BrickLight District

Some might actually rate this place three or four stars. I'm rating this location with the consideration that I would not allow my teenagers to hang out in this area unless they were accompanied with an adult, so Bricklight District only has two stars, for there are many more safe places for teenagers to hangout at. This district has a mixed population, and most of them are college students. This is actually great for anyone wanting to have a drink and/or eat somewhere around here for cheap. You can find restaurants from fast food to dine in places. I've seen a good enough selection for various cuisines; I've tried many of them including Rasoi's, Cheba Hut, McDonald's, Satellite, Brickyard, Papa Johns, Bricklight Dive Restaurant, Kai's, Perico's, and Olympia Cafe. I wonder if the businesses on Cornell Drive are considered to be in the Bricklight District. Are they?As far as non-eateries--I haven't utilized too many of these within this district in recent years. I did as a college student, but since graduation I have not needed to do business here. I do, however, still visit this district to eat and to see unique people. I enjoy looking at their quirky ways. To view more businesses and what the Bricklight District has to offer, check them out online at [ http://www.bricklightdistrict.com ].

As a general rule, University area neighborhoods and business districts should provide students with a unique quality of life: livability, college style. This style is indeed particular to the collegiate set; aspiring young minds should feel safe to roam said streets day or night and engage in virtually anything their hearts desire, from a study session at a cafe to a kegger at That Dude Down The Street's house. Visit any major higher education institution in the country and you'll find an adjacent neighborhood, or entire city plot, that insulates the student body from the populace at large. These areas are packed with pizza shops, thrift and used book stores, plenty of beer more than a few parks where academic minds can focus on asinine philosophy lessons or a sloppy make-out session with That Dude Down The Street. It's really tough for me to settle on a star rating for the Bricklight District, because my UNM heart aches for it. I lived in the Student Ghetto for years and honestly, I generally loved it. But I'm going to play my Man Card on this one. As a guy, I didn't have many issues wandering the streets. But the place can be sketchy, and that extends to the District. As a female I'd have serious reservations walking home from a bar at two in the morning, and believe me, I've known more than a few women who encountered seriously freaky sh*t on these dimly lit sidewalks. And that's a great shame. Over the past couple of years we've witnessed a solid lineup of great small businesses pop up in the District, great eateries and sweet shops and yoga and stoner havens and ramen, I mean, the seeds are there. But it's, well, seedy. It's still unsafe. Without a truly secure foundation, the area will never truly become what it should be, a home away from home. That's my take.

Normally "venture capitalist" is one of my trigger words, but I always refer to the Bricklight District as a success story where capital investment has led to some pretty good turn around (or at worst, some good "why did the student cross the road" jokes) for the block located on the West edge of the Frontier's vast domain and Yale Blvd. The reason I like this particular development is that they were very intentional about reserving retail and food service space specifically for local business. In particular, Frockstar is a very cool vintage clothing store owned by a fashion maven who will teach you all about argile, pleather or houndstooth. Brickyard pizza (name not associated with Bricklight) has an open mic night and a cool PBR special where a student can go for a quick slice and a pint before heading off to chemistry lab or welding class. Olympia cafe is probably my favorite Greek food in town (though they've been there decades before the word Bricklight popped up.), Rasoi has a terrific daily Indian lunch buffet. Winnings coffee whose patrons boast "we were here BEFORE this place got gentrified" has the best deluxe breakfast burrito in town. Satellite also has one of their 6 million locations right at the helm. If you get a chance to check out the Bricklight Dive, I recommend one of the local beers on tap and the salads because in this particular case the salads dominate in quantity and awesomeness.

It seems like the people who live here especially the college folk already know about this area so youre probably just visiting or are new. The area is not big at all. Maybe a couple blocks at most. These couple blocks though are packed with coffee shops, little restaurants, and book stores. There is also a post office nearby. This is probably where you are most likely to find the alternative interests of college students.

I stayed here for about 6 months from Jan. 2010 to July 2010.Overall, very very satisfied with the place. As far as Albuquerque is concerned, it is a little tough finding a "luxury" apartment to live in (meaning, no gang bangers live in your complex).The layouts were very impressive, they are very new so there were no weird smells or anything like that. The bathrooms are AMAZING. But, very small tubs (I'm 6'5).If Ann still works there, she is an amazing person and is so helpful in every possible way. Also, Martin the maintenance guy is awesome.Right next to Campus (LITERALLY) and FRONTIER!Right above Winnings and Cheba Hut (too many stoners for my taste) across from Keva Juice (?) and Which Wich (yum).Washer and dryer in the unit, awesome. New appliances. Granite counters.Overall, a fantastic stay. Beware, the walls are somewhat thing (i never really heard a crazy amount of noise but I definitely felt uncomfortable turning my TV on a little higher)and BEWARE the floors (I guess) are thin as hell. Twice in one night the man below me (very sketchy man with tattoos...very sketch. I hope you read this, sketchy man) came knocking on my door yelling at me to stop "jumping". I was doing no such thing, I merely couldn't sleep and so wasn't in my bed. Needless to say (as I am immature) I made decidedly much more noise after his interruptions (I hear he later moved out because of me..oh well.)Anyway, really nice place, great views, as luxurious as Albuquerque gets!