ABQ: Postcard 1950

ALBUQUERQUE

Postcard 1950


Central Ave., Route 66, in Downtown Albuquerque. The Kress sign still remains. The KIMO recently erected a new sign that is similar to the one in the postcard.

At the time of this postcard, Downtown was still the center for shopping in the city. In another decade that would change as many of the department stores left Downtown to locate in new shopping malls in the NE Heights, like Winrock Mall. They featured plenty of parking near the new housing subdivisions being built.

The abandonment of Downtown had started earlier, however, when autos allowed people to move to new neighborhoods, like areas around the university. One of the earliest auto strip malls was Nob Hill.



Winrock Mall:

In 1961, Winrock Shopping center was completed as a joint venture between soon-to-be Arkansas governor Winthrop Rockefeller and the University of New Mexico on a sandy lot at the edge of I-40. The development included a covered shopping center (the first for Albuquerque and New Mexico) with Safeway, J.C. Penney, Fedway and Montgomery Ward. A freestanding movie theater and attached motor hotel opened in 1963.

The mall was built as an outdoor shopping hub with a screened canopy roof above the main stretch of the mall and acres of parking on all sides. This design allowed for a pleasant shopping experience in the dry summer heat as well as the cold high-desert winters. The 82 acre mall site was bounded by the busy I-40 freeway to the south, with off-ramps to Louisiana Boulevard to the west.

ABQ: Holiday Windows

ALBUQUERQUE

Holiday Windows


Getting ready for Christmas. Decorations in the Peoples Flower Shop windows on Central Ave. (Route 66) in Downtown ABQ.

In the background on the right is the KIMO theater sign.

ABQ: Barelas Garden

ALBUQUERQUE

Barelas Community Garden on Fourth Street


Community Gardens are found in neighborhoods around Downtown ABQ.

New Urban Agriculture

From Fast Company's Co.Exist:

There are few upsides to the U.S. recession that left people across the country without jobs, and in some cases, homes. But if we had to pick one good thing that emerged from the economic mess, it would be the vacant land that is now being used to create a new urban agriculture revolution. In a new report, PolicyLink highlights the projects and policies around the country that are bringing urban agriculture to lower-income communities of color--and some of the big challenges that they’re dealing with.

When done well, urban agriculture initiatives can offer access to healthy food in areas that formerly had little, provide jobs and skills development, and provide a sense of community. Getting to the point where that’s possible isn’t easy, however. Among the hurdles that nascent urban agriculture projects have to overcome: water access, land use issues, inadequate business training, and insufficient income generation.

Community Gardening

From Wikipedia:

Community gardens provide fresh produce and plants as well as satisfying labor, neighborhood improvement, sense of community and connection to the environment. They are publicly functioning in terms of ownership, access, and management, as well as typically owned in trust by local governments or not for profit associations.

Community gardens vary widely throughout the world. In North America, community gardens range from familiar "victory garden" areas where people grow small plots of vegetables, to large "greening" projects to preserve natural areas, to tiny street beautification planters on urban street corners. Some grow only flowers, others are nurtured communally and their bounty shared. There are even non-profits in many major cities that offer assistance to low-income families, children groups, and community organizations by helping them develop and grow their own gardens.

In the UK and the rest of Europe, closely related "allotment gardens" can have dozens of plots, each measuring hundreds of square meters and rented by the same family for generations. In the developing world, commonly held land for small gardens is a familiar part of the landscape, even in urban areas, where they may function as mini-truck farms.

Community gardens may help alleviate one effect of climate change, which is expected to cause a global decline in agricultural output, making fresh produce increasingly unaffordable. Community gardens encourage an urban community's food security, allowing citizens to grow their own food or for others to donate what they have grown. Advocates say locally grown food decreases a community's reliance on fossil fuels for transport of food from large agricultural areas and reduces a society's overall use of fossil fuels to drive in agricultural machinery.

Community gardens improve users’ health through increased fresh vegetable consumption and providing a venue for exercise. The gardens also combat two forms of alienation that plague modern urban life, by bringing urban gardeners closer in touch with the source of their food, and by breaking down isolation by creating a social community. Community gardens provide other social benefits, such as the sharing of food production knowledge with the wider community and safer living spaces.

