Living within walking distance of The Pit and other UNM sports fields keeps residents close to the action, but they say it’s a double-edged sword.
UNM alumnus Scott Murphy lives about two blocks south of The Pit, and he said he deals with myriad problems from people leaving the arena after events.
“There is a strong liquor culture here,” he said. “They’ll hang out at the parking lot near The Pit, and they party there and drink. (University Boulevard) is just a busy street, and people are drunk doing their thing.”
The University applied for a liquor license waiver that would allow it to serve beer and wine in club-level suites at The Pit, but the Albuquerque City Council in November denied the waiver, citing public health and safety concerns. A state arbitrator later overturned the city council’s decision, and the state will decide whether to allow alcohol sales at The Pit.
Still, residents who live around The Pit, University Stadium and tailgating areas, such as east of Buena Vista Avenue and southeast of The Pit, are worried that if the institution allows alcohol sales at its venues, the houses surrounding them will suffer from increased vandalism and crime.
Murphy said he that law enforcement officers keep people out of residential areas, but cause congestion and frustration in the process.
“Cops block off the streets during basketball games,” he said. “When I first moved here, they would ask me for my ID, which has my old address on it, and they won’t let you through. You have cops at every main street.”
Residents on Buena Vista Avenue said they’ve witnessed people urinating on their lawns, bashing their mailboxes, stealing, fighting, littering beer cans and, occasionally, crashing their cars.
Raul Romero, a UNM student who lives across from the football tailgate area on the east side of Buena Vista Avenue, said that on game days, he and his neighbors have trouble finding parking on their streets because so many fans park on them.
Romero said regardless of whether The Pit serves alcohol, people will be drunk and rowdy after games.
“I think people are just going to be drinking no matter what, so it doesn’t really affect much,” he said
One resident, Cynthia Johnson, said she saw a three-car collision in front of her house on Buena Vista Avenue, near an exit from the football stadium. She said that dangerous driving is the biggest nuisance.
Murphy said theft is a problem in the neighborhood around The Pit.
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“I came back to the house one day, and the guy across the street was waiting outside. They stole his spare tire and his toolbox,” he said.
“And the neighbors next to him, they stole the tail lights out of the car. About two days later, I went to start my car and it was really dead, and I noticed the hood was open, and sure enough, the battery was gone.”
