CA for 16. Prior to that we grew up and lived in AK for 38 years. We moved to NM figuring it would be the place we stayed for the rest of our lives and haven't experienced/thought anything since our move that has caused us to reconsider this. We are living in the active adult community of Alegria in Bernalillo. I have posted about Alegria numerous times on this forum (on both the NM statewide forum and the ABQ sub-forum), so if you want more info about this you can read my previous posts.
Healthcare - We use the Presbyterian Healthcare system. Neither one of us have Pres coverage, instead we are covered by Medicare with secondary coverage through Alaskacare, an Aetna-based plan that is part of our retirement coverage through the Alaska public employees retirement system.
I believe the Pres medical practitioners, both our primary care physicians (PCPs) and specialists, we have used are as good as any we have seen in the other states where we have lived. That includes getting me through some major issues with my heart, including one episode in which I was revived from being on the edge of death (they restarted my heart in an ambulance on the way to the hospital). We've been very satisfied in the most part with our healthcare. One area where this has been less great is on the administrative side with Pres, in terms of billings, getting timely appointments, etc. Another issue is the turnover we have experienced in Pres practitioners, mainly on the PCP side. We are now on our third or fourth (I've lost track) PCP in 11 years. So this is irritating but not any sort of threat to our health.
Another issue is getting into seeing a PCP or specialist for the first time, which can entail a long wait. But we've found that if we plan ahead this has not been that significant of an issue. I would give an overall grade of B+ to the healthcare we have received in NM.
Post-covid things will be a bit different. Telemedicine has become extremely common at present in NM, both generally and with Pres. Pres is trying to get everyone to use telemed as much as possible, unless you absolutely need to see a physician face-to-face or need an in-person procedure. I was a bit resistant at first, although not much I could do about it due to the covid rules that the clinics/hospitals implemented, just because I thought face-to-face visits were better. But after having experienced several telemed visits, I've totally changed my mind. I've decided it's great to have a doctor's appointment without having to drive into town to the clinic, and without having to expose myself to whatever germs might be floating around the clinic or lurking among other clinic visitors.
I don't see telemed going away at all post-covid. Telemed makes clinics and doctors more efficient, and it really is better for patients as well IMO. Haven't seen all that much about this in the local media, but I'm also guessing it could be a big help in improving healthcare in the more remote areas of the state, with the big issue being internet accessibility in those remote areas. Regardless of the latter issue, I think telemed use will definitely improve future healthcare coverage in the ABQ area.
A covid consequence that is not talked about much in the press is the fact, that by taking so many folks with underlying conditions prematurely, this could have the effect of reducing the burden on healthcare systems around the nation in dealing with our aging populations. It's hard to talk about this with seeming to be callous to the human suffering that covid continues to cause, and I definitely don't want to appear that way. I completely get how hard this has been on so many people throughout the country. But by taking as many folks prematurely as it has, and everything else remaining equal, covid will make it easier for existing healthcare systems (both here in NM and elsewhere) to adequately treat our aged populations, at least for the next few years and assuming we get a covid vaccine that is as effective as existing flu vaccines.
How various states address covid through lockdowns and other measures is another obvious health-related issue to think about in considering a move from San Diego, at least until we get into a program of effective covid vaccines, which my crystal ball sees as being administered annually, like flu vaccines. The NM governor has been on the more stringent fringe of state governors in locking things down. This has caused lots of businesses to suffer (and too many to go out of business) and lots of folks to seriously chafe under the lockdowns. But until fairly recently, it also kept covid cases, hospitalizations and deaths at lower rates than in many other states.
All of the NM covid stats (cases, hospitalizations and deaths) have recently spiked, as is happening in many other states. It's impossible to predict right now what will happen with this, but in general I think you can expect our current governor to err significantly on the side of caution in whatever happens. For example, this morning's ABQ Journal reported that NM is the only state right now that isn't letting in-state college basketball teams have full practices, which provides some insight into where our governor sits on the issue of health protection vs opening things up. Regardless of whether you agree politically with this position, it is a positive from a health prospective when considering a move back to NM.
