Reimagining Albuquerque

For too long, New Mexico has been trapped in a cycle of population stagnation and brain drain. Young people leave for opportunity elsewhere. Skilled workers, even when educated in-state, often take jobs out of state. And families hoping for a better life frequently find their aspirations blocked, not for lack of talent, but for lack of opportunity.

But today, we are standing at the edge of a different future. The arrival of industries like clean energy and aerospace in Albuquerque is not just a bright spot in our economy. It is a lifeline.

Maxeon Solar Technologies has announced plans to invest over $1 billion in a solar cell and panel factory at Mesa del Sol. Universal Hydrogen had announced a major investment at the Sunport before the company folded, aiming to make Albuquerque a national hub for hydrogen-powered aviation. Unirac is expanding. Intel is again investing in its Rio Rancho plant. These are not speculative ventures. These are transformative commitments to our city’s future.

In tandem with our growing film and media sectors, these industries present something Albuquerque has long lacked: diversity of opportunity. Not everyone wants to work in government or healthcare. Not everyone can. And when an economy relies too heavily on a narrow range of sectors, it creates fragility and fosters inequality.

Community members across Albuquerque have voiced these concerns for years in public forums and online spaces, from local message boards and Reddit to our own lived experiences. We lose peers, watch physicians take their jobs (and skills) out of state, and see our own children imagine lives in other cities. The common theme is clear. People want careers that allow them to stay, grow, and thrive in New Mexico.

These new industries are our allies, not our competitors. Together, they can form the foundation of a stronger, more resilient Albuquerque. An Albuquerque where skilled workers can stay and where students in our high schools can imagine futures in aerospace or solar tech. Where working-class families have access to middle-class careers without leaving the state.

We are also uniquely positioned to help these industries take root. Albuquerque’s blend of national laboratories, defense research, university systems, and public-sector expertise gives us an advantage few other cities can match. These institutions, if leveraged intentionally, can help accelerate innovation, strengthen technical workforce pipelines, and support early-stage industrial growth. Our proximity to Spaceport America adds another layer of opportunity. With access to controlled airspace and facilities for high-liability testing, the spaceport offers a one-of-a-kind environment for aviation and space-related research that few regions can rival. Clean energy and aerospace don’t exist in isolation; they can grow out of the very scientific, civic, and geographic infrastructure we already have.

This all requires intentionality. We cannot let this moment pass without doing the hard work of aligning our education systems, workforce pipelines, and housing policies to support it. We must ensure that these jobs are accessible to New Mexicans of all income and education levels. That means apprenticeships, community college partnerships, and technical training rooted in our communities. It means building housing where people want to live, near where jobs are located. It means making it easier to get to work by transit, bike, or car, not harder. It also means revisiting past ideas, like Innovate Albuquerque, to bring it to fruition.

We also need to recognize the scale of what is required. The 2024 Albuquerque Regional Housing Study found that we are short 55,000 housing units, even with only modest projected population growth. If we want to grow, and truly welcome new families and retain the talent we already have, we must privilege infill development and dramatically increase housing supply. We must also ensure that our new job centers at Mesa del Sol, the Sunport, and the Westside are connected by reliable transit and transportation options so that all Burqueños can reach opportunity.

But just as we have worked to attract new industries, we must also make it dramatically easier to build in New Mexico. Whether it’s commercial, industrial, or residential, the process today is too labyrinthian—slowed by outdated codes, discretionary approvals, uncertain appeals processes, and a political culture that often rewards obstruction over progress. This has led much of our local development talent, and their capital, to begin moving to Austin, Phoenix, or Denver, where their money gets more of a return and where building is more predictable. If we want to keep developers and their capital here, we need to prove that New Mexico is a viable and competitive market. But retention isn’t enough. We must actively cultivate more local developers, builders, and tradespeople. Right now, we simply do not have the capacity to meet even our current growth needs, let alone the ones we hope to achieve. That means aligning zoning, building codes, and permitting systems to match the urgency of our moment—and creating an environment where success is not the exception, but the norm. It also means standing up to entrenched NIMBYism and asking our local and state leaders to legislate boldly for reform. Success is not a matter of luck; it’s a matter of design. Right now, our systems are not designed to let success happen.

Our local and state leaders must also find ways to maintain this momentum in the face of new challenges. Federal tariffs and a lack of sustained investment from Washington threaten to slow this growth, and even threaten entire fields. For decades, New Mexico has relied heavily on federal spending. This moment serves as a clear reminder that we must diversify our economic base more than ever, so that our communities can thrive no matter what happens in Washington.

Our leaders must also actively promote Albuquerque for what it already offers. Even as Universal Hydrogen folded, its interest in developing at the Sunport shows that our city has the potential to support the future of cleaner aviation and advanced transportation. We should treat that potential as a platform to build upon, not a passing opportunity.

The scale of the challenge is breathtaking, but we can not give in to cynicism. Yes, New Mexico has faced economic hardship. Yes, we have seen promises come and go. But this is different. These companies are already here. The question now is whether we will rise to meet the opportunity.

If we want to grow, not just in population, but in prosperity and possibility, we need to embrace these changes and shape them wisely. Clean energy and aerospace can help build an Albuquerque that works for all of us. Let us not let this moment slip by.