Rich Cederberg's Albuquerque Real Estate Blog

Piedras Marcadas Neighborhood Association will hold a Christmas Party for members and neighbors on Thursday, December 10th, 2009, at Rio Vista Nazarene Church, 8701 Golf Course Blvd.

This should be a great opportunity to meet and catch up with your friends and neighbors. Food and drinks will be served and feel free to bring your own Holiday Deserts such like cookies!

All PMNA members and neighbors are invited to attend, but are asked to please RSVP as soon as possible. RSVP to PMNA President Milt Davis at 400-7360.

2010 Membership dues are now payable. Please send your $12 to PMNA, PO BOX 66655, Albuquerque NM, 87193. Or better yet bring your dues to the party.

The next meeting of the Piedas Marcadas Neighborhood Association will be Thursday, November 12, 7pm at Rio Vista Church of the Nazarene.

In addition to the regular neighborhood business we will have two guest speakers, Dan Lewis and Jim White. Dan Lewis is our newly elected 5th District City Councilor. Jim White is with the PR firm that is representing the Westside SunCal development that has been in the news.

Please plan on attending the meeting and welcoming our new city councilor and to hear information about the proposed development.

Currently there are board positions open. We live in a great neighborhood, wouldn't you like to be more involved in it?

$12 annual membership dues are now payable to PMNA. View our membership page for more information.

SunCal News

SunCal Website

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Northwest Albuquerque's Las Marcadas and The Trails at Las Marcadas Subdivisions are nestled in the late
afternoon shadow of Petroglyph National Monument in Northwest Albuquerque. Residents of the neighborhood use the walking trails in Piedras Marcadas Canyon to take morning or afernoon strolls amongst the Native American and Spanish rock drawings. Many of the homes on Tia Christina and Jill Patricia back up to the monument and/or city open house.

Builders

The homes in Las Marcadas were built in the mid 1990's by RayLee and Oppel Jenkins. The homes in The Trails at Las Marcadas were built in 2003-2005 by Kim Brooks, now Summertree Homes. There is a nice mix of brick homes and stucco homes in the neighborhood and one and two-story homes as well. The lot sizes are generous.

Schools

Most of the children of Las Marcadas attend Petroglyph Elementary, James Monroe Middle School or Cibola High School. Central New Mexico Community College is also located 4.4 miles away.

Parks

Las Marcadas II Park is located on Tia Christina in the middle of Las Marcadas. The park has play equipment, benches, a small parking lot, a covered picnic area with two tables, a nice grassy area for pets and a trail head to Piedras Marcadas Canyon.

What's Nearby?

There's plenty of shopping within walking distance (within a approximately a half mile):

• Smiths Grocery Store (.65 miles)
• WalMart Neighborhood Market  (.21 miles)
• Walgreens (.3 miles)
• First Community Bank 
• Wells Fargo Bank (inside Smith's)
• Ace Hardware
• UPS Store
• Starbucks
• Curves
• Chiropractor
• 2 Gas Stations
• Post Office
• After Hours Pediatric
• Peter Piper Pizza
• 2 Chinese Restaurants
• Canine Country Club

There's is other shopping that's a quick drive away:
   

• Cottonwood Mall
• Target
• Walmart
• Chow's Asian Bistro
• Red Robin
• Red Lobster
• Olive Garden
  

And soon there will be two hospitals:

• Lovelace Westside Hospital 
• The new Rio Rancho Presbyterian Hospital
  

Homeowners Association?

There is no homeowners association in Las Marcadas, however here is a neighborhood association, Piedras Marcadas Neighborhood Association, which is a voluntary. The optional annual membership fee is only $12.

Crime

The neighborhood as served by Albuquerque Police Department's Northwest Area Command.

•  Check Crime Stats
•  Check Sex Offenders

NW Albuquerque Homes for Sale from $150,000 to $175,000

NW Albuquerque Homes for Sale from $200,000 to $250,000

Northwest Albuquerque Real Estate Report

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Thanks to everyone who attended our Las Marcadas neighborhood cleanup today!

