This article is about the largest city of New Mexico. For other uses, see Albuquerque (disambiguation).

Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County, and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city had a total population of 448,607 as of the 2000 census. The metropolitan area has a population of roughly 750,000 and includes the city of Rio Rancho, one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. ABQ (a colloquialism for the city and also the code for the city's airport) is located where the Interstate highways I-40 and I-25 meet in an interchange which locals refer to as the "Big I." The city was founded in 1706 as the Spanish colonial outpost of Alburquerque; Albuquerque retains much Spanish cultural and historical heritage.

Albuquerque is home to the University of New Mexico (UNM) and Kirtland Air Force Base as well as Sandia National Laboratories and Petroglyph National Monument. The Sandia Mountains run along the eastern side of Albuquerque and the Rio Grande flows through the city north to south. Albuquerque's climate is usually sunny and dry, averaging no more than 10-12 inches (250 to 300 mm) of precipitation per year.

The city hosts the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta every October. The Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta started in 1972.

History

The old Spanish town of Alburquerque was founded in 1706 as a Spanish colonial outpost. Alburquerque was a farming community and strategically located military outpost along the Camino Real. The town of Alburquerque was built in the traditional Spanish village pattern: a central plaza surrounded by government buildings, homes, and a church. This central plaza area has been preserved and is open to the public as a museum, cultural area, and center of commerce. It is referred to as "Old Town Albuquerque" or simply "Old Town."

The village was named by the provincial governor Don Francisco Cuervo y Valdes in honour of the Duke of Alburquerque, viceroy of New Spain from 1702 to 1710. The first "r" in "Alburquerque" was dropped at some point in the 19th century, supposedly by an Anglo-American railroad station-master unable to correctly pronounce the city's name. In the 1990's, the Central Avenue Trolley Buses were emblazoned with the name Alburquerque (note the extra "r" as the fifth letter) in honor of the city's historic name. Throughout 2005 and 2006, the tricentennial celebration is taking place throughout the city.

During the Civil War Albuquerque was occupied in February 1862 by Confederate troops under General Henry Hopkins Sibley, who soon afterwards advanced with his main body into northern New Mexico. During his retreat from Union troops into Texas he made a stand on April 8, 1862 at Albuquerque. A day-long engagement at long range led to few casualties against a detachment of Union soldiers commanded by Colonel Edward R. S. Canby.

When the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad arrived in 1880, it bypassed the Plaza, locating the passenger depot and railyards about two miles east in what quickly became known as New Albuquerque or New Town. Old Town remained a separate community until the 1940s when it was absorbed by the City of Albuquerque, which had been incorporated in 1891.

New Albuquerque quickly became a tidy southwestern town which by 1900 boasted a population of 8,000 inhabitants and all the modern amenities including an electric street railway connecting Old Town, New Town, and the recently established UNM campus on the East Mesa. In 1902 the famous Alvarado Hotel was built adjacent to the new passenger depot and remained a symbol of the city until it was torn down in 1970 to make room for a parking lot. In 2002, the Alvarado Transportation Center was built on the site in a manner resembling the old landmark. It functions as the downtown headquarters for the city's transit department, and serves as an intermodal hub for local buses, Greyhound buses, and the Rail Runner commuter rail line.

New Mexico's dry climate brought many tuberculosis patients to the city in search of a cure during the early 1900s, and several sanitaria sprang up on the East Mesa to serve them. Presbyterian Hospital and St. Joseph Hospital, two of the largest hospitals in the city, had their beginnings during this period. Influential New Deal-era governor Clyde Tingley and famed southwestern architect John Gaw Meem were among those brought to New Mexico by tuberculosis.

The first travelers on Route 66 appeared in Albuquerque in 1926, and before long dozens of motels, restaurants, and gift shops had sprung up along the roadside to serve them. Route 66 originally ran through the city on a north-south alignment along Fourth Street, but in 1937 it was realigned along Central Avenue, a more direct east-west route. The intersection of Fourth and Central downtown was the principal crossroads of the city for decades. The majority of the surviving structures from the Route 66 era are on Central, though there are also some on Fourth.

The establishment of Kirtland Air Force Base and Sandia National Laboratories, in 1939 and 1949, respectively, would make Albuquerque a key player the Atomic Age. Meanwhile, the city continued to expand outward onto the East Mesa, reaching a population of 200,000 by 1960.

