City of Albuquerque looking for input from business owners about downtown parking
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – There might be plenty of high-rise parking garages, but there are still plenty of complaints about a lack of downtown parking. Now, the City of Albuquerque is asking for ideas on how to fix it. 'That's kind of a big debate amongst the public and our businesses. Some folks think there's not enough parking and some think there's too much,' said Director of Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency Terry Brunner.
Story continues below
New Mexico Crime Files: Grocery store worker hands out semen-tainted yogurt
Film: These productions were filmed at White Sands. Have you seen them?
New Mexico News Insiders: Who Will Fix New Mexico's Mental Health Problems?
News: Governor's Office: Operation Zia Shield is different than situation in California
The city hopes to soon settle that debate by getting answers about what is or is not working with downtown parking. Now in the middle of their first major parking survey in almost a decade, the Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency said there are plenty of gaps the city needs to fill in for drivers. 'They want to know about pricing, they want to know about safety. About convenience and when parking is available and where it's available,' said Brunner.
The action comes as part of the Downtown 2050 Redevelopment Plan. There are at least 21,000 parking spaces downtown, but the city said a big part of the issue comes down to how and where people like to park. 'We're looking at also trying to understand what people's desires are around walking and parking to understand how far away they're willing to park from a place that they want to go,' added Brunner.
After conducting a public survey, next week the city will get feedback from downtown businesses and organizations virtual meetings on Monday June 16 at 4 p.m. and Tuesday at 12 p.m.
It's something local performing arts center, FUSION, hopes to weigh in on. 'The more parking we have, the more people will come downtown. We have parking, we just need to better utilize it,' said Executive Director of FUSION, Dennis Gromelski.
Another priority, adding more way-finding kiosks downtown to help get people to places they can easily park and eat. There will be another meeting next week about that topic.
The downtown parking study should be done by summer.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Yahoo
City looking to fill empty corners in Albuquerque neighborhoods with housing
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – The City of Albuquerque is kicking up efforts to add more housing. Its latest move is offering up plots of land around the city for developers to fill in. One of four spots the city is hoping to develop into homes is located in a prime spot across from the Railyards. 'This is a joint partnership between using state funds and city land,' said Joseph Montoya, Deputy Director of Health, Housing, and Homelessness. Story continues below News: Albuquerque couple facing charges in 4-month-old's death Investigation: Politicians sink $13M in closed New Mexico tourist attraction Trending: Videos show man in dumpster getting dumped into waste truck in Albuquerque Events: Albuquerque Summerfest's 2025: What you need to know The department has more than a million dollars in state capital outlay money to fund affordable housing projects, and now they are asking developers to submit housing proposals. They said the goal is to provide homes to low-income families. 'So, these are folks that earn less than 80% of their income, so a family of four, that's about $78,000 a year household income,' said Montoya. The largest location is a two-acre lot on 90th Street and San Ygnacio Rd., where, in addition to giving the developer the land itself, the city will also offer nearly $780,000 to subsidize construction. The city said it will consider proposals for single- or multi-family homes like condos or townhomes on that site. 'The opportunity for more townhouse condo development, right? Which I think will be fun, but none of them are large enough for any mixed-use issues,' said Montoya. The three smaller lots in the Barelas neighborhood, the city said, would be best suited for single-family home development. In addition to the land, a developer would receive nearly $500,000 from the city. KRQE News 13 spoke to a resident who says the neighborhood needs the housing. 'There isn't enough, but hopefully you know stuff like this will get it popping to have a lot more development,' said Rick Espaline, a nearby resident. The posted deadline to submit a proposal is July 8, but the city said they'll likely extend that period to get as many proposals as they can. Last month, the city sent out a request for information for 11 other locations throughout the city, asking developers for ideas. They said 10 organizations responded, showing interest. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
Park Square Market in Uptown opens for business
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) — After months of construction, a new market place is open for business in one of the busiest parts of Albuquerque. Park Square Market in Uptown held its grand opening on Wednesday. Story continues below News: Albuquerque couple facing charges in 4-month-old's death Investigation: Politicians sink $13M in closed New Mexico tourist attraction Trending: Videos show man in dumpster getting dumped into waste truck in Albuquerque Events: Albuquerque Summerfest's 2025: What you need to know This comes from the same people who made the Sawmill Market in Old Town. 'This is a lot similar to Sawmill,' said Heritage Hotels & Resort CEO Adrian Perez. 'It gives you the opportunity to have multiple different food types, all under one roof. You have burgers, you have pasta you have pizza. Healthy bites like salads, you have a great ice cream vendor in Neko Neko. A great ramen vendor. a great coffee vendor.' The market is laid out as two buildings connected by a courtyard. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
Albuquerque Reliques: Downtown hawk sculpture symbolizing the west
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) — Across from the Rail Runner station in downtown Albuquerque, there's a 24-foot-tall sculpture made entirely of car doors. The piece, called 'Auto Hawk,' is meant to represent the West and its freedom. Christopher Fennell is a sculptor who moved from Georgia to Albuquerque after graduating from college. He says Auto Hawk was partly inspired by the ravens he saw while hiking the Sandia – specifically, the 'rough-looking' ones missing feathers. He says he decided to use car doors for the sculpture, given that it's located outside of a parking deck. 'And so I thought, okay, parking deck materials, cars,' said Fennell. 'And then I started thinking about how car doors open and how they're kind of like a wing and how if you did a bunch of them, they would look like feathers.' Auto Hawk came to be when the city put out a call for artists. Fennell submitted his portfolio, and from there, he was invited to walk the site with city officials and talk with nearby community members. Then, it was time to brainstorm. For Auto Hawk, Fennell drafted up drawings to present to the city council. After his concept was selected, he signed the contract and started building. The piece is meant to encompass the idea of Western freedom, particularly the free-spirited people of Albuquerque, and how 'we all got to stick together.' Albuquerque Reliques is a web series taking a look at landmarks, art, and oddities in the area. Pt I. – Pt. II – Story behind the 'Transformers' sculptures downtown Pt. III – A mural at Civic Plaza representing resiliency Pt. IV – Fennel's experience with sculptures began decades ago. 'In 2000, I was getting a master's in sculpture at the University of Georgia, and I saw a barn falling down that looked like a wave to me,' said Fennell. 'And so I took the barn down and built a wave in front of the art department, and people liked it. And then I took 120 bicycles and made a tornado of bicycles. And that sort of set me on my path of building big things out of recycled material.' He added that he enjoys working around 24-feet because it's 'big enough that you feel the presence of God, but small enough that it's intimate.' One way Fennell garners inspiration is through nature, specifically caving. He jokes that 'my pieces of artwork are just me going out.' As for how these massive sculptures stay together, Fennell has a background in mechanical engineering. He says that's partly how he's learned to build big things that stand up and stay up. One struggle Fennell has run into is finding scrap yards that are willing to work with artists. 'It's weird. Salvage yards don't like artists because they're just weirdos that are going to, you know, go look for one little thing that's interesting, and there's no money to be made,' said Fennell. 'So most places, like most junk dealers, will not deal with artists.' Fennell is now living in Birmingham, Alabama, where he has an art studio in the ruins of Republic Steel – an abandoned steel mill that has become a haven for artists. Although he's a few states away, he's still doing work in New Mexico. Currently, he's working on a fire station in Las Cruces. 'It is two pillars, 17 feet tall, with fire hydrants on top. And then between the two pillars is a 14-foot-tall ball of fire made of decommissioned fire ladders,' said Fennell. 'I did one like this in Allen, Texas, north of Dallas. But this one I made spiky, because everything in the desert is kind of spiky.' You can view Fennell's work on his website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
