LA LUZ COMMUNITY
La Luz Landowners Association -- Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
At 42: La Luz moves TOward 50 GOLDEN YEARS
LA LUZ COMMUNITY
La Luz Landowners Association -- Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA
At 42: La Luz moves TOward 50 GOLDEN YEARS
Although the legal name is La Luz del Oeste, the people, who know it, love it and call it home, simply call it La Luz.
Forty-two years ago, a group of young idealists set out to make their utopian dream of a perfect community into a progressive reality where people of many backgrounds and ages would live comfortably together in clusters of private homes surrounded by inviting communal plazas and places for healthy recreation. Ray Graham was the visionary land owner. Antoine Predock was the inspired architect. Didier Raven was the enthusiastic developer. Gunnar Dahlquist was the inventive contractor. Joining their dreams with a team of skilled local craftsmen, they created a community where people would live in a way that honored the fragile, natural environment.
Forty-two years ago, when the name La Luz was applied to a place on the West Mesa in the City of Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, it was truly the perfect way to anticipate the phenomenon that in 2010 is a remarkable community of 96 adobe homes enveloped by about 50 acres of sloped land that blends the best of natural and human cultivation.
Today, the meaning behind the name of La Luz is a sparkling reminder of the unique beginning of this community. Almost as rare as stars crossing in an astronomical conjunction, the start of La Luz resulted in a new conception of how people can live with each other and the environment around them. La Luz at age 42 reflects on its past, as it dreams, plans and prepares for a future in the light of tomorrow.
Welcome to La Luz!
La Luz means the light.
All 96 homes in the Community share equally in the governance with their financial support and committed volunteer efforts. Everyone at La Luz shares and everyone at La Luz benefits.
La Luz is Site No. 539 on the Registered Cultural Property list in the State of New Mexico. This honor, awarded in 1978 when La Luz was ten years old, shows the importance this project had from the beginning.
In 2008, the people of La Luz, in celebrating 40 years as part of a unique community governed by the La Luz Landowners Association, began looking forward to creating a glorious, golden 50th Anniversary.
