Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Rio Rancho (Spanish: Río Rancho) is the largest city and economic hub of Sandoval County, part of the expansive Albuquerque Metropolitan Area, in the U.S. state of New Mexico. A small portion of the city extends into northern Bernalillo County. It is the third-largest and also one of the fastest expanding cities in New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, Rio Rancho had a population of 87,521. The name Rio Rancho derives from Los Ranchos (the ranches) that stretched along the Rio Grande in the Albuquerque Basin, and throughout historic Nuevo México, including those in neighboring Corrales.

Not to be confused with Rancho Rio.

Rio Rancho, New Mexico
City
Aerial view of suburban Rio Rancho
Seal
Nickname(s): 
"The City of Vision"
Location within Sandoval County
Rio Rancho
Location within New Mexico
Rio Rancho
Location within the United States
Coordinates: 35°17′10″N 106°40′14″W
CountryUnited States
StateNew Mexico
CountiesSandoval, Bernalillo
Founded1961
Incorporated1981
Government
 • MayorGregg Hull (R)
Area
 • City103.69 sq mi (268.56 km2)
 • Land103.42 sq mi (267.86 km2)
 • Water0.27 sq mi (0.71 km2)
Elevation
5,282 ft (1,610 m)
Population
 • City87,521
 • Estimate 
(2019)[3]
99,178
 • Density958.97/sq mi (370.26/km2)
 • Metro
907,755 (MSA)
Time zoneUTC−07:00 (Mountain)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−06:00 (Mountain)
ZIP Codes
87124, 87144, 87174[4]
Area code(s)505
FIPS code35-63460
GNIS feature ID1699884
Primary AirportAlbuquerque International Sunport
ABQ (Major/International)
Secondary AirportDouble Eagle II Airport
KAEG (Public)
Websitewww.ci.rio-rancho.nm.us

History
Rio Rancho Estates in 1970

The great majority of Rio Rancho was originally part of the Town of Alameda Grant, which was founded by Spanish settlers in 1710. By the early 20th century, much of the land grant had been sold to land investment companies. Amrep Corporation purchased 55,000 acres (22,000 ha) in 1961 and turned the land into a housing development called "Rio Rancho Estates", with the first families moving in the early 1960s. Amrep contracted with Ezio Valentini, one of the original developers of Cape Coral, Florida, to design and implement a unique marketing plan to conduct land-sales, dinner-party program in northern states to open offices in 14 states. The population grew ten-fold between 1970 and 1980 and the City of Rio Rancho was incorporated in 1981. The opening of a large Intel Corporation plant in 1981 had a major economic impact on the city.

Since the 1990s, Rio Rancho has taken steps to become more independent from neighboring Albuquerque, including the establishment of separate school and library systems and attempts to attract businesses to the area. The city's latest project is the Downtown City Centre development that includes a new city hall building, a new University of New Mexico West and Central New Mexico Community College campus, as well as the Santa Ana Star Center. The arena opened in October 2006. City Hall opened in September 2007.

Demographics
Census data and expectations
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
19809,985—
199032,551226.0%
200051,76559.0%
201087,52169.1%
2019 (est.)99,178[3]13.3%
Sources: 1980–2000[5]

Of 18,995 households, 40.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.7% were not families; 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.14.

In the city, the population was distributed as 29.2% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 32.0% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.9 males.

The median income for city was $47,169, and for a family was $52,233. Males had a median income of $39,162 versus $27,385 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,322. About 3.7% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.1% of those under age 18 and 5.8% of those age 65 or over.

Geography

Rio Rancho is located at 35°17'10" North, 106°40'14" West (35.286185, -106.670660).[6] It lies in the Albuquerque Basin to the west of the Rio Grande, which bounds the northeast corner of the city. An escarpment lies to the west of the city limit.

Rio Rancho is bordered by Albuquerque to the south, the Santa Ana Indian Reservation to the north, and Bernalillo and Corrales to the east.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 103.7 sq mi (268.5 km2), of which 103.4 square miles (267.7 km2) is land and 0.31 sq mi (0.8 km2), or 0.31%, is covered by water.[2]

Climate

Rio Rancho is in an arid climate due to its location in the rain shadow of the Sandia Mountains to the east and the Continental Divide to the west. Rio Rancho receives 8.90 inches of precipitation annually on average, although the western portion of the city receives slightly more rain and snowfall due to its higher elevation than the more densely-developed eastern portion of Rio Rancho.