Active communities experience less crime and vandalism.

 

Resources

American Community Gardening Association

Albuquerque Community Gardens

Another World is Plantable

ABQ: Grocery ReOpening

ALBUQUERQUE

View drawings.

Food and Fun at your new Downtown ABQ Grocery Store

Lowe's Corner Market invites you to attend the grand re-opening and dedication of their beautifully rehabilitated store on the corner of 11th and Lomas Blvd. NW Albuquerque, NM. A special fund-raiser for the Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd, providing direct services to downtown Albuquerque's homeless population.



Sunday November 18th · 2:00 - 4:00 PM

Please join us for hors d'oeuvres and samplings of both food and beverage offerings including a tour of the new store. Admission is free to all.

Dedication and Ribbon Cutting: 2:00 PM
Meet and Greet: 2:15 PM
Deluxe Sampling: 2:15 -  4:00 PM
Music by Chava and Paid My Dues Rhythms and Blues

Come see the newest Urbanist gem in greater Downtown Albuquerque

Event by: Urban at ABQ: Advocacy for Positive Urban Change

Please RSVPOnline  

This event will also be a fundraiser to benefit
Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd
Direct Services Agency for the Homeless

Suggested donation: $20.

Services Provided by Good Shepherd:

• Daily communal meal for men, women and children
• Temporary overnight accommodations for men
• Men’s clothing distributed on weekday mornings
• Seven month residential drug and alcohol abuse recovery program for men without income.
• Clients are referred to other area service agencies for a continuum of care. 18 Iron SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102

 

Please RSVPOnline

INFO:

Living and working in Downtown Albuquerque just got a whole lot better. A new and improved place to shop for groceries is a welcome addition!

For years people have wanted a more modern grocery store that reflected current needs of the neighborhood. For years it was little more than a complaint, something for someone else to tackle. Then some new neighbors moved in and made some phone calls. Come...

see what happens when a little neighborhood idea meets a responsive business partner.

Lowe’s, the Asher Family, Little Brothers of the Good Shepherd, Urban@ABQ and the Downtown Neighborhoods Association are pleased to announce the Grand Reopening of Lowe’s Corner Market.

The dedication and ribbon cutting celebration will take place on Sunday November 18, 2012 from 2:00 to 4:00pm. Lowe’s Corner Market is located at the corner of 11th and Lomas NW.

Everyone is welcome at this open house event to meet and greet the people involved, including representatives from city, county, state and federal government.

The Lowe family have been grocers since the 1940’s and strive to give their customers the freshest meats, fruits, and veggies, fantastic promotions, and a fast and friendly checkout, while creating an atmosphere of fun.

This rehabilitation project includes many energy efficient improvements to the building and parking lot. The layout of the aisles maximized the space so more food choices are being offered, including organic, glutten-free and ready to eat options. A full liquor department offers a nice variety of wines and micro brews.

 

ABQ Plaza: Tallest Building

ALBUQUERQUE

Albuquerque Plaza (aka the Bank of Albuquerque Building)

Tallest Building in New Mexico


Allegiance Realty Corporation

Brochure

PROPERTY NAME:	Albuquerque Plaza
LOCATION:	201 Third Street Albuquerque, NM 87102
TYPE:	Class AA
SIZE:	357,000 square feet
DATE OF ACQUISITION:	February 07, 2005

Description:

Albuquerque Plaza is one of the highest profile properties in Albuquerque's Central Business District. The building is a mixed-use project that includes a 22-story office tower, a retail arcade, underground parking facilities, meeting space and is attached to a 395-room luxury Hyatt Hotel.

Albuquerque Plaza has a state-of-the-art infrastructure and superior architectural design known for its pyramid peaked roof and colored granite exterior. Due to its proximity to Federal and State courthouses, Albuquerque Plaza has successfully attracted Albuquerque's most prestigious law firms and GSA tenants.


