NM Research 2024

The 3rd Annual New Mexico Economics Research Day

August 16, 2024!

Registration is closed. | Campus Map |   Economics Research Day Agenda

At the University of New Mexico Department of Economics, our faculty and graduate students engage in impactful research and outreach for the state and people of New Mexico. Please click the link below to jump to the project and learn more:

Valuing Urban Greening using Hedonic Pricing: The Middle Rio Grande Valley in the Greater Albuquerque Area

Final Report

Presentation Slides

Using the hedonic pricing method (HPM), the objective of this research is to investigate the impact of heat mitigation and various greenness metrics on property values in the greater Albuquerque area. With a unique dataset of more than 5,500 residential properties listed for sale between October 2022 and February 2024, the econometric analysis examines both the valley floor (properties within the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District service area) and outside it. Due to confidentiality restrictions of property transaction data in the study area, we sourced publicly available property data from Zillow, including expected price measures and various structural attributes (e.g., number of bedrooms and bathrooms, lot size). We then geolocated each property and integrated neighborhood data (e.g., population density, percentage of white population, etc.). Additionally, we gathered environmental quality variables (e.g., heat mitigation index from the InVEST urban cooling model, enhanced vegetation index, land surface temperature) to create a comprehensive geospatial dataset.

Based on the spatial econometric analysis, the hedonic pricing models yielded several key findings:

1. Results indicate that residents place significant value on proximity to greenspace areas such as parks, open spaces and golf courses. Specifically, distance to the nearest greenspace is a negative and statistically significant determinant of home prices. A mile increase in the distance away from the nearest greenspace corresponds to about a 0.5% decrease in home prices translating to about -$2,337 for the mean list price and -$1,987 for the median list price

2. Distance to the river is associated with a decrease in home prices in the greater Albuquerque area. However, when considering the areas within and outside the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District (MRGCD) boundaries, the results indicate that residents prefer to live close to the river but not immediately adjacent. In the greater Albuquerque area, a mile increase in the distance from the river is associated with a decrease in home prices by approximately $4,206 and $3,575 for the mean and median list prices, respectively.

3. Across all the models estimated, the heat mitigation index derived from the InVEST urban cooling model was positively correlated with housing prices. Residents within the greater Albuquerque area willing to pay extra to live in cooler areas. Evaluated at the mean house price, a 1-percentage point increase in average cooling capacity within a 0.25mi buffer results in an increase of approximately $5,093, or about a 1.09% in home prices.

4. Land surface temperature (LST) is estimated to be a negative and statistically significant determinant of house prices across all estimated models. Models estimated with LST included outperformed alternative specifications. Results reinforce the preference for cooler areas by residents in the greater Albuquerque area. For every 1-degree Celsius increase in LST, home prices are expected to decrease by 3.2%. The marginal implicit prices (MIPs, hereafter) evaluated at the mean and median prices are -$15,047 and -$12,794, respectively.

5. Variables measuring greenness, such as enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and tree canopy, were positively associated with house prices and statistically significant across all models. Evaluated at the mean home price, the MIP of a 1 percentage point increase in EVI within a 0.25mi buffer is approximately $5,172, or about a 1.1% price increase. For the median price, the MIP for EVI is about $4,398. For tree canopy, a 1% percentage point increase translates to about $2,558 at the mean price and about $2,175 at the median price in home prices.

6. Results indicate that an increase in the density of active domestic wells within 0.25mi of a house is a positive determinant of house price, and this effect is particularly pronounced outside MRGCD boundaries. In the greater Albuquerque area, each additional active domestic well leads to about a 0.06% increase in home prices. This translates to an increase of about $280 when evaluated at the mean list prices and $230 when evaluated at the median list price.

