Academy Acres in Albuquerque, NM

Academy Acres is an established residential neighborhood in northeast Albuquerque. Its association draws the boundaries at San Antonio Drive on the north, Academy Road on the south, Wyoming Boulevard and Burlison on the east, and San Mateo and Interstate 25 on the west. Sister Cities Park sits near the center, about four and a half acres holding tennis courts, a playground, a soccer field, picnic tables and old shade trees. The City of Albuquerque's Arroyo del Oso golf course, a 27-hole municipal layout, runs along the southern edge. The neighborhood association is a voluntary-membership organization, not a mandatory homeowners association, and it is one of the registered associations in City Council District 4.

Interstate 25 forms the western edge and Wyoming Boulevard the eastern one, so the neighborhood is reached from either a freeway ramp or a major surface arterial. Shopping, restaurants and medical offices sit along those same corridors.

Arroyo del Oso opened in 1965 and reached 27 holes in 1987, when the city added a nine-hole course named Dam 9 that crosses the Bear Canyon Arroyo three times. Parks and Recreation runs it, so the ground along the southern edge is public rather than a private club.

Membership in the association is optional and dues are billed once a year. Its stated purpose is to improve the area through group action on social, environmental, cultural and historic matters, and the members gather at an annual meeting.