Emporis:

Technical Data

Height (architectural)

351.05 ft

Length

137.99 ft

Width

124.80 ft

Floors (above ground)

22

Construction end

1990

Elevators

8

Parking places

476

ABQ: 4th St Ped Mall

ALBUQUERQUE

Fourth Street Pedestrian Mall

Downtown's pedestrian mall was created by closing and bricking over part of 4th Street, which was the original alignment, north and south, of Route 66 running through Albuquerque. By the time the outdoor mall was created Route 66 has been changed to run east and west on what is now Central Ave.

The pedestrian mall hasn't been very successful and the city is considering tearing it apart and reopening the street to road traffic. While some pedestrian malls, such as Denver, have been successful in lining the space with retail shops, restaurants and outdoor vendors, ABQ has not. Only a couple tables are set up regularly for street retailing and the space mostly collects homeless people.

The Hyatt wasn't built yet when the pedestrian mall was created. While the hotel restaurant has some closed-off outdoor seating, pictured above, their building was designed as a fortress against the street and public gathering was expected to take place in the central atrium indoors. In fairness to the hotel, Downtown ABQ was rather rough when the project was built.

Most of the street scape is rather barren, except for the patio seating on the south end of the mall by Central Ave. The best features of the mall are the shade trees that run down the center, which along with the tall buildings, provide welcome shade in the summer.



Pedestrian Malls:

Notes The Atlantic--American urban history is dotted with failed (and occasionally infamous) pedestrian malls. But there are success stories too, which offer lessons in designing walkable, mixed-use districts.

The world's first planned pedestrian mall was built in 1953 in Rotterdam. Six years later, Kalamazoo, Michigan, became the first American city adopt the concept. Austrian-born architect Victor Gruen (most famous for his American shopping malls) envisioned a project that would resemble Vienna's Ringstrasse. Instead, a much scaled-down concept was built in 1959.

The Kalamazoo Mall did well at first, with a fourth block added in the 1970s. But by the 1990s, it had become a sore spot for many residents. The "mall" had less parking, less weather protection, and more vagrants that the traditional shopping center. When the city decided to reopen part of the street in 1998, citizens excitedly competed, via raffle, to drive the first car down the mall.

Others have been more successful. Some of the best pedestrian malls in America are located in college towns like Charlottesville, Ithaca, Iowa City, and Madison.

ROUTE 66: Freed Co

ROUTE 66

The Freed Co, Since 1920

The Freed Co. was an import merchandise store, located on Route 66 (Central Ave.), near the Kimo Theater. Some accounts list the store as opening in this location in 1920, while others credit the store to moving to this site in 1979.  It was run by two brothers--Philip and Max Freed. They were reported to have dressed alike and worked side by side, almost inseparable from each other. The brothers died within a week of each other in January of 1999.

Leba Freed runs the nonprofit Wheels Museum in Downtown, located at the historic Barelas Railyards.

The Freed Co. building is now used as a music venue.

Max Freed's wife, Marcia Hertzmark, was one of a small number of first women lawyers in New Mexico. According to the New Mexico Bar:

Hertzmark was one of the first women to graduate from the University of Denver Law School and was admitted to practice in New Mexico in1933. She finished first among those taking the bar in both Colorado and New Mexico. Hertzmark practiced law in Santa Fe and served as a law clerk for the New Mexico Supreme Court for a short time before moving to Washington D.C., to work for the National Labor Relations Board where she helped write labor laws. She had a hand in drafting the landmark Hatch Political Activities Act, which prohibits most federal employees from taking an active part in political campaigns. She returned to New Mexico in 1947 where she met and married Max Freed, of the Freed Co., and left professional life.

ROUTE 66: Kress Sign

ROUTE 66

Kress Sign

The Kress sign remains on Route 66 (Central Ave) in Albuquerque, along with curved plate glass windows and interesting architectural details, on an empty storefront in Downtown.

Kress department stores were a chain of Five and Dimes, similar to Woolworth's. They were in business from 1896 to 1981 and a precursor to modern day Kmart, Target and Wal-Mart. In the first half of the twentieth century Kress stores could be found on the mainstreets of hundred of cities and towns across America.

Samuel Henry Kress, founder of S. H. Kress & Co., used his fortune to amass the most significant collections of Italian Renaissance and European artwork assembled in the twentieth century. Works were eventually donated to 18 regional museums around the U. S.