Housing markets are excellent vehicles for examining preferences – aggregated and in capitalized present value terms. Most simply, green and cool matters in the greater Albuquerque housing market. Results provide substantial evidence that heat mitigation and various green measures are significantly capitalized into the housing market. They illustrate that providing urban green and cooling is one of, if not the largest economic contributions of primary water allocators in the region (e.g., the Conservancy District and municipal providers). Findings emphasize the need for regional planners to consider such values in policy applications ranging from the provision of green infrastructure (e.g., swales and catchments), the use of treated municipal waste water, and the provision and placement of additional parks and greenspaces.

Faculty Involved:Robert P. Berrens, Regents Professor, Department of Economics, University of New Mexico 

Graduate Student Assistant:Samuel Asare, PhD Student, Department of Economics

Undergraduate Student Assistant: Sean Yonemoto

Collaborators: Brennan Davis, Graduate, MCRP/MWR, Community & Regional Planning/Water Resources, University of New Mexico & John Fleck, Writer in Residence, Utton Center, School of Law, University of New Mexico

How Does Food Insecurity Relate to Food Purchase Behaviors in New Mexico?*

Presentation Slides

Final Report

In fiscal year 2023, New Mexico spent $29.9M on programs supported through the Food Initiative. Most of these programs are focused on improving access to food, thus reducing food insecurity. However, improved access to food does not guarantee increased purchasing and consumption of higher quality, more diverse foods. This research develops the measures of purchasing behavior necessary to assess whether efforts to improve access to high quality food translate into households purchasing healthier foods.

This study develops several measures necessary that go beyond assessing simply access to food to assessing actual food purchasing behavior. The Dietary Diversity Scores focus on ensuring variation in foods purchased, the Food Consumption Score introduces a weighted measure of food purchase variation, emphasizing high quality nutritional sources, and the fruit and vegetable purchase measures directly focus on a key component of a healthy diet, unprocessed produce.

After developing five measures of food purchase quality, this study compares these measures with measures of food insecurity, and finds that, while food desert measures were developed by the USDA and used extensively in food policy nationwide, these measures are unable to explain differences in purchasing behaviors in New Mexico, especially after controlling for basic differences across households, such as income, household size, and the presence of children. In NM, the measure of food insecurity or a lack of access to high quality food sources most highly correlated with differences in purchasing behaviors is whether a household resides in an urban or rural setting. Urban households purchase more diverse foods and more produce than rural households, even after controlling for basic household characteristics.

This white paper marks the end of the first year of this project. In the coming year, the project team will assess two important factors related to access, particularly in rural New Mexico, dollar stores and rural transit systems, and how they impact food purchasing behaviors in New Mexico and the rural Southwest.

This work will help New Mexico policymakers better target food-related assistance programs by providing the outcome variables necessary to assess these programs. Better targeted policies should focus on not just improving access to quality food sources but also ensure that increased access translates into improvements in the quality of foods purchased, with implications for overall dietary quality and associated health outcomes.

Faculty Involved: Xiaoxue Li, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of New Mexico

Faculty Involved: Sarah Stith, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of New Mexico

Graduate Student Assistant: Swarup Paudel, Ph.D. Student, Department of Economics, University of New Mexico

Undergraduate Student Assistant: Lawrence Rybarcyk

*Per data agency requirements, the full report will be posted on 9/6/2024.

Pluriversal Economic Systems and the “Obligation to Incorporate”:  A Loss Valuation Review

