Some people really hate it, but the truth is that the TV show Breaking Bad has had a huge financial impact on the city of Albuquerque New Mexico.
Long before that show came along, this was the biggest and greatest city in this state, but you can’t help but agree that the show raised our visibility to whole new levels.
We will never be a major metropolitan hub like New York or Atlanta (which is good because we don’t want that) but thanks to Breaking Bad, Albuquerque has experienced an unprecedented boom in tourism and interest. We used to be a great city, but now we are a great city that is relevant in pop culture and entertainment circles. Over the course of several seasons, Breaking Bad told very dark and violent stories, but they played out in front of the beautiful landscapes surrounding Albuquerque, giving the show such a wondrous sense of beauty. The starkness of the violence and evil seemed even worse, because the skies of Albuquerque are amongst the most picturesque in the entire world. It almost seemed like the city of Albuquerque itself was a character, a presence, on that show. That presence has carried over, because the newer show Better Call Saul is also set here in ABQ, as was the Netflix original movie El Camino. Like I was saying, a lot of people in Albuquerque don’t like being associated with that show, but thanks to Walter White tens of thousands of tourists a year flock to our city to relive the highs and lows of Breaking Bad, and these folks also tend to visit our amazing local cannabis dispensaries. .