Rancho Sereno in Albuquerque, NM

Rancho Sereno sits on Albuquerque's West Side, between Golf Course Road and Eagle Ranch Road just south of Paseo del Norte. Centex built it through the 1990s, and the street names still read that way: Rancho Milagro, Calle Nortena, Las Terrazas, Butterfield Trail. The housing is single-family throughout. A voluntary neighborhood association rather than a mandatory HOA looks after the shared landscaping, hiring a contractor to spray and trim the common areas. Its internal circulation streets have no houses fronting them, which invites speed, and the city has funded a study of traffic calming options along five of them.

The association is a resident-run nonprofit that takes neighborhood concerns to the city. Beyond landscaping, dues buy equipment and cover the communication that keeps members informed, and the group puts on seasonal clean-ups and neighborhood gatherings. Membership is handled by mail rather than through a closing, so joining is a choice each household makes.

Speeding on the through streets has been a standing complaint, and the city paid for a speed study out of District 5 general obligation bond funds. It covered Rancho Sereno Road between Calle Nortena and Paseo del Norte, Rancho Milagro Road east to Eagle Ranch Road, Las Terrazas Street and Butterfield Trail west to Golf Course Road, and Calle Nortena in between. The review follows the city's Neighborhood Traffic Management Program, so the same set of calming tools is on the table.