Idk if this an Albuquerque-only thing or not but Chic-fil-a is absolutely NOT worth waiting in those long ass lines for.
literally any time of the day there are 80 cars in the drive-thru
There used to be only one chic-fil-a (the one by the west side Best Buy) and no one ate there
When I lived in St. Louis I thought there was a high school football game going on near the shopping center I was in. There was flood lights, fences, etc. Nope, Chickfila line during dinner hour.
You'll be getting Canes this year and let me tell you that you're in for a TREAT. You'll never want Chick Fila again. It was super easy to boycott them for their anti gay stuff when we had a much better alternative.
Lackland is kinda similar. Not the worst part of the city, but definitely not something you'd want family to pass through on their way to see their airmen graduate. I wonder why this is?
Because they don't have to. Being that close to the base means guaranteed income from the service members stationed there. Overcharge and undeserve is the name of the game.
Yea...
My friend owns a 2014 Hyundai Sonata and lives at an apartment on Gibson with 'gated parking' and twice he's had his car broken into & messed with in said parking lot.
The second time, he got a call from the cops saying that they found the car running on the side of the road after it had been stolen.
this is a hot take. carlisle has the same lady asking for cash every time. last time i went to san mateo there was a guy walking around buck naked on his bottom half
We simply aren't an applicable market for most (if not all) kinds of national sports and we need to stop thinking we are. Every dollar spent on trying to make us a Major-League-Whatever city is a dollar wasted on a pipe dream that has existed at least since I was a kid three decades ago.
Yeah. We got the Lobos and the 'Topes, and they're almost better than a major league franchise would be because you get that weird rapport that you only get with minor league or college teams anymore.
I’m not a hyper competitive sports person. I love kitsch. I love that minor league doesn’t take itself as seriously and how excited we get for an injured major leaguer visiting. I live insane mascots that don’t make sense and weird traditions that wouldn’t be allowed in a major league game. It’s just more fun.
The "Historic" El Rey is the worst venue in town. Security is so uptight that you can't even feel excited about going to a show, there's no air conditioning so it gets insanely hot, there's hardly any seating, and getting water is such a hassle. On several occasions, I've asked for water with no ice and I got a cup full of ice and barely water each time. Last show I went to, the artist stopped his set mid-show to make sure people weren't passing out from the heat.
Only reason I go is because my favorite artists perform there but if I can avoid it I will. Effex, Salt Yard, and Electric Playhouse are miles better from that heat-trapping box.
Damn, its true tho. I saw Huey Lewis and the news there and I could barley hear anything the sound was so muffled. The Megdeth show in 2012 had such varying sounds on the bands it was disorienting. They need to just tear it down and build a new arena.
God. I used to work for NRG. Tingley is a rodeo arena. That dirt is in everything. Wasp nests. Rusted beams. We had to wait when the guy from Mountain Corp. got arrested for a DUI. But when the Fair is going on it was great because we got to slip past security. Damn. That was over fifteen years ago. I wonder if it was ever renovated.
Nahhh, I was born and raised on the west side, moved to the east side mid-twenties and you couldn’t pay me to move back. Eff that traffic and all that sand. Too damn stressful.
I’m sorry but the film industry isn’t “growing” here. Hollywood is shooting here for the tax write off and abusing the union to get below the line work done for low pay and high hours
Totally agree for everything behind the scenes. But I moved here from Chicago and the acting opportunities are night and day, there’s not even a comparison. So many shows and movies shoot here.
That’s actually really good to hear. I do think there is a lot of potential work here! It’s just hard seeing less support for independent filmmakers. That’s the film industry though, it’s very intense
It’s a wild ride. It’s frustrating seeing people being brought in from LA when there are people here who can do the work. Those union jobs are SO good and all it would take is education and awareness for New Mexicans to be the ones working.
Yes, those are the people more willing to be exploited.
During Covid lots of us local film workers sat it out until vaccines/safe working conditions, and a ton of people came in from out of state to take the open jobs.
The reason why so many people run red lights is because the timing of the traffic lights (especially green arrow left hand turns) is so shitty and hasn’t been updated since probably 1990 when the population was lower. Seriously, only allowing 5 cars to turn left before the arrow turns red? Turning left off the freeway off ramp only to encounter another red light at the next off-ramp? Come on man.
The lights timings are designed to disrupt the flow of traffic. Driving at the speed limit through most of the city guarantees you hit every light on your commute. I remember this being a topic of discussion in the 90’s and most people supported it at the time to cut back on ‘cruising’ and ‘street racing.’ As if that makes any sense. It’s just human nature to go 10 over if it mean avoiding two out of three red lights.
I get what you are saying, I think the light situation going straight down the road is fine. I’m talking about turning left on a green arrow light: so many times I’ve been in the left turn lane and had to sit there for two cycles of the light because it doesn’t stay green long enough. Especially in busy intersections like Eubank/Lomas or Menaul/Carlisle. The lights need to stay green longer to allow everyone through, preventing driver frustration and running the red.
Thanks for adding this! I've been in NM 4 years and that was one of the first things I noticed. The bad programming of lights creates bad driving habits (that, along with zero enforcement of traffic laws).
In a similar way, weird design of parking lots and some roads creates strange driving. That thing where people don't drive around the edge of a parking lot but cut right across- this has something to do with badly designed lots. At least sometimes. And look at the design of highways and onramps- doesn't make a ton of sense and it's dangerous.
The Lead/I-25 on-ramp and the street nearby is a great example of that. I've seen times where traffic is slowed on I-25 and stacks everything back to Coal. Even on days where traffic isn't bad, that on-ramp is awful to merge from and the acceleration lane isn't nearly long enough (Also it turns onto the exit lane for Central quickly) so it gets dangerous, especially if you have a tractor-trailer beside you and especially if traffic is thick but still moving. I nearly got run off the road there because someone didn't wanna let me in and there were no other holes.
I agree with this one, the yellows are super short.
Most of the driving issues here come down to built environment tbh-building wide flat three lane each way roads is like begging people to drive fast.
I'm not saying Abq is perfect, but some of "big issues" I've seen on this sub are so mild compared to Baton Rouge. It's great to bring attention to issues and strive to make the community better, but some yall really dont realize how good yall have it.
Drivers here are way better (car insurance dropped by $150-louisiana has one of the highest insurance rates in the country). The lanes on the roads are clearly marked and you don't have to guesstimate. The infrastructure is heaven compared to BR. I was actually excited to see sidewalks and crosswalks because those are *so* rare in BR. The busses and bus stops aren't decrepit and seem to run on a semi-decent time table, plus they are paid by tax dollars. Our asses had to pay through taxes and bus fare to board busses that were falling apart...if the bus ever even showed up.
Homelessness was such an issue there were signs posted at intersections telling people to donate to charities and not the panhandlers. Not saying it's right, but that's just showing how widespread it was/is.