As Albuquerque spread outward, the downtown area fell into a decline. Many historic buildings were razed in the 1960s and 1970s to make way for new plazas, highrises, and parking lots as part of the city's urban renewal project. Only recently has downtown come to regain some of its lost urban character, mainly through the construction of new loft apartment buildings and the renovation of historic structures like the KiMo Theater.

Urban trends and issues

Recently, government leaders and many citizens in the city have actively pursued urban projects taken on by cities many times larger. A huge push has resulted in the revitalization of downtown, creating restaurants, offices, and residential lofts. The strip of Central Avenue between First and Eighth streets has become a bustling, albeit short, hub of urban life, creating a big-city feel. Alvarado provides convenient access to other parts of the city. Now, the mayor wants to tackle a rapid transit project to ease some of the city's traffic woes. Light rail is being considered and would initially extend up the Central Avenue corridor from the westside, through downtown, past UNM and the Nob Hill district, and into the Uptown Area [1]. The system would later be expanded to cover Rio Rancho and the Northeast.

Some citizens and city councilors, especially from the semi-rural pockets in the city, fear Albuquerque may be "growing up too quickly." Their idea is to keep Albuquerque small and sleepy, avoiding increasing crime and traffic, worsening air quality, and encroachment of the fragile bosque. For instance, 1995's controversial construction of the MontaГ±o Bridge crossing at the Rio Grande resulted in the corridor only being striped for two lanes. Recognizing the need for all four lanes of travel originally intended, the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce passed a board position in 2003 supporting the opening of two additional lanes [2]. They claim this measure is necessary to ease West Side] traffic woes. Another road issue is the extension of Paseo del Norte on the westside, which could cause increased traffic through Petroglyph National Monument.

Elsewhere, a sort of middle ground has been struck with the passage of the West Side Strategic Plan, which provides strict rules concerning building permits for the extreme western fringes of the city [3]. This act is to encourage in-filling developments and discourage the fleeing of wealthy residents to outlying suburban areas, leaving an impoverished central city. In fact, Albuquerque has always been made efficient land use. Urban sprawl is roughly bound by the Pueblo of Sandia to the north, the Pueblo of Isleta and Kirtland Air Force Base to the south, the Sandia Mountains to the east and Petroglyph National Monument to the west, making sense to reuse land within the city. For instance, a gas station along Eubank Boulevard that closed in 2001 was replaced by a strip mall in a matter of months.

Partly because of the aforementioned geographical and legislative constraints, much of the growth in the metropolitan area is taking place outside of the City of Albuquerque itself. In Rio Rancho to the northwest, the communities east of the mountains, and the incorporated parts of Valencia County population growth is upwards of twice that of the city. The primary cities in Valencia County are Los Lunas and Belen, both of which are home to booming industrial complexes and new residential subdivisions. Rapid growth in the area is a very real and very recent thing. The Mid Region Council of Governments (MRCOG), which includes constituents from throughout the Albuquerque area, was formed to insure that these governments along the middle Rio Grande would be able to meet the needs of their rapidly rising populations. MRGOC's cornerstone project is the New Mexico Rail Runner Express, a commuter rail line that serves the region [4]. Phase I, which runs on existing Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway tracks between Belen and Bernalillo, is set to begin operation in Fall, 2005, with stops at the urban centers along the way.

In the summer of 2005, ACORN community groups placed a minimum wage initiative on the October 4th ballot. The initiative would have created a city wide minimum wage of $7.50. The measure was defeated by less than one percent.

Climate and geography

Albuquerque's climate is usually sunny and dry with low amounts of humidity. The sun shines more than 280 days a year. Average winter daytime highs are in the upper 40s to low 50s Fahrenheit while dropping into the mid 20s F overnight. The odd time the snow falls in Albuquerque (lots of snow falls in the nearby Sandia Mountains,) it normally melts in the morning. Summertime daytime highs are normally in the low to mid 90s F while dropping into the 60s F overnight, but it's a very dry heat (considering Albuquerque is located in a desert). Albuquerque receives very little rain: only 8.5 inches (216 mm) a year. The Sandia Mountains - named for the watermelon red the mountains turn at dusk- are the predominant geographical feature visible in Albuquerque. The clouds as well as the mountains often turn spectacular colors in the evening.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 469.5 kmВІ (181.3 miВІ). 467.9 kmВІ (180.6 miВІ) of it is land and 1.7 kmВІ (0.6 miВІ) of it is water. The total area is 0.35% water.

Albuquerque is located at 35В°6'39" North, 106В°36'36" West (35.110703, -106.609991)^GR1.

