GUEST BLOG: State Fair Redevelopment Bus Tour

By, Susan Hering

RSPP Design Committee Member

Recently, leaders of Governor Lujan Grisham’s initiative to examine how the state fairgrounds and the EXPO grounds might contribute more positively to our economy and the well-being of the surrounding neighborhoods organized a bus tour of the community for various stakeholders and interested parties. On a cool evening in late October, 42 of us climbed aboard a school bus. Oddly enough, considering the tour’s conceptual point of origin with the Governor’s fairgrounds initiative — with APD SE Area Commander Josh Richards at an appropriate command post up front and the Governor’s senior advisor and former Albuquerque mayor Marty Chavez seated way at the back — there wasn’t a single mention of the fairgrounds or Expo during the tour. That may have been intentional, and it worked well. The tour was kept remarkably clean of politics.

I boarded the bus with my friend Theresa from BikeABQ feeling admittedly uneasy with the prospect of touring some of the poorest and most crime ridden district in our city. It felt voyeuristic, as though the challenges of the streets were not exactly ours but rather something to be observed at a protected distance. I left two hours later feeling not only the urgency of reinvesting in and reinventing these city streets, its empty lots and boarded up buildings, but also renewed and reinvigorated in my own motivation to contribute in some small way to this. And convinced that what we do at Revitalize San Pedro Partnership is a significant contributor to getting that work done.

I’ve heard Commander Richards speak at community meetings and forums. He’s generally asked to give a briefing on how many crimes have been recorded, and he’s always even tempered and nonpartisan in those succinct reports. Last night, he owned the podium, and we got a close look at what he and his squadron, supplemented now by some National Guard and ACS crisis handlers, do on a daily and nightly basis. It’s an unrelenting assignment and one he seems well appointed to direct, one he embraces with dedication and purpose. Somehow, he keeps motivated and positive. It must be a great influence on the people he directs. He expressed deep appreciation for all the men and women who work on the streets there, crediting the presence of the Guard and ACS workers as being a big reason police are able to work with the more dangerous elements of the neighborhood’s diverse population. Crime in the International District, he said, was down 20% over the past 10 months. 

He took us by some of the main “hot spots” for crime in the district, including the SW corner of the fairgrounds where the historic Cal-Linn building is located, a stone’s throw from a methadone treatment clinic. The clinic, intended to be a positive addition to the neighborhood, in fact draws a seemingly endless stream of Fentanyl and meth addicts to neighboring doorsteps where people are trying to do legitimate business. Management of the clinic has not been inclined to discuss the problems posed by its clients who drape, slump and sleep around the site, defiantly disregarding the requests of business owners. There was no discussion of how this will all be affected if/when the corner properties are acquired by the State. 

I mention the alleged indifference of the clinic’s management because it’s a theme the Commander broached repeatedly over the course of the tour. The attitude of a business’s management is crucial to lowering crime in the District. He took us within sighting distance of several small shops in the neighborhood where many “residentially challenged,” some criminally engaged crowds gather regularly. The bus parked as discreetly as is possible for a glaringly yellow monster. Even at the sites which Richards described as being greatly improved in terms of criminal activity and the general disorder and debris of encampments, there was still a LOT of hanging out on a fresh autumn evening. He made clear, though, that there have been improvements, some made possible when a bodega gained a concerned and engaged owner, a change he’s seeing at the Adams Market convenience store where, according to the commander, serious crime is down 30%.  Juxtapose this with what’s going on around the huge, abandoned CVS building, which has become a hotbed of filth and crime due to corporate indifference. Richards pointed out time and time again the preponderance of vacancies in both residential units and storefronts. Vacancies, we know, are breeding places for crime, along with rodents (my personal addition to the story here). Alternatively, as he pointed out,t hey could be renovated to provide housing for those who need it.

I am an old woman and a coward, or if not quite those, at least a person who tries her best to not become a victim. I do not explore dark streets even in my own, known neighborhood. What we saw out the windows of the bus, people sprawling across the sidewalks, a child wandering in the night unaccompanied, fires burning in parking lots, and garbage, refuse, waste everywhere is something I’ve seen before in American cities, including ours, but never like I did last night. Because last night, these glimpses of urban decay were juxtaposed powerfully with signs of hope. A clean yard, well fenced of course, around a small house with tasteful Halloween lights draped above the porch. In an apartment building with most of its doors and windows boarded up, a soft light spilling onto a balcony from one curtained window. A long, once vacant block where a combined private/public partnership is erecting mixed income housing. This contrast, pitting hope against despair, rendered the negative elements of the streets more heartbreaking. Many, many good people live in the ID, old and young, lifetime residents and newcomers. Commander RIchardson reminded us that it wasn’t all that long ago that there were good, safe and popular places to go in the District, like May’s Cafe. There are still good places, such as the Lindo Mexico restaurant. Our knowledgeable guide mentioned repeatedly the importance of working not only for low income housing, but mixed income housing that will in turn lure retail to the area, including, most crucially, major food stores. 

Because of the importance of returning at least one (!) major full service grocery to the ID, he had the bus stop first at Mezquite Market, which he praised as having worked hard and consistently to keep its store and neighboring businesses clean and proudly clear of criminal activity. The manager of Talin Foods was on the bus, providing another example of a business that works hard to survive these rough times. Commander Richards’ attitude, his can-do, am-doing approach to the very real challenges of the district, was deep seated and contagious. He and his crews are building trusting, productive relationships with the businesses and people in the district. Truthfully, I’m still not totally sure why the fairgrounds people thought it was important to drive 42 citizens on a tour; presumably a thorough reimagining and recreating of the big state-owned plot in the middle of the ID will provide a significant spur to further economic development. We’ll see, won’t we? I do know that what we do on our stretch of San Pedro can make a difference and be a lasting part of keeping the good people of the International District safe on their sidewalks and streets. I’ve never been poor. I have worked as an economist though and I know that positive economic growth in the International District, on our San Pedro and other streets of the district, can help. And as the tour guide’s one casual reference to the fairgrounds would have it, “Tear down the ugly walls. Open it up.”

There was much more, but I’ve already written too much. If I can ever decipher the messy notes I scrawled in the dark of the bus I’d be happy to cite more facts and share more of the stories Commander Richards shared with us. We are fortunate to have people like him in our community. I don’t think I’ve ever written that about a police officer before. We’re also fortunate to have Councilwoman Rogers who’s a seemingly inexhaustible advocate for the district. There are many truly good people ready at this moment of time to make change happen. It’s time.