Читать книгу Walking Albuquerque. 30 Tours of the Duke City's Historic Neighborhoods, Ditch Trails, Urban Nature, and Public Art онлайн

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Barelas emerged in the 19th century as a farming village near a site where the Camino Real crossed the Rio Grande. With the arrival of the railroad in 1880, Barelas quickly grew from an agricultural community into an industrial neighborhood dominated by Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway shops along 2nd St. Commerce increased when Route 66 coursed through the neighborhood in 1926, but its realignment in 1937 bypassed Barelas. The closure of the railroad shops in 1970 eliminated 1,500 jobs from the community. Adding insult to injury, the city disconnected the main route into Barelas to create Civic Plaza in 1974 (and reconnected it in 2014). Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Barelas fostered a mean reputation as a crime-ridden barrio. Now with the National Hispanic Cultural Center well established and renovations of the Rail Yards moving full steam ahead, Barelas is making a phenomenal comeback.

 Start at 2nd St. and Silver Ave. At the time of this writing (2014) plans for the northwest corner are underway for the construction of the Imperial Building, a mixed-use development with a 12,000-square-foot grocery store, which has downtown residents giddy with anticipation.