A year ago today NewMexiKen wrote three things I would change about Albuquerque.
The first was change the name of the local community college. That’s been done, it’s now Central New Mexico Community College.
Third was restore the original spelling of the name of the city — until the Anglos came it was Alburquerque, with the first and now absent “r”. As I said last year, why not be authentic? Most people that don’t live here can’t spell Albuquerque anyway, so what’s another letter. But I was just being glib.
Second on my list last July 26, was the only item I truly cared about. Let me quote myself:
America’s third longest river passes through the entire length of the city from north to south. And yet, at no place along the river can one stroll at the river’s edge. Yes, there are paths parallel to the river through the bosque (groove) that borders the river, and one can occasionally push aside the bushes and bugs and find the river’s edge. But nowhere can one stroll, or paddle, or stop and drink some wine or enjoy some New Mexican cuisine and watch the river roll by. With lesser rivers, San Antonio and even Oklahoma City have made attractive river walks. Why not here?
So far as I know, nothing has been done during the year to allow even a tiny bit of development along the Rio Grande (and a tiny bit is all I would advocate). In another forum in fact, I was struck by how impossible this is deemed — as if the Politburo in Santa Fe has forbidden even its discussion.
Our single biggest attraction remains not just under-utilized, but impossible to utilize. I find that sad.
Seems like a lot of people pronounce the name as if the first “r” was still there.
You CAN walk near the river! So there’s no asphalt there as in San Antonio–I say great. I think that is one of the best parts of this town, er, city–I can drive 10 minutes and be in a forest in the bosque. And I guess you haven’t been there recently, because the bosque in Albuquerque has few areas left where you have to break through the brush to get to the river–the fires and the clearing done as a result have made the bosque much more open.
What many of us value about the bosque is its “naturalness.” You can drink wine lots of places, but there are few places where you can get away from civilization, see some birds, and something a little wild!
And there are a lot of flood prevention reasons to leave the bosque alone–remember all the talk around Hurricane Katrina about the value of wetlands?
Lest I be misunderstood by Carolyn or anyone else, I am not advocating paving both sides of the Rio Grande from Corrales to Isleta. I do believe, however, that some commercial development above the river with paved walkways near the bank — park-like — in a very limited area, say near the Aquarium or the Zoo, or in between, would be welcome and valued. It would be, I believe, not only a welcome addition to our community, but — given the significance of the Rio Bravo del Norte — an important world-class tourist attraction.
We don’t have any Riverwalk-type development here in Denver, either, and for good reason — flash flooding destroyed everything near the river back in the 1960s. Even with flood control dams, the risk is still there. I am sure Albuquerque faces the same risk with the Rio Grande. Let the wet, downstreams cities have their river walks and let Albuquerque fulfill its destiny as a great high elevation city.