Distances

• Dallas: 645 miles (1038 km) northwest.
• Denver: 445 miles (716 km) south-southwest.
• Phoenix, Arizona: 465 miles (748 km) east northeast.
• Salt Lake City: 620 miles (998 km) southeast.

Terrain

The Sandia Mountains which include Sandia Peak are situated to the East of the city. The Sandia Peak Tramway runs from the base of the mountain to the peak, and is the longest aerial tramway in the world.

"Sandia" comes from the Spanish for "watermelon". The name is a reference to the mountain's reddish color during sunsets.

The Rio Grande (Spanish for "great river") flows North to South through the city and supports a riparian forest habitat called a "bosque."

Interestingly enough, Albuquerque has one of the highest altitudes of any major city in the United States. The elevation of the city ranges from 4900 feet (1490 m) above sea level near the Rio Grande (in the Valley) to 6500 feet (1980 m) in the Northeast Heights. At the airport, the elevation is 5352 feet (1631 m) above sea level.

Quadrants

Albuquerque is geographically divided into four quadrants which are officially part of the mailing address. They are NE (northeast), NW (northwest), SE (southeast), and SW (southwest). The north-south dividing line is Central Avenue (the path that Route 66 took through the city) and the east-west dividing line is the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks. Although this is technically the division of the city, in casual conversation Albuquerqueans sometimes use the perpendicular interstates I-25 and I-40 to divide the city into quadrants.

Northeast quadrant

This quadrant has been experiencing a housing expansion since the late 1950s. It abuts the base of the Sandia Mountains and contains portions of the Sandia Heights neighborhoods, which are situated in or near the foothills and are significantly higher, in elevation and price range, than the rest of the city. Running from Central Ave. and the railroad tracks to the Sandia Peak Aerial Tram, this is the largest quadrant both geographically and by population. The University of New Mexico, the Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, the Uptown area which includes both Coronado and Winrock malls, Journal Center, Balloon Fiesta Park, and Albuquerque Academy are all located in this quadrant. Some of the most affluent regions of the city are located here, including the Las Lomas-Roma neighborhood, the Netherwood Park neighborhood, the Academy Hills neighborhood, and many neighborhoods in the far northeast corner stretching beyond the actual city limits into Sandoval County.

Northwest quadrant

This quadrant contains historic Old Town Albuquerque, which dates back to the 1700s, as well as the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. The area has a mixture of commercial, low-income, middle-income, and some of the most expensive homes in the city. Northwest Albuquerque includes the largest section of downtown, the Rio Grande Nature Center State Park and the Bosque ("woodlands" Cottonwood forest), the Petroglyph National Monument, Double Eagle II Airport, the historic Martineztown neighborhood, and Cottonwood Mall. Additionally, the "North Valley" area, which includes some small ranches and expensive residential homes along the Rio Grande, is located in this quadrant. The City of Albuquerque borders the villages of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque and Corrales in the northwest valley. The rapidly-developing area on the west side of the river is known as the "West Side" or "West Mesa" and consists primarily of traditional residential subdivisions. Here the city proper is bordered on the north by the City of Rio Rancho.

Southeast quadrant

Kirtland Air Force Base, Sandia National Laboratories, the Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute main campus, the Albuquerque International Sunport, University Stadium, Isotopes Park, and University Arena ("The Pit") are located in the Southeast (SE) quadrant.

The Nob Hill and East Downtown (EDo) neighborhoods lie along Central Avenue, the border between the Southeast and Northeast quadrants. The expensive residential developments of Four Hills and Ridgecrest are also located in this quadrant. In sharp contrast to these upscale developments, however, some of the most poverty-stricken neighborhoods in the city are also located in Southeast Albuquerque. During the past twenty years, the SE area, mainly around Gibson Blvd. and Central Ave., has become the highest crime area in the city. These neighborhoods are sometimes referred to as the "war zone."

Southwest quadrant

Traditionally consisting of agricultural and rural areas, the Southwest quadrant is often referred to as the "South Valley". Although the city limits of Albuquerque do not include all of the area, the South Valley is considered to extend all the way to the Isleta Indian Reservation. This includes the old communities of Kinney, Los Padillas, Mountainview, and Pajarito. The south end of downtown Albuquerque and the Bosque ("woodlands" cottonwood forest), the historic Barelas neighborhood, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, the Rio Grande Zoo, and Tingley Beach are also located here.

The southwest area is currently undergoing rapid and controversial development, including large retail stores and quickly-built subdivisions.