Climate data for Rio Rancho, New Mexico (1981–2010 normals)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 74
(23)		 82
(28)		 90
(32)		 94
(34)		 107
(42)		 108
(42)		 111
(44)		 106
(41)		 102
(39)		 95
(35)		 83
(28)		 75
(24)		 111
(44)
Average high °F (°C) 53
(12)		 59
(15)		 67
(19)		 76
(24)		 85
(29)		 94
(34)		 96
(36)		 93
(34)		 87
(31)		 76
(24)		 62
(17)		 53
(12)		 75
(24)
Average low °F (°C) 30
(−1)		 34
(1)		 39
(4)		 45
(7)		 53
(12)		 61
(16)		 68
(20)		 68
(20)		 59
(15)		 47
(8)		 37
(3)		 30
(−1)		 48
(9)
Record low °F (°C) 5
(−15)		 8
(−13)		 18
(−8)		 26
(−3)		 37
(3)		 46
(8)		 51
(11)		 49
(9)		 41
(5)		 23
(−5)		 17
(−8)		 4
(−16)		 4
(−16)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 0.33
(8.4)		 0.38
(9.7)		 0.65
(17)		 0.50
(13)		 0.49
(12)		 0.58
(15)		 1.26
(32)		 1.72
(44)		 0.99
(25)		 0.95
(24)		 0.58
(15)		 0.47
(12)		 8.90
(226)
Source: Weather Channel [7]

Economy
Intel opened in the mid 1980s.
Largest Employers in Rio Rancho
1Intel Corporation
2Rio Rancho Public Schools
3Hewlett-Packard
4Presbyterian Health Services
5Sprint Corporation
6Bank of America
7Stream Global
8Alliance Data Inc.
9U.S. Cotton
10Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

The Intel Corporation is by far the largest employer in Rio Rancho. The services, retail, and government sectors are also major components of the local economy.

Rio Rancho is the site of Intel's Intel Fab 11X, one of the largest semiconductor fabrication plants in the world. The fully automated, $2 billion facility opened in 2002 and was the first Intel plant to manufacture 300 mm silicon wafers, which can hold almost twice as many chips as the standard 200 mm wafers. Fab 7, Intel's original Rio Rancho plant, closed in 2002, but is being converted into a test facility.

In 2005, Rio Rancho became the first U.S. city to offer citywide voice-over-WiFi (VoWiFi) service, although many of its residents complained that the service did not live up to their expectations.

Several call centers call Rio Rancho home. Walmart opened in early summer of 2006 in Rio Rancho, thus sparking several new commercial retailers to locate nearby.

An Albuquerque-based incubator and co-working space "FatPipe" opened a satellite office in Rio Rancho[8] in order to spur business innovation and startups within the city.

New projects
Rust Medical center opened in 2011.

New construction of large facilities include:[9]:3

  • City Centre development
  • Loma Colorado development
  • Mariposa, a 6,500-acre (26 km2) development
  • A new University of New Mexico West Campus
  • Hewlett Packard and expansions[10]
  • Central New Mexico Community College (CNM)Construction now complete.
  • A new 75-acre (300,000 m2) development on Unser Boulevard in the southwestern part of the city including a new location for the Presbyterian Rust Medical Center, which opened October 17, 2011, surrounded by planned office and retail space, a hotel, and a 12-screen Century-branded Cinemark movie theater with Cinemark XD theater. Construction will consist of three phases originally planned between 2010 and 2013, but little has been developed as of late 2012.[11]
  • A new 14-screen Premiere Cinemas theater at the corner of Southern Boulevard and Unser Boulevard

Taxation

The City Council passed an automatic annual increase in water rate equivalent to 25% over a five-year period.[12]

Housing and Development

In the aftermath of the 2008 housing bubble, Rio Rancho had seen an increase in foreclosure activity. Sandoval, Bernalillo, and Valencia Counties were some of the worst-affected by the late 2000s recession.[13]

As of the late 2010's, housing had entirely recovered with a number of new housing developments started. Real estate sales are robust in 2020 in many areas of Rio Rancho, driven by low interest rates and low housing prices ($250,000 - $350,000 for most new construction).[14]

Tourism

In 2017, Rio Rancho hosted the National Speleological Society's annual convention. Rio Rancho is also home to A Park Above, a newly constructed structure in the south of the city for the entertainment of the youth.[15][16]

Government
The new city hall
Main article: Rio Rancho City Council

Elected officials

Mayor Gregory Hull ran for mayor in 2014, and was re-elected in March 2018. The next mayoral election will take place in 2022.

