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by vec 3303 days ago
Two years ago I moved from Albuquerque to Denver, explicitly for work related reasons. The difference in available engineering jobs is night and day.

ABQ is a starkly beautiful midsize city with an unusually high number of nuclear physicists. That's necessary but far from sufficient for being a tech center. And as far as I could tell, the city's ideal is for a relatively small number of relatively large employers, not in hundreds of 5-20 employee firms.

Besides, if you're interested in working for one of those firms, let alone starting one, Denver's only six or seven hours north.
1 comments
ianai 3302 days ago
That's why I think Abq could be a budding tech hub with relatively few changes. There are some phds in the neighborhood and at least one good, affordable engineering college (Socorro/NMT). I'm guessing it's governmental policies (or lack of tax incentives) and a lack of at least one tech billionaire that likes the place keeping it down.

I mention that last part as I think Zappos being in LV has pulled some tech interest into LV.

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dreamcompiler 3302 days ago
Albuquerque does have reasonably good Internet infrastructure and the cost of living is low. But most of the tech employers are government contractors that require a security clearance, which is a turnoff for some. (If you lose your startup job and you don't have a clearance, you're screwed.)

We also have this good news/bad news airport situation: The airport is in the middle of town and it's VERY easy to get in and out of quickly. OTOH there are few direct flights anywhere -- the Bay area being a notable exception.

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ianai 3302 days ago
How is it possible they have few direct flights? It's an international airport. Anyway, that's the sort of thing that would change if it became a tech hub. I imagine that's all supply/demand. The infrastructure is already there.
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dreamcompiler 3301 days ago
Supply and demand. There are plenty of direct flights to hub cities (Dallas, Houston, Denver, Chicago, etc) but Albuquerque itself is not a hub city. So a trip to e.g. Boston from Albuquerque is an all-day slog.

As for the "international" aspect of ABQ, that's mostly wishful thinking. There might be a few flights to/from Mexico, but that's about it.

EDIT: Here's the list of nonstop destinations. Looks like there aren't any direct international flights, period. http://www.abqsunport.com/flightsairlines/destinations/

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