7 ms·

This and the similar initiative in Utah are the kinds of governmental problem solving I really like to see. More effective services for the populace in the form

This and the similar initiative in Utah are the kinds of governmental problem solving I really like to see. More effective services for the populace in the form of helping people better their lives while at the same time benefitting society at large and being less expensive than traditional approaches. I count myself reasonably liberal, but these type of solutions have largely popped up in traditionally conservative places, which is a pleasant surprise and makes me take another look at my understanding of the spectrum.

ianai 10y ago
I think this has more to do with the nature of Albuquerque than republican/democrat. This as someone who grew up there. I now live in Las Vegas. The two cultures are very different. There's a lot of hostility in LV in a general sense that isn't there in Alb.
- tomcam 10y ago
  I'd like to hear more about this.
  - Avshalom 10y ago
    Albuquerque is deeply Catholic. Catholicism, Latin American Catholicism in particular is very big on social/economic justice, charity, 'works theology' Albuquerque (NM as a whole really) is quite poor and it's a lot easier to convince poor people to help poor people.
    - mcone 10y ago
      I lived in Albuquerque for nine years (2003-2012). The Catholicism is certainly part of it, but it's more complicated than that. One gets the feeling that it's a more egalitarian city than other US metro areas. I didn't feel like it was that racist of a city, certainly nothing compared to Pittsburgh, where I now live. And there are very few establishments that are designed exclusively for the wealthy. The Frontier restaurant near UNM is a great example of what I'm talking about. You would regularly see news anchors, professors, doctors, etc. dining there in the same room as people who were homeless.
      - komaromy 10y ago
        > And there are very few establishments that are designed exclusively for the wealthy. This is an excellent description. Some people still flaunt their wealth, which is true everywhere, but I feel a sense of the city belonging to everyone that lives in it. Of course, that's my view as a fairly well-off white male who's never experienced anything close to homelessness. People from different circumstances may have different opinions.
        ianai 10y ago
        You can still find those places in Alb and the rest of NM. They have a hard time establishing a real presence though, as there really aren't so many people there. It still needs more industry/business. Something to pull the average income up and employ everybody.
      - ianai 10y ago
        How come you left?
      - batbomb 10y ago
        For the most part, there's also very little geographic separation between the poorer parts and the richer parts, unless you end up east of Tramway or north of Paseo. This does tend to mean a bit more property crime, but for the most part people are relatively accepting of that. There are still parts that are a bit scary (south valley, south of central especially around Zuni/San Pedro) but it's not that scary if you are from Abq. As for the racism, a lot of that goes back to the makeup of Abq historically and today, with an extremely diverse (and distributed!) population that most places can't match.
smelendez 10y ago
I think they're also places with cheap land reasonably near the city center (look at some of these housing prices: http://www.zillow.com/albuquerque-nm/home-values/ http://www.zillow.com/albuquerque-nm/home-values/). I don't know where you could easily build tiny houses or any other kind of new public housing anywhere near NY or SF.
saryant 10y ago
Look at the efforts San Antonio has been making over the last decade to help the homeless mentally ill. They've gone from having virtually no system in place to being on the vanguard: https://apps.bostonglobe.com/spotlight/the-desperate-and-the-dead/series/solutions https://apps.bostonglobe.com/spotlight/the-desperate-and-the...

ianai 10y ago

I think this has more to do with the nature of Albuquerque than republican/democrat. This as someone who grew up there. I now live in Las Vegas. The two cultures are very different. There's a lot of hostility in LV in a general sense that isn't there in Alb.

tomcam 10y ago
I'd like to hear more about this.
- Avshalom 10y ago
  Albuquerque is deeply Catholic. Catholicism, Latin American Catholicism in particular is very big on social/economic justice, charity, 'works theology' Albuquerque (NM as a whole really) is quite poor and it's a lot easier to convince poor people to help poor people.
  - mcone 10y ago
    I lived in Albuquerque for nine years (2003-2012). The Catholicism is certainly part of it, but it's more complicated than that. One gets the feeling that it's a more egalitarian city than other US metro areas. I didn't feel like it was that racist of a city, certainly nothing compared to Pittsburgh, where I now live. And there are very few establishments that are designed exclusively for the wealthy. The Frontier restaurant near UNM is a great example of what I'm talking about. You would regularly see news anchors, professors, doctors, etc. dining there in the same room as people who were homeless.
    - komaromy 10y ago
      > And there are very few establishments that are designed exclusively for the wealthy. This is an excellent description. Some people still flaunt their wealth, which is true everywhere, but I feel a sense of the city belonging to everyone that lives in it. Of course, that's my view as a fairly well-off white male who's never experienced anything close to homelessness. People from different circumstances may have different opinions.
      - ianai 10y ago
        You can still find those places in Alb and the rest of NM. They have a hard time establishing a real presence though, as there really aren't so many people there. It still needs more industry/business. Something to pull the average income up and employ everybody.
    - ianai 10y ago
      How come you left?
    - batbomb 10y ago
      For the most part, there's also very little geographic separation between the poorer parts and the richer parts, unless you end up east of Tramway or north of Paseo. This does tend to mean a bit more property crime, but for the most part people are relatively accepting of that. There are still parts that are a bit scary (south valley, south of central especially around Zuni/San Pedro) but it's not that scary if you are from Abq. As for the racism, a lot of that goes back to the makeup of Abq historically and today, with an extremely diverse (and distributed!) population that most places can't match.

smelendez 10y ago

I think they're also places with cheap land reasonably near the city center (look at some of these housing prices: http://www.zillow.com/albuquerque-nm/home-values/ http://www.zillow.com/albuquerque-nm/home-values/). I don't know where you could easily build tiny houses or any other kind of new public housing anywhere near NY or SF.

saryant 10y ago

Look at the efforts San Antonio has been making over the last decade to help the homeless mentally ill. They've gone from having virtually no system in place to being on the vanguard: https://apps.bostonglobe.com/spotlight/the-desperate-and-the-dead/series/solutions https://apps.bostonglobe.com/spotlight/the-desperate-and-the...