The Boulders in Albuquerque, NM

The Boulders is a single-family subdivision in the Paradise West area of northwest Albuquerque. Pulte Homes laid it out and built it through the 2010s, working from a dozen floor plans and several elevations, then closed the community once the last homes sold. Stucco walls and concrete tile roofs carry across the streets, so the blocks read as one piece. A neighborhood park with a tot lot sits inside the subdivision, and walking paths thread between the streets with the Sandias filling the view east. Sunset View Elementary and James Monroe Middle School stand just west, and the Paradise Hills Community Center, with its pool and skate park, is under a mile off.

Dues are billed quarterly and go to the common areas — the park, the tot lot and the landscaped edges the association keeps up. Associated Asset Management handles the administration. While Pulte was still closing homes, the builder's own representatives held the board seats, with those seats passing to residents once the last sale closed. Yard care stays with each owner: the covenants ask that grass be mowed and edged and weeds pulled.

Getting around is straightforward from this corner of the west side. Downtown Albuquerque runs about ten minutes out, and the Sunport and Kirtland Air Force Base sit closer to twelve.