Reimagining Albuquerque

For decades, Albuquerque’s neighborhood coalitions have wielded immense influence over the city’s planning and development policies, often acting as gatekeepers to change rather than representatives of the full community. These coalitions—many of which are dominated by older, wealthier homeowners—play a central role in opposing much-needed housing reforms, including transit-oriented development and broader efforts to increase housing supply.

What Are Neighborhood Associations and Coalitions?

Under Albuquerque’s Neighborhood Recognition Ordinance, both neighborhood associations and neighborhood coalitions are formally recognized by the city, granting them significant influence over urban planning decisions. However, these two entities function very differently.

• Neighborhood associations are typically smaller, hyper-local groups focused on the interests of a single neighborhood. Some operate in good faith to advocate for community needs, while others become entrenched in anti-development sentiment.
• Neighborhood coalitions, on the other hand, coalesce power across multiple neighborhoods—often including areas outside their own boundaries. They are designed to amplify influence, consolidating voices across different regions of the city to oppose development. Unlike individual associations, coalitions are not directly tied to a single community but rather act as larger, city-wide political entities.

The Neighborhood Recognition Ordinance, which began recognizing coalitions in 2022, gives these groups broad powers, including:

• The right to be appellants in development cases, allowing them to challenge projects even outside their direct areas.
• The ability to submit official commentary on behalf of residents without clear documentation of whether they conducted meaningful outreach.

How Coalitions Concentrate Power and Weaponize Expertise

While individual neighborhood associations may opt in (or sometimes opt out) of coalition participation, the common trait among these coalitions is that their leadership does not represent the full demographics of their neighborhoods or Albuquerque as a whole.

Coalitions like the Westside Coalition of Neighborhoods, the Intercoalition Council, and city council district-based groups like the District 6 Coalition and District 7 Coalition work together to shape city-wide policy, often in ways that obstruct housing growth. They employ professionalized language, leveraging expertise from resident lawyers, architects, and planners to push back against reforms. They have become highly skilled at using legalese, zoning regulations, and design critiques to block projects that would otherwise benefit the city’s growing population.

These coalitions are not just localized resistance groups—they intercede in development across the city, weaponizing procedural tools to delay or derail projects. This has been evident in their opposition to O-24-69, which legalized diverse housing types in a narrow section of the city and mandated that neighborhood associations do outreach to residents to get permission to appeal development on their behalf. This measure, aimed at increasing representation of neighborhood voices in potential appeals, was particularly threatening to these coalitions—an ironic stance for organizations that claim to serve and speak on behalf of residents. Their resistance to transit-oriented development, even when it aligns with the city’s broader planning goals, further demonstrates their prioritization of obstruction over inclusive urban growth.

One of the most common rhetorical tools used to justify this opposition is the vague and often racially coded concept of “neighborhood character.” While it may sound like a benign concern for architectural harmony, in practice, it is a weaponized phrase that disguises opposition to rental properties, affordable housing, and smaller homes. Even when new housing is designed to blend with the existing architectural style, opponents invoke “neighborhood character” to block development that would allow more diverse and economically varied residents into an area. This phrase has historically been used to maintain exclusionary zoning and segregated communities, and it continues to be leveraged against policies that would create a more inclusive Albuquerque.

Despite the city’s demographic shifts—more renters, more young people, more racial and economic diversity—our neighborhood decision-making structures remain largely controlled by those who already have secure housing and a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. This has led to organized opposition to policies like O-24-69, as well as expanded homelessness services, public transit, or even bike trails in places.

Seattle faced a similar problem, and in 2016, they took a bold step: they ended their official recognition of neighborhood district councils. A report by Seattle’s neighborhoods department found that while the city was becoming younger and more diverse, the people showing up to council meetings were overwhelmingly white, older, and homeowners. The voices shaping city policy were not representative of the city’s full population. Sound familiar?

Why Albuquerque’s Neighborhood Coalitions Need to Go

Albuquerque’s Neighborhood Recognition Ordinance gives legitimacy to neighborhood associations and coalitions, yet it has no real enforcement mechanisms to ensure those groups actually represent their communities.

• Currently, neighborhood associations are only required to conduct outreach “in good faith,” a vague requirement that allows many groups to simply ignore renters, younger residents, and lower-income households while still being recognized by the city.
• Many neighborhood groups do not publicly post meeting minutes, agendas, or even board member contact information, making it nearly impossible for an average resident to engage.
• Even when meetings do happen, they often take place at inconvenient times for working families, non-English speakers, or residents who can’t afford child care. As one Seattle official put it: “People aren’t choosing not to come to these meetings. They can’t come.” This problem plagues us in Albuquerque as well, preventing meaningful participation and entrenching unrepresentative power. 