Safety - I don't have decades of experience living here but have resided in the ABQ area from a few years before when you left in 2013 to now. Not sure what the law enforcement stats show for 2013-present, but I believe public safety in general has improved a bit during this period. Can't tell this from the local media since there seems to be even more focus on crime these days, but my impression is favorable on the longer term trends in ABQ area crime.
As I have stated in other C-D posts, I think that if you pick the right place to live; watch where you go, who you associate with, and what activities you do; and stay observant during daily activities; your odds of being a crime victim in this area are very low - low enough that ensuring our safety is not of significant concern to my wife and me.
The biggest issue IMO regarding public safety locally is what will happen in the future with local law enforcement agencies. Today's ABQ Journal has a pretty scathing article about the independent monitor's latest report on the ABQ Police Department's (APD's) performance in satisfying the terms of ABQ's settlement order with the US Department of Justice. This 2014 order occurred shortly after your 2013 departure. I couldn't find a signed/dated copy, but here's a link to an unsigned copy that is supposed to be the final version - https://www.cabq.gov/mental-health-r...ment-final.pdf. And here's a link to today's Journal article - https://www.abqjournal.com/1515868/m...ce-itself.html.
ABQ is blaming the recently fired/retired police chief, but in my opinion APB's continued failures stem mostly from an entrenched police union that seems to care more about protecting its members than at times protecting ABQ citizens from bad apples among the cops. I have the highest regard for individual police officers, some of whom have been my friends in the areas where we previously lived. But I think the stances the police unions have taken on dealing with their bad apples are a big problem, one which will continue until some very fundamental changes are made. Neither political party seems to want to acknowledge and deal with this - the Dems don't want to appear at all unfriendly to unions and the Reps don't want to appear at all unfriendly to cops. Until this changes, IMO we will continue to have issues in how law enforcement across the country interacts at times with the citizens it is supposed to protect. (By the way, I have the same view of teacher's unions and individual teachers. I love the latter but am not a fan of the former, since I think they typically work to protect their members (even the bad ones) rather than having the most concern for the students.)
APD's current issues next need to be considered against the present call for defunding the police across the country. Some of these calls have been made locally, although they haven't made that big a splash that I have seen in the local media. There have been some local protests about this, which may still be going on, but the media that I listen to (including the Journal) haven't had extensive coverage of this. So I'm unsure just how big a deal this might be locally. But ABQ is Dem-controlled, as is the state (the Dems just got a super-majority in both the state house and senate in the last election). I therefore expect that some sort of police "defunding" will occur here.
I'm in favor of more funding and support of mental health-related resources/support. But I think taking cops off the street is a bad idea, one that would likely to result in more crime. I strongly support more focus on community policing, getting the cops out into and integrated with the communities they police. I think this is the best way to address current problems with how the public and cops sometimes see each other as the enemy. But given the current national focus on possible police defunding and APD's continued inability to implement necessary reforms, I'm not sure what this portends for ABQ area policing in the near or long term future.
Red or Green - Post covid, I think we're going to see a lot of long-time favorite NM businesses gone. Local restaurants and shops have been and continue to be hurt big time. I'm hoping this doesn't accelerate the onging intrusion of national chains into NM and the displacement of local mom and pop operations. The governor didn't help this by closing down some local businesses while allowing big superstores (e.g., Walmart and Home Depot) to continue operations. We're past this (blanket closures of businesses) now, but who knows how the governor will react to the recent spike in covid stats. We're all waiting to next Thursday (for her weekly news conference) to see what additional lockdowns she may re-impose.
Generally, I think the post-covid world will have fewer brick and mortar stores and restaurants, accelerating the trend we've seen over the last decade. This will occur everywhere in the US, so may not be a huge differential in deciding where you might move to. But besides the general loss of local businesses, this may also act in NM to make us less different than the rest of the country. The uniqueness that is NM, which is part of the reason that state is so attractive to some folks, may be lessened, which would definitely be another unfortunate effect of the virus.
