insiders know ...

[october 2024 roommates]

SO, roomiematch.com's Albuquerque roommate rundown:

You'll breathe excellent quality air while enjoying gorgeous natural scenery. Just make sure to stay safe, stay out of the sun, and steer clear of those tarantulas and rattlesnakes.

Roommate rent is so low due to the abundance of affordable housing - approximately 40% renters. Albuquerque is more affordable for roommates than other major southwestern markets such as Dallas, Denver, Las Vegas, and Phoenix. It's one of the few southwestern cities left where having a pony could still be remotely affordable!

With or without a pony you'll probably still want a car. But commute times on both are next to nothing for most.

Albuquerque is unusually surrounded by retirees gambling in casinos. If that's a negative for you, just don't go there then?

Spend more time enjoying the unusually delicious and nutritious chile peppers instead.

The rest of the Albuquerque roommate lowdown:

• popular with first time home buyers as median home prices and property taxes are below the US average (more affordable for roommates)
• largest city in New Mexico - mid-sized city and a college town overall, attracting student roommates to the University of New Mexico, Central New Mexico Community College, Southwest University of Visual Arts, and Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute
• depending on when you want to find a roommate weather might be a consideration, very high temperatures in summer, winter temps usually in the 50s. Some say Albuquerque has two weather conditions: sunny or stormy
• rated above-average for walkability and bike-friendliness, with about 400 miles of bike lanes and walking paths. However, the public transportation options are more limited. ABQ Ride serves neighborhoods inside the city during the day, but for alternative schedules or frequent commutes roommates will probably want their own vehicles.
• tarantulas are abundant, with some state park employees giving guided tours of tarantula migrations

After you're settled down, you and your roommates should experience Albuquerque's:

• De Anza Motor Lodge: Once a run-down hotel that would have been torn down if not for the priceless Native American murals in the basement. So the property was redeveloped as a luxury apartment complex, and you can still visit the one of a kind murals.
• Nearby Sandia Mountains: The most visible geographic feature, which occasionally get enough snow for skiing. "Sandia" is Spanish for "watermelon" and is thought to suggest their bright pink and green sunset. Sandia Peak Tramway is the country's longest aerial tram, and can take you to the 10,378-foot-tall summit for amazing views and nature trails and/or restaurants.
• Red and green chile peppers: Staples of Albuquerque cuisine, which fuses Native American and Spanish flavors
• International Balloon Fiesta: During which > 500 hot air balloons are launched over 9 days every October - hot air balloons are sighted year round in fewer numbers
• Gathering of Nations: During which >550 tribes from the US and Canada travel to Albuquerque to participate in singing and dancing competitions
• Indian Pueblo Cultural Center: Where you can learn all about the region's indigenous tribe, along with the Pueblo Montano Chainsaw Sculpture Garden
• Petroglyph National Monument: Over 7200 acres of carved images left behind by the area's first settlers
• National Museum of Nuclear Science and History: America's official atomic museum
• Cliff's Amusement Park: Featuring greasy tasty treats along with your choice of scary roller coasters or calmer carousels and trains
• Rattlesnake Museum: Live snakes, snake skeletons, snake art and of course, snake souvenirs

Here's the city of Albuquerque's official .gov for housing services & programs, which you'll hopefully never need if you choose the right roommates.

Notes

1.   The non-traditional roommate rent average for this city we've experienced over the last 3 years. We can't predict future rental availability, because we're neither in control of any rental market nor psychic, sorry!

But in most cities most of the time, the recent and relatively recent past are the best predictors.


2.   This idea came from smartasset.com's ranking of what a roommate saves you in 50 cities. They ranked where roommates will save you the most money, based on the average cost of a 1BR as opposed to a 2BR ÷ 2. Unsurprisingly, the more expensive the city, the more you can save, but the savings are significant in all larger metros. So we got the data for the rest of our cities from Zumper too.

This is really the minimum you could save, as you could live with more than one roommate, split more services, share food or other supplies, etc. More sharing tends to lead to more savings too, as per our roommate roadmap.

As per the rest of the description at the top of this page, we're calling this "traditional" roommate rent.


3.   From zumper.com.


4.   Directly quoted from the Trust for Public Land's parkland rating system.

"The ParkScore index awards each city up to 100 points for acreage based on the average of two equally weighted measures: median park size and parkland as a percentage of city area. Factoring park acreage into each city’s ParkScore rating helps account for the importance of larger “destination parks” that serve many users who live farther than ten minutes’ walking distance."

While each city's rundown already includes their individual ParkScore, nature lovers might like to see all roommate cities ranked for parkland.


5.   Directly quoted from Walk Score's Cities and Neighborhoods Ranking. They've ranked "more than 2,800 cities and over 10,000 neighborhoods so you can find a walkable home or apartment."

While each city's rundown already includes their individual Walk Score, dedicated pedestrians might like to see all roommate cities ranked for walkability.


6.   From various lists here on our own best roommate cities.


7.   From hoodmaps.com: a collaborative map where residents use tags describing social situations you're likely to find. Other users can thumb up or down, so the largest tags have been thumbed up the most.