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Welcome to Valencia County Char in front of the beautiful snowcapped Manzano Mountains.

Update April 2010: We visited Rio del Oro and the Rio Grande Estates in Valencia County to view some properties we are purchasing there. It has been a few years since I drove through Los Lunas, Belen and Rio del Oro and I was VERY surprised to see just how much this place had grown.

This set of photos was taken as we drove from Los Lunas thru Belen out to Rio del Oro subdivision.

The Railrunner Station in Los Lunas, the commuter train that runs from Sante Fe through Rio Rancho, Albuquerque, Los Lunas and Belen.

Desert View Elementary School.

This set of photos was taken along paved Manzano Expressway in unit 55. Las Maravillas is a beautiful subdivision to the east and Manzano Vista Middle School sits to the west. Las Maravillas has over 500 families - a very pretty neighborhood. Manzano Vista Middle School.

Valencia High School towards the beginning of N. Rio del Oro Loop that opened in the fall of 2006 and a home out by the water tower.

This set of photos was taken on N. Rio del Oro Loop near units 37, 38, & 20.

This next set of photos was taken on S. Rio del Oro Loop near units 10, 27, 40 & 22. Ladron Peak can be seen to the southwest. Located in the Sierra Ladrones which lies between the Rio Peurco to the east and the Rio Salado to the southwest, the peak is 9,210 feet and the summit is almost 4500 feet above the Rio Grande Valley! Part of the range is included in the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge which sits just below this subdivision! Animal species include mountain lion, pronghorn, bear and desert bighorn sheep.

This next set of photos was taken along S. Rio del Oro Loop around units 45 & 7 looking west towards unit 46. You can also see the other side of Valencia High School.

These next photos were taken along Navajo Loop the main drag through the Rio Grande Estates which sits to the south of the Rio del Oro subdivision.

Some commercial plants to the west of the subdivision down along the railroad.

We spent the night around the airport in Albuquerque and in the morning it was a beautiful view over the tall skyscrapers of downtown. I could see clear across the valley that Albuquerque sits in all the way to the big water towers in Rio Rancho. And a few pretty hot air ballons dot the horizon if you look closely!

In September of 2007 we spent a couple of days exploring the area, looking at the growth and even took a couple of hours to attend the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque! Boy was that a hot day!

This was the first time I have ever seen people walking around eating turkey drumsticks like cavemen! How fun! This is also where the Downs at Albuquerque is currently located. They are trying to get approval to move it east to Moriarty.

In October 2007 we explored the Sevillita National Wildlife Refuge which sits just to the south of this county in Bernardo.

Journey May 2007 Gorgeous sunset in the clouds! Lots of new construction can be seen while driving along the interstate between Belen and Los Lunas! The bustling town of Los Lunas with new homes and new construction! The new Rail Runner station in Belen. The parking lot was full when we drove by to look at it! Tierra Grande, one of the subdivisions in the Rio Communities.
These next sixteen pictures are of the Rio Grande Estates in Socorro County to the south. It was a beautiful time of year with pretty views of the green Bosque and red colors in the mountains. The flowers sure gave us a show this visit - a perfect time of year to explore this subdivison! There are a lot of animals roaming around this subdivision and a few homes are in it. I would say that majority of the homes in this subdivision leave a lot to be desired but this old subdivision has a lot of interesting alternative dwellings. I expect that as the price of land in this area increases in the future that these types of dwellings will be replaced with new growth. A couple of the locals hiding in the rocks! This is the first time I have seen a toad in New Mexico - or rather I think it's a toad! The Rio Grande River which flows through the bosque and a beautiful rainbow peeking out of the clouds! I sure catch a lot of rainbows over this valley!

May 2007 Update: Wow has it been that long since I updated this page!?! I just read below the information that I wrote in 2004 and things sure have changed quite a bit since then! I see they were planning to make a commuter rail service between Albuquerque and Belen and in February 2007 that was completed. There is a large labor force in Los Lunas and Belen that work in Albuquerque and they can now take the Rail Runner into Albuquerque! I spent the afternoon driving around the area yesterday and the Bosque was such a fabulous plush green - is this really New Mexico?! It was a beautiful day to drive around checking out all of the growth. There is a lot of construction going on with new subdivisions and major retailers filling up the area. The population in Valencia County has grown from 66,152 in 2004 to an estimated 74,000 in 2006.