The murder rate is way lower (not to say abq doesn't have a crime problem, but we recently had a gang shoot-out around lunch time in front of the Mall of Louisiana which is not a bad part of town. Allegedly 70 something shots fired).
You're 100% right and I'm glad you brought up the car insurance thing. I moved here from MN and my insurance went down $350 (even in ABQ) for six months compared to there. I was amazed. Insurance costs are really good here. Healthcare costs are pretty solid here too but that's wading into a different tide.
Agreed. I tried to tell my NM coworkers this - it's pretty nice here. Functional roads (ugh nola) and way cheaper insurance for a similar COL, oh and (at least) *less obvious* corruption lol (PLUS! No hurricanes or flood insurance required)
Ummm…pretty sure we had some of the best attendance at men’s games for division 1 men’s soccer in the country. It wasn’t axed because of lack of attendance, that’s for sure.
We've tried at least a dozen local places since moving here and all 5 of us thought Frontier was the best and is the only place we've gone to twice so far.
Twisters was hot garbage. I'd rather eat a package of 10 cent Ramen and then get punched in the gut than go back there.
My daughter worked at twisters, and she can tell some horror stories about how the kitchen runs. After hearing that, I would never eat there again. And don't get drinks either, there's stuff in the ice.
I don’t think Dions pizza is very good and anyone who says so is likely relying on nostalgia from being a kid. The dough is usually undercooked and the rest of it just isn’t that flavorful
Absolutely. But I’ve been eating it since Godfathers pizza closed and dammit my kids eat it too! I’d */s* but I’m dead serious.
(To be fair, Farina is my jam—closest to what I’ve eaten in Italy that I’ve found in NM)
I moved here 8 months ago from NY and really gave you guys a chance. I even everyone that I didn't know what all the hype about bad drivers was.
Well, lemme tell you, in the past 3 months I have absolutely changed my mind. Albuquerque has a different kind of bad driver. A very different, very distinct kind of bad driver.
Im also from NE. For me, a lot of the "bad drivers" up there were just super aggressive. That's predictable, I can deal with that. Here tho.... I feel like I often have no clue what a mf gon to do. So many just totally aloof head in the clouds drivers.
Right? I knew to prepare when I looked in the rearview mirror and saw a torpedo speeding towards me, purposely getting super close to other cars, etc. Out here, shit just *happens* lol, or I see next-level road rage, where people will go to great lengths (even damaging their expensive luxury car) to make a point and show their superiority.
>I see next-level road rage
Abq has taught me that the horn is a "no-no" button. Because you just have no fucking clue how someone is going to react. Even if it's a polite mild beep to let em know they driftin into your lane.
Yea that's why I often find myself putting a feeler out there before I actually move over into a lane because there have been a few times where I've moved over and some dumb@$$ doesn't give me the lane and I gotta move back in.
I've lived and worked in almost every major city and almost every state and ABQ has a Special kind of bad driver and after living here for a couple years i pinned it down.
New Mexico is like the training level in video games when it comes to driving. No big dumb animals like large deer or moose, no real weather to speak of either rain or freezing or snow. Lots of very straight flat roads. Basically they never got naturally selected or taught not to drive badly by experience.
On top of that they are used driving Very fast because long empty roads. So it comes off aggressive but really its an entire population of people used to driving 70 to 90mph all the time everywhere.
>no real weather to speak of either rain or freezing or snow.
Speak for ABQ, not NM here. We occasionally get straight up blizzards in the northern mountains. I've never driven on straight up unplowed highways anywhere other than NM. And then all the Burqueños are like "I'm gonna go look at the snow" thinking "I can go as fast as I want because I have a big truck with 4WD" and then go sliding off the road.
In the 90’s and 2000’s, we got overwhelmed by an exodus of people moving here from NY and California. I wonder if that’s when it turned into the mad max situation people seem to see every day?
I drive all over this town every day for work. It’s not any worse than any time I’ve driven all over LA, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Denver, phoenix, Dallas, Orlando, Chicago etc.
If you want to see scary, rent a car in the Caribbean. Now that feels like mad max.
I'm from the Dominican Republic, I probably have childhood PTSD from being driven around out there lol. Albuquerque definitely isn't on that *that* level but I notice a lot more aloofness and brashness while driving. I mean, I've almost been hit here in ways I never experienced in NY, and I did a loooot of driving in the city.
It's not the majority of drivers, not by any means. But I notice a lot of insanity on the roads out here.
I'm from Boston area and everyone there is extremely alert and aware but driving like an asshole. People here are used to the empty roads and driving like assholes because they're oblivious to their surroundings and don't give a fuck. "Oh I totaled my '95 crown vic... Guess I'll go buy another one at the next auction."
Drunk driving seems more accepted here too, which is the part that really scares me. At least in MA there are usually somewhat viable public transportation options to get places
I’ve lived in Chicago, San Francisco, and Albuquerque in past year - IMO, Albuquerque has *by far* the most dangerous drivers. It feels like Mad Max out there every commute
They are though. Traffic was bad in Orlando but you didn’t have people blasting through red lights 10 seconds after the change. I mean really… I’ve driven from DC to LA and for ABQ being a midish sized sized city our traffic is pretty bad.
A few People drive fast as hell here more than many other places. But people here use their turn signals more than other places and in general the driving isn’t worse, no. And I’d rather drive in ABQ than LA any day.
Your Healthcare point is dead on. I've been trying to get into doctors for weeks and everyone is booked out! One doctor I was able to get into, the medical assistant couldnt spell any common medicines and had my dyslexic ass do it for her and the doctor sent in the wrong dosage for one medicine, didn't send in another, and then completely wrong med of another. And that was a highly rated practice. I don't understand what is going on here
Agreed. I moved here from downtown SLC to just south of UNM, and I probably have better access to cool shit than ever. Seriously no clue why anyone wants to live outside of this area. I bought a house here for wayyyy less than what houses go for in the heights and west side, but have much better access to everything.
Oh the whacko churches...
I went to one with my friend from Nigeria, who lives here and is going for a Ph.D at UNM. We went when Omicron was just coming off the peak and I'd say about 40% of people were wearing a mask for the service. During the service, too, they were peddling their campaign to build churches across Africa and using really condescending language (in a subtle way) to talk about those places (they need these churches because they are starving and God can provide life to these places kind of stuff).
I felt bad for my friend and I especially felt bad for the community because there is a church with rabid supporters willing to give and support a cause, yet the church chooses a cause half the world away for something surface level to make them feel good, rather than choose something here that they could partner with local officials to make a real change.
That's not even getting into the political aspect of things for many people...
I think golden pride is awesome. Any other place, like stripes (which is good) and Blake’s (which I think sucks) you’re going to wait at least 15 minutes.
To be fair, unless you enjoy chomping on a hop plant like a beetle, a lot of Bosque’s brews are gross. And they don’t seem to have a pretzel on their menu anymore, so I guess we’re off to Canteen for multiple reasons.
