Downtown Albuquerque
Downtown Albuquerque is the central business district of Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. It is where a significant number of the city's highrise buildings are located, and is the center of government and business for the Greater Albuquerque metropolitan region. Downtown is roughly defined as the central area bordered by Marble Avenue to the North, Coal Avenue to the South, Seventh and Tenth Streets to the West, and the Amtrak and New Mexico Rail Runner Express railroad tracks to the East. The area on the east side of the railroad tracks is known as East Downtown or EDo. The downtown area can be easily accessed by several freeway exits from Interstate 25 and Interstate 40, which border the adjacent neighborhoods of EDo and Wells Park, respectively. Geography Downtown Albuquerque is laid out in a standard grid pattern, with numbered north-south streets and named east-west avenues. Central Avenue (originally known as Railroad Avenue) is the main east-west thoroughfare through the center of Downtown, while Lomas Boulevard (originally New York Avenue) is a major east-west arterial through the north part of Downtown. Lead and Coal Avenues are significant one-way east-west thoroughfares through the south side of Downtown. The streets start with First Street just west of the railroad tracks and increase in number moving westward. Fourth Street was originally the main north-south thoroughfare through Downtown but today it is discontinuous, interrupted by Civic Plaza. The two block stretch between Central and Civic Plaza was once converted into a pedestrian mall, but was reverted to a vehicular roadway in late 2014. Since these developments took place Second Street has been the main north-south street through downtown. Fourth Street through downtown Albuquerque was part of U.S. Route 66 prior to the route's 1937 realignment. Afterwards, Route 66 ran along Central Avenue until its decommissioning. Districts Downtown Albuquerque is divided into six official districts, which are identified by a unified system of signage and icons. Courthouse District Located on the north side of downtown, this district is bounded by Marble Avenue, Roma Avenue, Second Street, and Seventh Street. It is named for the three major courthouses located at the intersection of Fourth and Lomas: Pete V. Domenici United States Courthouse, Bernalillo County Courthouse, and the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Courthouse. Warehouse District On the north side of downtown along the railroad tracks, the Warehouse District includes the area between Second and the railroad tracks, north of the Convention Center to Slate Avenue. As its name implies, this area contains mostly warehouses from the railroad era. Plaza District The Plaza District is the central area of downtown, bounded by Roma, Copper, Seventh, and the railroad tracks. It is centered on Civic Plaza and includes many of Albuquerque's large office and government buildings including the Albuquerque City-County Building, the Convention Center, Albuquerque Plaza, the Compass Bank Building, and the Albuquerque Petroleum Building. The Main Library of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library System is also located in this district. Arts and Entertainment District This district is centered along Central Avenue