Kress stores are noted for their architecture. Kress considered his buildings to be works of public art that would contribute to the cityscape. The Albuquerque store is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Due to its ongoing vacancy, it remains in nearly original condition.

Notes the Historic Register nomination form, filled out in the early 1980's:

The Kress Building in Downtown Albuquerque is an unaltered 1925 Kress store displaying a standard storefront design developed by the S. H. Kress Company in the 1920's. It is the only such storefront in New Mexico and as such is of both local and state significance. It is possibly nationally significant as a virtually unchanged example of a major chain store's early attempt to achieve quick public recognition through the use of standardized design. In Albuquerque it is an extremely rare unremodeled pre-depression retail building.
 

ABQ PLAZAS: Third Central Plaza

ALBUQUERQUE PLAZAS

Third Central Plaza

Visit the Photo Journal of Third Central Plaza.


Third Central Plaza is located, not surprisingly, at the corner of Third Street and Central Avenue in Downtown Albuquerque. Not much history is available about the building or site, although it's possibly a former graveyard.

An Odd Fellows building was located near here and apparently they used a now defunct cemetery, which was located between Central Avenue and Gold Avenue, and between Third and Fourth Streets. I'm not sure on the actual boundaries of the cemetery. I've seen this abandoned site labeled as Santa Barbara, although there is the Mt. Calvary/Santa Barbara Cemetery at 1900 Edith Blvd, which is a different graveyard. I'm not sure if the two names are being confused. The City of Albuquerque doesn't show the Railroad (Central) Ave and Third St site on their official inventory. The old Sanborn maps I've found show the area blackened out.
.......................

On the outside of the plaza is a historical marker with a photo and description, which reads:

This photograph shows the 1898 Territorial Fair Parade passing along the 300 block of Railroad (Central) Avenue. Railroad Avenue was the main thoroughfare of Albuquerque's New Town, and it linked the the railroad depot to Old Town Plaza. Railroad and Gold were the principal commercial avenues of New Town. A horse-drawn trolley system, established in 1880, ran along Railroad Avenue tracks from the depot to Old Town Plaza. This eastward view, taken only 18 years after the barren lot of the New Town site had been surveyed, shows the amazing growth of the early New Town settlement.

 

STYLE: Window Displays

STYLE

Window Displays

View the Photo Journal of Downtown Albuquerque window displays September 2012.
.........

The Bon Marche department store in Paris, 1877, is one of the earliest examples of large scale window decorating. The store was transformed through structural architectural changes that allowed for wide open spaces, lots of light, and huge windows. Previously, glass had been limited to smaller openings and much smaller panes. The invention of big picture windows lead directly to the new art of window display.

In her book Retailing: Critical Concepts author Anne Findlay remarks that the large retail display windows "communicate festivity, vitality, beauty, and fantasy, revealing the signature of individual stores and the inner possibilities of store life."

Sadly, outside of the largest cities, window dressing has become mostly a lost art. In our modern era of chain stores, most companies rely on display photos hung like posters in a window, along with a few mannequins. Or some similar simple design that was fashioned at corporate headquarters to be uniform among dozens, if not hundreds, of locations across the country. They are assembled by low wage retail workers hired to staff the sales floor, not by designers or merchandisers trained in the visual arts.

Instead of reflecting local color, most department store window displays are stiff and corporate--at best.

Some exceptions still exist. Macy's, at their flagship Herald Square store in mid-Manhattan, is most famous for their holiday display window which are unveiled in time for Thanksgiving and their parade in NYC. One set of windows usually features themes related to the movie Miracle on 34th Street, about Macy's and their now defunct rival Gimbels. A new theme is introduced each year in a second set of display windows. Department stores in the largest cities are still more likely to employ a window designer than the smaller locations around the country.

Another notable exception is Anthropologie. When I travel, I always enjoy seeing the variety at each store. Not two locations ever seem to look the same. According to Design Sponge, each anthro store has its own small team of artists who do all of the displays at their own location. Teams may include graphic designers, painters and sculptors. Rare is a chain store that gives so much attention, and resources, to each location.

There are still devotees of window decorating. The Window Display Blog is run by Kaisa, a visual merchandiser who is, in her own words, obsessed with store windows. She photographs and writes about displays in London.