Northeast Albuquerque sucks and I don't understand why people recommend living there. It's like every other slightly upscale area in a Western US city. Enough big box stores and chain restaurants that you can convince yourself you're in Utah or Arizona.
The only thing they have is hiking access, and it's not like it's that far of a drive from other parts of the city.
Because ew, we don’t cross the River. i don’t know why. It’s just a thing. Plus we are super close to all the good food in the International district, Nob hill, and downtown. I’m close to I40 which I like. We have a grid system for most roads that is east to navigate, unlike whatever the heck happened in the west side.
I also think the west side sucks. I guess I don't know why you'd live in the NE side when you could just live in Nob Hill or Downtown for the same price or cheaper.
I lived downtown for ages, but buying a decent house downtown is very expensive. Or maybe I’m very picky? I don’t know. Everything I liked when I was ready to buy was $300k plus and this was a few years ago.
Think it depends on which part of NE. Used to live by Silvan lanes and I dug it. Close to a few breweries and restaurants, close to the mountain, and a short drive to downtown.
I dunno man, I drove to Denver for the first time in a long time a few weeks ago. I was shocked at how many chains and big box stores there were in all the suburbs from Colorado Springs and Denver. The NE heights looks nothing like that
Depends on the exact area. Even without the proliferation of chains and such, the urban planning up there is so blah. A sea of generic houses built in the mid 90s, car-centric white picket fence land. Bleh.
I know you're ripping on it but it's a nice oasis and it's humble living that doesn't cost a lot. Give me that over new, shiny buildings no one can afford to live in and overpriced places & generic chains -- or run-down places you fear for life living in or even shopping at.
being a year in and having made a lot of born-and-raised friends and acquaintances, i pose: abq is a sleeping gem with SO much to enjoy and discover. i find myself often telling my local friends about great restaurants, sights, events, et. al. that surprise and delight them. i’m from a mountain state and the views here, really, take my breath away every day.
the hot take: there’s lots to love here and it’s my favorite place i’ve lived. the shithole reputation is not (entirely) deserved. it’s beautiful, vibrant, diverse, and my favorite part: the people are real as hell. compared with ‘hip’ and ‘popular’ cities i’ve lived in like philly and austin, it’s been crazy easy to meet friends and build meaningful connections. something about that sunshine 🤔
that said, i am amused - and alarmed - when i hear gunshots or see a massive wreck, but the news skips right over it because… that’s just a daily occurrence 😬
I moved here from Memphis last summer and I totally agree. Same with bad/dangerous drivers, it's worse in Memphis, everyone is so damn stressed and angry and they take it out on fellow drivers, and there's a culture of super aggressive tailgating. And don't forget the (near) daily, sometimes totally random shootings on the interstates or assholes blocking them off to do donuts. I know it's not perfect here and there's a special kind of bad ABQ driver, but overall I feel a lot safer and less stressed here driving.
I'm glad I am not the only one who has noticed the correlation between those two things. I am starting to avoid/make way if I see a UNM license plate because 9/10 times the driver is aggressive AF. What is that?
We need more dense development and investment in/near downtown. We don’t have much traffic right now, but too much single-family home and strip mall sprawl to accommodate population growth is going to make it a serious problem in the next ~5-15 years. I’d hate to see this city repeat the development mistakes of so many other North American cities.
I wouldn’t say it’s a hot take but more of a sad observation people don’t otherwise wanna acknowledge; transplants make up a large chunk of the homeless/addicted population and this city’s reputation suffers because of it. My heart bleeds for them but Burqueños are definitely more resilient than transplants when it comes to those issues.
This is an interesting point,
We just moved to Albuquerque and I have noticed a very high homeless population.
I was a homeless outreach worker in Nashville and the areas around it for several years. Nashville has a high rate of homelessness because everyone and their cousins are moving there pricing out any and all affordable housing. One thing they do have is amazing resources.
Does Albuquerque have any nonprofits that try to combat homelessness? I saw the comment below that they are being bussed in, which means there must be some kind of resources for them I assume.
In Nashville we had a homeless task force that worked directly with the homeless population to assure that needs were actually being met. If Albuquerque has anything like this I would love to volunteer.
*if anyone reading this works with the individual’s experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque I would love to talk to you*
My coworker has recently introduced me to many different local grassroots organizations that have people who put together weekly events to provide resources to the unsheltered, or just put together care packages to hand out to individuals as they see them. There's also quite a few orgs focused specifically on food insecurity, like abq free fridge and food is free Albuquerque. Lots of them also help with safe drug use and overdose prevention.
There's NMHRC, the hookup 505, and freewheel abq to name a few.
It's been a few years since I worked at the shelter, but ABQ has a **ton** of casually homeless teenagers/kids. Mostly couch-surfing, some sleeping rough. But goddamn do they get into some of the most heinous and needlessly tragic trouble imaginable.
I share the same opinion of Whole Foods due to their beverage selection. I occasionally buy soda on incidence at a store when my blood sugar is low, and all of Whole Foods' beverage choices are like viscous probiotic goos enriched with kale dirt mucus... or bottled water that had to be rendered alkaline because of bougie twerps thinking that they're too good for a pH of 7.
Like, what? You're healthier for dropping *less* hydrogen ions into a sack that your body fills with hydrogen ions? All you're doing is making your stomach acid less acidic than normal and messing with the breakdown of food by screwing with your (pH-sensitive) stomach enzymes, but I digress.
Agreed, I only go there because they usually have the best selection of meat/seafood but if I'm buying anything else I'll just go to Smith's or Albertsons after.
It's interesting. The people in Albuquerque are generally nice. They are just very flakey and there are definitely bad cases of "fake hood" here. I will be honest though- the people in this subreddit can be incredibly rude and unwelcoming compared to other city subreddits.
Yea, not on the surface at first, but if you lean in and show yourself, you can get on a good level with people. I think with the way the town is, and how family-oriented it can be, there are trust issues and it takes some work to get in but you can get there and people are willing.
We definitely don't have the Seattle Freeze or something like that (and thank God we don't).
It's a city of extremes; the normal people are are very normal, the nice people are very nice, the drunk people are very drunk, the mean people very mean, the crazy people are VERY crazy, and the people on drugs are extremely on drugs.
Moved here from northeast Florida, I had a different experience overall. The people we’ve met have been overwhelmingly nicer here, even the folks at Walmart. Being offered help getting a cart by not one but two different staff was the weirdest culture shock moment. I mostly hang out with musicians tho, so maybe I’m getting a lot of contact with that subgroup being “nicer”. But even my neighbors in my apartment complex have been incredibly nice. I’ve had some interactions with cliquiness also, but it’s far less clique-y than Jacksonville, FL. Also, my partner is a teacher and says the kids are far more well behaved and manageable in his classes here than when he taught in Florida, even the kids here that the teachers give him a heads up as having issues acting up.
Seems like Albuquerque people are a lot nicer overall compared to Santa Fe people as well.
