Date: Sat, 20 May 1995 23:38:41 -0700 (PDT) From: Richard Isaac Subject: Albuquerque & Sta Fe Date: Fri, 31 MAR 1995 03:06:43 -0800 (PST) From: Mathemagician Subject: Re: REQEUST ADVICE/INPUT FROM BROTHERS Jude Montarsi writes about moving from rural, upstate Pennsylvania to a more "cosmopolitan or urban area" and mentions Albuquerque and Santa Fe as possible sites. > If anyone out there has any information about the climate: > social, economic, gay/lesbian friendly, etc. of these areas, I'd like > to hear your comments. Also, I'd like to hear from anyone else in > other cities that you think are nice places for gay people to > start a new life. I'm looking for first person accounts, not the kind > of stuff you get in Fodor's or the Gay Guide. Why you like where you live > or why you don't. Albuquerque and Santa Fe are "high desert" climes...Santa Fe being moreso at about 7,500 ft. above sea level with Albuquerque being only about 1 mile above sea level. Both are fairly dry with mild(ish) summers (Albuquerque easily gets in the 90's) and cold (enough) winters (it *does* snow at least once a year in both places, on average). Santa Fe is, in general, "more expensive" than Albuquerque. ABQ is much larger than SF, with the accompanying greater variation in costs. SF has been going through quite a lot of "rich transplant" problems...people from New York and California, with a lot of money, buy up the (relatively) cheap property, which drives up the property value for the rest of the area. Many celebrities call Santa Fe home (Carol Burnett and Shirley Maclaine being just two examples.) Albuquerque has a larger "social life" both gay and non-gay due, primarily, to its size. The only gay bar I know of in SF is The Edge (dance club) while ABQ sports The Ranch (country/western with Cuffs, a denim/leather bar in the back room), Albuquerque Mining Company (dance club), Foxes (dance club with a bit of a seedy atmosphere...the joke is that you should beware going into the bathroom as your feet may stick to the floor...it's called "Foxes Booze and Cruise" for a reason), and the Albuquerque Social Club (private club that mixes between country/western and dance mix...more on C/W...they host square dancing and are the home to the Motorcycle Men of New Mexico). ABQ also has Common Bond, a local GLBT community center. I do not know if SF has a similar center. The "gay life," at least in ABQ varies depending upon your politics and proclivities. Read that as there *are* cliques in town and they very often do *not* get along with each other...at least the hard-core members of the groups. For example, the Sandia Leathermen (from Cuffs) and the Motorcycle Men of New Mexico often have squabbles against the other. Most members don't have any problems with the other group...they're often good friends...but when push comes to shove, the familial lines get drawn. I do not know the situation in SF as I rarely went up there. When I lived in Albuquerque, I lived in the Northeast Heights. This area is generally from middle-class to upper-class (I was in the middle-class areas by I-25.) It was a very nice area, though we did have some problems with gangs in my area (there was a gang murder in the parking lot of my apartment complex one year, for example.) As such, it is possible to live in Albuquerque and not venture too far out of your section. For example, one block away from where I lived were two movie theatres, a slew of restaurants (from fast food to semi-formal), a grocery store, a drug store, a gas station, etc. Extend that to one mile and two more movie theatres come in, yet another grocery store, an infinite number of restaurants, an amusement park, an elementary school, etc. > I'm partial to multicultural or ethnic minority communities, > warm weather, good food. If fact, I partial to any of culture > that is as far removed from the Northeast/Midwest (sorry folks) WASP > middle class non-gay folks and its attendant wannabee underclass are only > to be found in the shopping malls (where they belong). Depending upon how you live, that may be hard to find in Albuquerque or Santa Fe. As I said, Santa Fe is, depending upon how vicious you want to be, overrun with Rich White Folks (C) from New York and California. Albuquerque has its enclaves of Hispanic, Indian, and mixed culture, but the majority of the city is white in attitude. While you'll be more likely to find people who speak some dialect of Spanish in ABQ or SF, the predominant language by far is English. I am not sure of SF, but I get the impression that it's even more so. Granted, it's smaller and its economic position makes differences that much greater, but it *is* a tourist area and it knows it. The Plaza in SF is lined with those oh-so-quaint shops and boutiques selling overpriced "authentic Native American" goods. If you're looking for "real" New Mexican culture, you're either going to have to get out of ABQ or SF or go specifically looking for it in either city. > I'm looking for a nice place, where artists, (peasants) if you'll > pardon my English, old and young, Anglo and non-anglo, gay and nongay > working class and middles class--still live and function rather > harmoniously despite the local and national politics. Santa Fe is more known for artists than Albuquerque is. While there *are* social boundaries that can cause friction, however, the population is fairly "all in this together" as a whole. Albuquerque is the largest city in the state and has that "I wanna be a large metropolitan but I'm afraid of losing that 'small-town charm'" problem, and it does show up in the politics of the city. > In short, I'm lookin for the nearest thing to heaven with only > One MacDonalds per 50 sq blocks or 50 sq miles which ever is greater! > And any comments, suggestions from you about nice places will be appreciated. Well, there are plenty of McDonald's in Albuquerque and I'm sure there are plenty in Santa Fe, too. But, it is conceivable to live in Albuquerque and insulate yourself from most of the "burgeoning city," if you want. Granted, you might have to do so in Rio Rancho (most notable suburb), but it can be done. Perhaps Gabriel can shed light on what Las Cruces is like....