Albuquerque Ranks 13 FOr Best Places For Business And Careers

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Permalink Reply by NMGolfHacker on August 21, 2008 at 9:44pm

Mary, thanks for positive post in an otherwise rather drab DCF. I also agree there is way too many whiners in Albuquerque and this site to a rather large extent. I love to see the post/threads here that show positive aspects of Albuquerque, but unfortunately they seem to be much less of that than the I hate this or that type posts.

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Permalink Reply by Black is the new Black on August 22, 2008 at 6:18am

I have two theories about this NMGolfHacker.

The first is that our city suffers from a self esteem issue. Many locals (and by locals I mean people who grew up here or moved here from within state) have grown up feeling "stuck" in Albuquerque and don't appreciate how really cool it is here. They've become so bitter about it that they can't see the city for the amazing place that it is. Ironically this same group tends to rail against any kind of change within the city too. Thankfully for every four people I meet that have this attitude there is someone like Adelita who, who grew up here, or Mary who moved here, and see the city for the unique gem that it is (flaws and all).

The second is that DCF is a very inviting online community which is approachable and easy to participate in. This leads to lots of people who aren't very social in "real life" to join and start spouting opinions they may have long held internally but not socialized. They are often new to "online community life" (though they may have been surfing and lurking for a long time) and are not yet adept having open and non-offensive public discourse online. They also aren't quite ready for the "debate" aspect of a community blog like this and get their hackles raised if anyone even slightly disagrees with their opinion. The anonymity of the web also exasperates this, almost encouraging people to be far more gruff than they ever would in real life.

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Permalink Reply by Mary Schmidt on August 22, 2008 at 7:51am

It's always difficult for natives to appreciate what they have. I'm actually a NM native (born in Hobbs) and I had to move away to truly appreciate the state. Then, I'd come back on vacation, get off the plane in Albuquerque and drive straight to Santa Fe or Taos. When I made the life-changing move back - I sort of reluctantly picked Albuquerque since it has an airport and is the largest city. Once I actually moved here however, I fell in love. I still enjoy Santa Fe (so, please let's not get into a debate on that, folks! Great if you live there and love it more than 'querque. Everyone should love where they live...even if it's in Hobbs ;-)

Doug R - keep in touch and let me know when y'all are coming in to town to look for houses - I'll buy y'all lunch.

As for the online community - I give DCF a lot of credit for giving everyone a forum - and not stepping in unless it gets really obscene or insulting. Blogville is like one of those old Wild West towns - everyone is armed...but not everyone knows when (or how) to shoot. I appreciate that we've got the diversity, even when I don't agree with some. And many of the negative posters would never say such things to anyone's face, so maybe they'll learn. Black is the New Black nails it with the problem with anomymity. That's one reason I put my own face and name on everything I post everywhere - business or personal. If I'm going to say it, I've got to own it (although I get some very interesting emails and phone calls...;-)

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Permalink Reply by Doug R on August 22, 2008 at 9:11am

Mary - thanks for the offer. We're working through the kinks with our financial plan. It's changed with all of this. Right now, it appears that we may not be looking for a new house for a couple of years but I'll let you know if anything changes.

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Permalink Reply by Samantha Anne Scott on August 22, 2008 at 11:41pm

*Seconds BlTNB's comment re: online communication*

I also agree with your rationale for using your own name and/or image -- although I do have a high avatar turnover rate.

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Permalink Reply by Izquierdo on August 22, 2008 at 8:40pm

Are we reading the same DCF? Those who see Albuquerque as the best thing since sliced bread are by far in the majority on this website, or so it seems to me. They fawn over it, starting with the bio page about the best things in the city. And contrary to what someone else wrote, the ones who love it the most are New Mexico natives.

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Permalink Reply by NMGolfHacker on August 22, 2008 at 12:01pm

Mary - Black ...thanks for your insightful opinion. I am a native NM'er but was raised in SoCal. Have split my life between the two. I have now been in NM for 14 years and plan on staying permanently. I love to see growth and opportunity happening.

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Permalink Reply by Doug R on August 22, 2008 at 1:24pm

NM GolfHacker - it is very exciting in ABQ these days. I've been out in NorCal for 30 years and have watched that area decline rapidly. Therefore, I'm very excited about ABQ's upward movement but I don't want it to move too fast. I know where it will end up and it's not pretty (California is a fine example). That doesn't mean I don't want it to avoid that final fate but after I'm long gone please (ha ha).

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Permalink Reply by Jim M on August 22, 2008 at 1:24pm

But does that even take into account that most of the job that have come here recently seem to be in call centers?

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Permalink Reply by NMGolfHacker on August 22, 2008 at 1:32pm

Doug - Abq is now where near moving too fast. I saw first hand in many areas of SoCal and we are not close.

Jim - More than call center jobs have been moving here, doesn't take much research to figure that out. Although, most call center jobs are paying significantly more than minimum.

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Permalink Reply by Doug R on August 22, 2008 at 1:52pm

NMGolfHacker - well they do build out instead of up. When you get to the top of 9-mile hill (or whatever they call it today....at the lip of the west mesa where the town is laid out in front of you) the place is huge. Yes, Sacramento is larger. Of course, when flying into LAX there is nothing quite like that sprawl.

You do have a point....maybe it's more FEAR of where it's going than reality. Not moving too fast - I believe you.

I've got some work to do when I arrive. Think about the detox program ex-Californians have to go through:
- No more getting on the road an hour or more before you have to be somewhere in town.
- Learning to use surface streets over the freeways
- Slowing down on the freeways (NM drivers are unpredictable compared to most CA drivers)
- Get out of the "in a rush mode" with everything. I might be able to chew my food and not eat at my desk out in ABQ?? What a treat!
- Don't worry about arriving for something exactly on time (a very bad sales guy habit....I usually arrive 15 min early actually).
- Slowing the speech down. Out here we fight for air time when talking to others. Crazy but true.

How is my body going to react to the dryness? The sunshine? The clean air? The altitude? (I'll try to slowly introduce the red and green chile into my system until I build up a tolerance again).

It's crazy but I can't wait to wake up really early some morning and see the sun come up. We're in our "summer fog" stage up here in the Bay Area. The marine layer blanket covers us until about 10 to noon each day. It returns starting around 4pm with the chilly winds off the pacific. I might actually get some color on my sun deprived body......

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Permalink Reply by Jim M on August 22, 2008 at 1:55pm

I realize that other types of job are coming here, but numberwise the call centers are the ones adding the jobs. Just read that Verizon is adding 200 jobs. Fidelity is adding 1200 between now and 2010. I'm not seeing numbers like that for other types of jobs.

Most of the call center jobs are dead end and low pay, averaging around $10 an hour.

And having worked in a couple of call centers, the pay here for them is significantly lower than in other parts of the country and the centers that are here can never find enough people. Check out any online job site or go to any local job fair and you'll see the same companies always looking for people. People jump from center to center when they get burned out at one place, hoping the next one will be better.

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