Albuquerque

Understand

History

Albuquerque was founded in 1706 as a small Spanish settlement on the banks of the Rio Grande and was named for the Duke of Alburquerque (hence Albuquerque's nickname, "The Duke City"). In the 1880s the railroad came to town, and almost overnight a new city grew up around the train tracks a couple of miles away from the original settlement. This "New Town" became the hub of commerce for the state, and the city grew exponentially (eventually the "New Town", which today is Downtown, and the original "Old Town" settlement were joined to become part of the same city).

In the 1920s the federal government designated a series of highways that ran from Chicago to Los Angeles as Route 66, and Albuquerque was one of the towns "The Mother Road" passed through. Starting in the 1950s, Albuquerque grew exponentially given federal investment in the local military bases and a massive influx of visitors and new residents, and for the most part it hasn't slowed down. Today, Albuquerque is still the hub of commerce and transportation in the state. While Santa Fe is the state capital and the principal tourist destination of New Mexico, Albuquerque is the state's only truly urban area, with a city population of over 500,000 and a metropolitan population of nearly a million people. This is where you'll find the headquarters of the state's businesses, the University of New Mexico, and the Albuquerque International Sunport, the only major airport in the state.

Climate

Albuquerque is in the high semi-desert [35.11N −106.64W (Elev. 4989 ft/1521 m)] and has a generally warm, dry climate with four distinct seasons. Spring is sunny and windy, although temperatures at night can be unexpectedly cool. Summers are hot (highs average around 93°F, lows 68°F, and it's not unheard of for highs to climb upwards to 100°F with lows of 73°F or above) and still mainly dry, but monsoonal conditions develop in July or August and produce furious if short-lived thunderstorms. Have rainwear available in the summer, although you won't use it most days. Fall is delightful, with comfortable temperatures and a return to generally dry conditions. Winter can be blustery, with overnight lows below freezing, but subzero temperatures are rare. One winter-weather issue for the traveler: snow, while infrequent and short-lived, does occur, and its relative rarity means that local drivers don't deal with it well. If you happen to be in town for a snowstorm, expect road chaos far out of proportion to the amount of snow that falls.

People

Albuquerque's demographics are reflective of New Mexico as a whole. While Albuquerque does have a large non-native population, the city's makeup is predominantly white and/or Hispanic, with a significant population of Native Americans. These groups are spread throughout the city, but the largest concentrations of Hispanics are found in the South Valley (along the river on the south side of town) and in the Southeast Heights near Kirtland Air Force Base. The Southeast Heights is where you'll also find a large foreign-born population, with significant groups of Vietnamese, Taiwanese, Central American, African, and Middle Eastern descent.

Albuquerque is a casual town: expect shorts, a T-shirt, and sandals to be entirely acceptable almost everywhere. It's also a very humble city, with something of a self-deprecating vibe; you may hear a local remark on how backwards and small it is compared to larger Western cities, though this frequently gets rebuked with a passion from locals who adore their home. Either way, people here tend to be extremely friendly and exhibit very little pretension.

Visitor information

Get in

By car

Two interstate highways pass through: I-40 goes east–west and I-25 goes north–south. Where they meet is a large intersection called "The Big I". Albuquerque's Central Ave. is part of old Route 66. A minor note of caution: I-25 south of the city is a "safety corridor" in which state law mandates higher fines for traffic violations. Enforcement is spotty, but take the speed limits seriously anyway.

By plane

Go Albuquerque International Sunport (ABQ)

The major air hub for all of New Mexico. Alaska, Allegiant, American, Delta, JetBlue, and United serve the Sunport with limited service from their respective major hubs, but it's Southwest Airlines that operates most traffic into ABQ, with direct service from most western cities and from some of Southwest's hubs in the Midwest and eastern United States.

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One tip: If you're prone to airsickness, try to get flights into this airport that arrive either before noon or after sundown, particularly during late spring and early summer. The high elevation, hot sun, and spring winds combine to produce thermals that can make afternoon arrivals an extremely bumpy proposition. There are no major safety issues (the airport's runways are long, owing to the adjacent Air Force base, with no nearby obstacles to run into), but try telling your stomach that! The rough ride is less of a problem with outbound flights.

