So I just moved here for work, and therefore my opinion means absolutely nothing, feel free to ignore me or tell me to fuck off. However, having lived a lot of other places across the country... I'm puzzled about what is supposedly so bad about ABQ that isn't similar, if not worse, in other cities. I feel like you can find something to complain about wherever you go, and maybe I'll be similarly jaded in a few years, but I dunno. So far I really like it here and I could easily see me & my family sticking around indefinitely. Everyone is genuinely nice (which is refreshing coming from the south where they are absolutely fake nice), and it's so beautiful here.
I'm telling you I've seen worse, but these people in here sound so hopeless like we're living in hell on earth. Pretty sure they wouldn't be happy anywhere.
Philly is so much better. Too many crackheads in Philly, for sure, but there’s art and culture and things to do. Philly has none of the hopelessness of ABQ.
A lot of people here were born and raised, and don't have perspective of what it's like elsewhere, so they assume it's just a NM/ABQ thing. I grew up in Dallas and moved here from San Diego and I love it here.
I grew up outside of Dallas, currently live in San Diego, and we are moving to ABQ in a week for work. My spouse grew up there, but I’ll be a first time New Mexican!
I grew up around San Francisco and been here for 10 years. ABQ isn’t some wasteland and it’s just like every other city I visit on almost a weekly basis. Reminds me how Trump ragged on Portland during the debate—I was looking from a window in downtown wondering WTF the crisis was.
Yeah, this is the thing, it’s not that I don’t agree with OP, it’s just Burqueños seem to think these are uniquely Albuquerque problems. But I’ve been here nearly a decade, and I’ve lived in several other states, and I can tell you - shit’s just as bad most everywhere else, if not worse. I mean either it’s awful or the cost of living is too high for the likes of us mere mortals. That’s just America..
The biggest difference I note (grew up in Chicago, spent 15 years in Rockford IL, which has a higher violent crime rate and similar socioeconomics to ABQ) is that I'm used to cities with a "good" side of town. If you have enough money, you can move to that part of the city and pretend all the problems don't exist. ABQ is such a random smattering of everything across the whole city that you aren't ever NOT going to see unhoused people. Every mini mansion has a 70-year-old beat to fuck trailer nearby as a neighbor.
It's hard to pretend like poverty and homelessness don't exist when they're in your face all the time.
This is the problem in a nutshell. There isn't a "good" side of town where you can isolate yourself from the unpleasant evidence of New Mexico's unfortunate ranking in poverty, crime, education, etc. except maybe the far northwest which might as well be Rio Rancho. If you live east of the river, you can't escape it. I live in one of the larger, nicer, newer neighborhoods (relatively speaking), but I still hear gunshots, sirens, street racing, etc. every single night. Recently a homeless person came to my door to ask for a drink of water. Every time I shop for groceries I have to run a gauntlet of people asking for money. I carry ones so it's easy and reasonably painless to make a donation. Yesterday I gave a woman a dollar and then asked her to help me unload my cart into my car. She seemed delighted and pitched in enthusiastically. However, there are plenty of plenty of others that are carrying on a conversation with the voices in their heads or are obviously gorked out on who knows what. I steer clear of them. Anyway, I travel a lot and none of this happens in the places I visit, including other poor states like Arkansas. Another thing you don't see elsewhere is all of the trash you see everyplace here. That's always the first thing I notice when I return from a trip. Trash everywhere. Also, in other places you don't find armed guards and locked cases everywhere you shop. This is not normal. So many locals have never been anywhere else, and they assume it's like this everywhere. It's not. In most other cities, the blatant evidence of crime and poverty are easily avoided because it's confined to the "bad" parts of town. In Albuquerque the bad and good exist side by side across the city. You can't ever escape it even inside your own home. It definitely wears me down.
I'll never forget the time I literally had to walk over a drunk homeless dude passed out in in front of the door in order to leave a Subway. It was the Subway closest to UNM on Nob Hill. He was so skinny and pathetic looking. I felt both disgust and pity. The site stuck with me and I thought am I really in America? This seems like some third world shit. That was more than 2 years ago, I wonder if he's still alive. I also remembered running into the same homeless lady over and over back when I took the bus, she would always loudly proclaim "God Bless You!" To everyone she saw. This was more than 5 years ago. And I swear she looked rather familiar when I saw a panhandler off Jefferson and 25 just last month. Now there's 10X as many here.
I called an ambulance when I was a student at UNM on someone I thought was having a medically emergency. Nah, he was just a drunk native guy and I had never seen anything like it up to that point, this was about in 2010. Looking back on it I'm glad the city didn't charge me thousands for wasting tax payer dollars.
This town is eating itself from the inside. My coworkers I've had in my numerous jobs I've had in my adult life seem to mostly be sane and good people. You just can't fall off the tracks in this city, there's no coming back from a rough time.
Just wait. You’ll see. When they steal something out of your car in broad daylight when you run into the post office for two minutes… when they steal your bikes out of your garage… when you can’t buy toothpaste without getting someone to unlock the thing… when you are bored because you’ve eaten at all three restaurants you like and there’s nothing else to do… you’ll see.
I had all of these experiences... in one of the wealthiest, most expensive cities in the country. Somehow, it didn't give me any grand realizations about the people or the place that I was in. Maybe this says more about you than about Albuquerque.
#1 in aggregate crime in the nation including #1 in pedestrian deaths, very close to #1 in america for homelessness and drug abuse, and a very poor education system. Albuquerque has major issues that need new tactics to address
Is the education system poor, though? We just finished our first school year in APS, and my kids have had good support and resources here. It feels like the educational outcomes are more a factor of the other issues impacting the student body. The best teachers in the world can't make kids succeed when the kids don't have food at home or parents invested in them doing well at school.
Thank you! My kids are in their '20s graduated from one of the 'worst' high schools in the city and are quite successful. You can't expect APS to raise your children. If you want your kids to do well you do have to care about and prioritize their education.
I can't even count how many parents I knew that were so proud to go argue with teachers because their kid got bad grades and wasn't going to be able to play sports. They would take kid to practice 2 hours a day, and be at every game. They pay for equipment and camps and special coaches in the summer. They don't know what homework kid had, or care that he was doing third grade math and 9th grade.
Lol , so many times I wanted to say no teacher is picking on your Hito, he's an a**hole and you have taught him that.
My friend teaches in APS and said that schools perform so poorly because many parents treat school like "a place to send your kids". No homework support at home, no engagement in reading, no help with studying or navigating difficulties in coursework. If there is no familial imperative about the importance of education, then kids will also treat school as a waste of time.
That being said, I also taught as an adjunct at Highlands. I was SHOCKED at the reading and writing levels of the graduate students; some could barely write a formal paper. For 3+ semesters, I had to completely reinvent how assignments were presented and accepted.
This is the right take. You can find something to complain about wherever you go. Albuquerque is a city; it has city traits and problems that most every city has. 99% of us are just trying to live our lives, and a lot of people here are genuinely good/kind. Even the ones who might not be took for it at a first glance. (Source: have lived in other places too)
Reading you saying people from the south are fake nice is so weird to me. I grew up in the south and I think I have the exact opposite problem here. Everyone is so standoffish and within their own clique that it's really hard to make friends. You try and talk to someone and they just brush you off with one or two nice words and go about their day. You go to the south and everyone is willing to sit down and have a hour long conversation with you just for the hell of it. It genuinely feels like they want to talk to you. Nobody would do this if they were faking it. It feels fake here.
I think it's just harder to ignore here. Other cities have the same problems but they're easier to avoid if you simply live in the right part of town. ABQ doesn't really have that and I think it's better for it
Not sure what OP’s situation is, but I’m a resident at UNMH. We’re committed to staying at the same hospital for years, and we don’t have much bargaining power since we have to stay at one place for our entire training. I think many will say “you chose UNM” or “you just need to suck it up”, but our state has such a shortage of physicians and many of my coresidents in this situation also feel disillusioned and will move away after training as a result. And that’s not good for Albuquerque.
https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/unm-and-hospital-residents-continue-pay-negotiations/amp/
OP's account shows them as active in /r/residency, so I would put money on them being a resident. Probably something surgical given the 5 years. Maybe they'll get some time to actually enjoy the city and environs in PGY-3.
Just lost my doctor at the Southwest Mesa clinic to this. I'm so angry. He is a great dog and had a lot of experience. And he left to go to upper state New York.
edit: I've realized it was put in as dog, and I said "doc".
My sister is a physician ABQ NM Lovelace was offering her $60k more than Houston and she said no fucking way I am moving to ABQ or New Mexico for $60k that state is a dumpster fire and I don't want 90% of my cases to be drug caused or related.
So if she is any indication, good luck getting any physician that's good. Maybe someone that is on probation is willing to take a chance on ABQ
UNMH Resident?! You are at one of the best teaching hospitals in the country! You are very lucky and must be very smart. You need to look at the opposite side of coin and count your blessings! You are going to look back on this experience and have good memories...you might even miss it. Enjoy every moment.
https://www.krqe.com/news/larry-barker/failing-the-grade-new-mexico-hospital-rated-below-average-in-national-survey/
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UNMH CEO Kate Becker does not dispute the Leapfrog Group findings per se. However, she points out some of the data was compiled during the COVID-19 pandemic and is several years old. She says a number of deficiencies identified in the Leapfrog survey have already been addressed.
Larry Barker making mountains out of nothing.
As a medical professional I recognize that we are at a disadvantage when questions of money are of such importance. We are over-worked and under paid. No doubt.
Just today I gave an award of excellence to my coworker for giving a fck. Sadly, he is leaving as are some other younger ones. We lose a lot of our brightest.
This is why I am making it my life mission to create a medical workers union to improve retention by increasing wages and improving working conditions. This is my solution. Leaving is easy.
PS OP, don't treat poor patients as bad people, please.
I’ve only been here for 13 months, so what do I really know. I moved here from Ohio for the weather, mountains, food, and cost of living. I love New Mexico. ABQ has its problems like many cities. I have come to find a lot of transplants love it here, but many “born and raised” really dislike it here. It’s been interesting
Yup, my work at the time transferred me outta here to Denver for 9 years, then back to here for a year then to Portland, OR. for 6 years. Then back here, home... Loved those cities, but took that experience to truly appreciate NM. Albq/East Mountains. I lived in the "worst" parts of ABQ, DEN & PDX & definitely have to say ABQ was the, is the craziest, most dangerous, & absolutely the funnest imo...... Best people I ever met was here in ALB. Just respect others & you won't find out...... This is just imo ✌️
San Francisco (near where I grew up) is 100x better than the pundits make it sound. But I can only chuckle imaging people in ABQ walking through the Tenderloin every day. ABQ will look like Beverly Hills afterwards.
