Albuquerque Travel Forum

I lived in San Francisco all my life and I'm kinda nervous about moving there. Questions that I do have are answered but I'm still not clear. Can you help?

What does the job Market look like?
What is the best area to live in?
Which area has more crime?
How great is the Air?
Is it a great place to raise a family?

My wife and I own a house in San Francisco. We are going to sell our house and purchase two houses out there. It's a big move for us because again, we were raised in San Francisco. Do you think it's a smart move? If no, what other place do you recommend? We have friends who live there and can call them but I don't know if they would tell me what I want to hear. Thanks for your time

In my opinion Albuquerque, NM is not a very nice city. If you are used to SF, it will be quite a culture shock.
Santa Fe is only 60 miles away and MUCH nicer.

I disagree I've been to both while Santa Fe is nice it's more of a tourist city, and I the job market is more limited. Alberqueque is booming city, true it's not the same as SF, but Real Estate wise it's a great time to buy there now and property values will do what they've in the last 5 years in California in the next 5 years. Crime is not bad, weather not bad, the air is good. It is less polluted than Phoenix or LV. Of all the semi large Southwestern Cities it ranks up there as pretty livable. And it has all the convienences of a larger type city. The only place I would consider better is Denver.

You're best bet is take a weekend trip out there and see for yourself, and look at properties too.

Crimes per 100,000 population
Natl. average San Francisco, CA Albuquerque, NM Santa Fe, NM
Population
114,967 763,146 439,724 72,454
Violent Crimes
506.1 851.6 1,168.0 557.6
Property Crimes
3,617.9 4,674.8 7,802.8 6,226.0

The table got garbled, the point I was making is that Albuquerque has twice the violent crime rate of SF. When I visited, this seemed quite evident to me.

Well, I still think you should check it out for yourself. Like any city most of it crimes is in the bad "hoods". The University area is a great area.

I'm wondering what you found out about moving to Albuquerque....we are thinking about moving there too. I have lived in the SF East Bay all my life, and am having a hard time imaging what it would be like to live elsewhere. My biggest hesitation though is moving our middle-school age daughter. I know kids move all the time and survive, but the thought makes me very nervous. Does anyone have any experience with moving with kids?

If we sell our house we can purchase about two out there and still have money left over. We want to live in a place that's beautiful and friendly. I hope Albuqerque is it. They have nice houses from what I seen.

It's still up in the air, we are now thinking of Colorado but we have plenty of time before we go.

I have two kids and one on the way. My oldest is 12 and he's happy and is looking forward to our move.

I did a little internet research and found out that La Cueva High School has the highest test scores. I think it's in the northeast region of Alb.

Where in Colorado are you looking? My husband took several business trips to Boulder and loved it.

I love albuquerque, and yes, like most urban areas - there is some crime. The job market is fine, just depends on what you are looking for. High tech and healthcare jobs are the easiest to get.

The air quality is fine - but you will bw suprised at how dry it is here compared to the bay area. You'll use a lot of body lotion, drink more water, and be more prone to allergies until you get used to the region.

One of my friends moved to the Denver area about a year ago, and is still working as a temp... so be cautious up there, the job market is pretty tight right now.

As you've already discovered, ABQ is a buyer's market right now - and house prices are expected to jump. I have an older 'fixer upper' in the city, and I've gained 30,000 in equity since I bought it. Just be aware of the history of homes you buy .... b/c of the building boom on the west side of town, some great looking homes in that area aren't very well built (quick and cheap mini-mansions).

I go to Santa Rosa a couple of times a year - we are much cheaper, and get paid less as a result. But you can live well b/c you aren't spending 3.50/gal for gas, or 300,000 for a one bedroom shack :) The culture is completely different ... less urban, even in the city. I would also reccommend looking into private schooling if you don't want to live in an area w/ the better schools.

Looks like there are 3 of you online looking at relocating - so check out there post answers too :)

Good luck, and have fun with all of your decisions!!!
Kymba

Well, it looks like something is starting to stir up on this thread.

As I was the one of the first to respond to this post, I still hold to my first word. Alberquerque is a pretty nice fit. I've vistited there about 6 times since the 80's and being from Orange County, CA I don't mind it one bit. It's not as hot as Phoenix and has a spacious feel, as for comparing it to the Bay Area in SF you can't compare NYC to D.C. or Boston so just forget it.

As for moving your kids and family I agree that's a stickular point. But the bottom line is, is the family going to survive better or at least remain the same status quo in such a move? If you are about to lose a job or a big loss of income where you are at, it's a no brainer to me that you've got to change something.

Albuquerque is by no means a dump and as the earlier poster say's it's one of the few real hot upseller real estate markets in the U.S. these days.

Yes, abq does have a high crime rate, about the same as Tucson AZ and Portland OR, for comparison.