Final Report

Presentation Slides

The 2022 Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire (HPCC) began as a prescribed burn in the Santa Fe National Forest. The fire burned consistently between the dates April 6, 2022 -August 21, 2022, and the damage zone consisted of 341,471 acres, making it the largest wildfire in New Mexico’s history. The United States Forest Service claimed responsibility for the fire in the summer of 2022, which added a level of culpability to the disaster relief preparations being made at the time. In the wake of this disaster, $4 Billion has been allocated to compensate victims of the wildfire. The village of Mora is historically marked as one of the lowest income counties in the United States, and the compensation package approved by the US Congress would be the largest injection of capital in the history of the community. Despite this, the compensation process has proven difficult, often frustrating community members to the point where the process is marked by violence and public outrage. Of the $4 Billion allocated to the village of Mora and the surrounding communities, $1 Billion has been budgeted to administer the compensation, largely due to the complex composition of the community and the degree of “informality” that the government is compelled by congressional decree to serve. Unlike most compensation cases, the category of “subsistence” work has been authorized as a valid category, leaving open a possibility for a broader set of livelihoods to receive compensation. This has compelled the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to develop additional practices and staff to assist in making determinations for practices it normally would not authorize.

Furthermore, the community of Mora is the only county seat in the United States that is unincorporated. The lack of a municipality further places Mora on the margins of bureaucratic processes that have long been the standard for disaster relief. This resistance to incorporation is informed by a long and unique set of political and social interactions that have made it a site of contested power for over 300 years. As part of the hinterlands of the Spanish Empire and before that a site of Indigenous conflict between Pueblo and Comanche peoples, the Mora Valley is a complex, multilayered system of practices, people, and landscapes that inform what FEMA would normally characterize as “informal”. Many practices within the community have chosen not to “incorporated”, which has made it more difficult to assess how to compensate and by doing so “make whole” the damage caused to this community. This paper serves as a starting point for a variety of research projects designed to confront the following questions: How does economic value translate across and within a pluriversal economic system?

How do compensation systems assess damages and losses while avoiding the harm caused by the “obligation to incorporate”?

As such, the paper takes the form of both a critical analysis of the problem of “pluriversality” while also reviewing the historical conditions that make Mora a place that resists the “obligation to incorporate”. To achieve this, the project is separated into two parts.

Part I defines the problem of “the obligation to incorporate” as it relates to the community of Mora, New Mexico and the compensation process for victims of the 2022 Hermits Peak Calf Canyon (HPCC) wildfire. Because of political and historical circumstances, and the events that caused the HPCC, Mora currently stands uniquely protected from what we refer to as the “obligation to incorporate” which has produced an irregular possibility for cultural and ecological factors to be accepted within the bureaucratic compensation process. We describe what factors have produced this “protection” from the obligation to incorporate while also revisiting how compensation structures deal with intangible value as a “pluriversal” problem. We spend time describing and establishing what a pluriverse is and what a plurivsersal economy looks like. As part of that exploration, we identify some of the fundamental problems associated with translating issues of compensation from a dominant economic system as they encounter systems that are grounded in livelihoods and practices that appear foreign to that dominant system. This includes the highly problematic issues of evidence and authenticity, which when applied to the compensation processes as a qualification for compensation, may further harm victims and exacerbate structural inequities. For example, during the compensation process, places such as Pendaries Village, which is both an incorporated village and an incorporated shareholder-owned resort, have experienced a relatively expedited compensation process. This is largely because of the village’s alignment with what FEMA expects in terms of economic and market valuation. In contrast, people within the communities that constitute Mora have struggled to get their paperwork processed, often resulting in demonstrations of public frustration and resistance to the process. Even within Mora, those who have businesses or livelihoods with identifiable market value have received compensation ahead of others, straining relationships within the community, and creating a divide among those who have chosen more traditional livelihood practices. When disaster occurs, the parts of economies that are "formal differently" in these communities are often forced to transform to align the dominant bureaucratic and economic sphere of influence (i.e. FEMA and other administrative assistance). During Hurricane Katrina, those most vulnerable to the effects of flooding and storm damage received unequal compensation to those who had forms of private support (high paying jobs, insurance). Many of these inequities resulted from the lack of paperwork and bureaucratic status that places like FEMA use as the basis for their requirements (Holtz-Eakin, 2005). We use the concept of “the obligation to incorporate” to help illustrate how these power dynamics work and how in the case of Mora, that cannot happen as it normally would. This review builds upon the literature of “disaster capitalism” which identifies several key issues with economic interventions upon communities during times of ecological and environmental crisis (Klein, 2007).

