Calling it Quits

For over three years now, I’ve been running this little blog about Albuquerque. When I started it, the purpose of it was to keep track of any construction projects that interested me. I also used it to collect news stories about these projects, as well as those on the future of growth and transportation in Albuquerque. I think I was able to do these two things very well in this blog. However, I’ve recently found myself wanting more from my blog, but Big ABQ Things, as I had designed it, couldn’t accommodate my changing interests.

Firstly, I felt that the style of most of my blog posts lent a blank and unemotional tone to these stories which I cared deeply about. In setting out to post about any interesting news that came my way, what I wound up doing was just re-posting the latest news stories, which I didn’t have much to say about, rather than talking about the larger issue at hand, which I had much to say about but couldn’t fit into the context of a recent news story. I wanted to broaden my view, to flesh out my thoughts, to bring my voice out through all of this.

Secondly, in simply following any construction projects that happened in Downtown or Nob Hill, I felt like my blog was becoming little more than a mouth piece for new urbanists and developers, which was never my intention. I wanted to record, and I think I’ve done that well – but I never wanted to promote. Again, I was talking about specifics when what I was really looking for was a broader context. My visits to other and much larger cities began to open my eyes, broaden my views, and changed my outlook on where Albuquerque stands in this world. Not to mention that I was warming to the fact that there was too many construction projects going on for one person to cover, and that there is only so much one can say about a certain building when you bring it up every month or so.

So today I announce that I’m dropping Big ABQ Things. The blog will remain for a little while, as a record of what has come before, but there will be no more posts.

However, this is not the end of my blogging life. Rather, I am merely changing my focus. I still want to talk about Albuquerque, and I still want to talk about the way the city is changing. But I’m through talking about specific buildings and projects – unless it is part of a larger context. I want to show more of my life and my thoughts in what I write. I wanted to write a more personal blog, but still with content that could get people to think about their urban environment.

This is why I also am announcing the start of Carfree in ‘Burque, a blog about living the carless life in Albuquerque. Oh, there are many things from Big ABQ Things that will filter into this new blog – an unusual love for buses and trains, and plenty of discussion about what the future holds for Albuquerque, which will involve Downtown, Nob Hill, and urban planning issues. But things that will not be moving over are the development updates or the reposted news stories.

I look forward to your thoughts on my thoughts.

Today I saw an article in the El Paso Times about El Paso mayor John Cook's plan to revitalize Downtown El Paso, build more parks and enhance mass transit. It mentions the Rail Runner, which is how it caught my eye.

Cook said his top priority will continue to be improving the city's Sun Metro bus system and use that as a steppingstone toward a light-rail system.

"Probably, one of my grandchildren would be mayor at the time and ensure that my vision is executed," he said. "It's definitely outside of four years."

The city is in the process of building four new Sun Metro bus terminals at a cost of $29 million. U.S. taxpayers are paying for about 85 percent, and city taxpayers for about 15 percent.

This is the first step toward creating a more modern bus system that gets away from what Cook called the "hub and spoke system," where everyone who wants to go across town needs to make a stop in Downtown El Paso.

Buses will eventually travel along the city's major corridors in dedicated lanes and have the ability to control traffic signals for more efficient travel, the mayor said.

The first leg of this bus-rapid transit system could be completed by late 2011, or perhaps even sooner, "if we get some more federal stimulus dollars or if it's in the (federal) transportation appropriations bill," Cook said.

The city, Cook said, has also entered into preliminary talks with the state of New Mexico and Burlington Northern, which has existing railroad track between Las Cruces and El Paso. The goal is to create a leg of New Mexico's commuter train, the Rail Runner, between the two cities.

The estimated price tag would be about $45 million, or $1 million per mile, he said.

"President Obama has been talking about a second round of stimulus being for mass transit," the mayor said.

Cook estimates that 15,000 people travel back and forth between El Paso and Las Cruces each day.

"New Mexico has the trains, Burlington Northern has the track, and El Paso has the people," Cook said.

Cook also envisions one day having a short light-rail or "people mover" line that would connect El Paso and Juárez using an existing train bridge between the cities.

