Kirtland Park — Attraction in Albuquerque

Out-of-state visitor here… We stayed at the Baymont Inn a few blocks away & decided to walk over to this park around 10 AM on a Tuesday morning, so it was pretty quiet. There were 3 or 4 other people in the distance walking their dogs around, and one guy quietly using the public exercise equipment. It was peaceful, with views of the city in the distance, and a fairly good view of approaching aircraft landing at the nearby airport.

One thing that made us uncomfortable was some guy in an older black SUV kept circling around the neighborhood, watching us walk back to the hotel, which made us nervous. He passed by us at least 3 times from 3 different directions, so we made a note of his license plate number just in case anything happened.

From our hotel, we had to walk through an older neighborhood to get there, and (as is typical of many older neighborhoods) it was obvious which homeowners cared about their houses & yards and which ones didn’t. There were also a couple of empty & condemned houses nearby, but the park itself is pretty nice. It was a decent little daytime distraction on a long road...

I lived in the adjoining neighborhood for many years, I never felt threatened there, having lived in actual bad places, however as the demographic changes I felt less and less welcomed in the community I joined in the early 90's. There is a concerted effort to make the old demographic feel unwelcomed and unsafe. Dirty looks, vandalism and other behaviour directed at the older demographic. Harassment at the park, dogs getting loose while you are jogging and even a hint of unwelcomeness at the local gym and community centers. Regardless of your employment or income level, there is a real feeling of unwelcomeness. This went as far as the formation of an alternate Neighborhood Association that has its own celebrations and meeting schedule. A new association that only the new demographics are invited too. I think the term gentrification would apply. So much for Dr....

Beautiful lush green grass, that is clean and well mowed. Beautiful views of the of the West Mesa and the Sandia Mountains. Plenty of free parking. New recently installed playground equipment. Lovely walking trail that meanders across the grass. Easy access to both sides of the park north and south of the drainage Channel with bridges over the channel. Easy access to the community center on site. Fenced enclosed dog park on site. Shade structures located over playground equipment to prevent the items from getting excessively hot. Exercise equipment built in on-site for general public use for free. The park is never crowded and there's never a line to use the outdoor...