Points of interest

• Albuquerque Biological Park
• Albuquerque Aquarium
• Albuquerque Museum
• Anderson-Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum
• Eclipse Aviation
• Indian Pueblo Cultural Center
• Kirtland Air Force Base
• Maxwell Museum of Anthropology
• National Atomic Museum
• National Hispanic Cultural Center
• Old Town Albuquerque
• Petroglyph National Monument
• Rio Grande Botanic Garden
• Rio Grande Nature Center and Trail
• Rio Grande Zoo
• Sandia National Laboratories
• Sandia Peak Aerial Tram
• Tingley Beach
• University of New Mexico
• University of New Mexico Arboretum
• University of New Mexico Art Museum (includes Jonson Gallery)

Historic landmarks

• Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse
• First National Bank Building
• Jones Motor Co.
• KiMo Theater
• Kress Store
• La Posada de Albuquerque
• Santa Fe Railway Shops
• Occidental Life Building
• Old Albuquerque High School
• Old Post Office
• Rosenwald Building
• San Felipe de Neri Church
• Simms Building
• Southwestern Brewing & Ice Co.
• Sunshine Building

Skyline

10 Tallest Buildings in Albuquerque

Culture and technology

• A distinctive architecture that celebrates the Pueblo tradition characterizes many buildings in the city as well as the entire campus of the University of New Mexico.

• In Looney Tunes cartoons Bugs Bunny often found upon arriving at the wrong place that he had taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque (sometimes he should have taken a left, others a right). This gag first appeared in Herr Meets Hare (Freleng, 1945), a cartoon which was notable for featuring caricatures of Hermann GГ¶ring and Hitler.

• Even near the center of town, rural characteristics such as the sounds of roosters crowing are not uncommon.

• Tricklock Company is Albuquerque's only international touring theatre company. Every January, Tricklock hosts the Revolutions International Theatre Festival, which brings in performers from around the world.

• The American Shakespeare Project is a local Shakespearean community theater company which is devoted to staging productions of Shakespeare's plays (and sometimes those of his contemporaries) with heavy emphasis on the textual authority of the First Folio.

• The New Mexico Symphony Orchestra performs and rehearses here at Popejoy Hall on the UNM campus.

• Albuquerque lies at the center of the New Mexico Technology Corridor, a band of high-tech private companies and government institutions along the Rio Grande. Larger institutions whose employees contribute to the population are numerous and include Sandia National Laboratories, Kirtland Air Force Base, and the attendant contracting companies which bring highly educated workers to a somewhat isolated region. Intel operates a large semiconductor factory or "fab" in neighboring Rio Rancho, New Mexico, in Sandoval County, New Mexico, with its attendant large-capital investment.

• The solar energy and architectural-design innovator Steve Baer located his company, Zomeworks, here in the late 1960s.

• Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory cooperate in an enterprise that began with the Manhattan Project.

Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there are 448,607 people, 183,236 households, and 112,690 families residing in the city. The population density is 958.9/kmВІ (2,483.4/miВІ). There are 198,465 housing units at an average density of 424.2/kmВІ (1,098.7/miВІ). The racial makeup of the city is 71.59% White, 3.09% Black or African American, 3.89% Native American, 2.24% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 14.78% from other races, and 4.31% from two or more races. 39.92% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 183,236 households out of which 30.2% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.6% are married couples living together, 12.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 38.5% are non-families. 30.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 8.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.40 and the average family size is 3.02.

In the city the population is spread out with 24.5% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 21.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 35 years. For every 100 females there are 94.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 91.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $38,272, and the median income for a family is $46,979. Males have a median income of $34,208 versus $26,397 for females. The per capita income for the city is $20,884. 13.5% of the population and 10.0% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 17.4% of those under the age of 18 and 8.5% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Educational institutions

Colleges and universities

• University of New Mexico (main campus)
• TVI Community College

Primary and secondary schools

• Albuquerque High School
• Albuquerque Academy

Sports

*The Scorpions plan to move to a new arena currently being built in neighboring Rio Rancho in 2006.