Incidentally, this airport has a number of attractive displays of New Mexican arts and crafts, and is a more pleasant place than most airports to kill time while waiting for a flight. The Sunport also has charging stations for electronics and free wireless internet access. The major car rental companies are nearby, with a shuttle from the airport to the large rental center. The airport is served by a number of shuttle services and by local bus #50 on the lower level at the west end of the shuttle island.

By train

Albuquerque is a layover stop along Amtrak's Southwest Chief daily train route. The station is at the Alvarado Transportation Center, in downtown at 320 First St SW (in the same building as the Greyhound depot). The westbound train to Los Angeles is scheduled to arrive at 3:55PM and departs at 4:45PM. The eastbound train to Chicago arrives at 11:42AM and departs at 12:10PM. The station has a small cafeteria.

A commuter rail line, the New Mexico Rail Runner Express, connects Albuquerque to Santa Fe and to the smaller communities north and south along the Rio Grande, including Belen, Los Lunas, and Bernalillo to Belen as its southern terminus. The main station is at the Alvarado Transportation Center in Downtown, which has regular bus connections along Central Avenue and to the airport. The Rail Runner runs daily, although service can be limited outside the weekday rush hour periods. Fares are based on how far you ride; a day pass will usually be in the range of $4–10. Tickets can be purchased online or from ticket agents on the train.

By bus

Albuquerque has a fine bus depot at the Alvarado Transportation Center in downtown, 320 First St SW, which is served by Greyhound +1 505 243-4435, and Autobuses Americanos which provides bus service to many points in Mexico. The depot has a small cafeteria.

Get around

Albuquerque is a heavily planned city. In much of the city, the major roads are lined primarily with businesses with residential mazes on the insides. The city is divided into four quadrants, with street addresses taking the form "12345 Main St. (NE/NW/SE/SW)" in which the NE/NW/SE/SW suffix denotes the quadrant of the city containing the address. The railroad tracks, which run parallel to I-25, are the east–west dividing line, and Central Ave. is the north–south dividing line. Thus, the street address 3600 Menaul NE would be north of Central and east of the railroad tracks. This nomenclature, while useful in helping you with maps and directions, has the drawback that you can't tell whether a street runs north–south or east–west simply by looking at the address.

By and large it's difficult to get truly lost in Albuquerque, thanks in large part to the looming presence of the Sandia Mountains to the east. If you can also remember that I-25 runs north–south, I-40 runs east–west, and the Rio Grande runs along the bottom of the valley in the western part of the city, you should be able to make your way around the city without too many problems. Here are some basic terms that will come in handy when asking for directions or looking at a map:

• Central Avenue is a principal east–west artery, running roughly parallel to I-40 and through Downtown just west of I-25 and past the University of New Mexico (UNM for short) just east of I-25.
• The Heights are the eastern part of town closest to the Sandia Mountains. You may also hear reference to the Foothills, which are the most extreme eastern part of the city, right at the base of the mountains.
• Uptown is a business and shopping district in the Heights at I-40 and Louisiana Blvd.
• The North Valley and Los Ranchos de Albuquerque (which is a separate municipality from Albuquerque) encompass the area north of I-40 between I-25 and the river.
• The South Valley is the area south of Central Avenue west of I-25.
• The Westside is all the suburban neighborhoods on the western side of the river. Rio Rancho, a separate community from Albuquerque, is the metro area's largest suburb and can be considered a northern extension of the Westside. Sandwiched between Albuquerque and Rio Rancho is the village of Corrales, which sits adjacent to the river and has a more rural feel, with a single narrow roadway through town lined with picturesque adobe buildings, many of them containing locally owned shops.

