Life, food, events, and community in Albuquerque, NM

Moving to Albuquerque, Maybe

My husband & I, currently living in the Northwest, are thinking of moving to Albuquerque. We are both vegetarians and I'm a runner. We enjoy the simpler things in life, like live music (mostly jazz), hiking, and bird watching. We are pushing 50 (aging hippies, I suppose!) and can't quite retire yet, so we'll need to find good jobs.

We will be visiting at least a couple of times before we make this big move. My question for all you good people is, can you recommend any good neighborhoods/parts of town where we would not feel like fish out of water (like we do in rural Washington)? It would be nice to live near a university, a food co-op, a liberal-leaning part of town.

I'd love to hear what you guys think. Thanks in advance!! ~kat

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Hedges on January 26, 2010 at 10:50pm

Kat,

You might be interested in 2 blog posts I've written about Albuquerque:

Albuquerque: Austin for Families from 2006, and
Albuquerque: 5 things drawing us back from less than 2 weeks ago

Around UNM is probably the area that best fits your description. NM is an interesting place with many contradictions. E.g., there is a lot of poverty, but also the highest number of PhDs per capita in the country.

Take care and let me know if you have any specific questions.

Kind regards,
-Andrew

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Permalink Reply by Rodney on January 27, 2010 at 7:50am: I don't know if it has been mentioned, but be prepared for having to adjust to the altitude, should you decide to move.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Michelle Meaders on January 27, 2010 at 8:25am: Yes, we're about a mile high like Denver, but get much less snow. That means big temperature swings between day and night. Our climate is similar to Salt Lake City's, I hear.

People have trouble with the dryness, too -- they keep lots of hand lotion around. That's what keeps us comfortable in the summer, and lets us use swamp coolers, which are much cheaper to run than refrigerated air. But where you're living now is dry, isn't it?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Kathleen "Kat" Wruck on January 27, 2010 at 8:53am: At this moment, it is not raining here, but usually it is wet, wet, wet!!! We currently live in the Northwest, north of Seattle. Lately the weather has been nice, though. This is probably not the forum to push my own products, but I do sell a fabulous hand creme! : ) Thanks for the swamp cooler idea; I had heard of those but don't know much about them. As for the altitude, how does one adjust to it? I'm a runner. Will I have difficulties?; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Brendan on January 27, 2010 at 10:00am: It'll take a few weeks to adjust. The best part is, once you have really gotten used to it, you'll be a god at sea level.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by JeSais on February 6, 2010 at 2:37pm: drink lots of water; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Eckleburg and Grumblecake on January 27, 2010 at 9:47am: The altitude is just something your body will naturally adjust to over time, but you may find that you are out of breath much more quickly when you run when you get here. The good news is that it will also improve your running - your body will produce more red blood cells and get more effective at carrying oxygen to your muscles, and you train your lungs to be more efficient as well.

A lot of elite runners actually come to Albuquerque to train, so it is not unusual to see Kenyans training for big city marathons on the Tramway trail.; ▶ Reply to This