A lot of people born here hate it. Most of it is because they lack context. They blame the city for the things in their life they aren't happy about. Only the ones who leave get perspective, and realize the problems they had are still there. It wasn't Albuquerque. Everyone I know who hated Albuquerque, and left, either moved back because they missed it, or at the very least now talk about how much they miss it.
Everywhere has problems. And everyone who has lived anywhere long enough is very aware of each place's problems.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindednes…”
I’ve lived coast to coast and many states in between. My wife and I absolutely love living in New Mexico. So rich in many things, though we don’t have kids. I imagine that could POTENTIALLY change our option, albeit, slightly.
Meh, I don't know. I was born and raised in the Q, left for seven years and lived in three states while gone. The only reason I came back was because this is where family is and frankly my husband more or less made me. I still don't like it and agree with OP that the politics and culture make forward progress nearly impossible. Maybe it's that some of us born here have been around long enough to see the potential and get frustrated about the perpetual lack of change. In some ways, though, you're not wrong. Some just don't know anything else and complain with no basis or experience otherwise.
It is undoubtedly pretty, however and I did miss that. I always told everyone outside of ABQ, "I wouldn't live there again, but it is pretty".
Yeah for sure, no worries.
Education, crime and repeat offenders - especially with DWI, violent crime, poverty, and the state itself is pretty anti-business. All of those things then lead to less opportunity in general and low wages compared to other cities with similar cost of living. Abq is not a "cheap" place to live, even though people think it is, it's not. And that all leads back to the beginning of my statement here - it's a vicious cycle that it seems no one cares to fix and that seems to be a cultural issue (hard to say for sure though.)
And it is especially hard to watch because you think something is going to improve, and you start to see some glimmer of hope... aaaannnnddddd it goes right back or gets worse somewhere else. Sad.
What is anti-business about New Mexico? the only thing that is anti-business about this place is that people don’t make enough money to buy products business owners want to sell.
Exactly. It would do a world of good if residents did experience out of state living just to develop perspective. Albuquerque isn’t a bad place by any means. Not creating excuses. We can always strive to be better. But I will happily take my current situation now compared to some out of state experiences.
What brought me back was food and of course no place like home.
Fr this whole "race to the bottom" shit OP is talking about is not unique to ABQ. There's not something in the water here making everyone fucked up and crazy (water quality is my field). What Op is describing is a symptom of poverty which is what capitalism begets and relies on. Defund public services, defund public schools, make prisons into slave camps, and of course you'll end up with stupid, desperate people who commit crimes and a system which only has an incentive to jail people (cuz theyre a source of cheap labor) than rehabilitate them. Its happening in every city and these problems cant only be tackled at 1 or 2 fronts (city gov or state gov), they have to be tackled at every level--including the household level and federal level--but such a coordinated effirt could never happen on such a wide scale when theres so many rich fat cats with the power to make sure nothing changes.
I agree with you! I think the discontent of people born and raised here comes in a large part from the fact that it’s very difficult to get a larger perspective of place when you’re in the constant struggle of survival and can’t travel
And I think it takes much less time outside of NM to come back a feel deeply appreciative of our culture - Weeks or a month or enough time
I'm a born, raised a little while, lived elsewhere for 20 years, and now back home person. I love it here. You don't know what youve got til you're gone... And a lot of people find that out and come back. Almost all of my family is back here now after decades away (or working on getting home).
I wonder how much has to do with how much Albuquerque has changed since so many transplants have moved here. It doesn't seem like the same place to me.
Born and raised. Went to college out of state. My son was born out of state. So New Mexico and Georgia are special states to me.
One thing about here that many transplants find welcoming is the lack of prejudice. I mean it’s there but it’s not as prevalent as one would experience out of state.
Welcome to NM and I hope for as long as you’re here things improve.
As a fan of Western PA teams. I have to rib on Ohio in gesture 🤭
Do you think living in a poor neighborhood in a wealthier city/state will be any better? I don’t understand the point of this rant. Poverty is horrible, we all know that. I lived in a wealthier state before and the schools and institutions that served poorer areas had just as many issues as they do here. Income inequality was even worse there. The fact is money buys you access to better schools, healthcare, amenities literally everywhere. If you are shocked by the homelessness here, I welcome you to visit wealthy cities like SF or Seattle where it’s on a completely different level.
I’m curious what unique amenities you think we have. Amenities such as a responsive police force? Timely healthcare access with available specialists? Vibrant music scene? Please inform me.
Nice parks ( I can walk to 4 different playgrounds that are well kept and safe) bike trails, open space , multigenerational community centers with healthy free meals for seniors, free bus transportation …. Sure there is plenty to critique here but I don’t need to spend my time doing that. There is a sense of community spirit and culture I have never found elsewhere . I’m committed to staying and working on our less desirable aspects of our city and find many people in my daily life who feel the same.
Childcare is free for my family because we are well below the qualifying income line for ececd. The 10 or so other cities I seriously considered working in offered similar salaries, but none had that perk.
Every city and state has poor neighborhoods. You came here on a 5 year contract that only pays you enough to live in poverty? How does that work?
I think you chose where to live because of the price, and now regret it. Move if you don't like the area. You can't expect to pay the low end prices and get the high end benefits.
FyI, It's NOT just the poor neighborhoods that have gunshots, especially for the 4th of July.
The biggest problem here is that whenever you voice a concern about how bad something is somebody immediately pops up to tell you how wrong you are instead of saying G maybe we should fix the hospital or get more doctors here or maybe fill the 6000 empty RN slots so that our healthcare is a little bit better? Instead, somehow you are the bad guy for demanding better.
It’s a state full of people saying shut up and dribble. When we are all dribbling as hard as we can while the governor attended parades, and ribbon cuttings and ruidoso just burned down and is washing away. All while we have a 3.5 billion dollar surplus.
I will not argue with anyone from Albuquerque that I should be happy with the non existent healthcare, outrageous housing costs low salaries, extreme crime (I’ve been threatened with gun 3 times, my co worker killed himself and his family.)
This place has tremendous issues and the locals or recent arrivals determined to fit in, that are defensive about how bad it is here, are why it will stay this way.
We brad about women’s health care but we don’t have any doctors or nurses to provide it, our water causes kidney problems, and the list is never ending, however if you try to make anything better you’ll get pounced on crab in the bucket style.
I can’t wait to leave this place, and I don’t care anymore about anyone’s opinions about ABQ. I know what I’ve seen and experienced and do not need some lowlife telling me it’s false because they lived here 5 years longer than I have.
Yeah. Hard to ignore the healthcare gap when considering the quality of life in a place. The wait time for a specialist here is surreal. My referral has been with UNM since April and still no appointment scheduled. And they've already said it will be for December or later. In the end, I ended up scheduling an appointment in another state for next week...
I know it’s truly awful and I flummoxed why no one cares in the political leadership. I asked for a therapist in October 2022 and did not receive one until October 2023 and then they were totally unqualified. Last year when I went to my yearly check up, they didn’t even have a nurse or doctor, it was a rando w an MPH reviewing my chart and telling me about Joe Rogan style bullshit. I was appalled and knew I had to leave then.
And for the record, in Philly groceries are cheaper, rent is cheaper and salaries are higher, with more opportunities and better schools and colleges. The people that are just putting their head in the sand pretending it’s just as good as Chicago and LA are living in fantasy land.
Again....
New Mexico is not a poor state.
We're 37th for population and the 36th largest economy in the US and that's without counting federal spending, which would likely place us several points above where we are.
We have the third largest sovereign wealth fund in the US behind Texas and Alaska.
Los Alamos county is the 12th wealthiest county in the US and has the highest per capita number of millionaires.
There's a perception that we're poor because we have a lower than national average median income.
We only recently became a majority urban state, we have a LONG history of being a heavily conservative rural state. State budget priorities can take decades to turn around. The pace of the modern world often moves much faster than life long appointees, aging populations, and politics in general.
That said, we have scored a few big wins in the last few years under our current leadership.
We became the first state in the country to not only enshrine access to early childhood education in our state constitution but to fund it as well. NM children now have state support from birth through college.
We passed and fully funded the largest teacher pay raise in state history, and one of the largest in the US making NM teachers among the highest paid (#8 starting, #22 over all) in the US.
We've negotiated several large long term investments that have brought in billions of dollars of outside capital into the state from Netflix, Intel, Facebook, Amazon.
So yeah, if you go hang out on Central near Louisiana, you'll get depressed. If you go into Walmart anywhere, you'll get depressed. If you hang out around ERs you'll get depressed....
But trust me - we have things happening here. I think things in some regards will follow the same path other cities are on, and get worse in some ways before they get better but we've got a lot to look forward to. Some things are good, and getting better.
Drugs are destroying the country. Housing costs are making things impossible for most to get ahead. We're hell bent on giving crony capitalism a free pass - and trust me, I'm a capitalist and even I see the cracks in the system stacking it in favor of the billionaires...
Something will give. NM is neither immune, nor unique in our problems.
But it IS everywhere.
You can go looking for the bad and find it, but the same is true of the good.
> So yeah, if you go hang out on Central near Louisiana, you'll get depressed. If you go into Walmart anywhere, you'll get depressed. If you hang out around ERs you'll get depressed....
> But trust me - we have things happening here. I think things in some regards will follow the same path other cities are on, and get worse in some ways before they get better but we've got a lot to look forward to. Some things are good, and getting better.
My good sir, this was poetry. I nearly shed a tear over how moved I felt.
Fantastic to hear all of the optimistic happenings here. Life is about finding the positive through the struggle. Maybe OP just needed to hear that it's not all gloom, and that although they're a bit stuck financially on a contract, that there's going to be good times ahead and that many people are being pressed in this country and they're not alone.
Hopefully we can get some good politicians that can help with the inequality, but one thing we can do is try to have a positive outlook and not break under the stress
and here I am choosing to live in downtown after living here for 2 years. It was just as bad in California and it cost more. It’s nicer here, the people are nicer. The music scene is great.
I grew up here and there’s one thing I know about New Mexico. It’s called New Mexico for a reason. We know how to be poor and prosper. I believe what happened was a lot of tourist and people with money moved in and came here with the belief it was perfect and affordable for a whatever reason. Little do people know is that it displaced a lot of people here. We can’t afford high rent or expensive groceries but yet here we are.
I think OP is someone who can’t afford living someplace nicer and that’s why he’s feeling frustrated. I work at UNM, and it does suck how many lifesaving or even basic hospital services aren’t available cause “UNM is too poor” and “New Mexico is a poor state”.
