Hi Friends!
BP has been so helpful in my own Real Estate Journey so I want to give back by talking about my home town, Albuquerque! I'm going to break it down by zip code.
Albuquerque vacancy rates hover at 7%. Job growth at under 1% per year. Higher than US average unemployment figures. That show Breaking Bad wasn't too far from the truth. Water is a constant issue. All water is taken from the aquifer under the city and it's running dry at a fast rate. The Rio Grande River has never been a source of drinking water. The city used to pay you to replace lawns, high flow toilets. They might still do so. There are a few big employers: DoE Sandia Labs, Kirkland Air Force Base (mostly the military contractors on base), Intel, and the University of New Mexico.
87112 - The richest, nicest area of town. It has La Cueva high school (probably best public HS in the state) and lots of post-1990's housing.
87113 - Some industrial areas. I used to have a factory job in this zip code. Some SFR and apartments. In general more middle income. Also very close to the International Baloon Festival Park. For two weeks out of the year, all traffic and forms of communication are jammed with balloons balloons balloons.
87114 - Sort of new mostly solidly middle-income town. To the north is Corrales, which is its own town.
87048 - The town of Corrales. Lots of trees and speed traps. It's more of a village. The housing can range from middle-income agrarian plots to very nice, very expensive houses.
87124 - Rio Rancho. Bedroom community. Many folks commute to Albuquerque or surrounding area. Home to an Intel plant. For the longest time, it looked like Intel would leave town but they're still there.
87120 - Taylor Ranch/West Mesa. I know Google Maps says this is just Taylor Ranch but most locals will call it west mesa or west part of town. Many of the houses were built in the 70s and there's been some new development. Surprisingly rural. I remember seeing someone ride up to a McDonald's on a horse.
87121 - Nine Mile Hill. Not sure how many or how often the houses were built but I remember they tended to be more rundown, more remote, more rural.
87104 - Old Town, Zoo, Bio Park. Seen a kind of revitalization over the years. Tends to run higher crime, however. Abuts the downtown area.
87105 - South Valley. Surprisingly, there are lots of farms here.
87107 - Not sure what this was supposed to be called, but I tended to just call it the valley. This feels like the more 'real' part of town and the incomes are all over the place. The houses tend to be very old, rustic.
87102 - Downtown area. Also includes warzones. The DT area has changed A LOT in my life. It's actually quite nice now.
87106 - University of New Mexico, Community College. Lots of student housing. SFR nearest the UNM campus can be very nice, actually. Again, they all tend to be very old.
87108 - This to me, is the lowest income area. Has the fairgrounds, Shares Nob Hill with 87106 which has nicer homes but it's the real exception. The southern part tends to be the worse part.
87110 - Solidly middle-income homes. The prices have risen so much in this area. Houses mostly built in the 40s and 50s. One thing about these houses is that they can be very solidly built.
87123 - East Central. Kind of run down. The closer you get to the mountain the nicer the houses. Crime doesn't climb. However, by the time you get into Tijeras canyon, it can get very rural again. In the winter this area will ice over and become dangerous and even impossible to drive.
87112 - Similar to 87110. On the east of Tramway, you can find very nice houses.
87111 - The closer to the mountain in this area the better the housing. Similar to 87112, getting closer and over Tramway you will find very nice houses.
87004 - Bernalillo. More remote, working-class area. It used to be very remote but the Albuquerque general metro area has encroached so there's no longer any open area between the two towns. Also includes Placitas which has more luxury housing up in the hills & mountains. Very nice pueblo houses and also has lower income houses. Dad used to commute from here. Also included a squatters commune called Tawapa (RIP) but its long gone.
87059 - The beginning of Little Texas. Everything out here changes -- the politics, the culture, the landscape, the ecology. It's can get remote from Albuquerque but people do commute into the general metro area. Fairly rural.
Some notes
Everything east of Tramway runs very nice because it runs into the mountain and offers beautiful views. Some people's driveways show up as roads on Google maps. Sandia Heights can be very nice as well. Even though the Rio Grande isn't much of a river nowadays, it does grow a lot of trees. Former farm plots have been built up into very nice luxury houses. Airport area tends to be run down. Central Ave is mostly a bad area. I remember there was a total of 3-4 murders on a single night in my neighborhood near San Mateo and Central but that was a long time ago. It can get nice in the mountains, be fun and interesting near the University and downtown and then go to hell again.
This is not perfect but please do add notes and corrections if you can find any.
