EXPLORE ALBUQUERQUE

There is a wide variety of Albuquerque real estate property and homes for sale. The East Albuquerque community, which approaches the Sandia Mountains and contains some foothills neighborhoods, has experienced a housing expansion since the 1950s. Significantly higher in elevation and price range that the rest of the city, some of the more affluent neighborhoods, such as Four Hills, Ridgecrest, Nob Hill, and Sandia Heights are found here. Varied architectural styles may be found from traditional pueblo adobe homes to high tech green construction and re-developed downtown residential lofts. The West Albuquerque community includes downtown and historic Old Town, Rio Grande Nature Center, and the Bosque, or woodlands. More established neighborhoods include the North Valley, bordering Corrales, and features some fine homes and small ranches along the Rio Grande River. The rapidly developing west mesa, also known as the west side, features typical residential subdivisions with various Southwest style homes north to nearby suburb Rio Rancho.

What makes the Albuquerque community unique is the result of many different forces and centuries of history. The City’s official founding was in 1706, though the first Spanish explorers arrived here in approximately 1540 under General Francisco de Coronado when a group of colonists was granted permission by King Phillip of Spain to establish a new “Villa.” The colony’s Governor, Francisco Cuervo y Valdez, wrote a letter to the Duke of Alburquerque in Spain to report their new Villa, “La Villa de Alburquerque” was in honor of the Duke. Over time the first “r” was dropped.

The first Spanish settlers established the “San Felipe de Neri” church in what is today’s historic Old Town. Also in 1629, the Spanish Missionaries planted the first grape vines in New Mexico, making our state one of the oldest wine producing places in the nation. The area has much more lineage provided by Native Americans who settled this area for thousands of years.

Modern Albuquerque, also known as Duke City, has grown in population to a metropolis of 560,218 people of multi-cultures and is New Mexico’s largest city, serving as the county seat for Bernalillo County. Known as a high elevation city at approximately 5,300 feet, the city is divided by the Rio Grande River. Historic Route 66 offers a trail of vintage neon signs as it traverses the community.

Albuquerque is a center of high tech industries and research, including Sandia National Laboratory, Intel, University of New Mexico, OPTOMEC printing technology, and Eclipse Aerospace. There is a burgeoning film industry with film and television production, most noted for the series “Breaking Bad.” A thriving art community offers a variety of cultural events and museums. Kirtland Air Force base anchors the southeast quadrant of the city.

Forbes named Albuquerque one of the best cities for retirement, ranking it highly in categories of good weather, low taxes, below-average cost of living, and parks, swimming pools, and running trails. Walk Score recently ranked Albuquerque 28^th in the top 50 cities in the US for its walkability. Additionally, there are abundant hiking trails in the Sandia Mountains and miles of bike riding paths in and around the city. Skiing, snowshoeing, cross country, and snow sledding can be found at Sandia Peak. Approximately 800,000 people celebrate hot air ballooning annually at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta every October. Women’s Health magazine calls Albuquerque one of the top five up and coming foodie communities in the country, citing many restaurant offerings now available in addition to the traditional red or green chile. Five casinos surround the city, providing gaming, entertainment venues, meeting rooms, and golf courses.

Albuquerque’s educational system offers, public, charter, private, and Christian schools. University of New Mexico is a public institution and research university founded in 1889 on 769 acres in the southeast part of town. UNM offers more than 200 national recognized degree programs, and houses the only medical, pharmacy, architecture, and law schools in New Mexico. The photography, nursing and midwifery programs are ranked 2^nd in the country. Central New Mexico Community College several training and vocational schools offer additional educational options.

Transportation in Albuquerque includes public bus transportation and taxis. The New Mexico Rail Runner offers commuters local day trips to Santa Fe by train, and Amtrak also services the city. Albuquerque International Sunport airport offers commercial and international flights daily with airport shuttle service and car rentals onsite.

Albuquerque experiences four distinct seasons. With mostly mild weather, winter ranges from high 40’s to low 20’s at night. Summer is in the high 80’s with a few days hitting the 100’s, with high desert evenings generally in the low 60’s. ABQ basks in approximately 310 days of sunshine with low humidity. Midsummer usually produces a monsoon season, where light afternoon showers cool off and refresh the city.