However, walk around a smaller city like Albuquerque's Downtown and it's unfortunately difficult to find many decent displays of any type, regardless of chain or otherwise. The lack of properly decorated display windows gives the area an unfriendly vibe. Those few stores who are making an effort should be commended.

Many cities have addressed this issue with Phantom Galleries--displays of local artists in pop-up galleries to deal with vacant and undecorated windows, particularly in downtowns, to replace the loss of mainstreet retailers. This not only gives artists a venue to display their work, it also enhances the public space and provides interest.

ABQ: Aerial 1940

ALBUQUERQUE

1940 Aerial Photo

This is Downtown looking towards the river. It would appear there is flooding in what is now West Old Town and the Near North Valley.

Link to 1940 Census maps.

In 1940 Albuquerque had a Class C minor baseball team the Albuquerque Cardinals, named after their major league affiliated team of the St. Louis Cardinals. They played in the Arizona-Texas league at the Tingley Field ballpark, located in present day Barelas at 10th, Stover and Atlantic. The team started as the Albuquerque Dons, then the Cardinals, then Dukes while working their way up to AA, and eventually becoming the Albuquerque Dodgers, affiliated with the Los Angeles team, in the 1960s.

In 1940 the population of the state had increased about 25% from the previous decade, despite a declining birth rate and new laws restricting immigration. The total state population was 531,818.

Thousands of people flocked to New Mexico from 1880 through 1940 to seek a cure for tuberculosis. While many states began to discourage and even stop them from arriving, New Mexico welcomed "Lungers." By the 1930s New Mexico had nearly 60 sanatoriums to treat tuberculosis. Many more people came to find a cure in the sunshine on their own without official treatment. An entire industry arose around the health seekers, including a variety of newsletters.

The Health City Sun newspaper was established in 1929 and remains in print today. They now specialize in running legal notices.

ROUTE 66: Little Chief Lunch

ROUTE 66

Postcard of Little Chief Lunch

3101 East Central Ave., on Highway 66

While this postcard is from the UNM/Nob Hill area rather than Downtown, it typifies the "fast food" lunch stands that used to line the highways. The location is now Imbibe.

The postcard proclaims: "We serve nationally advertised foods." This would appear to be a mom-and-pop local variation of the White Castle hamburger chain, a concept unknown before the prevalence of automobile travel.

The postcard is dated 1906. However, this can't be correct. First of all, the architecture and car don't match turn of the century styles. More importantly, Highway 66 wouldn't run through Nob Hill until after 1937, when the alignment was changed from a north to south route from Santa Fe down to Los Lunas on what is now mostly Fourth Street in Albuquerque, to an east to west alignment going straight through Albuquerque on Central Ave. and by-passing places like Santa Fe.

Are You Ready to Start a Business?

The secret is timing, hard work and smart partners. “Using that formula, I've either founded or funded over 80 companies, and none have gone bankrupt. Most have done very well.” – Terry Matthew

1.       ARE YOU BETTER OFF WITH A JOB?

·         Over the lifetime of a business: 39% are profitable, 30% break even, and 30% lose money, 1% undetermined  --Wells Fargo/NFIB study, using U.S. Census Bureau data

·         Job hunting resources: See Richard Bolles           http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/

2.       DO YOU HAVE MASTERY OF THE SKILLS NEEDED?

·         10,000 Hours (about 5 years)      http://www.psychologytoday.com/em/85976

3.       HAVE YOU DONE YOUR RESEARCH AND DO YOU HAVE A PLAN?

·         Business plan, marketing strategy, cash flow projections, etc.

·         Have you accounted for all of the expenses of self-employment?: taxes, health insurance, short and long-term disability, double retirement contributions, etc.

4.       WILL YOU BE IN THE RIGHT LOCATION?

·         Best city, very best retail location, best web traffic

5.       QUESTION: How much does it cost to fail in business?

·         ANSWER: The sum total of your life savings and/or inheritance.

·         Figure out how much it’s going to cost to actually be financially successful in a business, not just how much it costs to set up the business.