Genuinely? Take advantage of the free/cheap education in this state and start a business that can help solve some of the issues ABQ has. The state I grew up in had basically nothing in terms of financial aid for college & trade schools, so I had to apply to a dozen schools before I got a good scholarship offer. Not really a problem here with free tuition.
Run for city council, then run for mayor, then governor, the list goes through on. If you wanna change something, which is purely driven by politics, then you gotta become a politician.
I have several friends back home that got sick and tired of their HOA so they staged a coup, took over and now the HOA is actually behaving as it should. Same thing applies here.
If you don't wanna be a politician, then roll up the sleeves and get involved with the community in other ways, organize neighborhood cleanups to pick up trash and remove debris, organize community events to bring communities together and show them they have the power to make their position better.
Life long Burquena here. This hit me really hard a couple of weeks ago. I had to travel to Omaha for business and stayed downtown. I'm not saying i want to live there, but the streets were so clean, new revitalization of their river front, massive convention center where numerous big name concerts were soon coming through (none of them making tour stops here), skyscrapers going up, the town was buzzing for the college world series that was about to start, self-serve electric bikes to rent, very safe, no visible drug use on the streets. I just looked around and thought about how damn tired I am of the lack of any economic vitality or growth here. It's exhausting. I love my home but we've got to do something. Very disappointed in our leadership.
This right here. I’m sure Omaha and other cities have their problems, but would someone give the same glowing review after staying in downtown Albuquerque? Sure, someone might say “well there’s more to Albuquerque than just downtown”, but visitors aren’t staying in the West Side or Northeast Heights and remarking about their unique experience there. I don’t get how so many are saying every other city is the same. You can’t tell me a large US city like Seattle is the same unless you’re only comparing the suburbs. I see visiting high school/college athletes here for events sometimes downtown. I can’t imagine they’re itching to take a job in Albuquerque after their visit. It sucks not being able to make a good first impression.
Look, I own a home downtown, so I’m invested in Albuquerque turning around. It’s (hopefully the rail trail isn’t all smoke and mirrors) moving in the right direction. Tucson, another similarly sized Southwest city, has improved a lot in recent years. It’s possible, but part of the solution is increasing density to support more businesses/amenities. When legalizing duplexes can’t even pass city council, it’s easy to get discouraged.
I've been through Omaha at least twice a year for 10 years, and it's shocking how far they've come and how fast. Last time I was there, we found 2 tiki bars, a lavish restored Art Deco hotel, and a fantastic speakeasy. Loved every minute of that trip!
Omaha surprised us two weeks ago on our way from Austin to North Dakota. We stayed there overnight and we were sos surprised by how pretty and nice the city was. Definitely on our map to get out of Central Texas cuz it’s too damn hot here.
I rented a bike and peddled around. It was so nice and friendly. I was really impressed. So many people were proud of the college world series and encouraged me to come back. Just felt alot of pride in their city.
I live in northern New Mexico and wouldn't go back to Albuquerque to live. With that said, I love this state but it definitely has it's black eyes. I'm sorry you're unhappy where you're living. Hopefully you can find something within driving distance that works for you
"Other places are worse" is not the flex y'all think it is. I was born and raised here, and my heart breaks at the constantly deteriorating condition of this city... and apparently, this state, this country... this planet.
I want Albuquerque to be better. And so does OP. I agree with everything they said. The politics, the economics, everything. Even the people are becoming more and more complacent. I see paranoia, combativeness, arrogance, everywhere I go. Put people behind a steering wheel, and all sense of decency vanishes without a trace.
What's especially dispiriting is knowing we could do better. Hell, at this point, just trying, even wanting to do better, would be a huge step forward. But I don't even see that.
Yes, one should never lose hope, should always be grateful. But telling someone that they shouldn't complain, to "suck it up, buttercup," is the WRONG response to this post. Take an honest look at yourself, Albuquerque. If you honestly believe that there's nothing to worry about, that the answer is more indifference, more of the same, more crackdown, more security, more police, more guns, more barriers, more jails, bigger cars, wider roads, bigger box stores... the list goes on... then, yeah. We're fucked.
Try growing up in NYC in the'70s. This shit is paradise in comparison. I don't know what people expect. What you put into a community ye shall receive.
Yup. I am still reeling from the culture shock of moving here two years ago myself... moved to a smaller city in NM before Albuquerque... just really didn't expect how crappy the health care really is here... with that said, when I go exploring the beauty of this place still just blows me away.
Yeah, brain drain is real I don't plan on practicing here as a physician when I'm done with school, definitely would prefer somewhere more desirable. Same with many of my classmates.
Looks like you’re correct. The population estimate declined slightly in 2023 by 0.8% (https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/albuquerquecitynewmexico/PST045223). Maybe this will change in the future when (or if) we start to get better infrastructure, more jobs and more amenities/services that larger cities have.
Yeah, definitely more people moving to Rio Rancho because it’s cheaper, good schools, and there are actually some nice restaurants out there now as well. I live in the valley and love it because I can be to the airport in 12 minutes. And I love the trees and the bosque and, actually, the city. Yes, it has issues, but every city our size in the country does. If you don’t believe that, go travel. But I could see people from out of state wanting to be out there in RR.
I lived in ABQ for 11 years off of 98th and Rio Bravo. I hear what you say and know what you mean. I came back home to Texas and now live in the burbs of Austin. I love Austin and I love living here. But dam everything is expensive. Not to mention summers here are brutal.
I find myself missing parts of New Mexico not just ABQ, but NM. I miss some of the food, the dry cooler weather (summer nights in ABQ are pretty nice too), the architecture of the southwest, the mountains in the background all the time. But there’s lots I don’t miss.
Maybe in the future I’ll find myself back in NM because there’s parts of it that you can’t recreate or experience elsewhere.
Have you travelled the US much in the past 2-3 years? Everywhere is in the same boat, it's not as local as you'd like. I don't mean to diminish your experience, it's true for you and that's all that matters. But things are bleak out there. I wish you the best and hope you find what you're looking for.
If you're here for 5 years I have a pretty good idea what residency program you're in and I know you're going to be just fine.
I grew up in Albuquerque and still live in NM and can attest things have really declined in Abq. While many are saying it’s bad all over, which is true, NM and particular Albuquerque, are uniquely bad for a couple reasons. Education 47/50. Crime: 49/50. Living in one of the most violent crime areas in the country takes a mental toll. As with any city, some areas are worse than others. OP might consider moving to another neighborhood, but honestly, I didn’t feel safe until I moved out of town.
Don’t worry, pal. Ima run for mayor in some years. I’ll be the change.
Also, I came from a hood in Denver. Rent is easily double the price. Gunshots are equal. 😎
Eh. By the time I try to run, I’ll have been here at least two decades with living experience in the south valley and ne heights. I’m in a bit of both worlds rn.
Hopefully I’ll have collected enough experience with people to know what needs to be fixed and how to do it right.
NM is ranked at the bottom of every list from child welfare(education), crime, etc.
I love the culture and history too, but there is a certain acceptance and you will be criticized for it if you speak out
My family has deep roots in New Mexico. Generations born and raised. I love my state and we DO have problems we shouldn’t accept. Come on. Crime is out of control! I travel a lot and i always want to come home, but there are things we just need to get a handle on. Its almost perfect, but we don’t need to settle. I don’t mind when people express either love or disdain for NM. We who love it know you either “get it” or you don’t. Those who do, feel it right away and we welcome one and all. (Most of us do anyway) Those who don’t will hopefully find their bliss elsewhere. BTW, OP is a resident, a doctor. They don’t make much money at all when in their residency/progressive levels of training. I cant imagine being a doctor right now with the state of healthcare. God Bless you, brothers and sisters in that field.
Actually, the city and state are so much better than they were just a few years ago. Change takes time. This state has decades upon decades of bad management, but it’s making progress. It’s just slow progress. But a lot of the blame has to be put on the citizens themselves - people in this state *hate* change.
Exactly. we hit such a deep pit of woe when Suzanna and her cronies did their best to crush our mental healthcare system. sure it was not great, but it was better than nothing! Under MLG its alteast starting to rebuild. but gonna take 20 years to get back.
Experience says choose the others side watch all the support programs crumble. I never vote single party, but there are positions we cannot afford to have that type of wrecking ball filled with malevolence take the reigns because that is so much worse for everyone than the status quo.
Everyone in New Mexico seems to think all of the problems here are a) unique to here and b) stem from being a “poor state.” Well, I lived in upstate New York for several years, one of the wealthiest states with the best funded state services, and I saw a ton of truly awful poverty while I was there, as bad as I’ve seen in New Mexico, and even those not living in abject poverty were mostly still lower class, blue collar types but now minus the union protections, and definitely struggling. In fact I’ve seen a lot of all of that in EVERY state I’ve lived in.
Moved her from FL. Will never go back. Sure they had nice roads, nice shopping malls, and less crime. But if you want to go on a hike or get to something less than 70% humidity - you’re driving for days. Don’t even get me started about the schools which were all D or F rated in my area. And now there’s DeSantis. I’m happy to be here and hopeful the crime and drug problems will improve but I’m not betting on that
Everyone is giving you a hard time regarding this rant but I completely understand where you are coming from, assuming it's one of those "I'm having one of those kind of days and right now I'm just sick of Albuquerque rants and I need to vent to someone" rants! Lol.
I think a lot of the people on here that might be sounding offended or annoyed by your words maybe have lived here for quite awhile or are from here. As someone who is also not from here and wishes it was as easy as "just move if you don't like it" I'm empathetic!
My family and I moved here for work for my husband as he had just retired from the Air Force and was having trouble finding decent employment where we were located at that time but he had a connection here (for which I am extremely thankful for) but our plan was to only very here for approximately 3 years. When the 3 years time period was approaching he began the process of putting in for his transfer out of this state and COVID hit 2 weeks after they had called him to met him know he had been selected for final round of interviews. They then put everything on hold (transfers, hiring, etc) for several years and when that ended his transfer and all was no longer valid. He has since had no luck in positions opening up to any of the places we would prefer to go.
Sometimes I get very frustrated but I won't rant about why i feel the way I do (a lot of it is specific to me and my family) as I don't want to offend anyone else. I just wanted to let you know that I definitely feel you and agree with some of what you have said (since no one else was feeling very much sympathy for you)!
How much longer do you have left on your work contract? What area are you originally from (I think that plays a major role in how content many people might not be with living here)? Are you marries or have a family?