Maybe Albuquerque could take a few pointers from our neighbor to the south? We've got the Rail Runner, but they've got a better plan for their bus system.

The Rebranding of Downtown Albuquerque

From the Downtown Action Team website:

Downtown Albuquerque is the economic, social and cultural center of New Mexico. It is here that first-class restaurants, hotels, exciting and unique entertainment venues, boutiques and some of the trendiest and most historic places to live all merge to comprise a unique urban experience – one that pays tribute to the past while looking to the future. Downtown Albuquerque is unlike any other Downtown in the country!

Something's off here...

First off, Downtown Albuquerque is not the economic center of New Mexico. According to MRCOG, Kirtland AFB/Sandia Labs has more jobs than Downtown, and Downtown is only one of many job centers in the city, with the UNM area, Uptown, the Jefferson/North I-25 corridor all major centers growing alongside downtown, likely along with Mesa del Sol in the future.

It's also not the social center of New Mexico. It's not even the social center of Albuquerque. People may come to downtown to work or drink, but I seriously doubt it's the social center of the city. The truth is, there is no one social center of the city - I think more people would point to the malls, UNM, or the stadiums instead of downtown - and given how large the city is and how it has developed, it'd be impossible, if not just plain foolish, to create a signal social center.

So is it the cultural center of New Mexico? Well, that's a tougher call, because that's such a vague term. What is a "cultural center"? I assume it would be a center of culture. But what defines culture? I thought the following definition from Wikipedia was good: "the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution, organization or group." But if that's culture, then every place would have a culture. Downtown has a culture. UNM has a culture. Ventana Ranch has a culture. So by this defintion, how could there be a cultural center? Perhaps by culture, they mean "high culture", or fine arts. But this can't be what they mean, because Santa Fe clearly has the goods on high culture in this state, and Downtown Albuquerque doesn't have that many art galleries. Or perhaps by a "cultural center", they mean a place where many cultures converge, congregate, and mingle - which is the key to how every metropolitan area got so big. So is Downtown Albuquerque the cultural center of the state? Again, my answer is no - I see little indication that many cultures converge in Downtown. But I do see evidence at UNM. And now they've got that whole "International District" thing in the Southeast Heights.

0 for 3.

So what is Downtown Albuquerque? Well, let's see...there is a transportation center. So it is the bus/train center in the city. There are office buildings, so it is an office center of the city (not the center, but a center). Of course, a lot of those offices are there because the city and county governments are there, so downtown is the government center of the metro area. The convention center is in downtown, but I'm not sure downtown is the convention center...I see a lot of big events going on at the Pit, the Fairgrounds, and even the casinos instead of downtown. There's lots of bars and theaters (and bar/theaters) in downtown, so it is a nightlife center (I hesitate to say the nightlife center, since Nob Hill is also pretty happening on Saturday nights). There are housing developments, but only a few - and some of them haven't sold well (I think it's pretty telling when the only two construction projects in the downtown core now are two affordable housing developments which both required public financing) - but there is a lot of single-family housing in the immeadiately surrounding neighborhoods.

Oh yeah, and there's parking lots. Lots of parking lots.

So there you go, Downtown. You're the government and public transit center of the city. You've also got a lot of offices and nightlife. And a lot of parking.

That's got to count for something.

Perhaps it's time to take a step back. Let's stop trying to make downtown into something it is not. Downtown isn't some ultra hip urban center with a great vibe. It's not the bustling center of a large metropolitan area. And while there are some old buildings left, Downtown ain't much of a historical center given how many structures were razed in the 1960s and 70s.

We don't need fancy lofts downtown and we certainly don't need no damn arenas. And maybe this downturn in the economy can push us away from such trivial pursuits which are sure to run into the brick wall of reality. No, let's start small. These affordable housing projects going up in downtown now could be just the start - intelligently designed (and by that I mean "mixed-income" and "attractive") developments that will bring people to the area, which will stimulate retail in downtown, something that is desperately lacking today. More housing downtown, along with enhanced public transit options such as the Rail Runner and better bus service, can also bring more offices downtown, since employers want to build where their employees can easily access them. Maybe we could also build a couple of nice city parks in downtown, to further improve the image. And thus the cycle begins - more jobs and retail will make more downtown more attractive to people looking for a place to live.

