City Information

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Albuquerque

Albuquerque was founded in 1706 as the Spanish colonial outpost of Ranchos de Alburquerque, 18 families had resided in the area. Present-day Albuquerque retains much of its historical Spanish cultural heritage.

Albuquerque was a farming community and strategically located military outpost along the Camino Real. The town was also the sheep-herding center of the West. Spain established a presidio (military garrison) in Albuquerque in 1706. After 1821, Mexico also had a military garrison there. The town of Alburquerque was built in the traditional Spanish village pattern: a central plaza surrounded by government buildings, homes, and a church. This central plaza area has been preserved and is open to the public as a museum, cultural area, and center of commerce. It is referred to as "Old Town Albuquerque" or simply "Old Town." "Old Town" was sometimes referred to as "La Placita" ("little plaza" in Spanish).

Albuquerque City Website – http://www.cabq.gov
Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Authority - http://www.abcwua.org/
Albuquerque Water Information - http://www.cabq.gov/water/
New Mexico Gas Company - http://www.nmgco.com/

Placitas

Placitas Chamber Of Commerce - http://placitasviews.com/
New Mexico Gas Company - http://www.nmgco.com/

Bernalillo

The Town of Bernalillo is set at the northwest slope of the Sandia Mountains and hugs the banks of the state's major river, the Rio Grande. This community boasts being the historical center of the State of New Mexico with occupation reaching back almost a thousand years. Bernalillo progressed from a string of haciendas along the river in the 1600's to a commercial center of trade among the pueblos and the Mexican settlers in the 1800's. Founded by Don Diego de Vargas in 1695, the Town of Bernalillo remains a retail trade and service center for this part of the Rio Grande basin.

Bernalillo City Website - http://www.townofbernalillo.org/
New Mexico Gas Company - http://www.nmgco.com/

Rio Rancho

The Rio Rancho area was originally part of the Alameda Grant, which was founded by the Spanish in 1710. By the early twentieth century, much of the land grant had been sold to land investment companies. Amrep Corporation purchased 55,000 acres (220 km²) in 1961 and turned the land into a housing development called "Rio Rancho Estates" with the first families moving in the early 1960s, most of whom were New Yorkers. The population grew tenfold between 1970 and 1980, and the City of Rio Rancho was incorporated in 1981. The opening of a large Intel Corporation plant in 1981 had a major economic impact on the city.

Since the 1990s, Rio Rancho has taken steps to become more independent from neighboring Albuquerque, including the establishment of separate school and library systems and attempts to attract businesses to the area. The city's latest project is the Downtown City Centre development that includes a new city hall building, a new UNM West and CNM campus as well as theSanta Ana Star Centre. The arena opened in October 2006. City Hall opened in September 2007.