Reimagining Albuquerque

Last week, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham authorized the deployment of up to 50 New Mexico National Guard troops to Albuquerque to serve as Police Service Aides. The request came from the Albuquerque Police Department and was framed as a way to support public safety and ease police staffing shortages.

At a glance, this decision might seem like bold action in response to rising concerns. Albuquerque’s crime has drawn national attention, and there is no question that public safety shapes how people experience the city. But crime, while still a serious issue here, has been declining. Property and violent crime are down from recent highs, and the city has made progress in several categories. The move to deploy the National Guard does not reflect this trajectory. Instead, it risks sending the message that Albuquerque is spiraling, when the truth is more complex—and more hopeful.

Albuquerque does have a crisis, but it is not one that will be solved with troops in military uniforms. What we are facing is a crisis of housing, a crisis of opportunity, and a crisis of connection. These conditions create the stress, instability, and inequity that can lead to crime. If we want to continue reducing violence and build a safer city, the path forward is not more uniforms on the street, but targeted investment in the conditions that make life stable and worth staying for.

The Crisis of Opportunity Affects Everyone

When we talk about crime in Albuquerque, we tend to focus on individual acts or repeat offenders. But the broader context often goes unexamined. Many residents—especially those in lower-income areas—face enormous barriers to education, stable housing, transportation, and employment. These challenges increase vulnerability to crime, both as victims and as those caught up in the justice system.

This lack of opportunity touches people across income levels. Professionals often choose not to stay in Albuquerque because of the perception of instability and the real lack of infrastructure. Healthcare providers, particularly physicians, cite public safety concerns, limited cultural amenities, lack of urban neighborhoods, and poor transit access as reasons to work elsewhere (In addition to issues the city can’t control alone, like medicaid payouts and malpractice insurance). Their departure affects everyone. It leads to gaps in care, reduced healthcare access, and loss of related jobs. Employers in other sectors take note as well. Some companies avoid relocating here because they worry they cannot retain staff long-term.

These patterns are not inevitable. Cities with more consistent investment in public goods—transit, housing, libraries, and community services—have better outcomes across the board. They keep talent, attract new residents, and give people reasons to build their lives locally. That is how you reduce crime. You give people more to say yes to.

Literacy and Education Are Long-Term Public Safety Tools

New Mexico consistently ranks near the bottom in national literacy scores. This is not a side issue. Third-grade reading proficiency is one of the strongest predictors of whether a child will graduate from high school, avoid incarceration, and find stable employment. Instead of uniformed patrols, we should be funding programs that improve early literacy, support struggling readers, and provide adult education and reentry opportunities for those who have interacted with the justice system.

Libraries can serve as hubs for this work. They are already doing it in many cities. Peer tutoring, digital access, language learning, and mentorship programs are more than educational—they are tools for safety and civic stability. Education builds self-determination and reduces the desperation that drives so many poor outcomes. There is no public safety strategy more effective in the long term than one rooted in strong, equitable access to education.

Transit as a Bridge to Employment and Stability

In many parts of Albuquerque, transit does not connect workers to jobs in a reliable way. While the ART corridor offers useful service, it does not operate late into the night. Other important routes, such as the 141, stop too early to support workers with evening or overnight shifts. That gap limits employment for people who are already living on the economic edge.

Expanding service during the overnight hours—even if limited to core routes—would allow many more people to access jobs in healthcare, hospitality, and logistics. It would help third-shift workers who currently rely on costly car trips, or who simply cannot take certain jobs because there is no way to get home.

Transit investment is often framed as a benefit for riders alone, but its impacts ripple out. It strengthens the labor force, supports small business hours, and builds environmental resilience. Transit also increases public safety by ensuring that sidewalks, buses, and stops remain active, visible, and shared. Quiet, deserted streets are not safer. Well-used public infrastructure is.

Cities Need to Welcome Youth, Not Criminalize Them

Governor Lujan Grisham cited concern about youth crime in her announcement. Yet many of the systems meant to support youth have been eroded. Safe, low-cost places for teens to gather after school or on weekends are harder to find. Public spaces are increasingly designed with the goal of minimizing loitering or “undesirable” behavior, rather than welcoming young people.

New Mexico’s child welfare agency has even investigated families for letting children walk to a nearby park unsupervised. At the same time, we’ve seen youth centers and mentorship programs shrink due to lack of funding. Businesses often discourage teens from gathering, sending the message that they are a problem to be controlled rather than part of the civic fabric.

This matters. Loneliness and disconnection, especially among youth, are contributing factors to many public health and public safety concerns. National studies have shown that social isolation increases risks of depression, substance use, and violence. When young people are cut off from community, when their energy has nowhere to go, outcomes worsen.

Cities that thrive do not treat youth with suspicion. They build for them—creating plazas, parks, after-school programs, and shared spaces that are safe and open by design. These investments foster connection, and connection is a core part of safety.

Housing Is the Foundation

Housing affordability is one of the greatest challenges facing Albuquerque. Our zoning code still makes it difficult to build affordable and middle-income housing in many neighborhoods. Parking mandates, single-family zoning, and slow permitting processes all constrain the housing supply. The result is predictable: higher rents, fewer options, and more people falling into homelessness or moving away.

This situation affects every part of the city. It limits who can afford to live near work or transit. It puts pressure on aging infrastructure. It contributes to the perception of instability, and in some cases, it leads directly to conflict and displacement.

At the same time, the state has stepped back from major opportunities to address this issue. The transformation of the fairgrounds is a prime example. As Reimagining Albuquerque previously reported, the site has potential to become a thriving mixed-use district with housing, commerce, and cultural space. Instead, poor planning and weak community engagement have stalled the effort. The governor’s appointed lead on the project has failed to build public trust, and the state has not taken steps to reorient the process.

Housing is not just about buildings. It is about who stays in the city, who feels they belong, and who has a chance to build a future here.

Albuquerque Deserves More Than Symbolism

Imagine if instead of calling in troops, we funded literacy tutors, expanded transit hours, and turned underutilized land into housing. Imagine a city where young people felt welcome in public, where workers could commute safely at any hour, and where teachers and nurses chose to stay because their lives here felt supported and stable.

These are not utopian ideas. Cities across the country are doing these things right now. They are investing in placemaking, housing reform, and transit equity—not because they are easy, but because they work.

The deployment of the National Guard may generate headlines, but it does not solve the problems it is meant to address. It does not reduce poverty, build housing, or expand opportunity. It signals to the public that force is the default, even when the real solutions are known and within reach.

Albuquerque is not beyond hope. It is a city with extraordinary talent, culture, and potential. But that potential will not be unlocked by uniforms. It will be realized through investment in people, in neighborhoods, and in the systems that make opportunity real.

Let’s reject the politics of fear and embrace the work of building a city that works—for everyone.