That's amazing! I just remembered that Breaking Bad was filmed in New Mexico too. 
Someone told me that the show made the number of people smoking crystal meth go up, but I remember it being well-made. Both set and filmed in New Mexico...I think NM has good tax incentives for movie productions or something like that.
Too bad about Albuquerque. I did not know that. 
Sounds a bit like my neck of the woods. Speaking of that...I sometimes have a hard time putting a state's size into perspective because so many Canadian provinces are empty...but I just noticed that Tara Calico's county in NM [Valencia] is almost exactly the same size as Thunder Bay. I heard it is a amazing.
Have you ever been to Valencia? Or alternate question...from the way you describe it, all of New Mexico sounds like on giant Valencia. Vast and scenic. Is that about right?
I wish there had been some bodybuilding expos in NM...I would have visited. And too bad about Tara Calico...over 30 years later, and she was almost for sure murdered on the day she disappeared. I remember being spooked by her 1989 Unsolved Mysteries episode, but recalling how beautiful New Mexico was.
A New Mexico Hostel:
Yeah they have incentives to film and produce here. Most people don't realize how many films have been made here over the years.
Meth is an issue here for sure, you see more of it here than in Texas or Colorado, but it's typically in the big Cities. Lots of weed too, which doesn't bother me at all. You see people smoking it all the time and smell it a lot. It's not legal, but severely decriminalized and you can easy get a weed card. Plenty of dispensaries and the Cops typically ignore it.
NM is small with a low population, that's one of things i like about it. Most people are pretty unaware if it. But it's liberal too, but similar to Texas when you leave the City limits it gets very conservative very quickly. Lots of farmers and ranchers.
I've driven through Valencia many times, it's a pretty area on the edge of a large mesa and the Rio Grande River. Lots of small country towns filled with mainly White or Hispanic people. Belen is a quiet country town that is growing slowly, big sports town for High School.
All of NM is very scenic, but it's very different. That's why i like it so much, it has desert areas, mountains, rivers, gorges, canyons, mesas, volcanos, plains areas, dense forest, etc. Depending on where you go it can be very different, but that's cool. Lots of Native American tribes and reservations. Has the largest missile range in the states and the birthplace of NASA. Good weather and the people are typically very friendly, almost too nice. It's a good place to be if you like it quiet and peaceful.
The best way to describe it visually, it's where Texas, Colorado, Arizona and Mexico all smashed together, so it's got a little of everything.
Just do an online image search for scenic New Mexico. It's a beautiful place.
