Santa Barbara in Albuquerque, NM

Santa Barbara is a homeowners association subdivision in Albuquerque's Northeast Heights, near the intersection of Paseo del Norte and Wyoming Boulevard NE. Its shared ground is modest and close at hand: a community pool, a park with a newly built shade structure, and a playing court, all kept up by the association. Sentry Management administers it, and pool keys are issued only after a resident finishes the association's pool orientation. The North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center, with a gym, amphitheater and rock wall, sits a short drive north on Wyoming.

The association runs on its residents: committee seats and board meetings are open, and social events are organized from within the neighborhood. Sentry Management's Albuquerque office handles the administrative side, from dues to correspondence.

The name is shared. Albuquerque's historic Martineztown-Santa Barbara neighborhood sits immediately northeast of Downtown, bounded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, the railroad tracks, Menaul Boulevard and Interstate 25 — a different place with a much longer history, miles from the Northeast Heights subdivision that carries the same name.