When neighborhood coalitions weaponize this system against housing, they create a self-perpetuating cycle of exclusion. We’ve seen it play out repeatedly:

• Opposition to O-24-69: Neighborhood groups worked to pressure City Council to stall this bill, which will allow more housing types along the ART corridor, urban centers, and Main Street Corridors. Many of these groups framed their opposition as a desire to “preserve neighborhood character,” but in reality, the effect was to lock out younger residents and renters from more affordable options.
• Resistance to Transit-Oriented Development: While city planners and transit advocates see the need for dense, mixed-use development near ART stations and other major corridors, neighborhood coalitions have fought against these projects, claiming they would increase traffic and “change the feel” of their areas.

These are not isolated incidents. They represent a pattern of organized resistance to making Albuquerque a more affordable, dynamic, and inclusive city.

A New Model: Accountable, Transparent Neighborhood Associations

Rather than allowing unaccountable neighborhood coalitions to hold disproportionate sway over city policy, Albuquerque should adopt a model that ensures neighborhood representation is fair, transparent, and inclusive. This means:

1. Full compliance with New Mexico’s Open Meetings Act – Neighborhood associations should not operate in secrecy. Meeting agendas must be posted at least two weeks in advance, and meetings should be open to public attendance.
2. Publicly available board member contact information – Residents should be able to easily find out who is making decisions on their behalf.
3. Mandatory video recordings and meeting transcripts – Ensuring that community members who cannot attend in person can still be informed.
4. A real enforcement mechanism for community outreach – Instead of vague language about “good faith” outreach, associations should be required to document their engagement efforts and demonstrate that they actively seek input from renters, non-English speakers, and underrepresented groups.
5. Recognition of non-traditional input methods – Neighborhood Associations must allow and log written comments from residents who cannot attend in person. These comments should be included in meeting records and formally considered in decision-making. Since recognized associations play a role in the public input process, they must uphold broad, equitable engagement, rather than acting as gatekeepers who exclude residents unable to participate in traditional ways.

Seattle’s experience provides a roadmap: when city recognition was removed from entrenched neighborhood councils, it made space for a more inclusive, dynamic form of civic engagement. Albuquerque should follow suit.

Seattle’s 2016 decision to stop recognizing district councils provides a clear precedent for reform. Seattle has since implemented new democratic input processes that intentionally solicit input based on demographics and equity needs, ensuring that a more representative cross-section of the population has a voice in shaping city policies. Additionally, the city has developed policies that integrate affordable housing into more neighborhoods, breaking down historic patterns of exclusion and promoting equitable growth.

The time has come to stop legitimizing NIMBYism under the guise of neighborhood representation. If we want a city that works for all of us—not just the loudest, most entrenched voices—we need to fundamentally reform how neighborhood groups operate. Otherwise, Albuquerque will continue to be held hostage by a small, unrepresentative segment of the population, while the rest of the city is left out of decisions that shape our future.

Contact Your City Councilor

Albuquerque’s future depends on a more transparent, equitable approach to neighborhood decision-making. The current Neighborhood Recognition Ordinance legitimizes unrepresentative coalitions and allows them to block needed housing and infrastructure without accountability.

Contact your City Councilor today and ask them to support amendments to the ordinance that:

• End official city recognition of neighborhood coalitions.
• Require all neighborhood associations to comply with open meetings laws.
• Mandate transparency in leadership, outreach, and decision-making.
• Urge city officials to create new, democratic public input processes that reach Burqueños where we are and that represent us – not just wealthier, older coalition and association members.

Let’s make Albuquerque a city that represents all its residents—not just a vocal few.

Find your City Councilor’s contact information here.

Extra Reading:

https://nextcity.org/features/seattle-nimbys-neighborhood-planning-decisions?utm_

https://www.seattle.gov/opcd/current-projects/equitable-development-initiative?utm_

https://www.nationalcivicleague.org/ncr-article/community-based-equitable-development-seattles-response-to-gentrification/?utm_

https://www.seattlefoundation.org/blueprint-for-impact/center-for-community-partnerships/vibrant-democracy-initiative/?

https://frontporch.seattle.gov/2024/12/23/reflecting-on-a-successful-year-of-engaging-and-supporting-community/?utm_source