Part II applies a critical theory approach referred to as “partial ontological layering” to the compensation problem. Communities that encounter environmental crisis come in many different shapes and sizes. Some contain what literature once referred to as "informal economies" or "parallel economies" (Lindauer, 1989). This paper spends time conceptualizing a “pluriverse”, which helps to define the conjoined “ways of being” that are at stake during a disaster (or any other existential threat). The term "pluriverse" is gaining popularity among a subset of development and critical economics scholars to explain the intersection of competing but co-existing realities (Escobar, 2020). Building upon this terminology are opportunities to consider issues such as compensation, economic development and other important parts of both environmental and ecological transformation.

Using a layered topology of a hypothetical compensation claim in the HPCC fire, this paper examines how compensation may begin to account for private losses (persons) in addition to three other key layers: practice, place, and people (community and tradition). To help make a concept of pluriversal compensation more legible, we identified several important starting points:

• Connection to Nature. Nature’s distance from economic logic is a broad historical problem, but in times of crisis, those whose practices are land based tend to be marginalized because those practices often operate outside of the dominant bureaucratic system. In the case of Mora, a land-grant community with significant intersections with indigenous communities, the economic values of the region emanate from a relationship with nature this is foreign to the community.

• Translation. Translating from one system to another involves a variety of processes that either foreignize or domesticate one’s practices to another. In the case of Mora, the FEMA process has elements of both. It is foreignizing parts of the community that are difficult to translate into the compensation process while also domesticating some livelihoods into the normalized taxation and market valuation process. The degree to which something is foreignized or domesticated will determine the impact of compensation on the health and resilience of Mora as a community.

We then explored each ontological category as a site for rethinking compensation. For example, when thinking about place, one may consider a place as a credible, legal recipient of compensation should an adequate agent be identified (i.e. a land trust). Within these layers, the tension between individual and collective influence is noted and problematized.

Using a hypothetical case of a curandera (named after a revered member of the Mora community, Doña Gabrielita), we initiate a hypothetical discussion of how damages and losses could be assessed for an individual with deep cultural ties to a highly foreignized system. By identifying her claim under the four ontological categories (person, practice, place, and people) one can begin to broaden the compensatory horizon at work for each individual in addition to the community.

Both parts establish a foundation for conceptualizing loss valuation for those affected by ecological and environmental crisis, particularly in places where “informal” economies dominate. Informed by a series of perspectives on ecological and environmental crisis. While compensation processes have great transformational power (i.e. economic development potential), they also run the risk of de-incentivizing economic behavior and economic values that are essential to sustaining traditional practices. Consequently, a community identity can change irrevocably if the dominant economic sphere intervenes without understanding the broad implications of their interventions, especially when the urgency to act is a factor. More studies are needed to understand value and economic choices that are contained within a “pluriverse”, a concept that has broad implications for how we deal with a variety of economic systems, including systems we currently label as parallel, underground, illicit, black-market, barter, and mutual aid. In the case of Mora, it helps to establish a claim that the current compensation framework may be just as damaging as the wildfire that prompted it but also has the potential of transforming how dominant economic systems and policies interact with a variety of systems and the values that each system maintains.

The process of conceptualizing this paper involved community discussions as well as lengthy discussions among the co-authors. As the paper developed, certain ideas that we thought would inform a compensation framework were not applied. To this end, we added an Appendix (Appendix 1) that documents those discussions to help the reader understand some of the potential ideas that may inform this problem for future study. Furthermore, an in-depth review of the non-market compensation literature was produced. A limitation of the paper was that it has not yet placed that literature in the context of the hypothetical framework established in the paper. This will be achieved in future work, but that review is available for the reader’s consideration (Appendix 2).