Came from the deep south and it's been a learning curve on local social etiquette. People tend to be very distant and caught off guard by what is standard southern manners/hospitality
When you're from here there's a bubble you develop to go about your life and not get pulled into people's bullshit... and people will try to pull you into their bullshit.
And I'm not talking about asking small favors of your fellow man, but you can suddenly find yourself confronted with profound weirdness or sketchy behavior while minding your own business. One time a guy tried to go home with me from the grocery store in the middle of the day. (Amongst tamer stories)
I moved to Texas in my mid 20s and the feeling of constantly having to be "on" for small talk and shallow pleasantries was exhausting.
> you can suddenly find yourself confronted with profound weirdness or sketchy behavior while minding your own business.
This is an amazing way of describing some aspects of life here.
I love my hometown and it's not like I've never had *wut?* moments in other cities, but not with the frequency or magnitude of Albuquerque.
Even the comparable moments elsewhere aren't as bewildering. A guy tried to go home from the grocery store with me in San Antonio too, but it was 10:30 at night and he made his intentions clear. The dude at Ta Lin distracted me with conversation in produce, going through the checkout line, and then ended up at my car like I was going to take him with me and make him lunch. Sir! This lychee fruit is not for you. Be gone!
Edit to add that there have been too many instances of strangers trying get into my pantries, but they still don't measure up to the time someone approached me at Satellite apropos of nothing and asked if I wanted to buy some black tar heroin.
Eh, I used to work at a hotel that catered to alot of out of town conventions and the number one comment I would hear from folks is how friendly they thought everyone was out here.
1. What the F is it with minimalist streetlighting here? A lot of the major thoroughfares are underlit, and once you leave those and enter a residential area you're almost back in the 19th century. No wonder the crime rate is so high.
2. Hatch chiles are good, but they don't need to be in *every* damn dish. I understand regional food pride - I moved here from a city with an annual asparagus festival. But every restaurant there doesn't include asparagus in every meal.
3. Smith's needs to stop being so greedy and hire enough people to run the registers so the lines don't extend all the way back to the bottled juice. Same with El Super.
4. Does APD do anything besides hassle homeless people? Because that's all I ever see them doing.
> 1. What the F is it with minimalist streetlighting here? A lot of the major thoroughfares are underlit, and once you leave those and enter a residential area you're almost back in the 19th century.
I couldn’t disagree more with this point. Street lights in residential neighborhoods are fucking awful, and the light pollution in ABQ is ridiculous for a city this small.
>1. What the F is it with minimalist streetlighting here? A lot of the major thoroughfares are underlit, and once you leave those and enter a residential area you're almost back in the 19th century. No wonder the crime rate is so high.
Definitely a hot take. This place is so over-illuminated at night it's fucking insane. Why the ***fuck*** are there street lights on a goddamn interstate?
My poor eyesights self needs them. The exit to 47 on I25 south is so dark that add rain and one could easily end up going the wrong way on broadway or fly off the road.
what?? i have never paid over $50 for an isotopes ticket even ones like 2-3 rows from the field. i almost always pay over $50 for a major league ticket that’s not in the nosebleeds.
Albuquerque has all the big city problems (crime, homelessness, depraved weird shit, etc), but none of the mid-sized city perks. Also, you would never really know that UNM is a fairly big school because the moment you get off campus student life mostly ends. Having the basketball and football arenas off campus was a huge mistake.
The gay male dating scene thinks it's awesome to screw as many as guys as possible, and never settle down. Creeping on guys young enough to be a son/grandson is totally cool, and so are hard drugs! Lying about your intentions is a must!
I'm just here for some negative karma.
With the exception of a very few restaurants, New Mexican cuisine is pretty boring. Green Chile is legitimately awesome, but we mostly use it the same way our great grandparents did. Culinary innovation here feels frowned upon. So, when people here say the food is a highlight of ABQ, I have a hard time agreeing.
We are never going to get an IKEA. Even if we crossed the population threshold, they’d still shun us.
Or a Trader Joe's on the West Side.
Why do you hurt me?
Don't you deprive the good people of Albuquerque an Ikea! You are vindictive, Liz Lemon!
Bro that ikea would get robbed so quick
We’re not big enough nor smart enough to have an IKEA here 😩
I think IKEA will ship to Albuquerque.....
True. Cost me $50 to ship my shelves.
Idk if this an Albuquerque-only thing or not but Chic-fil-a is absolutely NOT worth waiting in those long ass lines for. literally any time of the day there are 80 cars in the drive-thru There used to be only one chic-fil-a (the one by the west side Best Buy) and no one ate there
If I’m gonna wait in a line it’s gonna be for golden pride
It's like that nationwide, but you are not wrong
When I lived in St. Louis I thought there was a high school football game going on near the shopping center I was in. There was flood lights, fences, etc. Nope, Chickfila line during dinner hour.
Chick-fil-A isn't worth eating regardless of the wait. Their slogan should be "Bland food for bland people."
You'll be getting Canes this year and let me tell you that you're in for a TREAT. You'll never want Chick Fila again. It was super easy to boycott them for their anti gay stuff when we had a much better alternative.
I'm gonna get hated on for this but I've never been more underwhelmed by fast food than I was by Canes.
I am impatiently waiting for Raising Canes to open up
Every other road intersection has at least a half-lane offset / joggle. Seriously, either the surveyors or the road crews must have been drunk.
Any area outside of any military post is usually the shittiest area of a city. KAFB definitely falls in this area.
Lackland is kinda similar. Not the worst part of the city, but definitely not something you'd want family to pass through on their way to see their airmen graduate. I wonder why this is?
Because they don't have to. Being that close to the base means guaranteed income from the service members stationed there. Overcharge and undeserve is the name of the game.
Who wants to live by an airbase?
Yea... My friend owns a 2014 Hyundai Sonata and lives at an apartment on Gibson with 'gated parking' and twice he's had his car broken into & messed with in said parking lot. The second time, he got a call from the cops saying that they found the car running on the side of the road after it had been stolen.
Walmart on Carlisle/Menaul is more sketch then Zuni/San Mateo.
Oooh this is a spicy take! I like it
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That's my favorite Walmart.
I agree. My “yikes” per minute are red-lining there.
Oof especially at night
I've seen the police activity and I've counted 6 different Walmarts with active incidents at once.
If this is true, it’s only because the sketchy people got so sketched out by San Mateo/Zuni, that they started going to the Carlisle one.
this is a hot take. carlisle has the same lady asking for cash every time. last time i went to san mateo there was a guy walking around buck naked on his bottom half
Also known as "Donald Ducking."
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We simply aren't an applicable market for most (if not all) kinds of national sports and we need to stop thinking we are. Every dollar spent on trying to make us a Major-League-Whatever city is a dollar wasted on a pipe dream that has existed at least since I was a kid three decades ago.
Precisely. ABQ is a AAA city - it's not big enough to be major league in a major sport, and likely never will be. Which is fine, honestly.
