Defining Neighborhoods Albuquerque, New Mexico Style
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I have lived in cities with small defined neighborhoods within neighborhoods, but they were difficult to find without visible markers anywhere.
I often thought that at one time such neighborhoods may have had identifiable markers, but not well placed or sturdy enough, they did not outlast the ravages of time, and like myths and proverbs, the names of the places they were intended to identify ended up being passed down by oral tradition from generation to generation.
In Albuquerque, it is different. But we are a young city. Last year, we celebrated our 300th birthday, and phenomenal growth begun in past five to six years continues. The area is well-known for its neighborhoods within neighborhoods and fespecially in the newest areas, it is easy to tell find neighborhood communities because they are well marked.
I decided to take a look at some neighborhoods on the west side, including Albuquerque and adjacent Rio Rancho. Each neighborhood is clearly identified with markers that seem as permanent as the homes themselves. The builders seem to vying to outdo one another in creativity and permanence in leaving identifying markers.
Except for a few neighborhoods where the landscaping is competing for visibility with the markers, one will have no difficulty in locating dinner and party destinations. It is fun to go neighborhood marker hunting. I got to appreciate the creativity of the designers of the markers and evaluate their permanence while learning about the neighborhoods. I discovered just how much expansion there is on the western front of the of the greater Albuquerque area, the only portion of the city with major available space for expansion. 
The markers for Cabezon, a new and still developing Rio Rancho neighborhood are eye catching, maintaining a consistent brightly colored southwestern motif throughout the development starting at the outer entrance walls.
Paradise Hills is a blend of old and newer development. I couldn’t find a marker for the 30-40 years older section of the Paradise Hills community built around a golf course. The marker for the golf course, recently updated, was perhaps an adequate identifier. 
The newer areas of Paradise Hills have several rather sedate but solidly built identifying markers. 
Ventana Ranch was a big surprise. Ventana Ranch, identified in our Multiple Listing Service as Paradise Hills West, is a large new area that continues to grow. I knew it was big and growing, but it turned out to have expanded further than I thought. I counted more than ten community markers in the Ventana neighborhood and am sure I did they were less than half of those that exist. 
I suspect that the small communities have been determined more by the exigencies creating builders' territories than by social considerations. But I can see long-term social advantages to having smaller communities within communities.
The markers at the entrances to smaller communities in Ventana Ranch give a hint of privacy and neighborliness. The Ventana Ranch Homeowners Association connects the entire community of several hundred homes. in a smaller community I should think it would be easier to build community -- easier with one or two hundred homes than with eight to nine hundred.
