This past week I was in Albuquerque for a conference, so I took the opportunity to explore their downtown area and take a few photos.
Downtown Albuquerque basically has two areas that provide a sense of place: Civic Plaza, a two-block public square, and Central Avenue, a four-block stretch of shops and restaurants. Here is a bird’s eye view of Downtown Albuquerque with 3D buildings from GoogleEarth (click to embiggen):
The Civic Plaza is just left of center with the Albuquerque Convention Center behind it. The two red-roof towers in the center are the Hyatt (where I stayed) and a companion office building. Central Avenue is a block to the right of the hotel/office complex.
Civic Plaza is a hardscaped public square that was noticeably lifeless (except for a few homeless people) during the five days I was there. Granted, it’s the middle of the winter and there were no programmed activities held during my visit, but I suspect Civic Plaza is usually like that even in the summer unless there’s a festival or a convention going on. The Plaza is ringed by the Albuquerque Convention Center, the Hyatt, some government buildings, and a surface parking lot. Looking over the Plaza from the hotel:
The Plaza does have some interesting elements. There’s a parking garage underneath the Plaza (note the ramps in the foreground of the photos above), as well as a large fountain (not operating when I was there), a performance stage, and various other urban design features. Here are a few shots from within the Plaza:
I found that with all the hardscaped surfaces, the lack of vegetation, and the harsh modernist architecture of most of the buildings nearby, that Civic Plaza didn’t feel like it was a very comfortable place to hang out in. Perhaps when the fountain is on and there are street vendors and other activities going on, it becomes a lively public space. Does anyone have any experience with Albuquerque’s Civic Plaza in the warmer months?
Next is Central Avenue, which is part of the legendary Route 66 highway. The four-blocks of Central Avenue between 3rd and 7th streets offer a nice “main street” environment with a variety of retail and restaurant establishments. Unfortunately, all the photos below were taken on a Sunday morning when virtually nothing was open and no pedestrians were around… forgive me, but that’s the way it worked out.
First, the good: the historic KiMo Theatre and its Pueblo Deco architectural style (top left), a striking new retail/restaurant corner building (top right), a funky ultra-modern condo building under construction (bottom left) and a pretty cool streetscape and signage theme built upon the Route 66 mystique (bottom right):
Now, the not-so-good:
There were a lot of empty retail spaces, and all those barred-up storefronts just leave you feeling all warm and fuzzy, don’t they?! Apparently crime is an issue in Downtown Albuquerque. In fact, the hotel where I stayed gave me a map of the downtown area, and on it was this big note that said in so many words “DO NOT WALK AROUND DOWNTOWN ALBUQUERQUE AFTER SUNSET!”
While I was there I also went to Old Town and to Nob Hill—two areas outside of downtown with some interesting urban character—but I didn’t take any photos.
Overall, downtown Albuquerque has several examples of nice urbanism, but a few issues it needs to overcome as well. But then, what city doesn’t?
Having been born and raised in Albuquerque I appreciate the post Ken. Downtown ABQ, or all of ABQ for that matter, has never been a connected urban environment. Rather, there are unique/enjoyable/distinct hot spots with life, but very few are adjacent to one another, and many are miles apart.
If you’re going to visit ABQ, I’d recommend Nob Hill, Old Town and the university stretch of Central Avenue first – downtown would be further down the list. Downtown is worthwhile for a few things: the RailRunner is the heavy-rail, inter-city train connecting ABQ to Santa Fe, and there are a few art galleries and bars in the 2-4 story section of Central Ave. that are fun on a weekend night (but not the best bar spots in town). To answer your question Ken, that Civic Plaza is only alive when festivals are happening in the summer time.
ABQ has had trouble getting residents downtown (we’re not alone), but one project is the old Albuquerque High lofts just on the other side of the tracks from downtown. Part of the problem is the multitude of pedestrian unfriendly areas and buildings in downtown proper. Much of the nightlife and redevelopment with an urban feel is happening between the University and Nob Hill on Central – actually a walkable district as compared to downtown. Great new restaurants, bars and shops are thriving in this area.
One interesting fact on ABQ – Central Avenue has a bus-rapid transit (BRT) system that should be the envy of Denver and the Colfax bus system. As ABQ is a large sprawling city, they chose a few lines to implement BRT with apparently great success. The BRT has frequent, clean buses, electronic signage detailing when the next bus arrives, shade structures and artistic/clean seating areas.
