Comment by mombat on March 29, 2010 at 7:28am

We got caught in the Rodeo traffic on Sunday and couldn't figure out what was going on until we got right up the Pit. The place was packed.
Nice Fixing Phil,
I think cutting direct services to kids will backfire and cause lower test scores, more discipline problems and a herd of grumpy parents in various offices. I understand that things are tight. I wonder if there are other administrative cuts that can be made, like Mr. Brooks salary? I think ditching the travel budget is fine and other extras

Comment by Barelas Babe on March 29, 2010 at 8:42am

@Doogie -I'm no expert in housing appreciation and devaluation, but my memory informs me of at least 3 cycles of boom-and-bust CA real estate. In the grand scheme of it all, I wonder if this is just another CA real estate roller coaster where the best strategy is to hang on to your place long enough until the market improves. I have deep roots in CA (7 generations back) and even though there is a lot of grumbling about the state's economy, the sense I get is that many people are just going to wait it out, just as they have with the other cycles. We'll have to see how that all plays out and see if this downturn is historically significant.

We are getting an influx of people here in Albuquerque; I expect that will likely continue, based on nothing more scientific that the increased number of "I'm thinking of moving to NM" inquiries in my travels around the country. Most of these folks approaching me are looking for a place to retire. What I want to know is what are the demographics of those Albuquerque in-migrants - are they older and retired? Younger? With families? What kinds of job skills/education do they have? Are jobs driving the move to Albuquerque? If so, what kinds of jobs?

My very small (and totally unrepresentative) sample size indicates that the retired and about-to-retire folks I know who are moving out here or seriously contemplating it are highly educated professionals with more assets than most. They see NM as affordable - so what does this mean for our private sector economy? Is this a plus? Is anyone out there looking at these numbers and making predictions about how Albuquerque might respond to this influx?

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