By car

If you're driving, be prepared for frequent road construction. The city government web site gives information on major construction projects, but there are always minor ones going on. Several radio stations try to give traffic reports during morning and afternoon rush hours, but the service tends to come and go, and it's best to inquire locally as to which stations are offering it. KKOB-AM, 770 on the dial, seems to be fairly reliable for these reports. The interchange of I-40 and I-25 is commonly called "The Big I", and you will hear it referred to as such in traffic reports. Traffic congestion, while not nearly as horrible as some of the other cities in the Western U.S., can still get bad during the rush hour and on Saturdays. The two interstates and the river crossings usually have the worst congestion.

Many Albuquerqueans seem to consider I-40 and 25, which run through the city, to be their own personal expressways. The lack of turn signal usage is a running joke for most Albuquerque drivers, so watch for cars changing lanes without warning. However, Interstate traffic usually flows around the pace of the speed limit.

Driving while talking on your cell phone is illegal in Albuquerque unless you use a hands-free system.

By bus

ABQ Ride, +1 505 243-RIDE, is Albuquerque's public transit system. Despite some strides in ABQ Ride's development, Albuquerque is still primarily a driving city, so with the exception of Central Avenue public transit is still for the most part very underdeveloped. Most of ABQ Ride's routes spur out of the Alvarado Transportation Center in Downtown at Central Avenue & First Street, which also serves as Albuquerque's Amtrak station and Greyhound depot as well as a Rail Runner station. Bus service is reduced during the weekend.

The ART (formerly Rapid Ride) is an express bus service operated by ABQ Ride which runs frequently, utilizing bright red articulated buses. There are three routes: the #766 (Red Line) and #777 (Green Line) each run very frequently and almost entirely on Central Avenue, serving attractions such as the BioPark, Old Town, Downtown, UNM, Nob Hill, the fairgrounds, and Uptown; the #766 runs between Uptown and Unser/Central on the Westside, while the #777 runs between Downtown and Tramway/Central on the eastern edge of the city. Additionally, the #790 (Blue Line) connects UNM to the Cottonwood Mall area on the Westside, but runs less frequently than the Central Avenue lines and is geared more towards commuters. Local routes that are useful for visitors include the #50, which runs Monday–Saturday between the airport and Downtown; and #40 (the "D-Ride"), a free shuttle which circulates around Downtown on the weekdays.

For visitor access to the Sun Van paratransit service, call +1 505-243-7433 or at least two business days in advance.

All travel on ABQ Ride is free.

By bike

Albuquerque is fairly bikeable, but it's a sprawling Western city and things are spread out. It's hillier than it looks; Old Town and Downtown attractions are several hundred feet lower than things in the heights on the eastern side of the city; plan accordingly. Getting around by bike can be a mixed bag in Albuquerque: street cycling can be risky as drivers may not always be aware and most major streets lack bicycle lanes (and even those that do have lanes may require uncomfortably close proximity to fast traffic). On the other hand, Albuquerque has a very proactive cycling community and a splendid paved trail network which is undergoing an expansion phase.

The crown jewel in this network is the Paseo del Bosque Trail, which runs along the east side of the Rio Grande and offers lovely riverside scenery. Another backbone to the trail network is the North Diversion Channel Trail which runs from UNM north to Balloon Fiesta Park, and while not nearly as scenic as the Bosque trail (it runs along a concrete drainage channel and past some industry) it offers the occasional grand vista of the city. Another fun ride is the paved trail along Tramway Boulevard on the eastern edge of the city, which offers excellent views of the city and access to the foothills of the Sandia Mountains. You can find a complete bike map of all the trails, lanes, and recommended routes on the city's bicycling website.

By horse

A principal corridor for equestrian use is the Paseo del Bosque Trail. Trailhead parking lots are large and one, at the Los Ranchos open space in the North Valley, has a feed store, [https://www.millersfeedandsupply.com/ Miller's Feed].

Stay safe

Albuquerque has an average crime rate compared to some other American cities, but most of it is property crime of more concern to residents than to visitors.

