Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque, New Mexico for some is a drive into the past on the pre-1937 Route 66. Since that highway was rerouted, the city has come into its own in some other, less tourist-driven ways. For one, it's a great place to work. Professionals working in nuclear physics enjoy the area because of the presence of the Sandia National laboratories. Other professionals enjoy a city with nearly three hundred years of gorgeous character to check out. Since the 90s, gentrification has matched the urban renewal began in the 1960s to bring the new buildings and older ones together as a a single face of Albuquerque.

Another way Albuquerque is great is that its culture maintains some of the ancient Spanish influences it carries today. While Spain, Mexico and the United States have annexed and occupied the area, this is a town that remembers its unique character. Today's Albuquerque shows off a lot of culture, spread across a wide variety of building styles, represented heritage and the military might of several generations of vastly different types of combatants. Albuquerque is a really unique and interesting city.

Welcome to the city of Albuquerque, where you will be able to make just about anything happen. The city also has a bustling nightlife, various places to eat, places to see and can also offer you a great shopping experience. The city is known for its ambient social atmosphere and its lively residents.

Albuquerque History

After the war ended, things settled down as they typically do during peace time. In 1879, the city's first public high school was built. When the railroads came to town in 1880, their decision to locate their depots away from the main square led to the creation of a New Town area. During that era, as more mountain men, settlers and merchants came to town, Milt Yarberry was appointed as the town's first marshal. In 1885, the town itself was at long last officially incorporated, although the Old Town area remained a separate entity unto itself until the city unified in the 1920s.

During the early20th century, tuberculosis was a serious problem for many people in the United States. Due to the dry climate, Albuquerque became a popular place to visit for many people who were afflicted with the disease. Among the people who were afflicted and came to town were architect John Gaw Meem and politician Clyde Tingley, who both ended up making their marks in their respective fields.

Route 66 opened in 1926, and not long thereafter the area began to boom as travels discovered what the open road had to offer them. Gift shops, restaurants and motels quickly became common sights, first through the city and then slightly to one side. However, the military and Sandia really put Albuquerque on the map.

In 1939, Kirtland Air Force Base opened, and Sandi Base followed not long thereafter. Soon enough, Sandia National Laboratories followed suit. Between these three places, Albuquerque became a power player in the development of atomic weaponry and in harnessing atomic energy for peaceful purposes. This led to the creation of a lot of white collar jobs, which in turn allowed service industries to flourish still further. Since then, additional industries have allowed urban renewal and gentrification to bring older structures and shiny new buildings together into the gleaming powerhouse that is Albuquerque.

About Albuquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque, New Mexico is more than just the largest city in the state. It is the central part of the state, as well as the county seat of Bernalillo County. Albuquerque is even the 32nd largest city in the entire country, with the population as of 2011 measured at just slightly over 900,000 people. Even among metropolitan areas, Albuquerque ranks 57th in size, considering it also includes the city of Rio Rancho. Aside from all of the logical details that every city has, Albuquerque has a lot of things going for it that need to be experienced in order to be properly understood.

Albuquerque's name comes from a Spanish town of the same name. Interestingly, the area happens to be near Portugal, and has been invaded going as far back as the Romans in 200 AD, which may indicate a very long history for the name. When frontier people couldn't properly pronounce the Galician or Spanish name for the area, they simplified it into Albuquerque.

Albuquerque has been a fairly advanced city since the beginning of the 20th century. The architecture combined a lot of the best of the Victorian and Gothic styles, which had some intriguing results. However, the University of New Mexico and the electric railway are not the only things Albuquerque built that are quite modern. The Rail Runner, Amtrak and Greyhound transportation lines all have significant representation in this city, making it a great place from which to get anywhere a person might want to travel in the country.

The atomic age and its ensuing developments have been kind to Albuquerque, with the establishment of Sandia National Laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base early in the 20th century. As the city has spread, the Census Bureau and CNN have recognized Albuquerque for its meteoric rate of population growth. One problem the city is facing is in having a difficult time adapting to the rapidly increasing need for better transportation for the citizens who need to get around town. Being a major city is great, but being able to get to work or the grocery store is not optional either.

The land is inexpensive to buy and with regard to taxes, hence the outer reaches of Albuquerque are expanding steadily at this very moment. The population continues to surge as jobs are created, travel continues to bring more people into the city to seek their fortunes in the technology industry. There are a lot of tech contracting companies operating in Albuquerque, meaning that challenging professions are waiting for people who have the education and the moxie to take them on.

About Bernalillo County, New Mexico

The city of Albuquerque New Mexico is the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico. Bernalillo County experienced excellent growth during the period between 2000 and 2010. The Censuses of those two areas puts the population of Bernalillo County at around 555,000 and 660,000 respectively, indicating an impressive jump in the number of people living there. The entire county straddles the Rio Grande, with 1,166 square miles of land within its borders. Oddly enough, however, the town of Bernalillo isn't actually within Bernalillo County. 

During the rule of Mexico, Bernalillo County was created as part of the New Mexico Territory in 1852 along with six other partidos. In 1876, Santa Ana County joined with Bernalillo County. Later on, Cibola National Forest was set aside as a part of the county's natural treasures. The early part of the 20th century saw a great number of such land-preservation measures. For example, the Land Revision Act of 1891 set aside forest reserves all over the country. Since that time, Sandia Mountain Wilderness was set aside and the Petroglyph National Monument was built to honor the land.

Bernalillo County is a fairly middle class area, since only about 13% of the population resides below the poverty line. While hardcore poverty is fairly rare, the average household income is only about $38,000 per year, which is lower than in many other places in the country. Bernalillo County is extremely simple in its government. There is only a representative and a sheriff serving the population.

The average density of people per square mile in Bernalillo County is 477, while there are 205 households per square mile. Just under half of the households are married couples, and less than a third of these households had children under the age of 18 living there. The average family size is 3.06 people, while the average household size is 2.47 people. The racial mixture is a fairly mixed bag. While nearly three quarters of the population defines itself as being caucasian, nearly half the population also identifies itself as being of hispanic or latino descent.