Bernalillo (Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Rio Rancho: rentals, crime, new home)

[Buzz123]

We are planning on moving to Bernalillo. Any comments on the area?

[rotorhead]

Try not to be there during the annual wine festival if you don't like crowds. The place is a madhouse. Not too many rentals, not that big a town. Increasingly big problem with traffic as ABQ edges as far north as it can go and the Santa Fe crowd decides it cheaper to live in Rio Rancho and commute. Lots of history there, but hard to find. Its actually older than Albuquerque depending on whose conquistador stories you believe.

[nmguy]

Bernalillo is a sleeping little giant.

A of couple housing developments and two RailRunner train stations have recently been built in the past couple of years.

Next year, there will be a new Wallmart, a new strip mall (just below Placitas on Hwy 165), and a new Flying Star restaurant.

The main street will also be reconfigured and improved within the next year or so to make it more pedestrian friendly.

With all the new growth in Bernalillo and adjacent Rio Rancho, traffic will become more problematical. I hope someone at DOT has some answers.

[Buzz123]

Sounds good. We like festivals, and historical places. We have made a contengency offer on a house right off the main drag in the Abenicio Salazar Historic District. I can walk to Starbucks and to The Range. We changed our mind on our first choice when we heard about the new Walmart going in 500 feet from our entrance. Then we met a burro and some sheep that will soon be our backyard neighbors and decided we liked them more than we would the Walmart customers, so we changed lots...same builder. My only worry was that sometimes an older area is also crime ridden, but we just felt like it was a really nice little downtown. We've been in Las Vegas for many years and have seen it grow from less than 200,000 to almost 2 million, so we're ready for smaller crowds and (a little) less traffic.

[Zoidberg]

If you ever drive through suburbs in a huge metro area (Atlanta, Phoenix, etc.) you will sometimes find a very blah suburb, wall-to-wall of identical subdivisions, with a quaint little historic town hidden at its center.

Bernalillo will be this way in a few years, if it isn't already.

[rotorhead]

Thats how gentrification works. Quaint to start with, overdeveloped to end. It'll be interesting to see how many of the original families hold out and for how long, with all that money circulating around. Personally, I like to see a few lots where they're still working the soil, but the developers just see that as another six or eight houses per acre.

[Buzz123]

Originally Posted by rotorhead

Thats how gentrification works. Quaint to start with, overdeveloped to end. It'll be interesting to see how many of the original families hold out and for how long, with all that money circulating around. Personally, I like to see a few lots where they're still working the soil, but the developers just see that as another six or eight houses per acre.

Also new homes raise the value of the land and the famers then can't afford the higher property taxes. I know the farmer behind the development where we will be is not happy with us being there, but since the houses will be built with or without us...well, we gotta live somewhere. I just hope the family who owns that farm will keep it as it is now.

[_yb]

Really sad to see a walmart going up in Bernalillo. Looks like just about every vacant lot along 550 in Bernalillo is the future home to something or another.

All that building is really going to put a burden on the already outdated and overworked hwy 550. DOT says 10 or so years for any major work on the 25/550 change. It's a good thing forest covington ponyed up 5 million in bribes to this states decision maker so they can be first in line with the road projects over at mesa del sol.

One of the DOT's ideas to ease traffic is to put a bridge river flyover at the 240 exit. I bet all those folks moving into those new homes in Bernalillo on the west side of the river will love that idea.

[rotorhead]

Yeah, we've seen how fast and smoothly the Montano bridge project worked.

Only takes one A-hole with money and influence living nearby to coldcock the whole thing for decades.

Check back in twenty years if you want to see the groundbreaking.

[Arctic Fox]

A lot of animals around. Water table is at 4-20 feet.