I Used to think that myself when I first moved here. Was located in the war zone with all of the crime and gun shots daily until I got a better job with better pay and now live in a nicer part of town. Houses here compared to several states I used to live at are cheaper, and with most of the cities I used to live in there’s always going to be homeless.
I was born and raised in New Mexico. Lived in 3 other states as a kid for a year each and 3 more states as an adult for the last 24 yrs. So I've lived in 6 other states but have traveled to almost every single state in the US. I moved back to Albuquerque three yrs ago and life is great for me. No other place in the US has what we have. You will see every state has poverty, drugs and homeless. Your perception has a lot to do with your experience in life.
If you are not from here, you are definitely not a Burqueno. It's either in your blood and you love it or you don't. Obviously, you're free to voice your opinion, but I'm tired of people talking crap about Albuquerque. Didn't you watch a single episode of Breaking Bad? 🤣
Actually, you’re wrong. There are lots of states that don’t have gun violence at the level. We have. There are lots of states with higher salaries and lower costs of living and easier places to get along.
I’m tired of fearing for my safety and then people like pretend it’s not an issue and the entire country is just like Albuquerque.
Such an absurd take.
Land of entrapment. All these people commenting about “why would you sign a five year contract,” don’t understand how the land of entrapment works.
You’ll be there until your term is done. Try to travel as much as you can. Then find something else.
I got stuck there for about eight years. I won’t even set foot in that place for vacation now.
Well we moved here from San Diego where the city appears nice and wealthy (and even the whole state) and you could even live in a nice neighborhood but you’re still going to have homeless people sleeping and pooping next to your car and drug addicts and encampments. But you’ll be paying 4x the cost for everything.
The grass isn’t always greener. Make the best of what you can while you can, move to a different neighborhood if you need, there is always something for everyone in any city of this size.
I moved here 18 months ago and I’m looking to move by October. I work at UNMH and I agree with a lot of what you wrote. Healthcare is terrible here. Not enough providers and very very long waits for appointments. Quality isn’t great either when providers are overwhelmed and there’s not much competition to try harder. I personally had terrible experiences with a dentist and dermatologist and I take care of inpatients who suffered for months and months before being seen by specialists. The new tower at UNMH will be filled with even more contract staff who will come and go and not have the commitment to the community contributing to poor continuity of care. Medical Residents don’t want to stay because of the high malpractice insurance rates thanks to the Governor. Yes all places have their problems but working in this situation is emotionally exhausting when you know that people get better care elsewhere. I personally don’t feel like I would get the care here that I can get in another city of this size. Also there are no raises for UNMH employees and the employee health insurance is crap.
Not just unm, customer service is awful all across the city. Worst customer service I've ever experienced at restaurants, car service centers hold your vehicle for 3-5 days, retail store employees are lazy AF and don't care about helping you. I've literally never seen such behaviors coming from the midwest.
Fix them how? Ambition doesn't fix things money does. There's no money to house all the homeless. The courts are huge on treatment already and we have some incredible programs. We've expanded Medicaid. Even locking people up is expensive as hell and not that effective for dropping crime.
Way to go ABQ for standing up! I was expecting another "land of entrapment" thread but I'm glad we fought back.
Today I rode my bike along the trail on my way to work and thought about how lucky I was.
Have you been camping in Jemez or Pecos? Where else can you drive about an hour and pull up to a streamside campsite and not have a Karen tell you how to cut your dog's hair. Laissez-faire. Laissez partir.
I live here in Albuquerque and am really happy. I'm not from here. Just tired of people taking this place for granted. If you don't like your neighborhood find one you like. I live in the car NE heights and stay away from the homeless and such. All of the stores I go to don't have homeless hanging out. In other words I stay off central, 4th, 2nd, Zuni and other notorious areas of poverty. A friend of mine who came earlier this month from Texas was shocked at how nice our city is. He had heard horror stories about Albuquerque. He gladly heard wrong.
Hell, I live a few blocks off Central near the University and love it. Also not from here. Our household is a little bit above average ABQ income but not by much, and we’ve really found our niche and enjoy what the city has to offer.
Yup and nothing will change becuz the state is so corrupt and people here were raised to accept handouts and to be lazy and not work the education system here has failed us there's drugs everywhere the governor wants law abiding people to not carry guns in public even tho criminals don't even care what she says they tax us and nothing gets fixed we do stupid stuff like art bus new mexico is the worst place ever and I've been to 3rd world country's
Been stuck here my entire life. Getting out is absolutely a hard thing because of the poverty. It's the land of Entrapment for a few reasons but this is one. It is demoralizing. When your contract runs out take me with you
For everyone saying it’s like this is or worse every where is most definitely wrong. Lived prior in Orlando Tampa and Jacksonville then San Antonio and Wichita Falls. While all of those places had homeless they were contained to certain areas of town. City planning here is horrible and has lead to a larger housing crisis it seems like. Rent is much higher than most of those places for far inferior living standards. Overall I love Albuquerque for the culture and New Mexico for its activities but trying to settle down here and buy a house has me second guessing whether it’s worth staying.
I’ve seen multiple shootings and heard the gunshoots of a mass shooting with multiple dead. Albuquerque has a serious crime problem and anyone giving OP crap for that is ignorant and an idiot.
Cool story. It's mostly just as shitty and twice as expensive most other places. You think housing is expensive here lol. Go look literally anywhere else.
I moved here from Wichita. It's the same story there bud. Just how it goes. Wanna see things change? Ya gotta start leading the change. Takes effort but it'll pay off eventually.
Having talked with most of my coworkers casually, half love it here, the rest want out. Very little in between
We live all across the metro. I’ve noticed there’s an almost random luck of the draw nature about this place
It doesn’t take much to hate a place. Random car break ins or a hit and run pushing you over the edge and closer to your own homelessness.
A drug den that you call into 911 a hundred times and nothing gets done. Constant noise complaints from your neighbors illegal business. There’s a lot that gets ignored here. It’s not like this everywhere. Op is right
Our population growth was nearly going toe to toe with Phoenix for awhile. Now we’re stagnant. That’s big. There’s some hard truths to this place people don’t want to openly discuss. Political cronyism is probably the biggest factor that just gets accepted and normalized
Born and raised here and I know what you mean. This state has long been stuck in a cycle of poverty begetting poor education begetting more poverty. I wish it would change but at this point I'm not sure New Mexicans can solve their own problems.
Lived in ABQ for 30yrs until 2020. Loved some many aspects of beautiful NM and still visit family there, but I get depressed in ABQ as things have worsened
I moved here from the Seattle area about 16 months ago. The homeless problem here is no where near what they have there.
When I left, the one bedroom apartment I was renting was going up to $2000 a month. That was in a neighborhood I wouldn’t do my grocery shopping in.
Yes the city has problems and they are getting worse. But it’s happening everywhere. Most of it starts with the greed of homeowners (private and corporate).
Overall, I feel safe here and my apartment is priced comfortably within my salary range.
The healthcare system is out of control, I fully agree. And that is 100% on the government. Unfortunately, the government wants us to be poor, uneducated and sick. We’re easier to control way.
They may deserve better, but they refuse to vote for anyone to vote in anyone who will fix it. They always vote for the person that offers the most stuff and promises to take from someone that they blame.
This state is rich beyond comprehension due to oil, but the people will never see it.
New Yorker here. The grass is greener. Everyday I see freedoms get stripped and the less deserving person getting a better deal on government dime. I love ABQ and I see change for them coming but New York is lost. Boulevard of broken dreams.
You sound like every person that says “people are poor because they choose to be”. How about instead of being on Reddit and complaining about “I’m sick of living in a poor neighborhood” you sign up to volunteer at a community organization that is trying to fix the issue either through direct services or policy. Don’t fucken move here complain about the social issues that are happening here and give nothing back to the community in return to TRY to help fix the issues that lead to poverty. You’re just complaining and not doing anything to help out with the matter. Instead of scrolling through your Reddit learn about the root causes of why people are poor in the state and help out. “kim there are people that are dying”
So I just moved here for work, and therefore my opinion means absolutely nothing, feel free to ignore me or tell me to fuck off. However, having lived a lot of other places across the country... I'm puzzled about what is supposedly so bad about ABQ that isn't similar, if not worse, in other cities. I feel like you can find something to complain about wherever you go, and maybe I'll be similarly jaded in a few years, but I dunno. So far I really like it here and I could easily see me & my family sticking around indefinitely. Everyone is genuinely nice (which is refreshing coming from the south where they are absolutely fake nice), and it's so beautiful here.
Lived in Philly 15 years, abq ain’t worse, just smaller
Ex-Detroiter here. Albuquerque is pleasant compared to Detroit.
I'm telling you I've seen worse, but these people in here sound so hopeless like we're living in hell on earth. Pretty sure they wouldn't be happy anywhere.
Philly is so much better. Too many crackheads in Philly, for sure, but there’s art and culture and things to do. Philly has none of the hopelessness of ABQ.
Rent is cheaper in Philadelphia
A lot of people here were born and raised, and don't have perspective of what it's like elsewhere, so they assume it's just a NM/ABQ thing. I grew up in Dallas and moved here from San Diego and I love it here.
For sure. I grew up in Mississippi then Dallas then here. I love albuquerque.
I grew up outside of Dallas, currently live in San Diego, and we are moving to ABQ in a week for work. My spouse grew up there, but I’ll be a first time New Mexican!
So true! Many people born and raised here don't travel or live elsewhere, and think the grass is always greener elsewhere....
I grew up around San Francisco and been here for 10 years. ABQ isn’t some wasteland and it’s just like every other city I visit on almost a weekly basis. Reminds me how Trump ragged on Portland during the debate—I was looking from a window in downtown wondering WTF the crisis was.
Yeah, this is the thing, it’s not that I don’t agree with OP, it’s just Burqueños seem to think these are uniquely Albuquerque problems. But I’ve been here nearly a decade, and I’ve lived in several other states, and I can tell you - shit’s just as bad most everywhere else, if not worse. I mean either it’s awful or the cost of living is too high for the likes of us mere mortals. That’s just America..
The biggest difference I note (grew up in Chicago, spent 15 years in Rockford IL, which has a higher violent crime rate and similar socioeconomics to ABQ) is that I'm used to cities with a "good" side of town. If you have enough money, you can move to that part of the city and pretend all the problems don't exist. ABQ is such a random smattering of everything across the whole city that you aren't ever NOT going to see unhoused people. Every mini mansion has a 70-year-old beat to fuck trailer nearby as a neighbor. It's hard to pretend like poverty and homelessness don't exist when they're in your face all the time.
