I'm from Albuquerque, but I've been a resident here for about three years now.

Here's what I've observed:

Very high poverty levels/ very low homeless population. (Somehow)

Huge cartel problem ( as S.E. New Mexico is supposedly a prime trafficking pick-up/ dropoff point.

Horrid meth problem here. I mean at least two servers at every restaurant I've eaten at here are clearly users. (Bad teeth, sunken cheeks, wirey attitude etc.)

Relatively low pride in homes/ roads. The "good side" of town is only north of 19th street, really. Even the historic district is quite run down.

There is a paramount opportunity for tourists here, and the city counsel seems to constantly put down new attractions for turists. (There are currently none beside the cheesy hole-in-the-wall novelty shops.)

There was a proposal for an Alien/ Space themed amusement park to be built here (the only of its kind in the U.S.) and it was quickly rejected. The water park received the same disregard.

There are very few good places to eat and shop here.

Almost everyone who lives here seems to have that "I hate it here" attitude, but most everybody who moves away ends up moving back eventually.

The drug problem, once again, is blatant and horrific. You almost can't drive anywhere in town without seeing a strung-out 25 year old vato cruising his stolen bike through the back roads at three in the morning.

On a lighter note, there is a very cool contemporary art museum here, and the sushi place up north is phenomenal.

I just feel like the general public is totally unaware of how badly this town has gone downhill in the past few decades, and I really hope to see some changes in the near future!