NamePositionParty reg.Took officeUp for
re–election
Greggory D. Hull Mayor Republican 2014 2022
Jim Owen District 1 Republican 2016 2020
Dawnn Robinson District 2 Republican 2014 2022
Bob Tyler District 3 Republican 2018 2022
Marlene Feuer District 4 Republican 2016 2020
Jennifer Flor District 5 Independent 2016 2022
David Bency District 6 Republican 2016 2020
Robert Cook Municipal Court Republican 2010 2018

Politics
Voter Registration and Party Enrollment as of Feb 1, 2018[17]
Party Number of Voters Percentage
Democratic 9,788 22.06%
Republican 19,674 44.34%
Unaffiliated/Minor Parties 14,913 33.61%
Total 44,375 100%

Rio Rancho is also home to the Sandoval County Municipal Courthouse, serving as a hub for judicial affairs in the county.

Education

University of New Mexico Health Sciences- Rio Rancho[18] (formerly UNM- West) is a satellite campus of the University of New Mexico system, New Mexico's flagship university.

Central New Mexico Community College[19] also holds one of its eight campuses in Rio Rancho's downtown area, within walking distance of the UNM campus.

Rio Rancho Public Schools serve students in Rio Rancho. Rio Rancho has two major public high schools:

Other schools:

  • Mountain View Middle School
  • Eagle Ridge Middle School
  • Lincoln Middle School
  • Rio Rancho Middle School
  • Independence High school
  • Vista Grande Elementary School
  • Enchanted Hills Elementary School
  • Cielo Azul Elementary School
  • Colinas Del Norte Elementary School
  • Sandia Vista Elelemtary School
  • MLK Elementary School
  • Maggie Cordoba Elementary School

In addition, Rio Rancho has two public charter schools called The ASK Academy and Cyber Academy, which both focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education, and currently serves grades 6–12.

Attempted shooting

In February 2019, V. Sue Cleveland High School was the site of a shooting, however no one was injured.[20] It was later reported that a 16-year-old had fired a gun on school grounds after threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend and others on Valentines Day.[21][22]

Media

Rio Rancho is home to the Albuquerque metro area's only oldies-format radio station, KDSK (AM), having moved into the Rio Rancho market in March 2015 and having licensed its newest FM signal, 92.9 FM, to Rio Rancho, New Mexico, in April 2016. The station holds the moniker "Rio Rancho Radio". The station features Rio Rancho area events and airs a weekly talk/discussion show with Gregg Hull, Mayor of Rio Rancho, Sunday mornings. The station signal, broadcast on three frequencies (92.7 FM, 93.7 FM, and 1240 AM), serves the entire Albuquerque metro area along with six counties in central and western New Mexico.

The weekly Rio Rancho Observer is the local newspaper, while Rio Ranchoans also have access to television and radio broadcasts from Albuquerque, as well as the daily newspaper Albuquerque Journal, along with its localized weekly version the Rio West.

Rio Rancho is also served by a government-access television channel available only through the city's only cable television provider Cable ONE. This channel shows all of the government meetings multiple times.

Transportation

Albuquerque's transit department, ABQ RIDE, operates a bus route (251 Albuquerque-Rio Rancho Rail Runner Connection) connecting Rio Rancho with the New Mexico Rail Runner Express station at Journal Center.

In late January 2011, ABQ RIDE extended two additional routes (96 Crosstown Commuter and 155 Coors Blvd), and introduced an additional route (551 Jefferson/Paseo Del Norte Express) into Rio Rancho. The northern terminus of these routes is at Southern Blvd and Unser Blvd.