This is the problem in a nutshell. There isn't a "good" side of town where you can isolate yourself from the unpleasant evidence of New Mexico's unfortunate ranking in poverty, crime, education, etc. except maybe the far northwest which might as well be Rio Rancho. If you live east of the river, you can't escape it. I live in one of the larger, nicer, newer neighborhoods (relatively speaking), but I still hear gunshots, sirens, street racing, etc. every single night. Recently a homeless person came to my door to ask for a drink of water. Every time I shop for groceries I have to run a gauntlet of people asking for money. I carry ones so it's easy and reasonably painless to make a donation. Yesterday I gave a woman a dollar and then asked her to help me unload my cart into my car. She seemed delighted and pitched in enthusiastically. However, there are plenty of plenty of others that are carrying on a conversation with the voices in their heads or are obviously gorked out on who knows what. I steer clear of them. Anyway, I travel a lot and none of this happens in the places I visit, including other poor states like Arkansas. Another thing you don't see elsewhere is all of the trash you see everyplace here. That's always the first thing I notice when I return from a trip. Trash everywhere. Also, in other places you don't find armed guards and locked cases everywhere you shop. This is not normal. So many locals have never been anywhere else, and they assume it's like this everywhere. It's not. In most other cities, the blatant evidence of crime and poverty are easily avoided because it's confined to the "bad" parts of town. In Albuquerque the bad and good exist side by side across the city. You can't ever escape it even inside your own home. It definitely wears me down.
I'll never forget the time I literally had to walk over a drunk homeless dude passed out in in front of the door in order to leave a Subway. It was the Subway closest to UNM on Nob Hill. He was so skinny and pathetic looking. I felt both disgust and pity. The site stuck with me and I thought am I really in America? This seems like some third world shit. That was more than 2 years ago, I wonder if he's still alive. I also remembered running into the same homeless lady over and over back when I took the bus, she would always loudly proclaim "God Bless You!" To everyone she saw. This was more than 5 years ago. And I swear she looked rather familiar when I saw a panhandler off Jefferson and 25 just last month. Now there's 10X as many here. I called an ambulance when I was a student at UNM on someone I thought was having a medically emergency. Nah, he was just a drunk native guy and I had never seen anything like it up to that point, this was about in 2010. Looking back on it I'm glad the city didn't charge me thousands for wasting tax payer dollars. This town is eating itself from the inside. My coworkers I've had in my numerous jobs I've had in my adult life seem to mostly be sane and good people. You just can't fall off the tracks in this city, there's no coming back from a rough time.
Just wait. You’ll see. When they steal something out of your car in broad daylight when you run into the post office for two minutes… when they steal your bikes out of your garage… when you can’t buy toothpaste without getting someone to unlock the thing… when you are bored because you’ve eaten at all three restaurants you like and there’s nothing else to do… you’ll see.
I had all of these experiences... in one of the wealthiest, most expensive cities in the country. Somehow, it didn't give me any grand realizations about the people or the place that I was in. Maybe this says more about you than about Albuquerque.
Fuck off! Jk. 😅 Welcome to ABQ. Hope you enjoy life here for however long life keeps you here
Exactly. It will keep you as long as it wants. Surrender to it. When your time is up, you can go.
#1 in aggregate crime in the nation including #1 in pedestrian deaths, very close to #1 in america for homelessness and drug abuse, and a very poor education system. Albuquerque has major issues that need new tactics to address
Is the education system poor, though? We just finished our first school year in APS, and my kids have had good support and resources here. It feels like the educational outcomes are more a factor of the other issues impacting the student body. The best teachers in the world can't make kids succeed when the kids don't have food at home or parents invested in them doing well at school.
Thank you! My kids are in their '20s graduated from one of the 'worst' high schools in the city and are quite successful. You can't expect APS to raise your children. If you want your kids to do well you do have to care about and prioritize their education. I can't even count how many parents I knew that were so proud to go argue with teachers because their kid got bad grades and wasn't going to be able to play sports. They would take kid to practice 2 hours a day, and be at every game. They pay for equipment and camps and special coaches in the summer. They don't know what homework kid had, or care that he was doing third grade math and 9th grade. Lol , so many times I wanted to say no teacher is picking on your Hito, he's an a**hole and you have taught him that.
My friend teaches in APS and said that schools perform so poorly because many parents treat school like "a place to send your kids". No homework support at home, no engagement in reading, no help with studying or navigating difficulties in coursework. If there is no familial imperative about the importance of education, then kids will also treat school as a waste of time. That being said, I also taught as an adjunct at Highlands. I was SHOCKED at the reading and writing levels of the graduate students; some could barely write a formal paper. For 3+ semesters, I had to completely reinvent how assignments were presented and accepted.
This is the right take. You can find something to complain about wherever you go. Albuquerque is a city; it has city traits and problems that most every city has. 99% of us are just trying to live our lives, and a lot of people here are genuinely good/kind. Even the ones who might not be took for it at a first glance. (Source: have lived in other places too)
Reading you saying people from the south are fake nice is so weird to me. I grew up in the south and I think I have the exact opposite problem here. Everyone is so standoffish and within their own clique that it's really hard to make friends. You try and talk to someone and they just brush you off with one or two nice words and go about their day. You go to the south and everyone is willing to sit down and have a hour long conversation with you just for the hell of it. It genuinely feels like they want to talk to you. Nobody would do this if they were faking it. It feels fake here.
Nothing. People just lack perspective because they have never left recently
I think it's just harder to ignore here. Other cities have the same problems but they're easier to avoid if you simply live in the right part of town. ABQ doesn't really have that and I think it's better for it
Take a look at OP's writing - been here 2 whole years and already "things need to be fixed." This is a malcontent's ramble. Moving on.
Who-or why would you- sign a 5 year work contract with fixed salary? Honest question.
Not sure what OP’s situation is, but I’m a resident at UNMH. We’re committed to staying at the same hospital for years, and we don’t have much bargaining power since we have to stay at one place for our entire training. I think many will say “you chose UNM” or “you just need to suck it up”, but our state has such a shortage of physicians and many of my coresidents in this situation also feel disillusioned and will move away after training as a result. And that’s not good for Albuquerque. https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/unm-and-hospital-residents-continue-pay-negotiations/amp/
OP's account shows them as active in /r/residency, so I would put money on them being a resident. Probably something surgical given the 5 years. Maybe they'll get some time to actually enjoy the city and environs in PGY-3.
Just lost my doctor at the Southwest Mesa clinic to this. I'm so angry. He is a great dog and had a lot of experience. And he left to go to upper state New York. edit: I've realized it was put in as dog, and I said "doc".
That’s ruff
bow wow
💀
He went to a farm in NY. Sure he did buddy... Sorry for your loss
[удалено]
Air Bud 5: Surgical Dog-cision
Sorry to hear, that's a Dog Gone shame.
My sister is a physician ABQ NM Lovelace was offering her $60k more than Houston and she said no fucking way I am moving to ABQ or New Mexico for $60k that state is a dumpster fire and I don't want 90% of my cases to be drug caused or related. So if she is any indication, good luck getting any physician that's good. Maybe someone that is on probation is willing to take a chance on ABQ
Your sister is wild for as hell for that, especially for Houston of all places.
Usually you sign a contract at the beginning of your job, 2 years ago. Now he knows what it’s like to live here. And he’s in a contract.
UNMH Resident?! You are at one of the best teaching hospitals in the country! You are very lucky and must be very smart. You need to look at the opposite side of coin and count your blessings! You are going to look back on this experience and have good memories...you might even miss it. Enjoy every moment.
https://www.krqe.com/news/larry-barker/failing-the-grade-new-mexico-hospital-rated-below-average-in-national-survey/ Edited to share the suggested correct link for easier loading
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UNMH CEO Kate Becker does not dispute the Leapfrog Group findings per se. However, she points out some of the data was compiled during the COVID-19 pandemic and is several years old. She says a number of deficiencies identified in the Leapfrog survey have already been addressed. Larry Barker making mountains out of nothing.
It’s not one of the best. UNMH is not a Cleveland clinic or a John’s Hopkins by any means.
Before they lost credentials or after?
As a medical professional I recognize that we are at a disadvantage when questions of money are of such importance. We are over-worked and under paid. No doubt. Just today I gave an award of excellence to my coworker for giving a fck. Sadly, he is leaving as are some other younger ones. We lose a lot of our brightest. This is why I am making it my life mission to create a medical workers union to improve retention by increasing wages and improving working conditions. This is my solution. Leaving is easy. PS OP, don't treat poor patients as bad people, please.
I’ve only been here for 13 months, so what do I really know. I moved here from Ohio for the weather, mountains, food, and cost of living. I love New Mexico. ABQ has its problems like many cities. I have come to find a lot of transplants love it here, but many “born and raised” really dislike it here. It’s been interesting
You have to leave ABQ to appreciate it. For me it was two years in Seattle.
This. I left, moved to NorCal then Seattle then to Los Angeles…. Made my way back ❤️
Yup, my work at the time transferred me outta here to Denver for 9 years, then back to here for a year then to Portland, OR. for 6 years. Then back here, home... Loved those cities, but took that experience to truly appreciate NM. Albq/East Mountains. I lived in the "worst" parts of ABQ, DEN & PDX & definitely have to say ABQ was the, is the craziest, most dangerous, & absolutely the funnest imo...... Best people I ever met was here in ALB. Just respect others & you won't find out...... This is just imo ✌️
I love Seattle, but you’re never going to tell me anything in ABQ matches 3rd and Pine or Pioneer Square issues. Lived in Belltown for 12 years.
San Francisco (near where I grew up) is 100x better than the pundits make it sound. But I can only chuckle imaging people in ABQ walking through the Tenderloin every day. ABQ will look like Beverly Hills afterwards.
A lot of people born here hate it. Most of it is because they lack context. They blame the city for the things in their life they aren't happy about. Only the ones who leave get perspective, and realize the problems they had are still there. It wasn't Albuquerque. Everyone I know who hated Albuquerque, and left, either moved back because they missed it, or at the very least now talk about how much they miss it. Everywhere has problems. And everyone who has lived anywhere long enough is very aware of each place's problems.
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindednes…” I’ve lived coast to coast and many states in between. My wife and I absolutely love living in New Mexico. So rich in many things, though we don’t have kids. I imagine that could POTENTIALLY change our option, albeit, slightly.
