Laurelwoods in Albuquerque, NM

Laurelwood is a residential neighborhood on Albuquerque's West Side, in City Council District 1, near the city-owned Ladera Golf Course. Its anchor is Laurelwood Park, where the city rebuilt the playground, traded sand for wood chips, refreshed benches and picnic tables and added a water fountain; a gazebo shades an accessible bench. Laurelwood Parkway runs through the neighborhood, and volunteers are replanting trees and repairing irrigation in its landscaped median. There is no mandatory homeowners association — the Laurelwood Neighborhood Association is a volunteer group funded by donations, and it works with the city on lighting, litter and development nearby.

The neighborhood association has been at this a long while. Its 37th annual meeting, held in March 2024 at the Ladera Golf clubhouse, put the district city councilor, the APD Northwest area commander, the Bernalillo County district attorney and three state legislators in front of residents, who then elected the year's board. The group also runs an autumn festival and keeps in touch with counterparts in Westgate, Parkway, Los Lomitas and Pat Hurley.

Ladera itself is more than one course. The 18-hole championship layout plays 7,107 yards from the back tees, the longest of the city's courses, and a nine-hole executive course of roughly 2,000 yards sits beside it, along with practice putting greens, four lakes and a lighted driving range that stays open into the evening through the warm months.