We may have come a long way, but don’t take the progress for granted

Oh, how quickly we forget. It hasn’t been that long since people in Rio Rancho complained because we didn’t have a hospital, we didn’t have a four-year college — or even a two-year college — and there were no decent venues for entertainment.

And the griping was somewhat justified. For a city as big as Rio Rancho, we had very few amenities.

Look how far we have come in just a few short years.

We now have an arena that hosts all sorts of events — music, sporting events, rodeos, speakers, plays and community activities. Plus, we have two high schools that have outstanding performing arts centers and provide a variety of cultural events for our residents.

There’s fun and entertainment to be found for just about everyone’s interests.

We now have two hospitals, Presbyterian Rust Medical Center and UNM Sandoval Regional Medical Center. Both are doing an excellent job of serving area residents, and are growing to meet the needs of Rio Rancho and Sandoval County. Both hospitals are state-of-the-art facilities, providing the best medical care — and we really appreci- ate being able to visit someone in the hospital without having to drive miles to get there, and without having to park and walk seemingly forever.

Our students can now attend either Central New Mexico Community College or the University of New MexicoWest campus in Rio Rancho and, with the increase in the number of class offerings, more and more students are attending college right in Rio Rancho.

It’s becoming common to hear of college students who are able to take most of their classes in Rio Rancho, although they may still have to go to the downtown campus for one or two courses.

The campuses are growing and their acceptance by students is also growing. It’s exciting for the community. It’s not as if anyone expected — or we could even handle — an influx of 20,000 students in one year. The growth must be gradual and that is what we are seeing.

The recent decision to offer freshman and sophomore classes was a good one, and Rio Rancho’s decision to support the campus with its gross receipts taxes is paying off.

We are providing a great future for our children.

To use a tired cliché, we’ve come a long way, baby.

It’s amazing how seamlessly these entities have become an accepted part of our community.

As a community, Rio Rancho has become more complete — we have our own school district, two-year and four-year college opportunities, two hospitals, an entertainment venue and job possibilities.

We welcome the changes and growth in Rio Rancho. It’s exciting to talk to young people who don’t have to spend so much time and money commuting to attend college. It’s reassuring to know that good medical care is available without leaving town. It feels like Rio Rancho has come into its own.

There’s a fine line, however, between accepting the changes and taking them for granted. We accept the changes, we take every advantage of them and we love having all the amenities available to us. But we also know that it hasn’t been that long since we were all griping about the lack of “stuff” here.

We won’t take this progress for granted.