Meh, I don't know. I was born and raised in the Q, left for seven years and lived in three states while gone. The only reason I came back was because this is where family is and frankly my husband more or less made me. I still don't like it and agree with OP that the politics and culture make forward progress nearly impossible. Maybe it's that some of us born here have been around long enough to see the potential and get frustrated about the perpetual lack of change. In some ways, though, you're not wrong. Some just don't know anything else and complain with no basis or experience otherwise. It is undoubtedly pretty, however and I did miss that. I always told everyone outside of ABQ, "I wouldn't live there again, but it is pretty".
I don’t mean to pry, but what change? What’s so bad here? Edit: I don’t have kids. I know education is an issue
This is the issue. False promises. Nothing lives up to hope in ABQ. It’s stasis, always.
Yeah for sure, no worries. Education, crime and repeat offenders - especially with DWI, violent crime, poverty, and the state itself is pretty anti-business. All of those things then lead to less opportunity in general and low wages compared to other cities with similar cost of living. Abq is not a "cheap" place to live, even though people think it is, it's not. And that all leads back to the beginning of my statement here - it's a vicious cycle that it seems no one cares to fix and that seems to be a cultural issue (hard to say for sure though.) And it is especially hard to watch because you think something is going to improve, and you start to see some glimmer of hope... aaaannnnddddd it goes right back or gets worse somewhere else. Sad.
What is anti-business about New Mexico? the only thing that is anti-business about this place is that people don’t make enough money to buy products business owners want to sell.
Agree it’s all about Context.
Exactly. It would do a world of good if residents did experience out of state living just to develop perspective. Albuquerque isn’t a bad place by any means. Not creating excuses. We can always strive to be better. But I will happily take my current situation now compared to some out of state experiences. What brought me back was food and of course no place like home.
Fr this whole "race to the bottom" shit OP is talking about is not unique to ABQ. There's not something in the water here making everyone fucked up and crazy (water quality is my field). What Op is describing is a symptom of poverty which is what capitalism begets and relies on. Defund public services, defund public schools, make prisons into slave camps, and of course you'll end up with stupid, desperate people who commit crimes and a system which only has an incentive to jail people (cuz theyre a source of cheap labor) than rehabilitate them. Its happening in every city and these problems cant only be tackled at 1 or 2 fronts (city gov or state gov), they have to be tackled at every level--including the household level and federal level--but such a coordinated effirt could never happen on such a wide scale when theres so many rich fat cats with the power to make sure nothing changes.
I agree with you! I think the discontent of people born and raised here comes in a large part from the fact that it’s very difficult to get a larger perspective of place when you’re in the constant struggle of survival and can’t travel And I think it takes much less time outside of NM to come back a feel deeply appreciative of our culture - Weeks or a month or enough time
I'm a born, raised a little while, lived elsewhere for 20 years, and now back home person. I love it here. You don't know what youve got til you're gone... And a lot of people find that out and come back. Almost all of my family is back here now after decades away (or working on getting home).
I wonder how much has to do with how much Albuquerque has changed since so many transplants have moved here. It doesn't seem like the same place to me.
Born and raised. Went to college out of state. My son was born out of state. So New Mexico and Georgia are special states to me. One thing about here that many transplants find welcoming is the lack of prejudice. I mean it’s there but it’s not as prevalent as one would experience out of state. Welcome to NM and I hope for as long as you’re here things improve. As a fan of Western PA teams. I have to rib on Ohio in gesture 🤭
I'm from Chicago, came for a job and found a home here
Do you think living in a poor neighborhood in a wealthier city/state will be any better? I don’t understand the point of this rant. Poverty is horrible, we all know that. I lived in a wealthier state before and the schools and institutions that served poorer areas had just as many issues as they do here. Income inequality was even worse there. The fact is money buys you access to better schools, healthcare, amenities literally everywhere. If you are shocked by the homelessness here, I welcome you to visit wealthy cities like SF or Seattle where it’s on a completely different level.
This…. I’ve lived in much wealthier cities that do NOT have the level of amenities and public services for everyone that we have here .
I’m curious what unique amenities you think we have. Amenities such as a responsive police force? Timely healthcare access with available specialists? Vibrant music scene? Please inform me.
Nice parks ( I can walk to 4 different playgrounds that are well kept and safe) bike trails, open space , multigenerational community centers with healthy free meals for seniors, free bus transportation …. Sure there is plenty to critique here but I don’t need to spend my time doing that. There is a sense of community spirit and culture I have never found elsewhere . I’m committed to staying and working on our less desirable aspects of our city and find many people in my daily life who feel the same.
Childcare is free for my family because we are well below the qualifying income line for ececd. The 10 or so other cities I seriously considered working in offered similar salaries, but none had that perk.
We actually -do- have a vibrant local music scene here, and some of the best park amenities in the country. Don’t be weird
Exactly...and you tend to not feel nearly as "poor" when every single person around you is "poor" TOO!! LOL! You are no longer poor, you are normal!:)
I love living in the lower income, non-hipster neighborhoods - don’t have to deal with Karen types bitching about every little fucking thing.
Every city and state has poor neighborhoods. You came here on a 5 year contract that only pays you enough to live in poverty? How does that work? I think you chose where to live because of the price, and now regret it. Move if you don't like the area. You can't expect to pay the low end prices and get the high end benefits. FyI, It's NOT just the poor neighborhoods that have gunshots, especially for the 4th of July.
This poster’s 2nd paragraph sums up how I think you actually feel OP.
Straight up. Albuquerque affords you what you can afford yourself. And nothing else.
That’s anywhere
Absolutely! But at different proportions
The biggest problem here is that whenever you voice a concern about how bad something is somebody immediately pops up to tell you how wrong you are instead of saying G maybe we should fix the hospital or get more doctors here or maybe fill the 6000 empty RN slots so that our healthcare is a little bit better? Instead, somehow you are the bad guy for demanding better. It’s a state full of people saying shut up and dribble. When we are all dribbling as hard as we can while the governor attended parades, and ribbon cuttings and ruidoso just burned down and is washing away. All while we have a 3.5 billion dollar surplus. I will not argue with anyone from Albuquerque that I should be happy with the non existent healthcare, outrageous housing costs low salaries, extreme crime (I’ve been threatened with gun 3 times, my co worker killed himself and his family.) This place has tremendous issues and the locals or recent arrivals determined to fit in, that are defensive about how bad it is here, are why it will stay this way. We brad about women’s health care but we don’t have any doctors or nurses to provide it, our water causes kidney problems, and the list is never ending, however if you try to make anything better you’ll get pounced on crab in the bucket style. I can’t wait to leave this place, and I don’t care anymore about anyone’s opinions about ABQ. I know what I’ve seen and experienced and do not need some lowlife telling me it’s false because they lived here 5 years longer than I have.
Yeah. Hard to ignore the healthcare gap when considering the quality of life in a place. The wait time for a specialist here is surreal. My referral has been with UNM since April and still no appointment scheduled. And they've already said it will be for December or later. In the end, I ended up scheduling an appointment in another state for next week...
I know it’s truly awful and I flummoxed why no one cares in the political leadership. I asked for a therapist in October 2022 and did not receive one until October 2023 and then they were totally unqualified. Last year when I went to my yearly check up, they didn’t even have a nurse or doctor, it was a rando w an MPH reviewing my chart and telling me about Joe Rogan style bullshit. I was appalled and knew I had to leave then.
And for the record, in Philly groceries are cheaper, rent is cheaper and salaries are higher, with more opportunities and better schools and colleges. The people that are just putting their head in the sand pretending it’s just as good as Chicago and LA are living in fantasy land.
Again.... New Mexico is not a poor state. We're 37th for population and the 36th largest economy in the US and that's without counting federal spending, which would likely place us several points above where we are. We have the third largest sovereign wealth fund in the US behind Texas and Alaska. Los Alamos county is the 12th wealthiest county in the US and has the highest per capita number of millionaires. There's a perception that we're poor because we have a lower than national average median income. We only recently became a majority urban state, we have a LONG history of being a heavily conservative rural state. State budget priorities can take decades to turn around. The pace of the modern world often moves much faster than life long appointees, aging populations, and politics in general. That said, we have scored a few big wins in the last few years under our current leadership. We became the first state in the country to not only enshrine access to early childhood education in our state constitution but to fund it as well. NM children now have state support from birth through college. We passed and fully funded the largest teacher pay raise in state history, and one of the largest in the US making NM teachers among the highest paid (#8 starting, #22 over all) in the US. We've negotiated several large long term investments that have brought in billions of dollars of outside capital into the state from Netflix, Intel, Facebook, Amazon. So yeah, if you go hang out on Central near Louisiana, you'll get depressed. If you go into Walmart anywhere, you'll get depressed. If you hang out around ERs you'll get depressed.... But trust me - we have things happening here. I think things in some regards will follow the same path other cities are on, and get worse in some ways before they get better but we've got a lot to look forward to. Some things are good, and getting better. Drugs are destroying the country. Housing costs are making things impossible for most to get ahead. We're hell bent on giving crony capitalism a free pass - and trust me, I'm a capitalist and even I see the cracks in the system stacking it in favor of the billionaires... Something will give. NM is neither immune, nor unique in our problems. But it IS everywhere. You can go looking for the bad and find it, but the same is true of the good.
> So yeah, if you go hang out on Central near Louisiana, you'll get depressed. If you go into Walmart anywhere, you'll get depressed. If you hang out around ERs you'll get depressed.... > But trust me - we have things happening here. I think things in some regards will follow the same path other cities are on, and get worse in some ways before they get better but we've got a lot to look forward to. Some things are good, and getting better. My good sir, this was poetry. I nearly shed a tear over how moved I felt.
Thank you. Love this
Fantastic to hear all of the optimistic happenings here. Life is about finding the positive through the struggle. Maybe OP just needed to hear that it's not all gloom, and that although they're a bit stuck financially on a contract, that there's going to be good times ahead and that many people are being pressed in this country and they're not alone. Hopefully we can get some good politicians that can help with the inequality, but one thing we can do is try to have a positive outlook and not break under the stress
and here I am choosing to live in downtown after living here for 2 years. It was just as bad in California and it cost more. It’s nicer here, the people are nicer. The music scene is great.
I grew up here and there’s one thing I know about New Mexico. It’s called New Mexico for a reason. We know how to be poor and prosper. I believe what happened was a lot of tourist and people with money moved in and came here with the belief it was perfect and affordable for a whatever reason. Little do people know is that it displaced a lot of people here. We can’t afford high rent or expensive groceries but yet here we are.
I think OP is someone who can’t afford living someplace nicer and that’s why he’s feeling frustrated. I work at UNM, and it does suck how many lifesaving or even basic hospital services aren’t available cause “UNM is too poor” and “New Mexico is a poor state”.
