Why Living in New Mexico Is Exciting, Reason #8206

You encounter headlines like this: "Bernalillo halts $9 million arsenic treatment project over 'public safety' concerns". And they don't even surprise you.

Absolutely Unnecessary Things that Albuquerque Spends Money On: Hovercrafts

Talking with a friend in Albuquerque last night, I learned something that boggled my mind: the Albuquerque police department has a hovercraft.

Let me repeat that. Albuquerque has a hovercraft.

A city. In the desert. With a shrinking river. And they got.....a hovercraft.

There's so much one can say here: another of Marty Chavez's ridiculous and stupid self-promotion efforts? The worst waste of taxpayer dollars in Albuquerque? The complete futility of this hovercraft beyond the issue of river rescue on a body of water that's disappearing? The fact that a lifeboat, which would have been much cheaper, could have been used instead to the same effect? Does the hovercraft get used more in parades than in police work?

I think my favorite part of this is the hovercraft-manufacturer's website, which puts the "balloon fiesta water rescue" images up all over, as if to show the hovercraft's utility, yet in every picture, the hovercraft is either A) unoccupied, clearly to be photographed for publicity, or B) sitting there while there are no balloons in the water. The smile on the officer in the first picture says it all, just screaming, "I cannot believe we convinced them to buy this thing for us!"

To be clear, hovercrafts can have their uses, as the company's page shows. There are some much more compelling pictures of a "Mud/Ice/Water rescue" at Anchorage airport. That is a circumstance in which a hovercraft seems like a defensible purchase. But Albuquerque, with its one shrinking river?

And for those who still can't believe it, you just have to see the police report from June 30th of this year: "APD deployed the hovercraft and ATVs manned by Open Space personnel and APD divers" when a boy fell into the river. And in a sad turn, the boy was not recovered, and while his presumed death is indeed tragic, it prompts the question: if the hovercraft cannot do the one thing it was ostensibly purchased for, why get it?

Oh, right - so you can show it during parades and take pictures of it with balloons in the sky (not the water) behind you.

Historical Image of the Day

Meeting of the Albuquerque Optimists' Club, 1954

Albuquerque, 2 AM

Downtown Albuquerque at 2 AM is a scary place. I was out last Saturday night. We were at the bar until closing. We got there about 11:30 or so. At that time, downtown is popping. Sure, there was the guy who was basically passed out at the entrance to a par. And the police presence was a bit much. But it's cool enough. We go to the bar and have a good time. When we leave at 2, we hit the street and I instantly feel like we are in a war zone. The atmosphere is just scary. There are tons of drunk young people milling around. The cops are on horses. People are just looking for a fight. I say to my friends, let's get the hell out of here. We turn a corner and basically run into a race-based fight. This Latino guy is baiting these three black guys who come out of their car and start beating the hell out of the guy. He retreats back onto Central. We are turning the corner and run straight into them. Literally, I had to shove the guy off me. Luckily, we got out without getting hurt.

How does downtown Albuquerque overcome this scene? I have, quite literally, seen blood flow in the streets of downtown in the wee hours. You have several problems here. First, people come looking to fight. Second, the overbearing police presence only ramps up the tension. Third, with really only two exceptions, the bars downtown cater to very young people. Fourth, there isn't enough of a residential presence downtown to really deter these kinds of incidents. Finally, too many other businesses prefer to open in the suburbs or in wealthy neighborhoods than downtown, leaving a vacuum that meat-market bars fill.

I have been really impressed over the past few years over how far downtown Albuquerque has come. In 2000, when I moved here, you literally never went downtown at night unless there was a show at one of the few music clubs down there. Today, there is something going on every night, even if it is still a work in progress. But still, that atmosphere has got to change. Even when I was 21 I wouldn't have wanted to deal with that to end my night. At 33, I certainly don't want to. That atmosphere helps drive people away from downtown, only exacerbating the problem.

Albuquerque Loses A Piece Of Its Soul

I was deeply saddened last night to find out that Alphaville Video is closing. This superb movie store was not only the best in Albuquerque, but one of the finest video stores I've been to outside of a major metropolitan area. The owner of the building wants to do something else with it and the store's owner decided to close down rather than relocate in a less suitable location. Although I have not been in the store in the other half of the building, The Book Stop, I assume it is gone too, something reinforced by all the sale signs in the windows. Sadly, this is Albuquerque best, and perhaps only good, used bookstore. In one fell swoop, we have lost 2 of our finest businesses. Moreover, these 2 stores were in Nob Hill, the always trendy and increasingly yuppified part of town. No doubt, these great businesses will be replaced by a wine bar, an antique store, or something equally unpleasant.

Sigh.