Ventana Ranch in Albuquerque, NM

Ventana Ranch is a master-planned community on Albuquerque's West Mesa, laid out by Sandia Properties on roughly 1,250 acres starting in 1996. Paseo del Norte runs along its southern edge, and Rainbow and Universe boulevards carry traffic through and out of the neighborhood. Ten parks sit inside the community, stitched together by walking trails, and residents share a community center with a pool, a tennis court and a volleyball court. Two homeowners associations divide the ground between them, one covering the eastern side and one covering Ventana Ranch West, each with its own common areas to maintain.

Ventana Ranch counts among the largest master-planned communities in New Mexico, and it filled in quickly. Houses went up through the late 1990s and early 2000s, with several builders working different sections at the same time, each pocket platted under its own subdivision name.

The Ventana Ranch Community Association holds the common ground on the east side: streets, the community center and pool, signage and lighting. Dues are billed quarterly. Ventana Ranch West answers to a separate association that is independently managed, so the two halves do not share one dues structure or one set of amenities.

Ventana Ranch West covers the western portion of the community and carries its own recreation. Ventana Highlands sits inside it, next to Ventana West Park and just east of the Western Ridge pocket.

That park runs about four and a quarter acres through the middle of Ventana Ranch West, with a playground, shaded picnic tables, an open grassy stretch and a basketball court. Other parks scattered across the community add dog areas and sports fields.