Where to start? It's my home town; I came back after 12 years in California.
Rio Rancho is where all the growth is now; I'm way, way out to the far northwest; housing is going up, but it's still affordable.
The climate is the best. It's warm, but not terribly hot (not many 100* days), with single-digit humidity in the summer; winters are "crisp", but not too cold, and clear. It snows in town enough to stick about once every 10 years; many years there's none at all. Sandia had a banner year this last winter (100" on closing day), but it was a fluke - there had been virtually no snow for several years previously. Santa Fe Ski Basin (never been there) is not too far away, but it (like all of Santa Fe) draws a lot of tourists. Pajarito (near Los Alamos) is a little farther, and smaller, but less crowded. Both usually have good snow.
CCW is allowed, but Albuquerque's mayor is against it (he managed to get the first one shot down by the NMSC). I've personally had losers from APD try to provoke me; I can't say for sure if it's official policy, but they sure seemed to have the routine well-practiced (it didn't work
). Interestingly, it took a Democratic governor to push it through. The only gun laws are federal, and we have preemption. Your car is considered an extension of your home, so any mode of transport is allowed.
There's a range run by the city west of town. They don't allow holstered handguns, but I don't think they care about rapid fire. It was pretty crowded the last time I was there. There's a private club farther northwest (
www.delnortegunclub.com ), and one to the south (
www.ziarifleandpistolclub.com ).
Do you know what part of town the job will be in?