There has been quite a bit of growth in Los Lunas and Belen in the past few years and the location of these communities from Albuquerque makes it inevetable. There are several housing projects going on in these areas and you can see them just by driving through the area. There is an expansion at the Alexander Airport. It will be the site of the LoPresti Speed Merchants new recreational aircraft. The 100,000 square foot plant has plans to start construction this year and will employ 300 mostly local residents! Merillat Industries, a national cabinet producer is moving all West Region manufacturing activities to its plant in Los Lunas. It currently has 230 employees at its plant in Los Lunas with an additional 50-100 new jobs by summer 2007. They project employment will reach 700 people! In February 2007 the New Mexico Rail Runner pulled into the Belen station. This is a commuter rail covering a 50 mile stretch from Albuquerque through Los Lunas and down to Belen.

And the list goes on! With Rio Rancho booming to the north of Albuquerque, Edgewood and Moriarty to the east it's Belen and Los Lunas booming to the south! We started selling properties here a few years ago and never did I imagine the growth I have seen in all of these areas in a few short years! Albuquerque was named in May 2005 as the 5th best place in the USA for Business and Careers by Forbes Magazine. Albuquerque was also named in June 2006 as the 3rd out of 50 Smart Places to Live in the USA by Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine. Now is the time to invest while we can still offer these lands at these incredible prices!
New construction along the Interstate and the busy exit in Los Lunas in 2007. A beautiful moon over the Manzano Mountains and the busy park in Belen. A beautiful rainbow over the lush green valley and the Manzano Mountains, July 2004!
The following text was what I originally wrote after researching and visiting the area - boy have things changed!
Belen is located 32 miles south of Albuquerque in a valley nestled against the Manzano Mountains on the east, and Mesas on the west. The Rio Communities is just 3 miles east of Belen. Click Here for approximately where Belen is located. Many consider this a great place to retire because of the relaxed lifestyle: no lawn to mow unless you plant one, pueblo-style buildings, and year round accessibility to Albuquerque 30 miles away where the International Airport is located. New Mexico's Governor announced plans for a commuter rail service between Belen and Los Lunmas to Albuquerque and Bernalillo setting a three year target for rail to begin.

Belen was founded in 1740 when the 2 Spaniards named Captian Don Diego Torres and Antonio Salazar who was Torres brother inlaw. They named the town Belen (Spanished for Bethlehem) in honor of that town. In 1901 the Santa Fe railroad had just finished laying down railroad tracks which has made Belen the transportation hub of New Mexico. And to this day Burlington Norther shares the central switchyards. Some days, nearly 100 trains roll through the Belen Railroad Yard hauling freight north, south, east and west to all points in North America. This is truly a wonderland for anyone who likes to watch trains.

The City of Belen's population is currently 6,901 and the Rio Communities population is 5,801. With an average annual rainfall of 10 inches per year and snowfall of 11 inches, many people consider the climate ideal. The daytime high temperatures are in the low 90's in the summer months and daytime high temperatures are in the 50's in the winter months . The temperatures do fall below freezing during the winter months but the snow quickly melts.

With such wonderful weather conditions the Rio Communities and Belen offer an abudance of recreational activities. The majestic Manzano Mountains, encompassing 36,970 acres, and the Cibola National Forest both provide unlimited opportunities for hiking trails, hunting, horseback riding, backpacking, camping etc. Belen also offers recreational swimming, soccer, volleyball, and tennis as well. Terra Del Sol Golf Course, considered an executive course, is an 18 hole course with dining open to the public.

The following pictures were taken on my visit to the Rio Communities. The pictures includes views of the homes in the community, the Career Academy and the 1 million gallon reservoir (both seen in this map Link), the Manzano Mountains with a few of the locals that live up in them, a desert plant blooming in early spring, views of the valley from up in the Manzano Mountains and closeups of these beautiful mountain peaks.

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