Did a 3 week trip out west and stayed in Albuquerque....only stayed one night and moved on. Place is big city rough. People in other towns warned me... Rest of the state was cool though.
Yeah i'm not saying ABQ is safe, but i've spent a lot of time there and it wasn't any worse than other big America Cities. It has a bad cartel/gang/drug problem and homelessness is out of control. Just got to know where to not go.
New Mexico has a lot of cool places to visit.
And if you like the outdoors it's even better.
Most people completely gloss over NM and don't realize how many beautiful places there are.
You can be in the desert one minute and two hours later at 9k feet in the mountains filled with snow.
In ABQ it can be 60 degrees but in the Sandias it's 20 degrees with snow, only 45 minute drive or take the tram.
Go skiing after work at 5pm. In Santa Fe i've left work early on a Friday to go skiing from 2-5pm. 30 minutes from my house.
Just 2 hours from me i can go skiing, camping in the mountains, mountain climbing, downhill biking, rafting, ride ATV's, walk canyons / malpais, walk inside a caldera/volcano, hunt elk, fish for trout, etc.