Last, but certainly not least, this concept piece serves as a reminder to all stakeholders that places like Mora are often described or treated as “backwards” and deserving of support to develop or become more sophisticated. Neither is the case. The community of Mora, when viewed in its full array of historical and cultural dimensions reveals itself to be highly sophisticated, and its resistance to incorporation may be for reasons that elude the current work done by FEMA. Mora’s choices, historically rich and multi-dimensional, may have a value that can be applied to similar situations in the future. The degree to which we can translate those values back and forth is the work at hand. This paper will hopefully add some of that perspective to make both the compensation process and the compensation itself operate within a more informed and more culturally supportive context.
Faculty Involved: Manuel Montoya, MJR Montoya, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of New Mexico

Graduate Student Assistant: Constanza Mier y Teran Ruesga, PhD Student, Department of Economics

Undergraduate Student Assistants: Augustus Guikema, Cole Kochan

Heterogeneity in Price Elasticities of Urban Water Demand: The Case for Albuquerque, New Mexico 

Final Report

Presentation Slides

This report investigates the heterogeneity in price elasticities of urban water demand in Albuquerque, New Mexico. By analyzing water usage and billing data from the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (ABCWUA), the study estimates how sensitive water usage is to changes in price across various sectors and socioeconomic groups, including differences by race and income. ABCWUA serves the largest urban area in the state, providing approximately 100,000 acre-feet of water annually to more than 200,000 customer accounts that support over 600,000 water users across the metropolitan area (ABCWUA, 2016).

New Mexico faces significant challenges regarding the imbalance between water demand and available supply. Albuquerque, the state's most populous city, is especially vulnerable due to its large population and limited water resources. The arid climate and periodic droughts exacerbate water scarcity, making efficient water management critical (Barlow & Leake, 2012). Over-reliance on groundwater sources and the declining flow of the Rio Grande River further strain the region's water resources (Gutzler & Robbins, 2011). Climate change exacerbates these challenges, intensifying the need for effective water management strategies. Rising temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns reduce snowpack in the surrounding mountains, leading to lower river flows and diminished water supply (Overpeck & Udall, 2020). Increased evaporation rates and prolonged drought conditions place additional stress on both surface and groundwater resources (Udall & Overpeck, 2017). Consequently, there is a heightened urgency for comprehensive water management strategies that address both current demands and future uncertainties, promoting sustainable usage, conservation, and efficient and equitable distribution of water resources across all sectors.

This report estimates the price elasticities of urban water demand across various dimensions—different sectors, income groups, and race—to inform the design of effective water pricing strategies for managing increasingly scarce water resources. Focusing on the service area of ABCWUA, the study provides a detailed analysis of water usage patterns and their responsiveness to price changes. Our research expands the current knowledge base by examining a variety of sectors, including multi-family, commercial, institutional, and city sectors in addition to single-family residential. This comprehensive approach allows for a nuanced understanding of how different sectors respond to price changes. Additionally, the investigation delves into various socioeconomic factors, such as race and income level, within the residential and multi-family sectors. By analyzing these factors, the study offers insights into the heterogeneity of water demand responsiveness across different demographic groups.

Key Findings

• The top five water consuming sectors in the service area of ABCWUA are single-family residential, multi-family, commercial, institutional, and city sectors, accounting for over 97% of annual total water usage. All the sectors exhibit inelastic price elasticities of water demand, i.e., changes in average water price have a relatively small effect on the volume of water consumed.

• Among the sectors and on an annual basis, the multi-family residential sector exhibits the highest price elasticity of water demand, with a value of -0.76 (water usage reduces by 0.76 percent for each one percent increase in average water price), followed closely by the single-family residential sector with a value of -0.73. The commercial, institutional, and city sectors exhibit lower price elasticities of water demand, with a price elasticity of -0.56, -0.59, and -0.63, respectively. These differences in the price elasticity across the sectors highlight the varying degrees of water use responsiveness to water pricing.

