Just 30 minutes from downtown Albuquerque, the lifestyle on the Pajarito Mesa may as well be in the New Mexican outback. The roads aren't paved and residents are on their own for electricity, gas, and sewage removal. The only way to get water is by filling up giant tanks at the local water station. Seventy-four year old Frank Martinez has lived on the mesa for more than 10 years and has been manning the water filling station since it opened last spring. It's the only service residents have received since an estimated 400 to 800 families started moving to the mesa 30 years ago. For a retired Martinez, it provides a meager income, about $2 an hour. For others on the mesa, like Jose Rodriguez, the water is a sign of progress even though he has to pay for it and haul the heavy load home. Nearby, Manuel Guerrero is using car batteries and solar panels to run his home—it's the price he pays for cheap land, away from the city. "It's so noisy there. It's tranquil here, " Guerrero says in Spanish. As residents wrestle for property rights, getting permits to build on the mesa is another issue on the 28 square miles of dusty land. But instead of evicting hundreds of families, the county has started the long process of bringing the homes up to code. So far, a full time county worker has been assigned to monitor compliance there and keep more people from moving to the area. There have even been talks of getting the roads paved, and getting utilities. But some, including the residents, ask if the efforts are necessary.
