Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Brendan on January 19, 2008 at 11:34pm

There's a lot of factors that may go into where you choose to live in Albuquerque.

Do you have a day job you'll be commuting to?
Do you have family in school or are you planning on further education yourself?
Do you prefer driving or walking to destinations (shopping, leisure)?
Do you prefer Urban, Suburban, or Rural living?
Do you get involved in your community or do you tend to social with just family?
What is your threshold for crime in a neighborhood?

The list goes on and on....

I'd strongly suggest getting a temporary apartment (Finding a 3 month lease in a decent-quality situation is possible), then explore the city after you get here. Moving twice isn't pleasant, but owning a home in the wrong area is much worse.

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Permalink Reply by J.D. Buchanan on January 20, 2008 at 12:36am

I would be great to get something temporary except my company is paying for the move and I don't think they'll pay twice. We are likely to spend a weekend or two out there in February.
- I'll be working near the AirForce base
- My wife that will be finding new work and completing an online Master's program
- No kids to worry about for this move
- We definitely prefer to live walking distance from things (shops and leisure) and would prefer not to get in a car on the weekends.
- Wife is always involved in the community and will likely volunteer and/or work for a non-profit.
- Don't prefer crime but there aren't young kids we are worried about. Don't want my wife assaulted if she is out for drinks with friends on the walk home (if she can walk it).

We are probably leaving towards downtown, UNM area and have heard about Knob Hill.

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Permalink Reply by Brendan on January 20, 2008 at 11:59am

It sounds like somewhere along the Central corridor between Rio Grande (West end) and San Mateo (East end) will suite you quite well. I personally live in the Ridgecrest area, just southeast of Nob Hill. This puts me in walking distance of the University and Nob Hill attractions but is quieter and a bit less trendy. Neighbors are either in their 70s or their 30s.

Nob Hill becomes the University area at about Girard. As a former UNM student, we called the area south of UNM, west of Girard, and East of University Blvd the Student Ghetto. It's not a ghetto, there's just a lot of student housing there. UNM area also extends west of the University to I-25. Many nice homes over there, looks a bit like Ridgecrest actually.

My wife and I like driving to the downtown and east-downtown area and walking around. If high-density living or Victorian renovation is your thing, it looks like a great place. I have not lived there, though.

Other musings: Don't live right next to Gibson or I-25. The NE/SW/SW/NW designations relate to north or south of Central and east or west of the railroad tracks downtown. You can get a great view of the Sandia mountain range just about anywhere and you can use them to orient yourself. It's hard to go wrong living near a University.

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Permalink Reply by Mandy on January 20, 2008 at 4:42pm

J.D. & Sophie,
sorry for the previous post I had just signed up to this site and hadn't read the rules yet. I hope no one took offense. I think this is a really cool website.

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Permalink Reply by SoyJames on January 22, 2008 at 9:05am

I was gonna suggest Uptown too... A straight shot south on Louisiana gets you to the base. And all the infill and shops and restaurants going in there now should make all those surrounding neighborhoods better. There is quite a mix of all types now: with north and east of Uptown generally being better than south and west of Coronado Mall.
And something has to happen to Winrock eventually, no? That would make the area even better.

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Permalink Reply by hbl on January 22, 2008 at 9:10am

First, welcome! I hope you’ll find ABQ fun, festive and filled with frivolity! It sounds as if your family has done some serious thinking about what are your priorities in a neighborhood. Given your description of things you and your wife desire in a neighborhood I would suggest Ridgecrest or the North of Lomas/ East of the University area. Here is a link to the city’s neighborhood association maps. Best of luck!

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Permalink Reply by Eckleburg and Grumblecake on January 22, 2008 at 8:25pm

Hey, when we moved back to ABQ walkability was a big issue, and we really only found a few places truly walkable. A good start is to get a map and draw a line on either side of central between San Mateo and Atrisco. Then, look at the stops for the rapid ride routes and put a 1 mile circle around each of those. That will cover most of them. Housing prices drop pretty quickly once you get West of the Rio Grande on Central, and we found a sweet spot close to the river and Central. Crime and poverty are higher, but not dramatically, and there is a lot of excitement about the new Grocery Store / Development going in at Central and Atrisco.

For Real Estate Agents, we LOVED Susan Nelson Anderson and Sandi Reeder. We interviewed several when we needed one, and these two really stood out.

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Permalink Reply by J.D. Buchanan on March 13, 2008 at 9:29am

Thanks for the question. Well first off our move got pushed out. It is now likely we will not be out there until sometime in April. My wife and I went out the last weekend in February. We met with a real estate agent who we really liked

Liz who was recommended sounded great but she was very focused on the area around the University. We were not sure having never been out there if that would be the area. We ended up with Sean Remington of Keller Williams. He is younger and one of the most up and coming in the ABQ area. We wanted to see other neighbor hoods to make sure we found the correct one. After all of that we ended up near the University and found a great place. We were nervous about whether to make an offer based upon the still uncertain future regarding my work. We placed a contingency in the offer, there was a counter and we accepted. Both my wife and I were very excited. Of course... two days later I found out that our project start date has moved out at least a month. In the end we didn't get the house and we are still waiting to hear more definites on our future.

So the move hasn't gone well so far but in work. We had a good time while we were out there and looking forward to the next chance to hang out there (hopefully moving there). I'm hoping once out there we can plan a gathering. We are looking forward to making new friends!

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