Downtown doesn't have to be the center. And why should it? Rather, let's make it an urban village, connected to Albuquerque's other urban villages along major transit corridors. New highrises will come when the market decides Downtown is ready for them. By expanding downtown's residential base (be it publicly financed affordable housing or student housing) and improving public transit access, we can bring the density to Downtown and fulfill the vision illustrated in the 2010 plan:

I want to say something which I’ve been meaning to say for a while. Basically, I want to explain why I never manage to update this blog now.

Over the past few years I’ve made it a hobby of mine to cover new developments and construction in the center of Albuquerque – Downtown, UNM, Nob Hill, and Uptown to a limited extent. Over this same period of time, I have gone from raving fan of this stuff to skeptical onlooker, a fact I don’t think has really been represented in this blog.

Most people who read this blog seem to take that I’m a member of Albuquerque’s small community of online urbanists (everyone on SkyscraperCity, Tim from UrbanABQ, etc.) – those guys who cheer for skyscrapers and the streetcar. They’ve been my primary audience in this blog. But in talking with these folks, I’ve picked up on some subtle (and some not-so-subtle) differences between me and them.

One of the biggest differences I’ve noticed between me and my urbanist friends is that every time they go to a major city and return, they talk about all the cool stuff they saw there, and how it sucks that Albuquerque has none of that. I never really did this for a couple reasons – the first was that I only experienced a major city recently and did not know enough to really compare cities, but when I finally did start going to major cities, the feeling I brought back to Albuquerque was very different. Instead of “Oh, if only we could be like them” or “If only we could have what that city has,” my attitude was “We’re just not like them” and “Well, we don’t have that, because we’re just not that city.”

Don’t get me wrong, I love visiting big cities. Within the last three years I’ve been to San Diego, San Francisco, Denver, St. Louis, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and within the next few months I will be going to New York City. I love seeing what they have, but never did the thought of “If only we had this in Albuquerque” pass through my mind. (Except for light rail, but that’s different.)

I’ve grown familiar with the world-weary sighs of my urbanist friends when they start talking about a certain development which disappointed them. “When will this city learn?” “This city could be so great, why does it act like such a backwater?” “Those damned NIMBYs.” The last comment I always manage to hear. Those NIMBYs. Yes, those damned anti-growth NIMBYs who stop every good development in this town and prevent Albuquerque from being a great city. Now, after a while of hearing this I had to stop and reflect. “Anti-growth” and “anti-development” are just other ways of saying “Anti-progress.” No one is anti-progress, it’s just one of those terms people throw out to discredit their opponents. “Progress” is always a matter of personal opinion, and “NIMBY” is a label applied to your faceless opponent.

Now, it’s fine to criticize developments, it’s fine to tell the world what you’d do different, but after months of hearing this it became apparent that my urbanist friends were seeking something very distinctly un-Albuquerque.

It’s bizarre to be residing in a city where people have such a high opinion of where they live, which is even weirder given how Pittsburgh’s neighbor cities mock it (that, or maybe they’re jealous of the winning football team). Pittsburgh has a very Midwestern attitude about it. Coming from a place where people actively put down where they live, it’s a pretty radical change. But what’s weirder is how people will defend their city to death (even when it clearly has problems), going out of their way to avoid hearing about where you come from, or telling you their (usually deeply flawed) perceptions of where you come from. Civic pride can be a great thing, but it has a dark side. A little humility never hurt anyone, New Mexico.

So when I hear my urbanist friends chanting for downtown arenas, for streetcars, for taller buildings, only now do I realize that they are asking for something which most people in Albuquerque are hotwired to reject. And maybe that’s not such a bad thing. I’ve stopped taking for granted that such things are wholly beneficial. But furthermore, it’s simply not part of the culture here, and the elements and industries that allowed other American cities to grow large were never present in Albuquerque, at least not in the quantities that other cities had.