On the pro side of red or green, the people here haven't changed. We've found them to be very welcoming ever since we moved here in 2009. Yes, they can be standoffish until they get to know you and they don't take well to be told what to do by someone from outside the state. But we totally get this and find them a lot like people in Alaska. Most have a live and let live attitude, if they see someone in trouble they'll go out of their way to help, and they are generally good people for the most part. We can't take the harsh winter climate in Alaska anymore, but NM is as close to feeling like home as any place we might ever live.
Best Fit - What kind of living situation are you looking for? Single family home, apartment, condo, active adult community with available activities, continuing care facility...? Deciding on this first might help in the decision of where to live. I don't know your health situation, but at 76 can/do you want to get into a place that you need to maintain or are you looking for someone to do that for you? What activities do you do daily that you would want to continue wherever you relocate? Do you want to get into a place that has activities you could join if you so choose to do so? Are you a loner or joiner? I'm more of a loner but I specifically sought out an active adult community so that there would be activities I could join if I wanted to. This has been a great choice for me and my wife.
If you don't like the idea of an active adult community, do you want to be close enough to a senior center to take part in possible activities there? ABQ has one of the best senior programs in the entire country, with multiple senior/generational activity centers scattered around the metro area. Rio Rancho has its own senior center. While none of these are hosting very many onsite activities during covid, they will return to being great options for activities once we get past the current virus issues. There are also two great senior learning options - Osher and Oasis - available locally. I've talked about these in other posts.
I warned you this would be long-winded. Hope it helps. Feel free to ask any follow-up questions, either here in the forum or via PM, if you want. And best wishes on finding the best place to continue living. I went to San Diego for college in the 1970s, and visited there again in the 1990s when my son was considering college choices. It had changed a lot from the 1970s to the 1990s, I imagine the changes are even more profound now.
I'll be a little less long-winded than rwjoyak. I'm wondering what is it that you are not getting in San Diego besides the red/green issue that makes you think of leaving? Does it not meet some of your other criteria?
Thousands of retirees your age and older live in Albuquerque, either because they aged in place here, or they moved here from elsewhere. I have known several who worked here, moved away to other states for retirement, didn't settle in well and decided to move back. Many people who have gotten used to the unique culture, climate, and landscape of New Mexico, no matter where they came from originally, have difficulty thinking of leaving. It definitely does "enchant" many folks. I don't think Albuquerque has changed much since you left.
Your price range is probably too high (4+ bedrooms), unless you like rattling around in a large house.
Paul, my wife and I moved out to Rio Rancho 21 years ago from Pennsylvania. We are still here. We chatted many times while you were here. And maybe talked on the phone while you lived in Placitas. If we can be of assistance, go ahead and ask.
One major change since your leaving has been the increase of hospitals and other medical facilities in the area, intruding Rio Rancho.
Rich Sanchez.
Last edited by Poncho_NM; 11-09-2020 at 04:57 PM..
Gracias to those who have responded and provided valuable information. Unforced life changes are difficult to make for us septuagenarians. The dilemma is that my friends/family are in California and my heart is in New Mexico.
Thanks for taking the time to offer the heartfelt thoughts.
Whatever you decide on, live your best life. Personally if I were you at your age (which I'm not, divide by two), I wouldn't bother with a new single family home experience unless your goal is leaving real estate inheritance for your inheritors to deal with. For my choices in the price range you mention and at your age, you might better enjoy Santa Fe or other locations suited to peace, quiet, and moderate wealth.
At the end of the day, your personality and ethos is what should be driving your decision, not us here in the dying forums of city-data. Best of luck, and enjoy yourself.
I warned you this would be long-winded. Hope it helps. Feel free to ask any follow-up questions, either here in the forum or via PM, if you want. And best wishes on finding the best place to continue living. I went to San Diego for college in the 1970s, and visited there again in the 1990s when my son was considering college choices. It had changed a lot from the 1970s to the 1990s, I imagine the changes are even more profound now.
rwjoyak, thank you!
