Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My wife and I are planning to move to Albuquerque from Ciudad de Panama, Panama (yes, THAT Panama) in about 6-8 weeks.
We have enjoyed our couple years of retirement here, but we’ve gotten fed up with Third World attitudes toward corruption,
environmental destruction, etc. and have decided to move back to ABQ where I lived in the early 70s.
We’ve been doing a lot of online investigation into the housing market, environmental regs, medical, etc., etc., etc. but I just
tumbled across this forum and would like to ask a few questions.
We’re basically looking to buy a home in the $250k - $350k range in a broad arc starting from the bottom of the foothills above 40
and sweeping around the upper part of the city to 25 and possibly into the North Valley area, but not across the Rio.
Any observations about these areas would be gratefully welcomed!
Crime rates..
I’ve got a file of overall crime statistics for ABQ by neighborhood association, but not being a resident, that doesn’t mean much to me.
Can anyone comment about crime in that Eastern and Northern arc?
Housing market…
Stabilizing or still dropping? Is it leveling off or about to take a plunge? I’ve been very loosely monitoring the MLS system for about
6 months and very closely for the last 2 months, but I’m not really sure what’s going on. I’d suspect that things vary quite a bit from
one city area to another? Any specific issues in that arc?
Water..
When I lived in the South Valley almost 40 years ago, no one took water issues very seriously although it was openly acknowledged
that the aquifer was showing a significant drop even back then. Just how worrisome is the city water situation? Not just today but
10 years out? (yes, I’m a big fan of low water use landscaping..)
Cooling..
I’ve been reading about swamp coolers vs. refrigerated a/c and I wondered if anyone uses split type a/c units as swamp cooler
“boosters” in critical areas? One of the concerns I have about whole house fans or open windows is dust. We both have hobbies that
require low dust environments and obtaining that is a real concern and I remember some outright dust storms in the Spring.
FWIW, the average temp here in Panama is @ 90 during the day and @ 80 at night with 80-90% humidity with a constant breeze and we’ve
acclimated easily so I don’t plan to run the house as a deep freeze.
Surprises..
Everyplace seems to have surprises that a new resident would never have thought of until the dead fish hits him in the face.
What surprises does ABQ have in store?
I’m sure we’ll have lots more questions as time goes on, but I think that’s plenty for now.
Thanks!!
Mike Horrell
p.s. here’s the link to an online set of photo albums we’ve been keeping since we got here.
The first surprise you're in for (possibly): Winter. We got some good winters in the 70's, but memories of months of freezing weather can fade. Albuquerque often runs on par with places like Chicago and New York for temperature (though it's much more tolerable given the dry climate).
Altitude and dryness also take some getting used to if you're not acclimated anymore.
I wouldn't worry too much about housing bubbles. If you think you need to wait, rent for 6 months. Albuquerque housing may go down, may go up, but is unlikely to go way down the way some areas have been.
Albuquerque often runs on par with places like Chicago and New York for temperature (though it's much more tolerable given the dry climate).
Zoidberg, I would have to strongly disagree with this one, having lived in both ABQ's and Milwaukee's (very similar to Chicago's) climates.
Winters in ABQ will certainly be chillier than where the OP is coming from in a tropical clime, but temps-wise, they are in no way comparable to Chicago or even NYC, although NYC comes a hare closer in temps. ABQ is much, much milder in the winter overall - encompassing averages that stretch all the way back to the 1800s.
One can play golf in ABQ almost every day of the year. Same same assuredly can no way be said about playing in, say, Chicago, in January or February.
Did temps in ABQ winters trend somewhat cooler in the winters of the 70s? Statistically, yes, somewhat, but they did everywhere nationally, Chi-town and NYC included. The great thing about NWS averages (which the Weather Channel pulls from) is that they encompass the long-term...so they kind of muddle the couple of warmer years or couple of cooler years.
