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A significant component of Albuquerque’s status as the economic engine of the state is the region’s outstanding transportation infrastructure. The city is ideally situated at the intersection of Interstate 25 and Interstate 40, which link to regional highways and state routes. Albuquerque’s International Sunport accommodates business and pleasure travelers with more than 160 daily departures.

Newcomers can look forward to a progressive educational system that offers a wide variety of choices for private, public, continuing, and advanced education. The presence of leading research centers like Sandia National Laboratories and the influence of the University of New Mexico continually raise the bar of excellence, evidenced by the area’s consistently high ranking in the percentage of college students per capita. More than 23 percent of the adults in the metropolitan region are college graduates and more than 30 percent claim some college experience. The University of New Mexico provides expansive opportunities for higher education close to home, maintaining major schools of engineering, education, business, medicine, and law. In addition to degree programs from undergraduate to doctoral and professional, the university drives a culture of lifelong education.

Public and private schools for elementary and secondary students are diverse and well supported by parents, community members, and local businesses. Approximately 13 percent of Albuquerque’s children take advantage of the alternative educational environments that are offered by private or parochial schools within the community. Albuquerque’s Technical and Vocational Institute provides occupational and technical education as well as traditional associate degrees. More than 20,000 students attend TVI, which boasts some of the most innovative programs in the nation in emerging fields like advanced manufacturing, microelectronics, and microsystems technologies. The institute has long partnered with local business and industry to offer specialized training programs.

State-of-the-art healthcare services and facilities are another point of pride in Metropolitan Albuquerque, where renowned teaching institutions like the University of New Mexico Hospital combine with a network of other respected hospitals that blanket the region. Skilled nursing, rehabilitation, therapies, long-term care, emergency care centers, same-day surgery, and family practice clinics are just a few of the support facilities that are available to meet every need. Throughout the metropolitan area, skilled professionals in every major specialty and most sub-specialties carry on private practices as individuals or groups.

Lifestyle

Whether your passion is art, opera, ballet, baseball, hockey, or extreme sports — New Mexico and Metropolitan Albuquerque guarantee a kaleidoscope of quality entertainment and enrichment. Those who enjoy outdoor activity and sports will find a natural paradise around the four seasons, enhanced by a mild climate that is drenched in sunshine. Winter beckons the adventurous to ski at major resorts as well as snowboard, cross-country ski, sled, and snowmobile. The remainder of the year is ideal for exploring rugged roads and trails blazed by miners and loggers, hiking and biking, horseback riding, backpacking, hunting, fishing, camping, ballooning, and hang-gliding. More than 80 miles of multi-purpose trails are available within the city of Albuquerque alone, and nearly every major thoroughfare offers a dedicated bike lane.

Sports fans can cheer on both collegiate and professional teams, the former focused on University of New Mexico athletics. The New Mexico Scorpions hockey team plays to screaming crowds at Tingley Coliseum, while Triple A baseball action is available with the Albuquerque Isotopes in a new multi-million-dollar stadium. Summer concerts in the park, superb shopping malls and centers, fine restaurants, exciting casinos, and lively night spots invite residents to explore and enjoy an active, cosmopolitan lifestyle. The presence of leading universities, respected corporations, and cutting-edge research facilities ensures a constant infusion of intellectual, educational, and cultural stimulation.

Families always have an answer to the question, “What are we going to do today?” Attractions that cater to the younger set and family enjoyment are abundant, crowned by the Albuquerque Biological Park with the Albuquerque Aquarium and the Rio Grande Botanical Garden. LodeStar Planetarium is acclaimed as the first planetarium in the world to showcase high-definition video imagery on a domed projection screen. Annual events and celebrations play a major role in the Southwestern lifestyle, particularly Albuquerque’s International Balloon Fiesta. This global-scale event draws more than 1.5 million visitors into the area for a two-week extravaganza each October.

The metro region is also a shopper’s delight, filled with inviting nooks and crannies where quaint shops mingle with upscale boutiques. At the same time, modern malls and contemporary shopping centers feature the latest brand merchandise and the nation’s most popular retailers. More than 40 art galleries dot the Albuquerque cityscape, while the much smaller community of Santa Fe boasts more than 250 fine-art venues. Albuquerque’s designated arts organization, Magnifico, ensures that this enviable caliber of cultural enrichment continues to flourish and grow.

Throughout New Mexico, the visual and performing arts flourish as time-honored traditions and fresh creativity blend in a celebration of the past and present. The larger cities pulsate with world-class theatre, music, and dance. Popejoy Hall on the campus of the University of New Mexico showcases the Ovation Series, while the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra continually ranks among the nation’s finest musical organizations. However, concert halls and magnificent venues are not the only places to search for cultural pearls. Each Native American pueblo combines drama, dancing, and singing in a myriad of festivities and religious ceremonies.

Students of history will want to explore Old Town Albuquerque, a charming and tranquil village nestled in the heart of the city. The pace of modern life melts into 18th-century architecture graced by narrow brick pathways and quaint specialty shops filled with world-famous artwork and exquisite jewelry. First-rate museums dot the region, and Albuquerque is the proud home of the National Hispanic Cultural Center of New Mexico. Within the galleries and museums of Albuquerque, Santa Fe, and Taos are magnificent treasures of diversity woven from Indian, Hispanic, and Anglo cultural influences. The Spanish Market in July is the largest gathering of Hispanic artists in the nation. Contemporary Hispanic Market takes place at the same time, while August brings more than 100,000 collectors and aficionados of the arts flock to the annual Santa Fe Indian Market — the world’s largest juried show of Native American art. Weekends are a good time to explore some of the many new artist colonies that have sprung up throughout the state in places like Silver City, El Rito, and Madrid.

Reflecting a landscape of vibrant contrasts, New Mexico style is woven from brilliant colors and textures. Spanish vaqueros, rancheros, dazzling senoritas, Native American pageantry, and Victorian lace all play a part in a rich history in this mingling of Old and New Worlds. Famous artists like Georgia O’Keeffe paved the way for Santa Fe’s reputation as a mecca for the arts. A short drive from Albuquerque, the capital city offers wonderful shops and restaurants as well as galleries filled with paintings, sculpture, tribal artifacts, and contemporary work.

Finding the ideal home is easy in this land of variety, where elegant contemporaries and magnificent estates mix with modest adobe-style bungalows or properties with horse privileges. From the casual elegance of Southwestern architecture to an upscale residential community with fairway views, New Mexico has the right ingredients to turn every dream into reality. Master-planned communities, long-established neighborhoods centered around lush parks, and luxurious townhouses or condominiums are all available. Regardless of the place you choose to call home, you’ll discover a gracious lifestyle that grows more endearing with each passing year.

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