Mesa del Sol or Rio Rancho? (Albuquerque, Santa Fe: salon, apartments, houses)

[Bash On]

Hi All!

Moving back to Albuquerque soon. Used to live in Sandia Heights (early-mid 2000s) and then in Santa Fe (recently).

Looking for a new or newish home and Mesa del Sol and Rio Rancho fit my budget. I'll be working a few more years, with one day a week in the office, which will be downtown near the Federal courthouse. For one day a week, I can put up with less than ideal commuting traffic. Kids are grown so school districts are not a big concern.

Pros and Cons? Interested in long-term value primarily, and safety to a lesser extent. Any difference in long-term water availability or other issues like noise or other nuisances?

Many thanks for your input!

Regards,
Bash

[alloo66]

I'd go with Mesa Del Sol. shorter commute, less traffic, easier access to ABQ.

[DukeCityDenizen]

Mesa del Sol is really small right now and doesn't offer much yet in terms of amenities directly within its community. It's in its infancy as a community. However, it's part of the City of Albuquerque (which provides for its infrastructure like water) and near established areas in the South Valley, Downtown and the Southeast Heights. If you don't mind being something of a pioneer and having to drive to those established nearby places for most of your needs then I'd recommend Mesa del Sol. Rio Rancho also suffers from not having enough amenities in its own community, but it isn't nearly to the degree of Mesa del Sol.

Mesa del Sol is really starting to grow right now and it has about 1,000 new residential units planned or underway to go along with the 600 or so houses that exist there now. Those new units include the first multifamily community, the 318-unit Gateway Apartments. A new, small grocery store is also in the works for Mesa del Sol. The 6,000 sq ft Mesa Market is scheduled to open this summer. That will help greatly with having to go elsewhere for your daily needs in Mesa del Sol.

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerqu...sol-community/

The Mesa Market will be located on the ground floor of the Aperture Center which, as its name implies, is the center of the community. A microbrewery and salon are also scheduled to open in the building later this year. A coffee shop/restaurant and fitness center already exist in the building.

https://www.facebook.com/EateryABQ/

https://www.solfitnessabq.com/

https://www.newsbreak.com/news/24682...-to-debut-as-m

Mesa del Sol also has the Iselta Amphitheater, which hosts fairly big-name concerts. It also is home to the New Mexico United soccer club's practice facilities. Their development league affiliate has matches at the practice facility, so that offers something else to do within the community right now. Mesa del Sol is also being considered as the site for the team's permanent stadium.

https://www.livenation.com/venue/Kov...theater-events

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico_United

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico_United_U23

Mesa del Sol is also seeing great economic growth right now, led by the Netflix expansion of its Albuquerque Studios complex. The project is underway and will involve more than doubling the studio space and building a new backlot, mills, office buildings, commissary, etc. for Netflix's pledged $2 billion in productions over the next ten years in New Mexico.

The Mesa del Sol International School is also in the middle of building a new campus that is scheduled to open for the next school year later this summer.

https://www.facebook.com/TISNM/photo...60744145638357

I know that you said schools aren't an issue for you, but I wanted to mention some of what Mesa del Sol offers in this regard for anyone else who might be interested in the community.

[Bash On]

Thanks for your replies. I appreciate it!