You'll note that this comparison matches up this way:
DECEMBER
ABQ's average high is 48 with a low of 24; Chicago's is 37 and 24...while admittedly the average low is the same, the warm up in ABQ is considerably higher during the day (11 degrees warmer!!).
JANUARY
ABQ's average high is 48 with a low of 24; Chicago's is 32 and 18...while admittedly the average low is still a chill 24 in ABQ that is still 6 degrees warmer than Chicago's, where the warm up in ABQ is extremely higher during the day (16 degrees warmer!!).
FEBRUARY
ABQ's average high is 55 with a low of 28; Chicago's is 38 and 24...while admittedly the average low is only 4 degrees warmer than Chicago's, the warm up in ABQ is extremely higher during the day (17 degrees).
MARCH
ABQ's average high is 62 with a low of 34; Chicago's is 47 and 32; againly, only 2 degrees warmer in ABQ for the low, but the high is a fairly sizable 15 degrees warmer.
So while overnight lows in ABQ's winters do get chilly-ish, I think the huge difference is when one is awake - the daytimes - the highs soar over where they do in a Chicago or a NYC, and that gives the mild feeling to the winter. Being outdoors in January in 47 degrees or 54 degrees or 59 degrees in the strong warming ABQ sun feels extremely mild compared to much of the US winter-wise.
Again, NYC is certainly closer to ABQ temps-wise, but still not as mild, as the average daytime highs in ABQ from DEC through MARCH are respectively: 42 (in ABQ's 48), 36 (to ABQ's 48), 40 (to ABQ's 55), and 48 (to ABQ's 62)...a difference of 6 degrees, 12 degrees, 15 degrees, and 14 degrees. Again, a considerable difference in daytime warmups.
Throw in the much brighter, stronger, warmer and persistent ABQ sunshine, the overall lack of snowfall, etc., ABQ winters stack up extremely more mild. I would compare ABQ winters temps-wise to more of a warmer version of Louisville or a slightly cooler version of Memphis than the noted northern cities.
I'm from Northern Virginia, my wife grew up in Pennsylvania and from the mid-70s on we lived just outside DC where we got
the occasional 3 foot snow fall so we know enough to hire a neighbor's kid to dig out.
Winter is a definite drawback for us, but we may just SnowBird a good bit of it , anyway, as that's Summer in South America..
We had all sorts of glorious dreams like summering in Europe and Scuba diving in Palau that we've had to dump to match reality.
Fortunately it's a sellers' market in Panama so when we decided to leave, we were able to bail out rapidly and cleanly.
Frankly we consider the entire CA region to be increasingly unstable although not everywhere for the same reasons.
But that's too far afield to get into.
We're targeting ABQ as what seems to be one of the best overall compromises in the US between cost and quality of living
but the winters are a definite drawback. Having spent over two years living in the Third World, I don't think we're likely
to complain overly much about ABQ's roads..
Besides, I remember when many of the roads in the both North and South Valley were dirt.
It seems like winters here are going to be the drawback for you. After coming from the tropics that may be so and you will have to acclimate. EnjoyEP gives you the stats on the temps, and coming from NYC myself, I have to say that it feels much milder here. Yes, it can get cold and this past January was COLD. But there was very little snow, and most days were sunny, and the deserts start to warm up by Feb. (here into the 50s). It just feels a lot better than the NEast. You may have forgotten all the sunshine? The sunshine factor makes a big difference here. And, as you say, you may do a snowbird thing. The other 3 seasons here are really special and make up for some cold in the winter.
Housing market…
Stabilizing or still dropping? Is it leveling off or about to take a plunge? I’ve been very loosely monitoring the MLS system for about
6 months and very closely for the last 2 months, but I’m not really sure what’s going on. I’d suspect that things vary quite a bit from
one city area to another? Any specific issues in that arc?
To be honest with you, the ABQ housing market is one of the best in the country, were the 5th fastest growing city in america.
If you look around the city you will see houses still going up at normal, of course its not as good as it was but there still building houses like crazy
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Thanks for the winter weather info.
