Having just moved to Albuquerque last year, I am impressed with it as a great place for retirees. The Southwest (Arizona and NM) in general is ideal for people from the Midwest, and tends to draw many people from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and Ohio. So you see more people from where you are, settling here than in the southeast.
a. Mountains, blue skies and bike and walking trails. The Sandia Mountains tower above the city at over 11,000 feet. Beautiful view from anywhere in the city. Skies are sunny and dark blue any time of year.
b. Traffic. Easy to get around - all the roads have 3 lanes plus turn lanes, and traffic is almost non-existent despite nearly 800,000 people in this community.
c. Climate. I was concerned that the heat might be an issue, but with elevation 5500 - 6000 and dry air, summers are not as warm as late spring in Atlanta where I came from. It gets up to 95 for one or two months, but with humidity around 20%, it feels like 85 in Minnesota. And even on the warmest day, overnight lows are in the 60s.
And we do get winter here, but not like the Midwest. Typical winter day would be in low 50s during the day, and 20 overnight. We get a little snow, 1 - 3 inches on occasion, but not enough to affect your travel through town.
d. Cost of living. Lower than most states. Gasoline got down to $1.55; income taxes are lower than I had in Georgia.
e. People and service. You generally find people who migrate to a place to be happier, because they are there by choice. But some of the services were a surprise. At the local DMV, called Motor Vehicle Department, we got our new drivers licenses and license plates in 45 minutes. They even asked me if I liked the license photo, or they could take another picture!
We arrived on Good Friday, and the cable company came over on Easter Sunday to hook up our cable service.
It is not such a great place to build a career unless you work for a national or multinational firm, like me. But I can’t think of a more healthy stress-free place for retirees.
Albuquerque? Doesn’t that town have a serious drug problem?
I’m glad to hear this, because I’ve been thinking about Albuquerque too. I love the homes I find on Zillow.
I feel the same way about Alamogordo...just south of you.
Love the high desert, although I am currently in Alaska.
I am Heisenberg.... LOL!