The Rio Metro Regional Transportation District operates Rio Transit, a door-to-door paratransit service for senior citizens 55 years of age and older, and disabled adults 18 years of age and older, for residents of Rio Rancho. The service is operated out of the Meadowlark Senior Center, and provides service Monday-Friday from 7:30 am to 3:00 pm. Riders must register with the service prior to using it. Rio Metro RTD also operates a commuter bus route serving the Enchanted Hills neighborhood in Rio Rancho. This service connects residents of Enchanted Hills to the US 550 New Mexico Rail Runner station and provides service during the morning and evening commutes. Rio Metro Bus connections are available at the US 550 Rail Runner station for Zia Pueblo, San Ysidro, Canon, and Jemez Springs. A Rio Metro commuter bus route provides service to and from the Cuba NM area, with a Park and Ride designated at Home Depot, which is located near the corner of NM 528, NM 550. Rio Metro's website and schedules may be viewed at: www.riometro.org

Sports
Santa Ana Star Center

Rio Rancho was home to the New Mexico Scorpions minor-league ice hockey team, which relocated from Albuquerque in 2006, until the team ceased operations in 2009. The Scorpions played at Santa Ana Star Center.

In the spring of 2008, the Star Center became the home of the New Mexico Wildcats indoor football team. However, they only lasted two seasons, folding at the conclusion of 2009.

Starting in fall of 2010, the Star Center was home to the New Mexico Thunderbirds of the NBA Development League and the New Mexico Mustangs of the North American Hockey League (NAHL). The Mustangs' NAHL membership was transferred to Richfield, Minnesota, in 2012.[23] The New Mexico Thunderbirds announced in July 2011 that the team was sold to the Cleveland Cavaliers and will be moved to Canton, Ohio, for the upcoming season.

Since February 2012, Rio Rancho has been the location of the New Mexico Stars, a professional indoor football team. They play home games at the Santa Ana Star Center, with whom they signed a five-year contract.

Rio Rancho is also the home city of New Mexico Strongman, an amateur organization dedicated to promoting and hosting strongman competitions in New Mexico.

New England Patriots defensive tackle Alan Branch is from Rio Rancho.

Notable people

References
  1. "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 27, 2020.
  2. "Geographic Identifiers: 2010 Demographic Profile Data (G001): Rio Rancho city, New Mexico". U.S. Census Bureau, American Factfinder. Archived from the original on February 12, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  3. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". United States Census Bureau. May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  4. http://www.cov.gswdcivitan.com/index.html
  5. "Rio Rancho Profile". City of Rio Rancho. Archived from the original on June 23, 2008. Retrieved September 18, 2008.
  6. "US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990". United States Census Bureau. February 12, 2011. Retrieved April 23, 2011.
  7. "Average Weather for Rio Rancho, New Mexico". The Weather Channel. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  8. "FatPipe - Rio Rancho". Retrieved October 29, 2019.
  9. "Community Overview – Rio Rancho, New Mexico" (PDF). Rio Rancho Economic Development Corporation. January 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 21, 2007. Retrieved September 23, 2008.
  10. Mexico, New (January 8, 2009). "HP breaks ground on Rio Rancho center".
  12. Utilities Commission – May 18th, 2010. Riorancho.granicus.com. Retrieved on August 15, 2013.
  13. Interactive Map: The Economy Where You Live, from NPR.
  14. NAIOP speakers: Residential growth exploding in RR, from RR Observer
  15. "A Park Above | The Official Site of Rio Rancho, NM". rrnm.gov. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  16. "2017 NSS Convention". 2017 NSS Convention. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
  17. "The City of Rio Rancho, Office of the City Clerk: Enrollment Breakdown as of 03/01/2018" (PDF). Rio Rancho Elections. February 1, 2018. p. 16. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  18. "Rio Rancho Campus :: UNM Health Sciences Center | The University of New Mexico". hsc.unm.edu. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  19. "Rio Rancho Campus". CNM. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  20. Writers, Elise Kaplan And Rick Nathanson | Journal Staff. "Student faces attempted murder charge in shooting". www.abqjournal.com. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  21. "Parents of accused Rio Rancho High School shooter indicted". AP NEWS. August 21, 2019. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  22. "Rio Rancho teen planned to shoot ex-girlfriend at school, documents say". Las Cruces Sun-News. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  23. Richfield, Minnesota team granted membership to NAHL | North American Hockey League. NAHL (December 21, 2012). Retrieved on August 15, 2013.
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