Transportation

Airports

• Albuquerque International Sunport
• Double Eagle II Airport (Civil, small-craft aviation)

Passenger rail

• Amtrak
• Rail Runner

Interstate highways

• Interstate 25
• Interstate 40

Local transit

• ABQ RIDE
• Rapid Ride

Media

Albuquerque is a media hub for much of New Mexico. These organizations are based in or have a significant presence in Albuquerque:

• Newspapers
  • Albuquerque Journal (mornings 7 days a week)
  • Albuquerque Tribune (afternoons Monday-Saturday)
  • New Mexico Business Journal
  • New Mexico Business Weekly
  • Weekly Alibi (Thursdays)
  • Crosswinds Weekly
  • Daily Lobo (University of New Mexico student newspaper)
• Radio (major stations - main article)
  • AM
    • KKOB (770 kHz, talk, "NewsRadio 770 KKOB," Citadel Broadcasting Corporation)
  • FM
    • KANW (89.1 MHz, NPR and Public Radio International, Albuquerque Public Schools)
    • KUNM (89.9 MHz, NPR and college radio, University of New Mexico)
    • KAGM (106.3 MHz, talk, "106.3 Talk FM", American General Media)
• Television (main article)
  • KASA (2, Fox, "Fox 2 News at Nine," Raycom Media)
  • KOB (4, NBC, "Eyewitness News 4," Hubbard Broadcasting Corporation)
  • KNME (5, PBS, University of New Mexico/Albuquerque Public Schools)
  • KOAT (7, ABC, "Action 7 News," Hearst-Argyle)
  • KRQE (13, CBS, "KRQE News 13," Emmis Communications, being sold to LIN TV)
  • KTFQ (14, Telefutura, Telefutura owned, Entravision operated)
  • KWBQ (19, The WB, "New Mexico's WB," ACME Communications)
  • KLUZ (41, Univision, Entravision)
  • KASY (50, UPN, "UPN 50," ACME Communications)

"Project for Excellence in Journalism" rating of local TV news http://www.journalism.org/resources/research/reports/localTV/2002/Local_TV_2002_study.pdf

Trivia

• When Bill Gates and Paul Allen were hammering out a BASIC operating system for the MITS Altair 8800, they lived at the Sundowner Motel, at 6101 Central Avenue N.E. The building has since been converted into a veterans' rehabilitation home. Their success at this venture led to the founding of Microsoft in Albuquerque in 1975. Microsoft's first official address was the One Park Central Tower on the northeast corner of San Mateo and Central Avenue (across the parking lot from the Bank of the West Tower building), where the company shared office space.

• In several Bugs Bunny cartoons, where Bugs would end up someplace that he didn't intend to be, he would always claim that "he made a wrong turn at Albuquerque".

• On his 1975 album Tonight's The Night, Neil Young recorded a song entitled Albuquerque.

• In February 1992, Stella Liebeck, a 79-year-old woman from Albuquerque, ordered coffee from the drive-thru of a local McDonald's restaurant on Central Avenue across from UNM. She then spilled the coffee on her lap while the car was parked, causing third-degree burns. She spent eight days in the hospital, where she received skin grafts. Her medical expenses for the trip were $11,000. In the famous McDonald's coffee case, the jury awarded $2.9 million, but the judge only required the restaurant to pay $640,000.

• Highland, the fictional home town of Beavis and Butt-head, is based on Albuquerque, the hometown of the show's creator, Mike Judge.

• In October 2001, an Albuquerque police officer and his civilian pilot made national news by landing their OH-58 Kiowa helicopter at the West Side Krispy Kreme outlet to pick up doughnuts.

• In April 2005, the so-called "runaway bride" Jennifer Wilbanks called police from an Albuquerque convenience store, ending a nationwide search and prompting a national media frenzy.

• Vivian Vance, who played the character of Ethel Mertz on the television show, I Love Lucy, always claimed Albuquerque as her home town, even though she was born in Cherryvale, Kansas. Vivian was a founding member of the Albuquerque Little Theatre. In fact the character of Ethel was noted as having been born in Albuquerque, and her show business education there was mentioned in episode #113, Ethel's Home Town.

• In August 2005, Albuquerque hosted the largest, most diverse poetry festival in the world at the 2005 National Poetry Slam (http://www.nps2005.org). 75 Teams of up to 5 poets competed over 4 days in a festival that drew 2,400 for a poetry event and 18-22,000 for the week. The home team won the title, which was the first time that has happened at Nationals since 1992.

• Featured on his 1999 album, Running with Scissors (album), Weird Al tells a fictional story concerning himself titled Albuquerque (song).

Sister cities

Albuquerque has nine sister cities, as designated by Sister Cities International, Inc. (SCI):

See also

• List of famous people from Albuquerque

External links

• Official government website
• Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce
• Duke City Fix

• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from Google Local or Yahoo! Maps
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
  • Satellite image from Google Local or Microsoft Virtual Earth

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