[fintstone]

Good weather. Roasted green chilies are great..got a freezer full...and eat them an almost everything. NM food is good...but some of the restraurants/foods you would enjoy elsewhere just are not quite as good.

Nothing exciting really within reasonable driving distance...Las Vegas is about 8-9 hrs away...through lots of mountains (via Flagstaff, Az). Denver is about 7 hrs...through a few less mountains. The climate is very dry. It is very dry and there are really no watersports to speak of. No pro sports..or even really good college teams. AAA baseball is not too bad though.

There is a big disparity between the haves and have-nots. There are a lot of good Govt jobs...mostly in engineering/Science. Those pay quite well. Not a huge amount of industry otherwise.

Great airport. Very nice and new. Small and very easy/quick to get in and out of. Ticket prices seem a bit higher than to most destinations...a lot of carriers do not have nonstops to Abq and you have to go through Denver or Dallas.

Housing prices are pretty good compared to CA or the north east..but not really cheap. They are a lot more reasonable on the West side of town/the Rio Grande River..but the traffic is terrible if you work on the east side. There are only a few places where the roads go east/ west crossing the Rio Grande and the Petroglyphs..so huge bottlenecks occur during rush hour. In other words...if you are employed on the east side..live there....even if prices are a little higher. Traffic is realy pretty thin/easy otherwise. I can go just about anywhere in 30 min or less.

Most of the K-12 schools are pretty poor, but there are a couple that are not too bad. I personally do not much care for the University of NM...but if your kids graduate with a "B" average, they will get their tuition free from any of the state sponsored schools (funded by the state lottery). If they are reasonably smart, they will qualify for a Presidential or Regent's scholarship which pays enough to cover room and board and books.

If you like to ski, there is a small ski area just ouside of town...but some years there is not enough snow there. Taos is pretty close and Vail or Aspen are about a day's drive.

The popular style of home here is stucco (adobe look or Sante Fe style). Not too much trees or grass though.

Not a lot of Porsches...enthusiast events, etc...but I see a lot more of them on the road than I did a few years ago.