I was thrilled to see how long your post was, thrilled to see the detail. I've been vacillating on moving to Placitas for the last couple years, and watch for posts like yours, but they don't come aplenty. Last week we made the firm decision to take the leap, knowing we must leave where we are, no more procrastinating. We're tired of ourselves, our worries. We've only lived in relatively wealthy states, and some of the negatives that people keep talking about have concerned us. Your post gives fantastic detail on two of our concerns. It was what I'd pretty much concluded having been on the ABQ/SF/NM city-data site for the last few years. I've worked to put a coherent whole to the various pieces of each post and see how each pertains - and doesn't pertain - to us.
I was born and grew up in San Diego in the 70s and 80s and lived there until age 40, then moved north of Seattle in 2003. I know what nmguy is talking about with the difference between Placitas and where he lives currently as we share some distinct similarities, which made me read his posts immediately and then go back reading several years of his posts. (no, I'm not a stalker, nmguy!)
I came onto c-d just when he was making his move to San Diego, which is what made me pay close attention to him. I left San Diego for various reasons, the major one of two being the crowds. Where he chose to move to is pretty dense, and I've wondered how he's fared. I continue to pay close attention to his posts, watching, listening. And now this one...right up my alley!
And like you say, rwjoyak, San Diego has changed dramatically. Every decade it gets more and more crowded, tight, dense, and hot. I go back often to visit family. It's primarily the density that made us leave for land in the PNW, which makes Placitas so attractive to us. We currently live in a situation similar to what we've experienced in the VRBOs we've rented in Plactitas, though with a few more trees over here, but otherwise..the wild nature, the serenity, even the mountains (Sandias and Cascades) have their similarities.
It is this that attracts us to your neck of the woods - nature and serenity and room to breathe. And having grown up in SoCal, god do I miss hot chiles, whether they are Mexican like in SD or the red and green of NM. This pandemic has us strapped. We're on our LASTbottle of green chile we brought back from our last road trip to ABQ. We knew we'd be back to replenish our stock, but didn't think a pandemic would get in the way, so we're getting kind of anxious, eating as little as possible to make it last.
nmguy, I know what you mean about family vs the heart. It is absolutely a very difficult choice. I hope you find your way to the perfect middle ground for you.
Gracias to those who have responded and provided valuable information. Unforced life changes are difficult to make for us septuagenarians. The dilemma is that my friends/family are in California and my heart is in New Mexico.
Thanks for taking the time to offer the heartfelt thoughts.
pnwguy, would this fit into your vision and lifestyle?
How we've decided to solve our dilemma, similar to yours (and with the same available $ to spend on housing), is to buy a more modest home in NM and with the extra $ we don't spend on the house, buy and maintain a Roadtrek, so we can visit family, friends, and our beloved PNW forest as often as we want.
With a Roadtrek, we can stop and sleep when we need to, don't have to worry about plane flights, hotel reservations, or anyone putting us up when we visit - if it's a problem for them - and also we can visit anytime we want without feeling as if we're imposing on anyone. We just park out front of their house, and aren't inside bothering them on their workdays, etc, but we are there as often as we want to be. And when retired, we can take off with little planning or extra expense and hassle.
Having a more modest home means less maintenance expense, less cleaning, etc, which pays for the expense of owning a Roadtrek. In the end, we see this as a viable compromise - we CAN have our cake and eat it, too. We CAN live where we want, and only sacrifice a little bit of the other stuff that is close to our hearts.
I've been trying to figure out which way to go for a few years. A while back I stumbled upon a book where the author said the problem was trying to decide between two things as the only solution. She said find a way to make both possible. Sure, there will be compromises, but you can have both in the end. You don't have to give one up for the other. Get away from thinking that it's either/or.
Algiz,
Thanks for the creative and practical Roadtrek suggestion. I'll give it some thought.
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bottle of green chile we brought back from our last road trip to ABQ. We knew we'd be back to replenish our stock, but didn't think a pandemic would get in the way, so we're getting kind of anxious, eating as little as possible to make it last.