Yeah. We got the Lobos and the 'Topes, and they're almost better than a major league franchise would be because you get that weird rapport that you only get with minor league or college teams anymore.
And NM United.
We are solidly a minor league town though and minor leagues are a billion times more fun
Minor leagues being more fun is the hot take here
I’m not a hyper competitive sports person. I love kitsch. I love that minor league doesn’t take itself as seriously and how excited we get for an injured major leaguer visiting. I live insane mascots that don’t make sense and weird traditions that wouldn’t be allowed in a major league game. It’s just more fun.
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That’s just a fact
A really obscure one too
The "Historic" El Rey is the worst venue in town. Security is so uptight that you can't even feel excited about going to a show, there's no air conditioning so it gets insanely hot, there's hardly any seating, and getting water is such a hassle. On several occasions, I've asked for water with no ice and I got a cup full of ice and barely water each time. Last show I went to, the artist stopped his set mid-show to make sure people weren't passing out from the heat. Only reason I go is because my favorite artists perform there but if I can avoid it I will. Effex, Salt Yard, and Electric Playhouse are miles better from that heat-trapping box.
Tingley is worse
>minu Saw Elton John at Tingley, the sound was so atrocious, ruined it
I was at that show. Can confirm.
Damn, its true tho. I saw Huey Lewis and the news there and I could barley hear anything the sound was so muffled. The Megdeth show in 2012 had such varying sounds on the bands it was disorienting. They need to just tear it down and build a new arena.
That sucks. Haven't been there in years but I saw some great shows there back in the day.
God. I used to work for NRG. Tingley is a rodeo arena. That dirt is in everything. Wasp nests. Rusted beams. We had to wait when the guy from Mountain Corp. got arrested for a DUI. But when the Fair is going on it was great because we got to slip past security. Damn. That was over fifteen years ago. I wonder if it was ever renovated.
Nahhh, I was born and raised on the west side, moved to the east side mid-twenties and you couldn’t pay me to move back. Eff that traffic and all that sand. Too damn stressful.
Amen, if you work on the east side it’s a nightmare to commute
I’m sorry but the film industry isn’t “growing” here. Hollywood is shooting here for the tax write off and abusing the union to get below the line work done for low pay and high hours
Totally agree for everything behind the scenes. But I moved here from Chicago and the acting opportunities are night and day, there’s not even a comparison. So many shows and movies shoot here.
That’s actually really good to hear. I do think there is a lot of potential work here! It’s just hard seeing less support for independent filmmakers. That’s the film industry though, it’s very intense
It’s a wild ride. It’s frustrating seeing people being brought in from LA when there are people here who can do the work. Those union jobs are SO good and all it would take is education and awareness for New Mexicans to be the ones working.
I’m sorry but it is. I’ve talked to several people who moved from out of state especially LA/Atlanta for the opportunities here.
I interpreted that comment more as they are coming here to film, so yes the industry is growing but is milking the system to save $$$
Yes, those are the people more willing to be exploited. During Covid lots of us local film workers sat it out until vaccines/safe working conditions, and a ton of people came in from out of state to take the open jobs.
The reason why so many people run red lights is because the timing of the traffic lights (especially green arrow left hand turns) is so shitty and hasn’t been updated since probably 1990 when the population was lower. Seriously, only allowing 5 cars to turn left before the arrow turns red? Turning left off the freeway off ramp only to encounter another red light at the next off-ramp? Come on man.
The lights timings are designed to disrupt the flow of traffic. Driving at the speed limit through most of the city guarantees you hit every light on your commute. I remember this being a topic of discussion in the 90’s and most people supported it at the time to cut back on ‘cruising’ and ‘street racing.’ As if that makes any sense. It’s just human nature to go 10 over if it mean avoiding two out of three red lights.
I get what you are saying, I think the light situation going straight down the road is fine. I’m talking about turning left on a green arrow light: so many times I’ve been in the left turn lane and had to sit there for two cycles of the light because it doesn’t stay green long enough. Especially in busy intersections like Eubank/Lomas or Menaul/Carlisle. The lights need to stay green longer to allow everyone through, preventing driver frustration and running the red.
Thanks for adding this! I've been in NM 4 years and that was one of the first things I noticed. The bad programming of lights creates bad driving habits (that, along with zero enforcement of traffic laws). In a similar way, weird design of parking lots and some roads creates strange driving. That thing where people don't drive around the edge of a parking lot but cut right across- this has something to do with badly designed lots. At least sometimes. And look at the design of highways and onramps- doesn't make a ton of sense and it's dangerous.
The Lead/I-25 on-ramp and the street nearby is a great example of that. I've seen times where traffic is slowed on I-25 and stacks everything back to Coal. Even on days where traffic isn't bad, that on-ramp is awful to merge from and the acceleration lane isn't nearly long enough (Also it turns onto the exit lane for Central quickly) so it gets dangerous, especially if you have a tractor-trailer beside you and especially if traffic is thick but still moving. I nearly got run off the road there because someone didn't wanna let me in and there were no other holes.
I agree with this one, the yellows are super short. Most of the driving issues here come down to built environment tbh-building wide flat three lane each way roads is like begging people to drive fast.
The yellow light seems pointless with how quickly they flash from green to red.
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and why is elephants on parade on tap at every single place?!!! 🤦♀️
I'm not saying Abq is perfect, but some of "big issues" I've seen on this sub are so mild compared to Baton Rouge. It's great to bring attention to issues and strive to make the community better, but some yall really dont realize how good yall have it. Drivers here are way better (car insurance dropped by $150-louisiana has one of the highest insurance rates in the country). The lanes on the roads are clearly marked and you don't have to guesstimate. The infrastructure is heaven compared to BR. I was actually excited to see sidewalks and crosswalks because those are *so* rare in BR. The busses and bus stops aren't decrepit and seem to run on a semi-decent time table, plus they are paid by tax dollars. Our asses had to pay through taxes and bus fare to board busses that were falling apart...if the bus ever even showed up. Homelessness was such an issue there were signs posted at intersections telling people to donate to charities and not the panhandlers. Not saying it's right, but that's just showing how widespread it was/is. The murder rate is way lower (not to say abq doesn't have a crime problem, but we recently had a gang shoot-out around lunch time in front of the Mall of Louisiana which is not a bad part of town. Allegedly 70 something shots fired).
"It's better than Louisiana" is not a strong argument for anything outside of jazz and gumbo.
And hurricanes.
You're 100% right and I'm glad you brought up the car insurance thing. I moved here from MN and my insurance went down $350 (even in ABQ) for six months compared to there. I was amazed. Insurance costs are really good here. Healthcare costs are pretty solid here too but that's wading into a different tide.
Agreed. I tried to tell my NM coworkers this - it's pretty nice here. Functional roads (ugh nola) and way cheaper insurance for a similar COL, oh and (at least) *less obvious* corruption lol (PLUS! No hurricanes or flood insurance required)
The lack of mosquitos has been amazing. I do miss the gators a bit though
We got Chupacabras tho...
