Vecinos del Bosque
Neighborhood Association
Submitted by Leo Padilla
The VecinosdDel Bosque Neighborhood Association is bounded on the East by
the Río Grande, on the West by Atrisco Boulevard, on the North by
Central Avenue and both sides of Jeannette to Sunset Road, on the South by
Bridge to Five Points Road to Atrisco Boulevard.
I may be dating myself but, back in the fifties and sixties I grew up in
the Barelas area, which is just across the river from the Vecinos area, I
had a couple of friends who lived there. I visited them frequently. I
remember this area to be quite nice. There were very nice homes with big
lots and big cottonwood trees. It was very cool and refreshing on those
hot summer months so I spent a great deal of time with these friends.
It has been about thirty years since I have been back to the Vecinos area.
Last week, in early June, I went back to this neighborhood to take
pictures. I had a nice flash back. The Vecinos area has seemed to bypass
time and remain the beautiful area that I remember from my childhood. For
the most part, the houses and properties are very well maintained. The
trees are still there in all their splendor and beauty, only bigger and
much greener. Most of the houses sit on a half acre or more. The rural
atmosphere is still there with the Ma and Pa grocery store still open for
business. It was a pleasant surprise to go back to this area.
I interviewed two people from this neighborhood association for the
article; President Richard Rivas and current Board Member Robert Sánchez.
The first question I had was how they defied time and were able to keep
this community intact and improved over the many years? They both stated
it takes work, commitment, pride, goals, tradition, communication,
devotion, etc., etc., etc. Everything that came from these two guys was
extremely positive with a can-do approach for getting things done was
forever present. I rarely heard anything that was remotely negative.
One of their mottos (they have many) is, "If you want quality of life
here, get off your couch and lend a hand to the community." In other
words, stop your gripping and get involved by doing instead of
complaining. I asked them to share what makes them as successful as they
are. Right off the tops of their heads they quickly came out with the
following list:
Tremendous pride is instilled in each of their meetings and people
Keep people informed by sending out newsletters, flyers, posting signs
Quickly identify problems that are affecting their area, by sending out
Hot Spot referral sheets to get input on many community concerns
Ask the neighbors to keep up their area, not just their property
Don't use strong-arm approach to make people clean up their property, by the same token don't
be "pushovers"
Board members set the example for others
Constant communications though a Block Captains network, works very well for them
Contact residents for input and mail reminders to clean up their property
Traditional folks who have lived in this area for many years and will not
move, because they love and have pride in where they live
To push and push to try to make the community the best it can be
Work with the many Government and Public Agencies to get things to move and make progress,
they communicate directly with the politicians that can directly help in
any concern or problem that arises and on future goals for the community
Actively belong and participate in two Coalitions of Neighborhood
Associations, South West Alliance of Neighbors (SWAN) and the South Valley
Coalition
Constant involvement, e.g., ask that community members show up
on Friday afternoon at 5 p.m. on Sunset Boulevard and hold signs to slow down
traffic on this street
Promote strong community health and welfare
Protect the environment including the Río Grande Bosque in their area, by
adopting this part of the Bosque and keeping it clean and safe for their
families
Along with the Alburquerque Police Department and the Bernalillo
County Sherrif's Office solve crime problems.
This list could have gone on for quite some time but I had to move on to
the other questions. I asked how the neighborhood association was started.
They told me it started over a land dispute back in 1993. A developer
wanted to locate a big trailer park in their area. The neighbors got
together and formed the neighborhood association and were very successful
in convincing the same developer to build up-scale homes instead. This
proved to them that there was power in numbers and the rest is history.
The Vecinos del Bosque Neighborhood Association members are considered, by
most people who know them, to be a very strong, well organized, able to
deal effectively with most situations that arise. Look for Part II of the
Vecinos del Bosque in the next issue, stay tuned there is much more to
tell!
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