South Valley MainStreet: Community Economic Assessment

The South Valley was founded as the Atrisco Merced in 1692 and comprised of several small villages including Atrisco, Arenal, Los Padillas and Armijo, among others. The plazas of these historic settlements have lost their centrality and are little known except to long-time residents. As was true for much of north and central New Mexico, the local economy was dominated by agriculture into the early to mid- 20th century with the increased importance of wage-labor in the New Mexico economy. The area was a major regional producer of agricultural goods – in particular sheep and wool products with as many as 70 registered looms once recorded in the Valley. The South Valley MainStreet district runs along a thoroughfare that has been in use since at least the 1500’s as the Camino Real. The bridge of Bridge Boulevard runs above the original river ford on the Camino Real. In the late 1930’s Route 66 was realigned to follow what is now Central Avenue. With the development of the interstates and growth in the Northeast quadrant of Albuquerque, South Valley businesses began to decline. The expansion of Bridge Boulevard to four lanes in the 1980’s further hurt the economic corridor on Bridge with the speeding up of traffic and the razing of old buildings and closure of local businesses during and after construction.