Ladera West in Albuquerque, NM

Ladera West is a West Mesa neighborhood in Albuquerque, set between the Ladera Golf Course on the east and the volcanoes on the west. Its residents organized early. The Ladera West Neighborhood Association has worked on the area since the late 1980s and was recognized by the city as an established neighborhood in 1990, and its campaigning produced Rinconada Point Park, about ten acres of city park inside the neighborhood. The association also adopted the Todos Santos Open Space, and the Ladera Dam Trail runs through the area. Streets are public, and no homeowners association governs the houses.

The golf course next door is a city facility rather than a private club: Ladera opened in 1980, pairing an 18-hole championship layout with a nine-hole executive course and a lighted driving range, open to anyone who books a tee time.