Albuquerque is different. To the south there is the Air Force Base and Sandia Labs. To the North the Sandia Pueblo, and to the East Mountains. The only direction it sprawls is towards the west. To the east it’s like it’s cut off with a knife right at the entrance to the canyon.
I’m sure it has it’s unique features and geography. I have only driven through it on I40 and what little I saw looked nice. The overpasses had a nice pink salmon paint scheme to them IIRC. The part I meant you could apply to any large US city is living near but not in.