Albuquerque Independent Business Alliance

(Thanks to Sophie Martin at Duke City Fix for posting on this.) 

U.S. News & World Report recently published Best Places To Live 2009.  In coming up with the ten, they "looked at areas with strong economies, low living costs, and plenty of fun things to do."  All of which I strongly  believe is true of Albuquerque. 

When I first moved to the quirky burque eight years ago, I quickly became tired of hearing negative nabobs nattering, "You can't do that in Albuquerque." "You can't make money here." "New Mexico is sooo far behind the times."  Funny.  Seemed to me a lot of people were "doing" "making" and charging full speed ahead, into the 21st  22nd century (Try having a conversation with one of the research scientists at UNM or Sandia sometime.  They're so far ahead on technology and such that you'll understand one word in ten...;-)  Richard Florida even declared Albuquerque the number one medium-sized city in the U.S. in his national bestseller The Rise of the Creative Class.  ( Lots of interesting online info at creativeclass.com, including Florida's take on the "new normal" of consumer spending.)  

Having worked in global corporations, lived in big cities, and traveled extensively - I find Albuquerque can more than hold its own in a number of areas.  Certainly we can't match - for example - Silicone Valley for the sheer volume of business opportunity, but we also don't have the nightmare that's driving parking for hours on 101. (Whenever I visit the Valley, I feel like I should put a sign on my rental car - "I'm not used to traffic anymore, be gentle.")  And, after all, we're still a small city, relatively speaking, in "the middle of nowhere." (Or, rather "halfway to everywhere.")  So, of course, we don't have umpteen companies and such...but there is also the concept of quality versus quantity (and we can actually see our mountains.)

So, next time someone says, "You can't..." reply, "Maybe you can't...but I certainly can." Then go do it.  Self-defeat is self-fulfilling prophecy.