The Special Interest page contains information that the GHNA board thinks is important to the property owners in Glenwood Hills. This information includes such subjects as security, safety, property values (zoning, adjacent developments, traffic, etc), and are "unique" style of living that we have in Glenwood Hills.
President's Message
by
Nick Manole
(Why we need a strong Neighborhood Association)
Glenwood Hills was developed in the early 1960's by a gentleman named Lonnie Brown. A Glenwood Hills Lot could be purchased for $1,500 to $3,000 depending on the view or location. Of course you had to pay another $1,000 for the city sewer and utility assessment based on the frontage of your lot. Back then the original Glenwood Hills had overhead power lines and no city street lights (the residents below did not want to look up towards the mountains at night and see lights). In addition due to the terrain and (then) rural nature sidewalks were also not required. Many things have changed since then including the prices but Glenwood Hills still has 20 + lots that are not yet built upon. One thing remains constant in that Glenwood hills is still one of the more attractive and desirable places to live in Albuquerque.
When my father gave me my Glenwood Hills lot in 1976 for my High School graduation I was upset because I wished he had bought me a car instead. I hated having to always cut the weeds and haul the trash that others had dumped on it. Alas after marriage in 1986 we were going to build our "dream home" on that wonderful lot with views and close proximity to open space. In 1988 we had our plans and were ready to build.
Here is where the "dream home" became a nightmare. As we started to build graders also started moving dirt below us. But that couldn't be, we were always told the Catholic Archdiocese owned the land and would only build a church there. (Traffic one or two days a week) that would be fine. Besides the zoning was not commercial but zoned for office use only. Well after investigation we found that the zoning was changed and the church would become an upscale Shopping Plaza with a "high end" restaurant and quaint shops. But how did the zoning get changed?
Well we soon realized that our high end restaurant was a McDonalds and our quaint shops turned into a huge Grocery Store. Oh well I guess we just had to live with it. To boot the developer tore out the wonderful Grass median the Neighborhood Association had paid for. (years later we got the city to replace the medians that were destroyed, but more and more lobbying and meetings) I guess we still had our great view............................... Soon after the shopping center opened our McDonalds became the new "hangout" and every kid in town was cruising Montgomery and not only "hanging out" there but vandalizing our Neighborhood and tearing up our wonderful Sunset Canyon Park. It is then that I got involved in our Neighborhood association and soon became president. My wonderful "Dream Home" had become a nightmare and something had to change.  ; With the help of Shirlee and Ray Ostensen, Kathleen and Jack Oestreicher and many others we started the city of Albuquerque's first Community Policing Neighborhood Patrol and won "neighborhood of the year" at the local neighbor fest gala. We were proud and our neighborhood was getting better day by day. But the problems kept coming...
Our neighborhood had no sidewalks and it was unsafe for my little children to ride their bikes in the street... We lobbied our councilor and got sidewalks placed up Montgomery and down Larchmont to our wonderful park.
Another victory for Glenwood Hills. We thought the clouds had finally lifted. It was not to be. We soon learned that High Desert would be building right next to us by the trail-head. No wait!!! We were told that the land would never be developed it couldn't be... Not only that but they proposed a bridge from High Desert connecting to Glenwood Hills. We would soon be the new shortcut to the upper portions of High Desert. With late night meetings and compromises both neighborhoods agreed that less homes would be built without a "bridge"!!!!!!. Another victory!!! But the problems kept coming!!
The empty lot below and southwest from my home had a proposal for a 3 story self storage facility like the one at Indian School and Tramway..(All we had left was that wonderful view) no not another fight. But they needed neighborhood approval. After many hard fought battles, the developer changed his mind. and now we had to act before another unwanted development occurred. After brainstorming at another marathon Glenwood Hills meeting Dave Bentley had the great idea to "ask the city to build a Police station there". We all laughed but Dave was serious!!! Years and lot's of meetings later our Police Station and Park and Ride facility was a reality!!!
Another hard won victory!! Maybe now we could rest.........Yeah right....
Many will remember the wonderful "Wild Plum Restaurant" that was at the South East corner of Montgomery and Tramway. After the original owners sold out it became many other restaurants ie: Carmen's Pizza, with the last incarnation being a "teen bar". After that folded it got boarded up and homeless were breaking in and making fires to stay warm. Many of you will also remember the little homeless lady who would sit on the North side of the building on the cold snow. Thanks to a concerned board member we got her help but that building was still a horrible eyesore!! Along comes a visionary developer who proposed building "lofts" and with Glenwood Hills NA help we got the zoning changed to residential and the beautiful "Glenwood Lofts" were built and I still got to keep my views!!! Another Victory!!! maybe now we could rest and I could now enjoy my "dream home" once again...
But wait!! The alley behind the homes on Larchmont was unpaved and full of weeds, people were racing through and dust blew into our backyards. Here we go again more lobbying but we now have a beautifully paved alley with landscaping!!
As you can see after 20 years of fighting the good fight I am just plain tired. Maybe now I can enjoy my "dream Home".........