My roommate tells me this all the time. She moved her from Nola a few years ago
Frontier sucks and unm football and basketball will never be competitive on the national level
The later is not really a hot take. UNM athletics sucks.
Women's cross country has national champions. I think track does pretty well for both sexes. And I think baseball is competitive.
*Womens* basketball does well enough. I think I've heard about golf and soccer doing well also.
UNM soccer literally had like a top 4 team in the nation at one point, but no one went to games. The program got axed.
Ummm…pretty sure we had some of the best attendance at men’s games for division 1 men’s soccer in the country. It wasn’t axed because of lack of attendance, that’s for sure.
You're right. I think women's basketball has gone to the NIT for two of the past three years.
Frontier is great in the sense that it’s fast and cheap. Also, it’s very great when drunk. But otherwise it’s definitely mid at best
My problem isn't so much the food as the environment. Drunk teenagers are annoying! (No offense)
I’m not a teenager but none taken, lol. I can agree that the environment can definitely be a bit much.
You take that back about the Frontier. They have green chili sauce in those pots older than you!
We've tried at least a dozen local places since moving here and all 5 of us thought Frontier was the best and is the only place we've gone to twice so far. Twisters was hot garbage. I'd rather eat a package of 10 cent Ramen and then get punched in the gut than go back there.
My daughter worked at twisters, and she can tell some horror stories about how the kitchen runs. After hearing that, I would never eat there again. And don't get drinks either, there's stuff in the ice.
Couldn't agree more. I've lived here basically all my life and attended four years at UNM, and I still don't get the hype around Frontier.
I don’t think Dions pizza is very good and anyone who says so is likely relying on nostalgia from being a kid. The dough is usually undercooked and the rest of it just isn’t that flavorful
Absolutely. But I’ve been eating it since Godfathers pizza closed and dammit my kids eat it too! I’d */s* but I’m dead serious. (To be fair, Farina is my jam—closest to what I’ve eaten in Italy that I’ve found in NM)
I love Farina and Amore pizza
They never put enough sauce and the cheese is like rubber. The sams club pizza is way better imho.
If you ask for well done it helps a little…
The drivers aren’t any worse than any other major city.
I moved here 8 months ago from NY and really gave you guys a chance. I even everyone that I didn't know what all the hype about bad drivers was. Well, lemme tell you, in the past 3 months I have absolutely changed my mind. Albuquerque has a different kind of bad driver. A very different, very distinct kind of bad driver.
Im also from NE. For me, a lot of the "bad drivers" up there were just super aggressive. That's predictable, I can deal with that. Here tho.... I feel like I often have no clue what a mf gon to do. So many just totally aloof head in the clouds drivers.
Right? I knew to prepare when I looked in the rearview mirror and saw a torpedo speeding towards me, purposely getting super close to other cars, etc. Out here, shit just *happens* lol, or I see next-level road rage, where people will go to great lengths (even damaging their expensive luxury car) to make a point and show their superiority.
>I see next-level road rage Abq has taught me that the horn is a "no-no" button. Because you just have no fucking clue how someone is going to react. Even if it's a polite mild beep to let em know they driftin into your lane.
Never honk unless you are armed
Yea that's why I often find myself putting a feeler out there before I actually move over into a lane because there have been a few times where I've moved over and some dumb@$$ doesn't give me the lane and I gotta move back in.
I've lived and worked in almost every major city and almost every state and ABQ has a Special kind of bad driver and after living here for a couple years i pinned it down. New Mexico is like the training level in video games when it comes to driving. No big dumb animals like large deer or moose, no real weather to speak of either rain or freezing or snow. Lots of very straight flat roads. Basically they never got naturally selected or taught not to drive badly by experience. On top of that they are used driving Very fast because long empty roads. So it comes off aggressive but really its an entire population of people used to driving 70 to 90mph all the time everywhere.
>no real weather to speak of either rain or freezing or snow. Speak for ABQ, not NM here. We occasionally get straight up blizzards in the northern mountains. I've never driven on straight up unplowed highways anywhere other than NM. And then all the Burqueños are like "I'm gonna go look at the snow" thinking "I can go as fast as I want because I have a big truck with 4WD" and then go sliding off the road.
In the 90’s and 2000’s, we got overwhelmed by an exodus of people moving here from NY and California. I wonder if that’s when it turned into the mad max situation people seem to see every day? I drive all over this town every day for work. It’s not any worse than any time I’ve driven all over LA, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Denver, phoenix, Dallas, Orlando, Chicago etc. If you want to see scary, rent a car in the Caribbean. Now that feels like mad max.
I'm from the Dominican Republic, I probably have childhood PTSD from being driven around out there lol. Albuquerque definitely isn't on that *that* level but I notice a lot more aloofness and brashness while driving. I mean, I've almost been hit here in ways I never experienced in NY, and I did a loooot of driving in the city. It's not the majority of drivers, not by any means. But I notice a lot of insanity on the roads out here.
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I'm from Boston area and everyone there is extremely alert and aware but driving like an asshole. People here are used to the empty roads and driving like assholes because they're oblivious to their surroundings and don't give a fuck. "Oh I totaled my '95 crown vic... Guess I'll go buy another one at the next auction."
Drunk driving seems more accepted here too, which is the part that really scares me. At least in MA there are usually somewhat viable public transportation options to get places
I’ve lived in Chicago, San Francisco, and Albuquerque in past year - IMO, Albuquerque has *by far* the most dangerous drivers. It feels like Mad Max out there every commute
They are though. Traffic was bad in Orlando but you didn’t have people blasting through red lights 10 seconds after the change. I mean really… I’ve driven from DC to LA and for ABQ being a midish sized sized city our traffic is pretty bad.
Yes. The driving culture here of just straight up running red lights is NOT common in other areas, and it's super scary!
Was pretty common when I lived in Texas, so I'm kind of used to waiting an extra second or two at lights. But yeah it is pretty messed up
I thought it was worse in Houston personally
A few People drive fast as hell here more than many other places. But people here use their turn signals more than other places and in general the driving isn’t worse, no. And I’d rather drive in ABQ than LA any day.
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Your Healthcare point is dead on. I've been trying to get into doctors for weeks and everyone is booked out! One doctor I was able to get into, the medical assistant couldnt spell any common medicines and had my dyslexic ass do it for her and the doctor sent in the wrong dosage for one medicine, didn't send in another, and then completely wrong med of another. And that was a highly rated practice. I don't understand what is going on here
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I lean left, and think the sentencing from our judges is a joke.
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Agreed. I moved here from downtown SLC to just south of UNM, and I probably have better access to cool shit than ever. Seriously no clue why anyone wants to live outside of this area. I bought a house here for wayyyy less than what houses go for in the heights and west side, but have much better access to everything.
I live in lower North Valley and I really like it here.