• The price elasticity of water demand differs in the irrigation (April to October) and non-irrigation seasons for all the sectors. Irrigation periods consistently show lower price elasticities, indicating lower sensitivity to price increases, possibly due to the essential nature of water use for irrigation purposes during these periods.

• Water usage patterns vary across different income levels, with higher incomes associated with higher sensitivity to average water price. Water usage patterns also differ by race in addition to income. Households in non-white-majority zip codes show a stronger response to average water price across all income levels, demonstrating greater sensitivity to price changes compared to households in white-majority zip codes. This highlights the potential unequal impacts, including water insecurity and water limiting behavior in households, of changes in water rates or pricing structures on different ethnoracial and socioeconomic populations.

• Temperature and precipitation also influence water usage across all sectors. The city sector shows the highest sensitivity to temperature changes, with substantial positive coefficients indicating increased water usage during hotter periods. Precipitation, conversely, has a strong negative impact on water usage, particularly in the city and single-family residential sectors.

Implications for Water Management

• The study underscores the need for sector-specific approaches in water management. Tailoring pricing strategies and conservation policies to the unique characteristics of each sector can lead to more efficient and sustainable water use.

• The differential impact of water pricing on consumption behavior across income levels highlights the importance of considering income heterogeneity when designing water pricing policies. Tailoring pricing strategies to account for varying price elasticities across income groups can enhance the effectiveness of such policies in promoting water conservation and ensuring equitable access to water resources.

• Recognizing the impact of race and income heterogeneity in the single-family and multi-family sectors is crucial for developing equitable water pricing policies. This understanding is essential for informed decision-making and long-term water resource management in urban settings like Albuquerque, addressing the challenges posed by climate change and resource scarcity.

• These variations highlight the need for tailored pricing and conservation strategies to address the unique characteristics and water use patterns of each sector effectively.

In conclusion, our findings provide critical insights for water utility managers and policymakers to develop targeted and equitable water management strategies in Albuquerque. Addressing the challenges posed by climate change and resource scarcity requires informed decision-making and long-term planning to ensure sustainable water resources for future generations.


Faculty Involved: Jingjing Wang,  Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of New Mexico

Graduate Student Assistant: Nahid Samimimotlagh, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Economics, University of New Mexico

Undergraduate Student Assistants: Alex Kaltenbach, Celeste Lucero

Equity in Solar PV Adoption in New Mexico

Final Report

Presentation Slides

The state of New Mexico passed the Energy Transition Act (ETA) in 2019 which sets statewide renewable energy standard to achieve 100% carbon-free electricity by 2045. This legislative move reflects the state’s commitment to addressing climate change. New Mexico’s unique demographic and economic landscape, characterized by its diverse population, dependence on the oil and gas industry, and substantial renewable energy resources, underscores the importance of ensuring an equitable energy transition. The focus of this research is on understanding the adoption patterns of residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and their implications for equity in this transition.
We construct a comprehensive dataset on solar installations collected from state agencies and utility companies to examine current trends and the distribution of solar PV adoption across New Mexico. We analyze how solar adoption varies by geographical location, income levels, and racial and ethnic groups. Additionally, we evaluate the impact of state solar tax credit on promoting solar adoption among different segments of the population and its distributional effects.

Our key findings are:

• Residential solar PV installation in New Mexico has grown exponentially, fueled by decreasing costs and supportive tax incentives. However, this growth is unevenly distributed, with higher adoption rates observed in urban areas, higher-income neighborhoods, and White-majority census tracts.

• There is minimal racial disparity in solar adoption within New Mexico. The predominant sources of existing adoption inequality stem from disparities in income and education level.

• State-level incentives have effectively mitigated adoption inequality. However, the distribution of the tax credit benefits is concentrated among wealthier households with higher electricity consumption level.