It’s also, I find, a flawed way of looking at the city as a concept. People are demanding major league sports teams, skyscrapers, etc. without really thinking about the fundamental elements which generate these sorts of things. We’re asking for window dressing when we haven’t even built the structure yet.

Anyway, I meant to bring this all back to the simple question of why I haven’t been as active on this blog lately. Simply put, my feelings have shifted. I’ve used this webspace to essentially advertise development projects in downtown and Nob Hill when I knew something was fundamentally flawed with this cheery picture. I think it’s time to accept where Albuquerque is in the world. We can improve it in our image, but it’s time to realize that the full urban experience is not something that’s going to happen in Albuquerque, nor should it necessarily happen here.

It's the Pitts

I'm back in Pittsburgh for the summer, so don't expect much for the next three months. Heck, if my current trend continues, it may be a long, long time until I update this blog again.

Light rail debate returns?

KOB-TV had an interesting story today...

Mayor fights city council over light rail train

A proposed light rail train that would zip through Albuquerque is sparking debate between the mayor’s office and city council.

The mayor’s newest plan for a modern rail system will allow visitors to step on board at the Sunport and then head to Downtown Albuquerque, where they could pick up the Rail Runner.

But City Councilor Michael Cadigan says getting money for the train would derail a lot of other projects in need of cash—project funded by federal stimulus money.

"That federal stimulus money should go either into traditional mass transit projects like Rapid Ride or just good old fashioned buses or to I-25, Paseo del Norte and Jefferson--which is badly in need of being rebuilt,” Cadigan said.

Running from the Sunport along University, the rail would bring sports fans to Isotopes Park, The Pit, and University Stadium. It will also stop at CNM and UNM campuses before heading down Central to the Downtown transit center.

But city councilors voted to remove the rail project from the list of transportation projects the city is submitting to the federal government in hopes of getting stimulus money.

Mayor Martin Chavez said the city council is stopping a project the federal government is giving New Mexico money for.

"What the council has done is said that even if President Obama wants to build it for us and operate for us, we're not going to do it and I think that's just foolhardy,” he said.

Chavez vetoed the council’s decision to remove the $130 million rail project.

Cadigan says he is tired of fighting the mayor on the issue.

"This constant trying to slip it into other funding sources is just not right,” he said.

Chavez says he will continue pushing to get the light rail built.

"I mean why would anyone want to turn down a $130 million which ultimately the city will have a rail system and if somebody else is going to pay for it, I think that's a great deal,” he said.

Cadigan says after looking at the city charter, he is not sure the mayor can even exercise a veto on the bill because it isn’t part of the city budget.

He is asking councilors to override the veto at the next council meeting later in May.

I like the idea of an airport-downtown train, and if we're going for full-on light rail, that's awesome. But when the hell did the plans change? I thought we were talking about a Central Avenue streetcar - what happened? I mean, I think I like the idea of light rail to the airport more than a streetcar on Central, but this constant switching of plans is getting ridiculous. Or am I just lazy and missed something?

The Beginnings of a Bicycle Boulevard

Walking down Silver Avenue south of UNM, I saw a bunch of these:


This is one of the pavement markings for the new Bicycle Boulevard system which has been talked about for months. These markings, along with some new street signage (which has yet to be installed) will make the presence of bicyclists clearer to motorists.

Along Silver Avenue south of UNM (I haven't checked east or west of there yet) there's about one pavement marking per intersection (for either westbound or eastbound traffic), except at the intersections of arterial streets, where there are two (for both directions of traffic).

I wonder what "CYC" stands for...I guess it could be an abbreviated form of the word "Cyclist", or it could be referring to the artificial intelligence project that seeks to enable AI applications to perform human-like reasoning. But why? And what does it have to do with the bike boulevard? Is a race of bicycle-riding robots envisioned as a means to enslave humanity? Or is "CYC" a secret code? "Caution: Yellow Cyclists"? "Cantankerous Yippies Close"? "Cover Your Crack"?

I guess we'll never know...