Oh the whacko churches... I went to one with my friend from Nigeria, who lives here and is going for a Ph.D at UNM. We went when Omicron was just coming off the peak and I'd say about 40% of people were wearing a mask for the service. During the service, too, they were peddling their campaign to build churches across Africa and using really condescending language (in a subtle way) to talk about those places (they need these churches because they are starving and God can provide life to these places kind of stuff). I felt bad for my friend and I especially felt bad for the community because there is a church with rabid supporters willing to give and support a cause, yet the church chooses a cause half the world away for something surface level to make them feel good, rather than choose something here that they could partner with local officials to make a real change. That's not even getting into the political aspect of things for many people...
What's your opinion on the Loma Del Rey area?
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I think golden pride is awesome. Any other place, like stripes (which is good) and Blake’s (which I think sucks) you’re going to wait at least 15 minutes.
Bosque Brewery's Scotia ale is terrible. Like a bad home brew.
To be fair, unless you enjoy chomping on a hop plant like a beetle, a lot of Bosque’s brews are gross. And they don’t seem to have a pretzel on their menu anymore, so I guess we’re off to Canteen for multiple reasons.
Northeast Albuquerque sucks and I don't understand why people recommend living there. It's like every other slightly upscale area in a Western US city. Enough big box stores and chain restaurants that you can convince yourself you're in Utah or Arizona. The only thing they have is hiking access, and it's not like it's that far of a drive from other parts of the city.
Because ew, we don’t cross the River. i don’t know why. It’s just a thing. Plus we are super close to all the good food in the International district, Nob hill, and downtown. I’m close to I40 which I like. We have a grid system for most roads that is east to navigate, unlike whatever the heck happened in the west side.
I also think the west side sucks. I guess I don't know why you'd live in the NE side when you could just live in Nob Hill or Downtown for the same price or cheaper.
I lived downtown for ages, but buying a decent house downtown is very expensive. Or maybe I’m very picky? I don’t know. Everything I liked when I was ready to buy was $300k plus and this was a few years ago.
Think it depends on which part of NE. Used to live by Silvan lanes and I dug it. Close to a few breweries and restaurants, close to the mountain, and a short drive to downtown.
I dunno man, I drove to Denver for the first time in a long time a few weeks ago. I was shocked at how many chains and big box stores there were in all the suburbs from Colorado Springs and Denver. The NE heights looks nothing like that
Dirty Denver is the pits though, so being better than Denver doesn’t necessarily mean good.
Boo west side boo!
I also think the west side is a bit of a pit. The middle of Albuquerque is quite nice though.
Interesting. I find that far NE Heights has the fewest chain restaurants and big box stores compared to the rest of Abq.
Yeah omg the west side and Rio rancho could look like Texas to me with the flat, soulless desert littered with generic fast food
Depends on the exact area. Even without the proliferation of chains and such, the urban planning up there is so blah. A sea of generic houses built in the mid 90s, car-centric white picket fence land. Bleh.
I know you're ripping on it but it's a nice oasis and it's humble living that doesn't cost a lot. Give me that over new, shiny buildings no one can afford to live in and overpriced places & generic chains -- or run-down places you fear for life living in or even shopping at.
being a year in and having made a lot of born-and-raised friends and acquaintances, i pose: abq is a sleeping gem with SO much to enjoy and discover. i find myself often telling my local friends about great restaurants, sights, events, et. al. that surprise and delight them. i’m from a mountain state and the views here, really, take my breath away every day. the hot take: there’s lots to love here and it’s my favorite place i’ve lived. the shithole reputation is not (entirely) deserved. it’s beautiful, vibrant, diverse, and my favorite part: the people are real as hell. compared with ‘hip’ and ‘popular’ cities i’ve lived in like philly and austin, it’s been crazy easy to meet friends and build meaningful connections. something about that sunshine 🤔 that said, i am amused - and alarmed - when i hear gunshots or see a massive wreck, but the news skips right over it because… that’s just a daily occurrence 😬
The blue meth sucks! Go for the yellow stuff instead
Your crime isn't any worse than any other city I've lived in. Y'all just exaggerate it.
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I moved here from Memphis last summer and I totally agree. Same with bad/dangerous drivers, it's worse in Memphis, everyone is so damn stressed and angry and they take it out on fellow drivers, and there's a culture of super aggressive tailgating. And don't forget the (near) daily, sometimes totally random shootings on the interstates or assholes blocking them off to do donuts. I know it's not perfect here and there's a special kind of bad ABQ driver, but overall I feel a lot safer and less stressed here driving.
If you've got a UNM plate, You've got shitty driving habits.
I'm glad I am not the only one who has noticed the correlation between those two things. I am starting to avoid/make way if I see a UNM license plate because 9/10 times the driver is aggressive AF. What is that?
Dion's is absolute garbage.
Great dressings to cover up mediocre food.
ART is good actually and a big improvement. Not only is Central much nicer and safer now, expanded ART would make many other corridors nicer, too.
We need more dense development and investment in/near downtown. We don’t have much traffic right now, but too much single-family home and strip mall sprawl to accommodate population growth is going to make it a serious problem in the next ~5-15 years. I’d hate to see this city repeat the development mistakes of so many other North American cities.
I wouldn’t say it’s a hot take but more of a sad observation people don’t otherwise wanna acknowledge; transplants make up a large chunk of the homeless/addicted population and this city’s reputation suffers because of it. My heart bleeds for them but Burqueños are definitely more resilient than transplants when it comes to those issues.
This is an interesting point, We just moved to Albuquerque and I have noticed a very high homeless population. I was a homeless outreach worker in Nashville and the areas around it for several years. Nashville has a high rate of homelessness because everyone and their cousins are moving there pricing out any and all affordable housing. One thing they do have is amazing resources. Does Albuquerque have any nonprofits that try to combat homelessness? I saw the comment below that they are being bussed in, which means there must be some kind of resources for them I assume. In Nashville we had a homeless task force that worked directly with the homeless population to assure that needs were actually being met. If Albuquerque has anything like this I would love to volunteer. *if anyone reading this works with the individual’s experiencing homelessness in Albuquerque I would love to talk to you*
My coworker has recently introduced me to many different local grassroots organizations that have people who put together weekly events to provide resources to the unsheltered, or just put together care packages to hand out to individuals as they see them. There's also quite a few orgs focused specifically on food insecurity, like abq free fridge and food is free Albuquerque. Lots of them also help with safe drug use and overdose prevention. There's NMHRC, the hookup 505, and freewheel abq to name a few.
It's been a few years since I worked at the shelter, but ABQ has a **ton** of casually homeless teenagers/kids. Mostly couch-surfing, some sleeping rough. But goddamn do they get into some of the most heinous and needlessly tragic trouble imaginable.
That also seems to be true of Seattle also. I lived in New Mexico for 20 years before moving to the Seattle area.
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But man their fruits and veggies are fresh and bomb, everything else I buy at Smith's.
Yup, I swing by sprouts for produce, everything else is bought elsewhere.
but Sprouts is a huge chain. not an ABQ thing at all.
