Downtown Albuquerque
Downtown Albuquerque is the
central business district of
Albuquerque,
New Mexico. It is roughly defined as the area between Marble Avenue, Coal Avenue, Seventh Street, and the
Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks. The area on the east side of the railroad tracks is known as East Downtown or EDo.
Encyclopedia
Downtown Albuquerque is the
central business district of
Albuquerque,
New Mexico. It is roughly defined as the area between Marble Avenue, Coal Avenue, Seventh Street, and the
Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks. The area on the east side of the railroad tracks is known as
East Downtown or
EDo.
Street grid
Downtown Albuquerque is laid out in a standard grid pattern, with numbered north-south
streets and named east-west
avenues. Central Avenue is the main east-west thoroughfare through the center of Downtown, while Lomas Boulevard is a major arterial through the north part of downtown.
The streets start with First Street just west of the railroad tracks and increase in number moving westward. Fourth Street was originally the main north-south thoroughfare through Downtown but today it is discontinuous, interrupted by Civic Plaza and a two-block pedestrian mall north of Central. Since these developments took place Second Street has been the main north-south street through downtown.
Districts
Downtown Albuquerque is divided into six official
districts, which are identified by a unified system of signage and icons.
Courthouse District
This district is bounded by Marble Avenue, Roma Avenue, Second Street, and Seventh Street. It is named for the three major courthouses located at the intersection of Fourth and Lomas:
Pete V. Domenici United States Courthouse, Bernalillo County Courthouse, and the New Mexico Metropolitan Courthouse.
Warehouse District
The Warehouse District includes the area between Second and the railroad tracks, north of the Convention Center to Slate Avenue. As its name implies, this area contains mostly warehouses from the railroad era.
Plaza District
The Plaza District is the central area of downtown, bounded by Roma, Copper, Seventh, and the railroad tracks. It is centered around Civic Plaza and includes many of Albuquerque's large office and government buildings including the Albuquerque City-County Building, the Convention Center, Albuquerque Plaza, the
Compass Bank Building, and the
Albuquerque Petroleum Building. The Main Library of the Rio Grande Valley Library System is also located in this district.
Arts and Entertainment District
This area is centered along Central Avenue and Gold Avenue east of First Street. It contains most of downtown Albuquerque's historic buildings as well as most of its shopping, dining, and nightlife destinations. The
KiMo Theater,
Sunshine Building, and
First National Bank Building are located in this district.
Transportation Center District
This is the smallest district, comprising
Alvarado Transportation Center and its surroundings.
Casa District
The southernmost part of downtown, the Casa District includes the area between Gold and Coal Avenue, extending all the way west to Tenth Street. This is a primarily residential district, with a large number of loft apartment buildings. The
PNM Building is also located in the Casa District.
EDo
Not one of the official downtown districts, EDo is a small but expanding neighborhood centered around Central and Broadway on the east side of the railroad tracks. EDo is a trendy area containing several loft apartment buildings and a variety of small shops and restaurants. The focal point of EDo is the renovated
Old Albuquerque High School campus, which is now a residential complex. The name "EDo" was coined fairly recently, in imitation of the
LoDo area of
Denver.
Transportation
Downtown is served by a network of
ABQRide routes including the
Rapid Ride BRT route, all of which include stops at Alvarado Transportation Center. ABQRide also operates a free circulator bus service in the downtown area named Downtown Get Around or "D-Ride" for short. In addition to local bus transit, the Alvarado Transportation Center also incorporates
Amtrak and
Greyhound bus facilities, as well as a stop on the
New Mexico Rail Runner Express commuter rail line.