This study documents the current landscape of solar PV adoption in New Mexico and provides the first evidence that the state solar tax incentive effectively promotes equitable solar adoption. We recommend the continuous monitoring and adjustment of incentive programs to ensure they remain inclusive and effective in reducing disparities in solar adoption. The findings also highlight the need for innovative and targeted policy designs to reduce structural barriers to solar adoption, enhance the distributional equity of state incentives, and reduce potential informational barriers for disadvantaged groups.

Faculty Involved: Yuting Yang, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, University of New Mexico

Graduate Student Assistant: Jiaqing Zhao, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Economics, University of New Mexico

Undergraduate Student Assistants: James R. Cockrell, Vicente Lyon, Rhoan McMaster

The Economic Growth and Development of the Westside of Albuquerque

Final Report

Presentation Slides

The Albuquerque Metropolitan Area, located in central New Mexico, is the state’s population and economic hub. In the coming decades, the city is expected to grow primarily westward due to a combination of space, affordability, location, and a number of other factors. In recent years, population growth on the westside has outpaced that of Bernalillo County as a whole. This potential population growth has wide-ranging implications for water resources, open space, urban development, economic opportunity, and transportation networks, among many other issues. The University of New Mexico (UNM) Master’s Community & Regional Planning (MCRP) Capstone Studio analyzed existing plans and policies on the westside of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County, conducting community engagement to better understand and incorporate the community’s voice and the westside’s unique character into a vision for growth.

Westside Vision 2100 looks from the present day forward 80 years into the future, in order to describe a picture of what that growth may look like from now until the year 2100. The boundaries of the Westside Vision 2100 study area (“study area”) stretch from the Sandoval County line in the north, to I-40 and Central Avenue in the south, from the Rio Grande in the east out to the Rio Puerco in the west. While the boundaries of the study area include both City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County jurisdictions, this vision does not apply to pueblos or federal land that falls within those boundaries. This study only attempts to describe a vision for growth on land
within city and county jurisdictions.

From January 2024 - May 2024, the UNM MCRP Capstone Studio (“Project Team”) conducted research into demographic trends, current plans and policies, and existing conditions in the study area, as well as hosted a series of community outreach events in order to understand what residents, business owners, and local westside communities love about the westside, what their biggest concerns are, and what the westside wants to see in the future.

The results of that research and community process evoked a vision for growth and development in the study area over the course of the next 80 years and raised questions such as: What needs to be preserved? What do residents of the westside want to see change? How can scarce water resources be protected? Where can growth be best absorbed? All of these questions and more are addressed throughout this document (the “Vision”), organized into 7 key elements: Quality of Life, Water Resources, Open Space and Trails, Stormwater Infrastructure, Land Use and Urban Development Patterns, Transportation and Corridors, and Economic Development.

Many of the key findings that resulted from both the analysis of existing plans and policies, as well as community feedback, center around the need for planning that emphasizes the goals of the community. In the study area, many residents highlighted quality of life, community identity, and protection of water resources and cultural heritage as their most important priorities in developing a vision for growth and development. Therefore, the Project Team incorporated those factors as a lens for analyzing and addressing each of the 7 elements. In addition, improving community engagement processes themselves are key recommendations of the Vision, because comprehensive community participation is the centerpiece for developing future policy and plans that authentically reflect community goals. As the first iteration of Westside Vision 2100, this report begins to define a roadmap for planning for increasing growth and development in the study area, including important recommendations both for policies and processes.

Written by: Rebecca Neal, Jake Mirabal, Alexandria Barron, School of Architecture and Planning, University of New Mexico

Faculty Involved: Moises Gonzales & Alex Ochoa, School of Architecture and Planning, University of New Mexico

Graduate Student Assistant: Farzin Baik & Amir Reza Maroof, School of Architecture and Planning, University of New Mexico

2023 New Mexico Economics Research

2022 New Mexico Economics Research

Compilation of New Mexico-Centric Economics Research by UNM Faculty, 2012-2023