14 people showed up at Las Marcadas II Park at 9:00am this morning to participate in Piedras Marcadas Neighborhood Association's fall cleanup.

Here are the areas we cleaned together:

• the sidwalks and planter around Rio Vista Church of the Nazarene 
• between the retaining walls along Golf Course Boulevard 
• across from Petroglyph School
• across from the Las Marcadas Canyon parking lot on Jill Patricia 
• by the mailboxes on Ryan Patrick
• at the end of the cul-de-sac on Tia Christina
• Around the entrance to the park

Our cleanup was part of the the City of Albuquerque's Make a Difference Day. By the time the garbage truck arrived at 1:00pm to haul away trash we must have had forty bags or so.

We'll probably do another clean up in the spring, and it would be nice to see some new faces out there. The best way to become involved is to join the association and attend our meetings.

I'm sure there were other people in the neighborhood who would have liked to help. We understand that schedules are busy these days. Maybe you can help next time!

2010 Membership dues are now payable. Here is a membership form with the address to send in your $12.

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JDRF, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, is holding a Walk to Cure Diabetes on Saturday, November 7, 2009 at Balloon Fiesta Park.

Type 1 Diabetes is a disease that can affect anyone, but onset usually occurs during childhood or adolescense. Diabetes effects every major system in the body. Children diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes will need to inject or pump Insulin to control their blood sugar levels for the rest of their lives. Unless, that is, we work to find a cure.

This cause is dear to my heart. You see, I suffer from type 2 Diabetes.

But this is not about me. I am an adult. I can cope. This is about the children whose lives are affected by this horrible disease. Knowing the disease as I do, I can't imagine having to cope with it as a child. 

I need your support. Won't you please help me by either joining my walk team or by making a modest financial donation to my team?

These are challenging financial times for many, I don't expect $100 donations-unless of course that's what you can afford to do. I'm looking for $10 to $20 donations.

Thank you.

Mark Saturday, October 24th, 2009 on your calendar, it's the date for our annual Piedras Marcadas Neighborhood Association Cleanup.

Neighbors who want to help should plan on meeting at Las Marcadas Park on Tia Christina at 9am that morning. Bring your work gloves, hats, shovels, rakes, weed whackers, hoes, brooms and dustpans and join in and help make your neighborhood beautiful!

We'll be focusing on several areas that need attention, including the Piedras Marcadas Canyon parking area, between the retaining walls along Golf Course Blvd just north of Shelly Rose, and in the parkways in the neighborhood. 

Oh yeah, bring your smiling faces and good attitudes too!

The neighborhood cleanup is a Piedras Marcadas Neighborhood Association event.

Click here for membership information.

Piedras Marcadas Neighborhood Association recently donated two $50 Smith's gift cards to the Albuquerque Police Department Northwest Area Command.            

Here PMNA president Milt Davis presents Commander Steve Warfield of the Northwest Area Command with the Smith's gift cards.------------>

The donation took place during the Annual Officer Appreciation Day on September 24, 2009. The gift cards were to be raffled off to officers who work in Northwest Albuquerque. PMNA has made a donation at this event for several years to show their support to local law enforcement.

Commander Warfield has attended our Neighborhood association meetings before and has been very supportive of our neighborhood requests for increased patrols during our times of need.

To learn more about the association contact Milt Davis or Rich Cederberg.

Please plan to attend our neighborhood cleanup and lunch which is scheduled for 10am on October 24, 2009.

A funny thing happened this morning when I was out walking my new puppy Foxy (isn't she a cutey?).

Let me set the stage a bit.....You see, we live in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where every October we have this thing called Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta. Balloonists and enthusiasts descend upon Albuquerque for a week of Mass Ascensions, Balloon Glows, Special Shape Shows, Afterglow Fireworks, and even a Balloon Keygrab competition.