Central Avenue is home to some of Albuquerque's main attractions, but portions of it can be somewhat dangerous after dark. The section from the train tracks (eastern edge of downtown) to University Blvd. can be a little scary in the evening. Even in Downtown, while Central Avenue is passable, smaller nearby streets such as Copper Street can be scary after dark. The Nob Hill/UNM district (between University and Carlisle) is perfectly safe at night, but Central gets progressively seedier east of Carlisle, and can get quite scary around the Fairgrounds. Consider the bus or a cab through these areas after the sun goes down. The motels by the airport and their parking lots are frequent sites for illicit deals of various types. If staying at one of these establishments, simply do not engage and nothing bad will happen.

Due to its size and mild climate, the streets of Albuquerque are considered home to many people. While not typically a danger, do expect to meet up with beggars and vagrants, particularly around UNM.

If you're going to be engaging in outdoor recreation (even as laid-back as watching an Isotopes day game), slather on the sun screen. The elevation of the city is 5000 ft or higher, and there is usually not much cloud cover, so one can get a bad sunburn in surprisingly short order.

Also, New Mexico is very arid. That, and its high altitude results in very low humidity in both summer and winter, which can lead to dehydration. Drink plenty of water. A common complaint among visitors from lower altitudes is a persistent headache, which is often mistaken for altitude sickness, but is really a common symptom of dehydration. Consider carrying a water bottle and drinking frequently throughout the day if you don't already.

Be forewarned about New Mexican cuisine; if you're not used to green chile, go easy at first. Many first-timers have tried to eat the hottest chile they could find, only to discover six hours later that it was much hotter than they remembered. Be prepared.

Go next

North of Albuquerque:

• Santa Fe, one of the world's great travel destinations, is about 60 mi to the north. The direct route is via I-25, but if you have time and the weather forecast is good, consider taking instead the "Turquoise Trail" (NM SR 14) on the east side of the Sandia Mountains. If you'd rather not drive, you can also take the Rail Runner commuter train straight into the heart of the city.
• If taking the Turquoise Trail, stop at Madrid, an artist community along the way. There's a small selection of galleries, a glass blower and decent tavern for lunch. Another attraction on the route is the Tinkertown Museum near Cedar Crest, which contains a large collection of wood carvings and Americana.
• Bernalillo is 15 mi north on I-25 and is connected via the Rail Runner commuter train. The Coronado State Monument is a notable attraction, as well as the Santa Ana Pueblo's casino and golf course, which are right next to Bernalillo.
• There are several Native American pueblos between Albuquerque and Santa Fe just off I-25. Some of them offers attractions and a chance to explore the area. If you have a few hours to kill, consider a detour to Cochiti Pueblo and the Kasha–Katuwe Tent Rocks National Monument. This little known monument, open for day use ($5/vehicle), contains some gorgeous natural scenery and geologic formations, such as a narrow slot canyon you can hike through. To get there, get off at the Santo Domingo Pueblo exit (Exit 259) and follow the signs up SR 22 and onto a gravel road to the monument.
• The pretty Jemez Mountains offer pleasant hiking and fishing in the summer and can be good for skiing and snowshoeing in the winter, although snowpack varies greatly from year to year and may be insufficient for winter sports. Take I-25 north to Bernalillo, then US 550 to San Ysidro, where NM 4 (502 on some maps) takes off through the astonishing red rock of San Diego Canyon and into the Jemez.
• Los Alamos and Bandelier National Monument are also to the north, and about as distant from Albuquerque via the Jemez route as via the Santa Fe route.
• Beyond Santa Fe lies the beauty and cultural color of north central New Mexico—Taos, Sangre de Cristo Mountains, etc.

South of Albuquerque:

• Isleta Pueblo, off of I-25 just south of the city, is a small Native American village with the St. Augustine Church, a large white mission and one of the oldest in the nation. Take the Isleta Pueblo exit (NM 314) and drive south until you reach the village.
• Belen is about 30 mi south and makes a good day trip.
• Mountainair, about a 90-min. drive southeast, is the home of the Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument, a superb collection of pueblo and Spanish mission ruins.
• If traveling south during the winter, be sure to stop at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, south of Socorro and covered in that community's article... and while you are down there, consider visiting the Very Large Array, one of the world's biggest radio telescope arrays.