Johnny Mango at Duke City Fix in Albuquerque has been doing a lot of thinking about this issue. His observations about crime and grinding competition crowding out the historic motels are spot-on.

Here are what he thinks are solutions:

1. Special tax status for small motels. We already do this for agricultural land in the valley: to help preserve it we tax it at a special agricultural rate rather than as vacant residential property. Tax help is fundmental to making those properties viable.
2. Call a moratorium on building new big-box motels along Central Ave.
3. Secure some of the cheaper motels out on East and West Central before the prices go up.
4. Put up imaginative signage on the Interstates at both ends of town enticing travellers to take an exit and ride 66 through ABQ. Those signs could echo the linen postcards from the ’40’s. Promoting public transportation as a way to view the motels and neon would also be good. Visitor Centers with maps and brochures would help.
5. Figure out some better uses. The El Vado, for instance, is right across the street from the Biopark and near Tingley Beach and Old Town. It might make an good venue for individual craftspeople selling New Mexico merchandise. By the way, all the new lofts with first floor shops might be having the same problem: they would seem to need a really small business to work well.
6. Save the old signs…no matter what happens to the motels. Some of them, like La Puerta and El Vado, are absolutely priceless. These signs are world famous.
7. Why aren’t there any Gray Line coaches going up and down Route 66?
8. Make earphones available on city buses that are activated by certain locations giving historical and architectural information.
9. The issue of crime on Route 66 needs to be addressed by the Mayor, police, and City Council. I mean small crimes as well as big, like vandalism, loud cars and motorcycles, public drunkeness, abatement of downtown’s “party central,” and the homeless setting up permanent camps right on Central Avenue.

This list isn’t complete; Mango also wants suggestions from you. You can chime in on the comments section; many already have.
Go read the whole article. It’s exemplary.

No more than a month ago, cancer survivor Buddy Boren, 62, dropped out of his Tour de Route 66 cycling fundraiser because of a sore knee.

But after a bit of rest, he was back on his bicycle. Now he’s set to ride into the beaches of Santa Monica today and conclude his treak, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.