So it's not that unusual to see a half dozen or more hot air balloons up in the air on a typical September morning as Balloon Fiesta draws near. Several balloon companies fly almost every day giving rides to Albuquerque residents and Albuquerque toursists too.

Anyway, this morning, while I was out with Foxy, I saw a colorful balloon drawing near, and nearer, and nearer yet, until I could hear the distinctive sound of the burner being fired. Soon after, I could make out the faces of the people in the balloon basket, and I started to converse with a lady riding in the balloon. The balloon pilot, Kris Braden, of Beautiful Balloons Company

asked if he could land in my backyard. I thought he was kidding, that they were going to fire up the burner and take back off. When he was about 15 feet off the ground I realized he wasn't joking, and when he asked to land in my driveway I said "Yes!."

---Here's a picture of them landing in my driveway (sorry the photo is so dark, the sun had just come up and the balloon is engulfed in in the shadow of my house).

Once the riders unloaded I learned they were from all over the country, from Charleston, SC, Kansas City, Mo, Branson, MO and Lubbock Texas.

Here's a picture of almost everyone who was in the balloon: 

Don't they look like a Happy bunch?

Kris then asked if any of us who had gathered on the street would like to go on a short hot air balloon ride. I jumped at the chance and climbed in with my wife and one of our neighbors. We only went up 50 feet or so, but it was still really cool to feel the basket lift off and imagine what a real ride across Albuquerque would be like.

---Here's Kris working hard (or hardly working? Just kidding, Kris!) as he and his Partner Mike (out or frame) stretch out the balloon and prepare to pack it up.

I can't gaurantee that if you choose to live in Albuquerque's Las Marcadas Neighborhood that a hot air balloon will land in your yard, but I can honestly say it does happen from time to time.

I'm sure Beautiful Balloons Company would love to take you up on a Hot Air Balloon Ride in Albuquerque too! I'm told they have an outstanding safety record, so if you've been thinking about taking a ride, why don't you give them a call?

You can reach Beautiful Balloons at 505.261.8249, or go to their website at www.BeautifulBalloonsCo.com.

I wanted to share this email that one of our Albuquerque Boyscouts sent to me today.

"Thank you so much for posting my Eagle Scout Project information online and thru emails. It helped out alot! The project went great, the Ronald McDonald House was so appreciative of the donated supplies. They were so suprised by the large quatity of donated items. I have some pictures that were taken during the project. You are free to post these pictures online if you wish!"

This is of one of my fellow troop members bringing donated items into the the Ronald Mcdonald house. 

This is a picture of a truckload full of donated supplies. We filled 2 pickup trucks and a subaru all the way up.

This is a picture of use bringing in stuff to the Ronald McDonald house.

This is a picture of me and supplies.

This is a picture of me and the Ronald McDonald House Volunteer Cordinator (Stephanie).

Great job Westley, and thanks to everyone in the neighborhood who took the time to find a few extra items in their pantry. Together, look at what we accomplished!

What is a neighborhood watch?

A neighborhood watch is a network of neighbors, usually located on the same block, who have agreed to keep their eyes and ears open for one another. Neighbors watch for strange vehicles or strange people in the neighborhood. They then call or email their neighbors, or call the police if needed to investigate. The idea is to stop crime before it happens and make the neighborhood safer. 

How do you start a neighborhood watch?

Starting a neighborhood watch is not difficult. All you need to do to get started is just a little legwork. 80% of the neighbors have to agree to participate by signing a petition that includes their names, addresses, emails and telephone numbers. Once you have the signatures together you can schedule a meeting to get organized and elect a block captain.

Want help to get started?

You can contact Rich Cederberg or Milt Davis with Piedras Marcadas Neighborhood Association and we'll help you get the forms you need to gather signatures. We'll even help you schedule and advertise your first meeting.

Some additional benefits of a neighborhood watch.

A neighborhood watch is not only about watching out for crime, it's about connecting with your neighbors. You may find yourself making a few new friends along the way.