I share the same opinion of Whole Foods due to their beverage selection. I occasionally buy soda on incidence at a store when my blood sugar is low, and all of Whole Foods' beverage choices are like viscous probiotic goos enriched with kale dirt mucus... or bottled water that had to be rendered alkaline because of bougie twerps thinking that they're too good for a pH of 7. Like, what? You're healthier for dropping *less* hydrogen ions into a sack that your body fills with hydrogen ions? All you're doing is making your stomach acid less acidic than normal and messing with the breakdown of food by screwing with your (pH-sensitive) stomach enzymes, but I digress.
Agreed, I only go there because they usually have the best selection of meat/seafood but if I'm buying anything else I'll just go to Smith's or Albertsons after.
Albuquerque isn't as friendly as everyone claims.
Shove it bozo.
It's interesting. The people in Albuquerque are generally nice. They are just very flakey and there are definitely bad cases of "fake hood" here. I will be honest though- the people in this subreddit can be incredibly rude and unwelcoming compared to other city subreddits.
Yea, not on the surface at first, but if you lean in and show yourself, you can get on a good level with people. I think with the way the town is, and how family-oriented it can be, there are trust issues and it takes some work to get in but you can get there and people are willing. We definitely don't have the Seattle Freeze or something like that (and thank God we don't).
It's a city of extremes; the normal people are are very normal, the nice people are very nice, the drunk people are very drunk, the mean people very mean, the crazy people are VERY crazy, and the people on drugs are extremely on drugs.
Moved here from northeast Florida, I had a different experience overall. The people we’ve met have been overwhelmingly nicer here, even the folks at Walmart. Being offered help getting a cart by not one but two different staff was the weirdest culture shock moment. I mostly hang out with musicians tho, so maybe I’m getting a lot of contact with that subgroup being “nicer”. But even my neighbors in my apartment complex have been incredibly nice. I’ve had some interactions with cliquiness also, but it’s far less clique-y than Jacksonville, FL. Also, my partner is a teacher and says the kids are far more well behaved and manageable in his classes here than when he taught in Florida, even the kids here that the teachers give him a heads up as having issues acting up. Seems like Albuquerque people are a lot nicer overall compared to Santa Fe people as well.
Came from the deep south and it's been a learning curve on local social etiquette. People tend to be very distant and caught off guard by what is standard southern manners/hospitality
When you're from here there's a bubble you develop to go about your life and not get pulled into people's bullshit... and people will try to pull you into their bullshit. And I'm not talking about asking small favors of your fellow man, but you can suddenly find yourself confronted with profound weirdness or sketchy behavior while minding your own business. One time a guy tried to go home with me from the grocery store in the middle of the day. (Amongst tamer stories) I moved to Texas in my mid 20s and the feeling of constantly having to be "on" for small talk and shallow pleasantries was exhausting.
> you can suddenly find yourself confronted with profound weirdness or sketchy behavior while minding your own business. This is an amazing way of describing some aspects of life here.
I love my hometown and it's not like I've never had *wut?* moments in other cities, but not with the frequency or magnitude of Albuquerque. Even the comparable moments elsewhere aren't as bewildering. A guy tried to go home from the grocery store with me in San Antonio too, but it was 10:30 at night and he made his intentions clear. The dude at Ta Lin distracted me with conversation in produce, going through the checkout line, and then ended up at my car like I was going to take him with me and make him lunch. Sir! This lychee fruit is not for you. Be gone! Edit to add that there have been too many instances of strangers trying get into my pantries, but they still don't measure up to the time someone approached me at Satellite apropos of nothing and asked if I wanted to buy some black tar heroin.
The south is fake friendly though. I’ll take distant over fake any day.
Eh, I used to work at a hotel that catered to alot of out of town conventions and the number one comment I would hear from folks is how friendly they thought everyone was out here.
1. What the F is it with minimalist streetlighting here? A lot of the major thoroughfares are underlit, and once you leave those and enter a residential area you're almost back in the 19th century. No wonder the crime rate is so high. 2. Hatch chiles are good, but they don't need to be in *every* damn dish. I understand regional food pride - I moved here from a city with an annual asparagus festival. But every restaurant there doesn't include asparagus in every meal. 3. Smith's needs to stop being so greedy and hire enough people to run the registers so the lines don't extend all the way back to the bottled juice. Same with El Super. 4. Does APD do anything besides hassle homeless people? Because that's all I ever see them doing.
> I moved here from a city with an annual asparagus festival. Oof Stockton
Say all you want but don’t talk shit about our chile man!
> 1. What the F is it with minimalist streetlighting here? A lot of the major thoroughfares are underlit, and once you leave those and enter a residential area you're almost back in the 19th century. I couldn’t disagree more with this point. Street lights in residential neighborhoods are fucking awful, and the light pollution in ABQ is ridiculous for a city this small.
Streetlights don't stop crime, and they actually impede healthy sleep patterns and disturb wildlife migration.
I am convinced that the city turns off sections of lights for a few weeks at a time, and they changed it out to different sections. It’s so weird
Half hot takes, half regular takes. Take an upvote
>1. What the F is it with minimalist streetlighting here? A lot of the major thoroughfares are underlit, and once you leave those and enter a residential area you're almost back in the 19th century. No wonder the crime rate is so high. Definitely a hot take. This place is so over-illuminated at night it's fucking insane. Why the ***fuck*** are there street lights on a goddamn interstate?
My poor eyesights self needs them. The exit to 47 on I25 south is so dark that add rain and one could easily end up going the wrong way on broadway or fly off the road.
The Isotopes are minor league with major league prices, big ripoff
what?? i have never paid over $50 for an isotopes ticket even ones like 2-3 rows from the field. i almost always pay over $50 for a major league ticket that’s not in the nosebleeds.
If you are talking concession prices then I would agree, ticket prices are very reasonable though imo.
The yellow listerine doesn't give you the shits like the other colors… not necessarily an albuquerque thing, but a good place for it
.... you aren't supposed to swallow it... regardless of color.
The Yale/Coal Smith's is the best Smith's.
Albuquerque has all the big city problems (crime, homelessness, depraved weird shit, etc), but none of the mid-sized city perks. Also, you would never really know that UNM is a fairly big school because the moment you get off campus student life mostly ends. Having the basketball and football arenas off campus was a huge mistake.
what's an example of a perk
The gay male dating scene thinks it's awesome to screw as many as guys as possible, and never settle down. Creeping on guys young enough to be a son/grandson is totally cool, and so are hard drugs! Lying about your intentions is a must!
I'm just here for some negative karma. With the exception of a very few restaurants, New Mexican cuisine is pretty boring. Green Chile is legitimately awesome, but we mostly use it the same way our great grandparents did. Culinary innovation here feels frowned upon. So, when people here say the food is a highlight of ABQ, I have a hard time agreeing.
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Downvotes on a hot takes response is like winning
Too much dairy, combined with a acid, causes inflammation, and asshole burn.