Building a Stronger Downtown Albuquerque
A long-time Downtown resident on what it will take to move forward
Len Romano, Ripe, Inc.
I have lived and worked in Downtown Albuquerque since 1994. My partner and I started our branding firm, Ripe Inc., on 7th and Tijeras in 1998, and we are now located on historic Route 66 in West Downtown. We raised two kids in this part of the city. They went to Downtown schools. For nearly thirty years, I have walked to and from work almost every single day.When you walk these streets that consistently, you see the truth of a place in a way most people never will. You notice the small signs of hope, the signals of decline, the things that improve for a while and then slip backward, and the things that could change everything if there were enough structure and alignment to follow through.
I have volunteered hundreds of hours on Downtown projects, boards, and efforts over the years because I genuinely believe our city would be much stronger with a thriving downtown. In many ways, we are seeing glimmers of that now. The Growers Market at Robinson Park is the most meaningful Downtown transformation we have seen in thirty years. The 505 Central Food Hall on Central and 5th has become a place where people gather for lunch, dinner, and time together. The block around Seventh and Eighth on Central has also come back to life, with art galleries, restaurants, the Arrive Hotel, and Ex Novo drawing people in. For the first time in a long time, these areas feel alive.
It is a reminder of what Downtown can be when enough things go right at the same time and stay right long enough for people to take notice. Woven into all of this are long-standing anchors that have kept their lights on through every cycle, like the Man’s Hat Shop and the Model Shine Parlor on Gold. These businesses have been here for generations, proving that Downtown can support life, commerce, and character when conditions allow it.
But anyone who lives or works down here knows the bright spots exist alongside dark shadows. For many people, Downtown is still a place they avoid because the concentration of crime, homelessness and addiction has created an environment that feels unpredictable. I have deep compassion for people who are struggling. Many are dealing with trauma, illness, and circumstances far beyond their control. I do not want people pushed around or pushed out. I want people supported, treated with dignity, and connected to real help.
At the same time, street-level conditions make it extremely difficult for families to wander, for visitors to explore, and for small businesses to operate. It’s hard to build momentum when business owners are hosing down human waste in the morning or navigating unpredictable behavior at their doorways throughout the day. That is the reality many Downtown businesses face.
Cities that have dealt with similar challenges did so by putting real structure in place, and that is where the Business Improvement District, or BID, matters. It is not a cure-all, and it is not a punishment. It is a practical tool that cities across the country have used successfully to bring consistency, care, and predictability to their downtowns. Denver did it. Tucson did it. Cincinnati did it. These districts did not become perfect, but they became reliably cleaner, better maintained, and safer.
A BID creates a daily presence on the street. People whose full-time job is to keep the area clean, respond quickly to issues, and support businesses and visitors. That kind of consistency gives a downtown the stability it needs for other efforts to take hold.
One of the hardest truths to talk about is that a BID does not solve homelessness. What it does do is change the conditions that allow it to become entrenched on certain blocks. Regular cleaning, consistent outreach, trained ambassadors, and faster response mean fewer people living in doorways for days at a time. Businesses are not left to manage crises alone. People who need help are more likely to be connected to services instead of ignored.
That stability is crucial, for everyone, housed and unhoused alike. It also has to be paired with stronger coordination from the City and service providers, so the problem is addressed rather than pushed from one block or neighborhood to the next.
Anyone interested in what the proposed Downtown Albuquerque BID includes can review it at downtownabqbid.com
A BID, however, is only one part of the larger equation. If Downtown is going to feel alive again, more people need to live here. Housing turns empty streets into neighborhoods. The city understands this and has incentives on the table through the Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency. Even so, developers continue to struggle to make projects work.
The reasons are familiar. Construction and rehabilitation costs are high. Downtown rents are often too low to support those costs. Permitting takes time. Older buildings require expensive upgrades for safety, accessibility, and historic preservation. Financing becomes harder when an area feels unstable. While the city has made efforts to modernize its processes, developers still describe them as confusing, slow, or unpredictable.
If the city created a single point of contact whose sole responsibility was guiding Downtown housing projects from start to finish, more projects would pencil and more buildings would come back to life. It would be even more effective if someone with the City who has real authority sat down with developers and business owners who have recently been through the process and asked a straightforward question: where does this get difficult?
Those conversations would surface real issues around timing, permitting, communication, and uncertainty. Addressing them would not require reinventing the wheel, but it would help change the perception that Albuquerque is not particularly business-friendly. Cities like Phoenix, Denver, and Austin earned that reputation by making it easier for good projects to move forward.
The timing matters because two major opportunities are already on the table. The Rail Trail has the potential to connect Old Town, Sawmill, the Bosque, and Downtown into a continuous, walkable experience filled with food, art, and small businesses. UNM is exploring a Downtown presence that could bring students, staff, and daily energy to an area that badly needs daytime population. Both could be transformative, but only if the basic experience of being Downtown improves.
After nearly thirty years of watching cycles of hope and frustration, I do not believe Downtown struggles because of a lack of ideas or effort. It struggles because it has never had a consistent foundation: daily care, predictable conditions, and shared responsibility that survives leadership changes and political shifts.
That foundation also depends on trust. Property owners trusting one another. People leaving egos at the door. Stakeholders rowing in the same direction. Every thriving downtown has that alignment at its core.
I still believe Downtown can get there. Not by accident, and not through optimism alone, but by putting real tools behind the desire to improve it. The BID can help stabilize the district. Developer incentives can help bring residents back. The Rail Trail and UNM can bring energy and movement.
Just as important, these efforts make Downtown a place where businesses can imagine succeeding instead of simply surviving. No business chooses a location out of charity. They choose it because the environment feels stable, the street has life, and customers feel comfortable showing up.
Every thriving city has a thriving downtown. Albuquerque once did too. Look at photos from the 40s, 50s, or 60s and you will see streets full of people, neon glowing, and businesses open late. We did not lack vitality. We lost the structure that supported it.
Potential doesn’t turn into progress on its own. It requires consistency, alignment, and collective will. We finally have a chance to rebuild that foundation. I hope we take it.