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My bride and I lived in the Peoples Republic of Northern Virginia for about five years - specifically, in the province of Arlington.

It was there where I first heard the term "urban village." It was a clever description of Arlington by one of the county board members who didn't want to be thought of as a suburbanite - Arlington being a suburb of Washington, D.C., and all.

The board member's words were flowing that particular night, as she and her comrades were putting the hammer down on Home Depot's desire to place one of its handyman palaces directly in the heart of Arlington's commercial center.

There are no Home Depots in the middle of Manhattan or Washington, D.C. But there are plenty of Home Depots and the sort in the Õburbs. So when the do-it-yourself giant proposed building a store near Arlington's courthouse area - where the action is - Arlington's all-Democratic city board not only opposed it but also sent a strong message: Arlington is not a suburb. It is an "urban village." Sure.

Apparently, to create an "urban village" you must rabidly embrace taxation with lots of regulation. As a result, the urban villagers of northern Virginia have more than their fair share of taxes and regulations.

They've learned, as we're discovering right now in the Duke City, that banning smoking where possible, bypassing your constitutional right to face your accuser to nab speeders, or supervising cell phone use, are just dandy, if nanny-state enthusiasts see the political and economic value in them.

Our decision to leave the "urban village" and return here to the wild, wild West to raise our family only made sense, really. We were both born and raised here, and we certainly wanted our children to experience the individualistic spirit Westerners embrace broadly, and Albuquerque's eclectic nature specifically.

Admittedly, a lot of mythology about the West is just that - mythology. Still, life was different growing up here. There was a sense that "personal responsibility" meant something.

But it's clear we're not immune to media, opinion polls or elected officials working overtime to sate a minority's desire to tax and regulate anything they deem risky - or, perhaps anything at all. And if it can bring in some big money in the process, wahoo!

Whether it's controlling cell phone use, undercover police vans clocking speeders, cameras on every intersection, dumping smokers into the cold and whatever else federal, state and local politburos decide to partake of - it's intrusion. Incrementally, sure, but coming to a front door near you very soon.

It's not hard to imagine what's on the horizon if, say, Albuquerque's City Council decides to jump on the anti-trans-fat bandwagon or, better still, the restaurants-are-why-we're-obese craze.

One envisions jobs aplenty in a new Department of Portion Control, where the motto will be: "Super-sized fines for super-sized fries!"

Let's dust off our resumes, shall we?

Gardner is an Albuquerque writer and political consultant.