Innovate ABQ seeks to re-develop the former First Baptist Church site at Broadway & Central in EDo. UNM, the City, the County, and Nusenda Credit Union collaborated on the purchase of the 4-block site in 2014. An RFP from development teams was requested April 17th this year, and was due June 1st - with the winner to be selected by June 30th.  
     In the 2013 book "The Metropolitan Revolution," successful innovation districts are described as the marriage of dense, mixed-use, walkable, vibrant urban neighborhoods with a concentration of talented people and firms who want to live and work in such places.
     As Albuquerque does not yet have such a neighborhood - but could have one in EDo with Innovate ABQ's leadership - let's hope their 11-member Board selects a team that has proven success at building those kind of neighborhoods.

     Please join us in welcoming Shannon Loves Flowers to 100 Arno Street NE, Suite B, just north of Central and adjacent to The Lofts at Albuquerque High. Shannon Conner is the New Mexico Floral Designer of the Year from 2008 and 2011, but her motto is "quality without pretension."  They are open every day but Sunday. Please support all your local businesses, including Shannon Loves Flowers!  256-3518. 

      The Zagster bike share program is up and running! With 13 stations and 65 bikes, we have started seeing more cyclists out and about. Early reports show good usage, with possible new stations coming to UNM and Nob Hill.  
     Those same reports highlight that Jeff Speck's recommendations from the Downtown Walkability Analysis need to get done. Our bicycling infrastructure in and around Downtown must become much better, and Jeff told us how to do it - with paint!

    Pedestrians love having a parked car between the sidewalk and moving vehicles. Drivers love to park once on the street and walk around. Parked cars narrow the perceived width of the street to drivers, slowing them down a bit. Clearly painting all on-street parking spaces is important to any urban, historic neighborhood like EDo and Huning Highlands.  
     City Councilor Isaac Benton and his staff were most helpful recently in getting on-street spaces painted on Broadway north of Central. We have requested that same treatment for Broadway south of Central, and for Arno, Copper, Edith, Elm, Gold, High, Silver, Tijeras, and Walter - any place it has not already been done. Thank you Councilor Benton!

     Starting in July, 316 Central SE brings "slow bar" coffee and draft beer to EDo. Single-source coffees and 40 custom-crafted brews aim to appeal to a broad range of individual tastes - in a great community setting. Fresh salads and sandwiches will be available too.  
     Along with our other great restaurants, EDo continues to evolve as the best place to dine in Albuquerque. Welcome, Theory! 

     With an opening reception Friday, June 12th from 5:00-8:00, a Russell Hamilton sketch exhibit will run through June 27th. If you haven't been to this wonderful space at 208 Broadway SE, here's your chance.