6.       WHAT DOES A FRANCHISE COST?

·         Franchise information   http://www.entrepreneur.com/franchises/rankings/lowcost-115390/2012,-1.html

·         Best and worst franchises for 2012  http://www.inc.com/articles/201101/the-best-and-worst-franchises-to-own.html

7.       HOW BIG DO YOU NEED TO GROW TO BECOME PROFITABLE?

·         Number of units, locations, employees

8.       ARE YOU WILLING TO LOOK AND PLAY THE PART OF A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS OWNER?

·         Industry standards of dress: see Work Wear at the Wall Street Journal http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/category/style/

9.       HAVE YOU SET ASIDE ENOUGH CASH TO FILE BANKRUPTCY, IF NEEDED?

10.   IF YOU SUCCEED, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO PROTECT YOUR MARKET SHARE?

RESOURCES

ONLINE

Starting and managing a business            http://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/starting-managing-business/

How-to guides                  http://www.entrepreneur.com/howto/startyourbiz.html

LOCAL

Albuquerque Small Business Resource Directory http://www.cabq.gov/econdev/pdf/BusinessResourceDirectory2010.pdf

City of Albuquerque small business support     http://www.cabq.gov/econdev/smallbusinesssupport.html

WESST Enterprise Center    http://www.wesst.org/enterprise-center/

ACCION New Mexico/Arizona/Colorado   http://www.accionnm.org/

ABQ: Greater Downtown Neighborhoods

ALBUQUERQUE

Downtown Neighborhoods

Greater Downtown Albuquerque has around a dozen neighborhoods, depending on how they are defined—West Park, West Old Town, Old Town, the Downtown Neighborhoods area, Sawmill, Wells Park, McCellen Park, Santa Barbara/Martineztown, Huning Highland, South Broadway, Barelas, Raynolds Addition and Huning Castle (Country Club).

McCellen Park remains a neighborhood mostly in name, only. The area began to turn commercial with the original Route 66, which ran north/south from Santa Fe to south of Albuquerque, following the Rio Grande, in the 1920s. Downtown it ran along Fourth Street.

In the 1930s Route 66 was realigned to run east/west on what is now Central Avenue. It continued to run through McCellen Park and encouraged more commercial development. But it was the building of the freeways, I-25 and I-40, with the nearby interchange and subsequent industrial development, that seemed to end the residential appeal of the neighborhood.

Eventually the actual park, for which the neighborhood was named, was replaced by the federal courthouse. The building sits back from the street to mimic a park feeling. A controversial statue of a pioneer woman statue was moved to the side and back of the site.

The area is now mostly occupied by businesses and government buildings related to the courts. With new apartment buildings and condos being built in the core of Downtown, theorectically the neighborhood could be revived in a new form.

ABQ: Cities as a Center

ALBUQUERQUE

Cities as a Center

In the past century Downtowns have gotten a bad rap. In many mid-sized and smaller cities around the country, like Albuquerque, the central core became a dumping ground of abandoned buildings and a concentration of social services and the court system. Downtown was left to the undesirables.

Despite all the gains produced by the internet, there still is no substitution for innovation among people in face to face contact with each other. The most vibrant atmospheres are created when people exchange ideas. People need to talk with each other. This is still best accomplished in cities.

Top American cities have strong and diverse economies, a diverse set of economic anchors, world connectivity, and status as a magnet for the best and brightest of all ages. Dense cities are the greenest places in the U. S.

Cities are export entities—they exist because they provide people a way to make money. Residents of the same place buying and selling things to each other will not produce a city. Cities are born from intercity transportation—a major airport, an interstate highway line, a train link, and a port. (Improving these links is the quickest way for a city to generate economic growth.)

Main Street is the economic engine, the big stage, the core of the community.

Why does this matter?

Because cities that embrace improving their central core aren't just improving a single neighborhood. Investment into better infrastructure, improved public spaces and multiple forms of public transportation is going to bring long-term benefits to the entire region.

An ideal Downtown is the central meeting space for the entire city. Residents from all walks of life feel comfortable in the space. Which, in turn, leads to increased information exchange, the true building block for economic improvements in the twenty-first century. Innovation is shared and new ideas are incubated. Real growth is created.