Vista Grande in Rio Rancho, NM

Vista Grande sits near the intersection of Northern and Unser boulevards in Rio Rancho, built by D.R. Horton. The development is still filling in: new streets, single-family houses, and ground held aside for a neighborhood park and for retail and commercial space at its edge, so the plan mixes uses rather than platting the whole site for housing. A homeowners association covers common areas and road maintenance. Unser Boulevard runs past the development as the main north-south route through this part of the city, linking it toward Highway 550 in one direction and Albuquerque's west side in the other.

The project arrived as part of a run of building around the Northern and Unser corner, and the commercial ground written into its plan is meant to serve that growth rather than sit as leftover acreage.

Three places in Rio Rancho carry the name. A city park on Husky Drive and a Rio Rancho Public Schools elementary both answer to Vista Grande, and neither one stands inside this development.

Access is open. There is no gate, no staffed entry and no age restriction, and the interior streets tie into the surrounding public grid.