Required reading for all RTD employees and transportation consultants reading this comment: http://www.cabq.gov/transit/rapid-ride
I’ve visited ABQ several times over the decades, for business and pleasure. I’m struck by the potential of the city and the surrounding areas, and am sorry that so much of that potential has not been realized through the years. On the other hand, there are some real gems in terms of restaurants, retail venues, and neighborhoods, but you have to know where to look.
It’s the suburbs that make me gag! Rio Rancho is a temple to sprawl and auto-oriented development. My friends who live there live near enough a store, coffeehouse, and few other commercial establishments, but it never occurs to them to walk to them. I did that safely when I was visiting last fall, and they thought I was nuts!
Ever heard of Rio Rancho? Look it up on Google Maps. It’s amazing. It’s a giant planned suburb of Albuquerque, as large as the entire existing built-up area, except nobody lives there. Hundreds and hundreds of surveyed blocks, but very few houses.
It’s sort of like Pueblo West run absolutely amok.
Oh, haha. I should have read Robin’s post before making my own. Anyway, look it up on google maps, using the satellite view. It’s scary.
Whoa… that Rio Rancho satellite imagery is insane. I’m assuming those are all dirt roads (they look like it when zoomed-in). How do they maintain all that? Are there even city services out there?
It must make for a surreal experience to just head back there and drive around on all those deserted roads.
Looks like Rio Rancho would make a fantastic urban rally stage. Surely the car-loving kids in ABQ have noticed this too.
It’s always interesting to get an outsiders point of view. Did you get a chance to get to the other side of the train tracks? East downtown is a slowly emerging district with a mix of uses. Mountain Road approaching the museum area is also an eclectic, hidden neighborhood. And as others have said, the lively urban areas are up the hill near UNM.
As Robin said, there’s a lot of potential, but the political and private willpower have not been there to push these things. The city’s existence as both city and suburb contribute to the lack of focused attention that downtown really needs. Unfortunately, resources have tended to the suburban thus far.
Great blog. I check it frequently.
I’ll just add that a good portion of Rio Rancho is very much developed and sort of in an odd way. Some subdivisions/neighborhoods have homes right next to each other on very small lots, even closer than some developments in Stapleton or other new urbanist neighborhoods, but everything else is spread out, separated by numerous wide, busy arterial streets and shopping centers with huge parking lots. Kind of the worst of both worlds!
This discussion caused the dusting-off of some memories. I lived in Albuquerque during the 1970s, and downtown was undergoing ‘urban renewal’ big time then. There were blocks and blocks of turn-of-the-century two story buildings, like those surviving on Central, that were leveled for the Convention Center and many parking lots. Blocks of homes were also leveled in the area just south of Lomas, around the federal building and courthouses. Much of that area has been rebuilt. The Alvarado Hotel, next to the remaining train station, was a beauty and local preservationists fought hard to save it, to no avail. The Franciscan hotel, at the east end of Central downtown, was also demolished. Both hotel sites are still gravel parking lots, some 35 years later.
During the 70s there were a few ‘hole-in-the-wall’ cheap good restaurants downtown too, including a favorite called the Sanitary Tortilla Factory where tortillas were made and a plate of mouth-watering chile rellenos could be had for some $2.
During the 60s there was even a department store downtown, called Fedway (I think). My family shopped there on our monthly trips to the ‘big city.’
Not to be flip, but I am not surprised by the crime problem: my guilty pleasure is to watch COPS on a Saturday night (not every Saturday, mind, just some Saturdays), and I find Albuquerque is often featured, usually along Central Avenue near downtown.
ABQ’s been known to be a rough city. As for that downtown… I bet it made you glad you live in Denver! Though there was one possibly neat element about that plaza, and that was what appears to be the solar array that serves as a shade. And if that was not a solar array, what a complete waste of opportunity!
Houston is another of those desolate downtowns at night that brings similar warnings.
I talked with a computer tech (a medium height tough guy in his late 20s or early 30s) working for a law firm in a decaying part of downtown LA whose employer simply would not permit him to walk two blocks down the street (in visible sight of the office) to his hotel at night, and instead required him to get a cab.