I agree that Albuquerque is a beautiful place..........for now. Intel once had a huge presence there, but they packed up and left a few years ago. Now the main “businesses” are Kirkland AFB, Sandia labs, related givernment entities and the unversity-—A LOT of government, not enough private sector businesses. Tourism is important, but it’s not a huge part of the economy.
My brother and sister in law have lived in Albuquerque their entire lives but they don’t plan on retiring there. They think some kind of economic collapse is going to happen because there isn’t enough private business and industry.
Uh, no. Intel is still here. They went from 3000 to 1200 employees, but they are making a new kind of photonic communications board/chip there and there is a lot of excitement about the plant going back up to 3000 employees. Oh, and Intel is in Rio Rancho (yay!) not Albuquerque.
There is plenty of private business and industry in the Albuquerque area.
Crime is pretty bad in Albuquerque proper, but we live in Rio Rancho. Last year Albuquerque had 75 murders, Rio Rancho had 1.
Schools suck in Albuquerque, but we have national award winning schools in Rio Rancho.
This is a beautiful part of New Mexico. Lots to see and do, especially if you like the outdoors. The weather is temperate. It rarely snows, but if you want snow you can always drive about 1/2 an hour up into the mountains.
As for healthcare, Rio Rancho has two new, modern hospitals, one run by UNM, the other by Presbyterian.
You could do a lot worse.