The next big hope for Albuquerque is the recently announced “Breaking Bad” spinoff with the working title “Better Call Saul,” based on the popular character Saul Goodman, an outspoken Albuquerque lawyer with permeable morals.
In a state-by-state comparison of FBI crime statistics released Thursday, New Mexico finished worst in the nation in burglary, 48th in forcible rape and 47th in each of the following categories: violent crime, aggravated assault and property crimes.
Something must be done to stem that
Land of Enchantment's own permeable morals, despite the emphasis on the state of adjacent states like Arizona or Texas in media accounts. And then there's always the
Breaking Bad effect, as a kind of
media effect.
The show, which won three Emmy Awards this year, including its first for best drama series, began filming in 2007 in Albuquerque, a city long overshadowed in tourism by Santa Fe, its smaller neighbor to the north. Over the next six years, however, as the series showcased Albuquerque’s grit and high-desert beauty, the city became a star in its own right and an entire “Breaking Bad” economy sprang up.
‘Breaking Bad’ became such a phenomenon that it helped in other areas such as tourism,” says Nick Maniatis, director of the New Mexico State Film Office. “You wouldn’t think that would be the case for a show about meth. But it was shot so beautifully. They did such a great job showing different areas of our state.”
When tourists began streaming in, they sought out the aesthetically ordinary places they had seen on screen, like the Twisters restaurant and the house that serves as Walter White’s home. In 2012, ABQ Trolley Company began highlighting such locations in a weekly tour that now runs from April to October; it routinely sells out. Earlier this year, two other companies began leading competing bicycle and limousine tours.
A shocking rise in crystal meth use across the UK and Europe is down to the influence of hit TV show Breaking Bad, a leading academic has warned.
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“It surprises me but on the other hand it doesn’t,” said Rep. Paul Pacheco, R-Rio Rancho, a retired police officer. “Two major drug arteries run right through Albuquerque. You’ve got I-40 and I-25 … The vast majority of drugs either go through New Mexico or over New Mexico. That’s a problem.”
Other states on the southern border fared badly, although not as poorly as New Mexico.
Texas finished 35th in burglary, 33rd in violent crime and 29th in forcible rape. Arizona finished 39th in burglary, 36th in violent crime and 38th in forcible rape. California finished 29th in burglary, 35th in violent crime but finished with seventh-lowest for forcible rape.
“For property crimes, a good majority of the time, those property offenders become violent offenders,” Pacheco said. “And the chances of violent crime happening with (property crimes) is always there because these individuals are breaking into homes and a lot of times people are there inside their residences. There’s always a potential for violence.”