Albuquerque: An Introduction

Several people have asked me what I think about Albuquerque. I almost always reply the same way. Albuquerque is interesting.

Kari gives me a hard time for this. First she points out that I always say that and second she points out that it isn't really saying all that much. It doesn't tell people what they want to know, which I guess, is whether or not we like it here. 

I say interesting because I am intrigued by all the new things that come with a new city but also because I don't want to take a side of whether or not I like it here. This is primarily due to the fear that I may fall on the less-than-pleased side of the scale. Saying that I do not like a place is troubling, one for the reality of it, and two for the fact that it goes against who I am, which is to say, an optimist.  On my first trip out here my dad told me a story of my grandfather always telling him to look for the good in each new place they moved. Some cities my dad and his siblings we dragged to were kind of boring places to live (the Central Valley has an abundance of these) but they were closer to good skiing, which my dad was quite fond of.

For the most part I have done a good part finding the good in Albuquerque and not focusing on things it lacks. The city has an abundance of outdoor activities, great food, a bike trail that leads straight to my office and, probably most importantly, amazing job opportunities for Kari and I. On a recent trip to Portland, Tanner and I shared a good laugh over how when it comes down to it, geography is quickly out matched, priority-wise, by other factors in life. There may come a time when we push it to the top of the list but for now we are in New Mexico and we should make the best of it. 

All that is to say that there on not things I would immediately change about Albuquerque with a magic wand but to list them would be an exercise in negative thinking...

Things I would change immediately and irregardless of the cultural consequences:

• Crime and Drug Use: albuquerque has its share
• Drivers: it is ok not to think of your own safety when turning across five lanes of traffic but it takes either a jerk or an idiot to show such flippant disregard of others lives. 
• Public spaces: why is there no where go walking other than neighborhoods? The most hip part of town straddles a literal highway - Route 66 - and has sidewalks that barely allow two people to walk side by side. 
• Poverty: it humbling but mostly heartbreaking to see a population deprived of education and opportunity in the ways that parts of Albuquerque are. I don't know either the cause or the solution but when I told Eric that Albuquerque was interesting he bit his tongue remembering a home stay here while on choir tour.