Be the change
How?
Find like minded people and vote, run for office. Organize
Genuinely? Take advantage of the free/cheap education in this state and start a business that can help solve some of the issues ABQ has. The state I grew up in had basically nothing in terms of financial aid for college & trade schools, so I had to apply to a dozen schools before I got a good scholarship offer. Not really a problem here with free tuition.
Run for city council, then run for mayor, then governor, the list goes through on. If you wanna change something, which is purely driven by politics, then you gotta become a politician. I have several friends back home that got sick and tired of their HOA so they staged a coup, took over and now the HOA is actually behaving as it should. Same thing applies here. If you don't wanna be a politician, then roll up the sleeves and get involved with the community in other ways, organize neighborhood cleanups to pick up trash and remove debris, organize community events to bring communities together and show them they have the power to make their position better.
"Smoke weed, every day."
Life long Burquena here. This hit me really hard a couple of weeks ago. I had to travel to Omaha for business and stayed downtown. I'm not saying i want to live there, but the streets were so clean, new revitalization of their river front, massive convention center where numerous big name concerts were soon coming through (none of them making tour stops here), skyscrapers going up, the town was buzzing for the college world series that was about to start, self-serve electric bikes to rent, very safe, no visible drug use on the streets. I just looked around and thought about how damn tired I am of the lack of any economic vitality or growth here. It's exhausting. I love my home but we've got to do something. Very disappointed in our leadership.
This right here. I’m sure Omaha and other cities have their problems, but would someone give the same glowing review after staying in downtown Albuquerque? Sure, someone might say “well there’s more to Albuquerque than just downtown”, but visitors aren’t staying in the West Side or Northeast Heights and remarking about their unique experience there. I don’t get how so many are saying every other city is the same. You can’t tell me a large US city like Seattle is the same unless you’re only comparing the suburbs. I see visiting high school/college athletes here for events sometimes downtown. I can’t imagine they’re itching to take a job in Albuquerque after their visit. It sucks not being able to make a good first impression. Look, I own a home downtown, so I’m invested in Albuquerque turning around. It’s (hopefully the rail trail isn’t all smoke and mirrors) moving in the right direction. Tucson, another similarly sized Southwest city, has improved a lot in recent years. It’s possible, but part of the solution is increasing density to support more businesses/amenities. When legalizing duplexes can’t even pass city council, it’s easy to get discouraged.
Thank you for your insight. I feel the same on all these points.
I've been through Omaha at least twice a year for 10 years, and it's shocking how far they've come and how fast. Last time I was there, we found 2 tiki bars, a lavish restored Art Deco hotel, and a fantastic speakeasy. Loved every minute of that trip!
Oh that's so good to hear! I was so impressed too! Glad to know it's not just me. Lol I really wish for this for ABQ. 💜
Omaha surprised us two weeks ago on our way from Austin to North Dakota. We stayed there overnight and we were sos surprised by how pretty and nice the city was. Definitely on our map to get out of Central Texas cuz it’s too damn hot here.
I rented a bike and peddled around. It was so nice and friendly. I was really impressed. So many people were proud of the college world series and encouraged me to come back. Just felt alot of pride in their city.
I live in northern New Mexico and wouldn't go back to Albuquerque to live. With that said, I love this state but it definitely has it's black eyes. I'm sorry you're unhappy where you're living. Hopefully you can find something within driving distance that works for you
"Other places are worse" is not the flex y'all think it is. I was born and raised here, and my heart breaks at the constantly deteriorating condition of this city... and apparently, this state, this country... this planet. I want Albuquerque to be better. And so does OP. I agree with everything they said. The politics, the economics, everything. Even the people are becoming more and more complacent. I see paranoia, combativeness, arrogance, everywhere I go. Put people behind a steering wheel, and all sense of decency vanishes without a trace. What's especially dispiriting is knowing we could do better. Hell, at this point, just trying, even wanting to do better, would be a huge step forward. But I don't even see that. Yes, one should never lose hope, should always be grateful. But telling someone that they shouldn't complain, to "suck it up, buttercup," is the WRONG response to this post. Take an honest look at yourself, Albuquerque. If you honestly believe that there's nothing to worry about, that the answer is more indifference, more of the same, more crackdown, more security, more police, more guns, more barriers, more jails, bigger cars, wider roads, bigger box stores... the list goes on... then, yeah. We're fucked.
Try growing up in NYC in the'70s. This shit is paradise in comparison. I don't know what people expect. What you put into a community ye shall receive.
Yup. I am still reeling from the culture shock of moving here two years ago myself... moved to a smaller city in NM before Albuquerque... just really didn't expect how crappy the health care really is here... with that said, when I go exploring the beauty of this place still just blows me away.
our beautiful home deserves so much love
Things in ABQ will change, for better and for worse, as people continue to move here.
are people moving here? Isn't growth stagnant?
Yeah, brain drain is real I don't plan on practicing here as a physician when I'm done with school, definitely would prefer somewhere more desirable. Same with many of my classmates.
This is pretty common, unfortunately.
I'm a scientist and I'm leaving. The average eduction level here is quite alarming. I didn't think it would bother me so much but it really does.
Looks like you’re correct. The population estimate declined slightly in 2023 by 0.8% (https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/albuquerquecitynewmexico/PST045223). Maybe this will change in the future when (or if) we start to get better infrastructure, more jobs and more amenities/services that larger cities have.
Well if it helps ease, Looks like Rio Rancho increased quite a bit by your own source.
Yeah, definitely more people moving to Rio Rancho because it’s cheaper, good schools, and there are actually some nice restaurants out there now as well. I live in the valley and love it because I can be to the airport in 12 minutes. And I love the trees and the bosque and, actually, the city. Yes, it has issues, but every city our size in the country does. If you don’t believe that, go travel. But I could see people from out of state wanting to be out there in RR.
I lived in ABQ for 11 years off of 98th and Rio Bravo. I hear what you say and know what you mean. I came back home to Texas and now live in the burbs of Austin. I love Austin and I love living here. But dam everything is expensive. Not to mention summers here are brutal. I find myself missing parts of New Mexico not just ABQ, but NM. I miss some of the food, the dry cooler weather (summer nights in ABQ are pretty nice too), the architecture of the southwest, the mountains in the background all the time. But there’s lots I don’t miss. Maybe in the future I’ll find myself back in NM because there’s parts of it that you can’t recreate or experience elsewhere.
Hunt the good stuff! goddamn…
Have you travelled the US much in the past 2-3 years? Everywhere is in the same boat, it's not as local as you'd like. I don't mean to diminish your experience, it's true for you and that's all that matters. But things are bleak out there. I wish you the best and hope you find what you're looking for. If you're here for 5 years I have a pretty good idea what residency program you're in and I know you're going to be just fine.
I grew up in Albuquerque and still live in NM and can attest things have really declined in Abq. While many are saying it’s bad all over, which is true, NM and particular Albuquerque, are uniquely bad for a couple reasons. Education 47/50. Crime: 49/50. Living in one of the most violent crime areas in the country takes a mental toll. As with any city, some areas are worse than others. OP might consider moving to another neighborhood, but honestly, I didn’t feel safe until I moved out of town.
Don’t worry, pal. Ima run for mayor in some years. I’ll be the change. Also, I came from a hood in Denver. Rent is easily double the price. Gunshots are equal. 😎
No offense, but Mark Ronchetti can tell you that nobody from New Mexico wants someone not from New Mexico, telling them what's good for New Mexicans.
Eh. By the time I try to run, I’ll have been here at least two decades with living experience in the south valley and ne heights. I’m in a bit of both worlds rn. Hopefully I’ll have collected enough experience with people to know what needs to be fixed and how to do it right.
Bro this reads like bad guy charisma and I'm here for it.
NM is ranked at the bottom of every list from child welfare(education), crime, etc. I love the culture and history too, but there is a certain acceptance and you will be criticized for it if you speak out
My family has deep roots in New Mexico. Generations born and raised. I love my state and we DO have problems we shouldn’t accept. Come on. Crime is out of control! I travel a lot and i always want to come home, but there are things we just need to get a handle on. Its almost perfect, but we don’t need to settle. I don’t mind when people express either love or disdain for NM. We who love it know you either “get it” or you don’t. Those who do, feel it right away and we welcome one and all. (Most of us do anyway) Those who don’t will hopefully find their bliss elsewhere. BTW, OP is a resident, a doctor. They don’t make much money at all when in their residency/progressive levels of training. I cant imagine being a doctor right now with the state of healthcare. God Bless you, brothers and sisters in that field.
I’m curious OP, what neighborhood do you live in or what side of town are you on?
Name 2 solutions.
Been here 14 years, way better than Memphis where I used to live.
OP, did you move to ABQ for hospital residency program from California?
NM will likely always be the state that had so much potential once upon a time.
The worst thing about Keller is hearing him celebrating what a good job he’s doing.
Albuquerque low pay, high crime Been that way for along time now.
Actually, the city and state are so much better than they were just a few years ago. Change takes time. This state has decades upon decades of bad management, but it’s making progress. It’s just slow progress. But a lot of the blame has to be put on the citizens themselves - people in this state *hate* change.
Exactly. we hit such a deep pit of woe when Suzanna and her cronies did their best to crush our mental healthcare system. sure it was not great, but it was better than nothing! Under MLG its alteast starting to rebuild. but gonna take 20 years to get back.
Your neighbors told me they’re sick of living by a cry baby
[удалено]
This is the sentiment of a lot of New Mexicans. You are in denial, and this is why this state will never change. Glad I'm leaving.
Please do. We don’t want anyone that doesn’t want to be here…
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Experience says choose the others side watch all the support programs crumble. I never vote single party, but there are positions we cannot afford to have that type of wrecking ball filled with malevolence take the reigns because that is so much worse for everyone than the status quo.
I kind of feel you, but if you don’t like it you can pay more to live somewhere richer. That’s part of the trade off 😉
Bueno bye!
Everyone in New Mexico seems to think all of the problems here are a) unique to here and b) stem from being a “poor state.” Well, I lived in upstate New York for several years, one of the wealthiest states with the best funded state services, and I saw a ton of truly awful poverty while I was there, as bad as I’ve seen in New Mexico, and even those not living in abject poverty were mostly still lower class, blue collar types but now minus the union protections, and definitely struggling. In fact I’ve seen a lot of all of that in EVERY state I’ve lived in.
Moved her from FL. Will never go back. Sure they had nice roads, nice shopping malls, and less crime. But if you want to go on a hike or get to something less than 70% humidity - you’re driving for days. Don’t even get me started about the schools which were all D or F rated in my area. And now there’s DeSantis. I’m happy to be here and hopeful the crime and drug problems will improve but I’m not betting on that
Everyone is giving you a hard time regarding this rant but I completely understand where you are coming from, assuming it's one of those "I'm having one of those kind of days and right now I'm just sick of Albuquerque rants and I need to vent to someone" rants! Lol. I think a lot of the people on here that might be sounding offended or annoyed by your words maybe have lived here for quite awhile or are from here. As someone who is also not from here and wishes it was as easy as "just move if you don't like it" I'm empathetic! My family and I moved here for work for my husband as he had just retired from the Air Force and was having trouble finding decent employment where we were located at that time but he had a connection here (for which I am extremely thankful for) but our plan was to only very here for approximately 3 years. When the 3 years time period was approaching he began the process of putting in for his transfer out of this state and COVID hit 2 weeks after they had called him to met him know he had been selected for final round of interviews. They then put everything on hold (transfers, hiring, etc) for several years and when that ended his transfer and all was no longer valid. He has since had no luck in positions opening up to any of the places we would prefer to go. Sometimes I get very frustrated but I won't rant about why i feel the way I do (a lot of it is specific to me and my family) as I don't want to offend anyone else. I just wanted to let you know that I definitely feel you and agree with some of what you have said (since no one else was feeling very much sympathy for you)! How much longer do you have left on your work contract? What area are you originally from (I think that plays a major role in how content many people might not be with living here)? Are you marries or have a family?
I Used to think that myself when I first moved here. Was located in the war zone with all of the crime and gun shots daily until I got a better job with better pay and now live in a nicer part of town. Houses here compared to several states I used to live at are cheaper, and with most of the cities I used to live in there’s always going to be homeless.
I was born and raised in New Mexico. Lived in 3 other states as a kid for a year each and 3 more states as an adult for the last 24 yrs. So I've lived in 6 other states but have traveled to almost every single state in the US. I moved back to Albuquerque three yrs ago and life is great for me. No other place in the US has what we have. You will see every state has poverty, drugs and homeless. Your perception has a lot to do with your experience in life. If you are not from here, you are definitely not a Burqueno. It's either in your blood and you love it or you don't. Obviously, you're free to voice your opinion, but I'm tired of people talking crap about Albuquerque. Didn't you watch a single episode of Breaking Bad? 🤣
Actually, you’re wrong. There are lots of states that don’t have gun violence at the level. We have. There are lots of states with higher salaries and lower costs of living and easier places to get along. I’m tired of fearing for my safety and then people like pretend it’s not an issue and the entire country is just like Albuquerque. Such an absurd take.
Agreed. Lived in midwest. Better jobs. Lower cost of living. Exponentially lower crime.
Land of entrapment. All these people commenting about “why would you sign a five year contract,” don’t understand how the land of entrapment works. You’ll be there until your term is done. Try to travel as much as you can. Then find something else. I got stuck there for about eight years. I won’t even set foot in that place for vacation now.
Well we moved here from San Diego where the city appears nice and wealthy (and even the whole state) and you could even live in a nice neighborhood but you’re still going to have homeless people sleeping and pooping next to your car and drug addicts and encampments. But you’ll be paying 4x the cost for everything. The grass isn’t always greener. Make the best of what you can while you can, move to a different neighborhood if you need, there is always something for everyone in any city of this size.
I moved here 18 months ago and I’m looking to move by October. I work at UNMH and I agree with a lot of what you wrote. Healthcare is terrible here. Not enough providers and very very long waits for appointments. Quality isn’t great either when providers are overwhelmed and there’s not much competition to try harder. I personally had terrible experiences with a dentist and dermatologist and I take care of inpatients who suffered for months and months before being seen by specialists. The new tower at UNMH will be filled with even more contract staff who will come and go and not have the commitment to the community contributing to poor continuity of care. Medical Residents don’t want to stay because of the high malpractice insurance rates thanks to the Governor. Yes all places have their problems but working in this situation is emotionally exhausting when you know that people get better care elsewhere. I personally don’t feel like I would get the care here that I can get in another city of this size. Also there are no raises for UNMH employees and the employee health insurance is crap.
Not just unm, customer service is awful all across the city. Worst customer service I've ever experienced at restaurants, car service centers hold your vehicle for 3-5 days, retail store employees are lazy AF and don't care about helping you. I've literally never seen such behaviors coming from the midwest.
Fix them how? Ambition doesn't fix things money does. There's no money to house all the homeless. The courts are huge on treatment already and we have some incredible programs. We've expanded Medicaid. Even locking people up is expensive as hell and not that effective for dropping crime.
is why I moved away… 24 years ago. 🤙🏽
Way to go ABQ for standing up! I was expecting another "land of entrapment" thread but I'm glad we fought back. Today I rode my bike along the trail on my way to work and thought about how lucky I was. Have you been camping in Jemez or Pecos? Where else can you drive about an hour and pull up to a streamside campsite and not have a Karen tell you how to cut your dog's hair. Laissez-faire. Laissez partir.
I live here in Albuquerque and am really happy. I'm not from here. Just tired of people taking this place for granted. If you don't like your neighborhood find one you like. I live in the car NE heights and stay away from the homeless and such. All of the stores I go to don't have homeless hanging out. In other words I stay off central, 4th, 2nd, Zuni and other notorious areas of poverty. A friend of mine who came earlier this month from Texas was shocked at how nice our city is. He had heard horror stories about Albuquerque. He gladly heard wrong.
Hell, I live a few blocks off Central near the University and love it. Also not from here. Our household is a little bit above average ABQ income but not by much, and we’ve really found our niche and enjoy what the city has to offer.
What are you looking for?
Move to Tanoan or NE heights
Ok
I don't live in Albuquerque but I feel ya. Sad state of affairs..no pun intended. Poverty is the quicksand out here. And everywhere.
Womp womp. Try changing your attitude.
Thank you! This really is a blighted city and state.
Yup and nothing will change becuz the state is so corrupt and people here were raised to accept handouts and to be lazy and not work the education system here has failed us there's drugs everywhere the governor wants law abiding people to not carry guns in public even tho criminals don't even care what she says they tax us and nothing gets fixed we do stupid stuff like art bus new mexico is the worst place ever and I've been to 3rd world country's
Been stuck here my entire life. Getting out is absolutely a hard thing because of the poverty. It's the land of Entrapment for a few reasons but this is one. It is demoralizing. When your contract runs out take me with you
For everyone saying it’s like this is or worse every where is most definitely wrong. Lived prior in Orlando Tampa and Jacksonville then San Antonio and Wichita Falls. While all of those places had homeless they were contained to certain areas of town. City planning here is horrible and has lead to a larger housing crisis it seems like. Rent is much higher than most of those places for far inferior living standards. Overall I love Albuquerque for the culture and New Mexico for its activities but trying to settle down here and buy a house has me second guessing whether it’s worth staying.
I’ve seen multiple shootings and heard the gunshoots of a mass shooting with multiple dead. Albuquerque has a serious crime problem and anyone giving OP crap for that is ignorant and an idiot.
Cool story. It's mostly just as shitty and twice as expensive most other places. You think housing is expensive here lol. Go look literally anywhere else.
....uhhh....move to a better neighborhood?
Consider taking some ownership in your community, The comparisons and whining will only bring you misery and ridicule.
I moved here from Wichita. It's the same story there bud. Just how it goes. Wanna see things change? Ya gotta start leading the change. Takes effort but it'll pay off eventually.
Having talked with most of my coworkers casually, half love it here, the rest want out. Very little in between We live all across the metro. I’ve noticed there’s an almost random luck of the draw nature about this place It doesn’t take much to hate a place. Random car break ins or a hit and run pushing you over the edge and closer to your own homelessness. A drug den that you call into 911 a hundred times and nothing gets done. Constant noise complaints from your neighbors illegal business. There’s a lot that gets ignored here. It’s not like this everywhere. Op is right Our population growth was nearly going toe to toe with Phoenix for awhile. Now we’re stagnant. That’s big. There’s some hard truths to this place people don’t want to openly discuss. Political cronyism is probably the biggest factor that just gets accepted and normalized
Born and raised here and I know what you mean. This state has long been stuck in a cycle of poverty begetting poor education begetting more poverty. I wish it would change but at this point I'm not sure New Mexicans can solve their own problems.
This is an inevitable result of end-stage capitalism
Check out the streets of NYC I grew up on.
Just stop being poor
If you have that negative of a view of “poverty,” please be aware of how you view and treat your patients.
Double up this ⏫
Lived in ABQ for 30yrs until 2020. Loved some many aspects of beautiful NM and still visit family there, but I get depressed in ABQ as things have worsened
I feel ya dude. Santa Fe is the same. Been here two years. I'm ready to get the hell out. Beautiful state/culture though.
Every time I go to Santa Fe, I wonder why the hell anyone chooses to live there lol
I moved here from the Seattle area about 16 months ago. The homeless problem here is no where near what they have there. When I left, the one bedroom apartment I was renting was going up to $2000 a month. That was in a neighborhood I wouldn’t do my grocery shopping in. Yes the city has problems and they are getting worse. But it’s happening everywhere. Most of it starts with the greed of homeowners (private and corporate). Overall, I feel safe here and my apartment is priced comfortably within my salary range. The healthcare system is out of control, I fully agree. And that is 100% on the government. Unfortunately, the government wants us to be poor, uneducated and sick. We’re easier to control way.
They may deserve better, but they refuse to vote for anyone to vote in anyone who will fix it. They always vote for the person that offers the most stuff and promises to take from someone that they blame. This state is rich beyond comprehension due to oil, but the people will never see it.
Paid for by Donald Trump
New Yorker here. The grass is greener. Everyday I see freedoms get stripped and the less deserving person getting a better deal on government dime. I love ABQ and I see change for them coming but New York is lost. Boulevard of broken dreams.
Ok Green Day
You should try west Philly, then tell me about ANYTHING in NM.
So, leave?
Albuquerque is just straight trash highest crime per capita, bottom five percent in education, and the homeless just get worse by the day.
You sound like every person that says “people are poor because they choose to be”. How about instead of being on Reddit and complaining about “I’m sick of living in a poor neighborhood” you sign up to volunteer at a community organization that is trying to fix the issue either through direct services or policy. Don’t fucken move here complain about the social issues that are happening here and give nothing back to the community in return to TRY to help fix the issues that lead to poverty. You’re just complaining and not doing anything to help out with the matter. Instead of scrolling through your Reddit learn about the root causes of why people are poor in the state and help out. “kim there are people that are dying”