Santa Fe, New Mexico

Santa Fe is the capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is the fourth-largest city in the state and is the seat of Santa Fe County. Santa Fe (literally 'holy faith' in Spanish) had a population of 75,764 in the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Santa Fe, New Mexico Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Santa Fe County and is part of the larger Santa Fe-Española Combined Statistical Area. The city's full name when founded was "La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís" ("The Royal Town of the Holy Faith of St. Francis of Assisi").

Spain and Mexico
"Santa Fe settlers are “churlish types” who are “accustomed to live apart from each other, as neither fathers nor sons associate with each other.""

- Governor Fermín de Mendinueta, c. 1776.

The City of Santa Fe was originally occupied by a number of Pueblo Indian villages with founding dates between 1050 to 1150. The Santa Fe River provided water to people living there.

The "Kingdom of New Mexico" was first claimed for the Spanish Crown in 1540, during the expedition of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado almost 70 years before the founding of Santa Fe. Don Juan de Oñate led the first effort to colonize the region in 1598, establishing Santa Fé de Nuevo México as a province of New Spain. Under Juan de Oñate and his son, the capital of the province was the settlement of San Juan de los Caballeros north of Santa Fe near modern Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo. New Mexico's third Spanish governor, Don Pedro de Peralta, however, founded a new city at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in 1608, which he called La Villa Real de la Santa Fé de San Francisco de Asís, the Royal Town of the Holy Faith of Saint Francis of Assisi. In 1610, he made it the capital of the province, which it has almost constantly remained, making it the oldest capital city in what is the modern United States. (Jamestown, Virginia, is of similar vintage (1607) but is no longer a capital.) Santa Fe is at least the third oldest surviving American city founded by European colonists, behind the oldest St. Augustine, Florida (1565). (Although Santa Fe is not one of the oldest continuously occupied cities, as from 1680 - 1692 it was abandoned due to Indian raids. A few settlements were founded prior to St. Augustine but all failed, including the original Pensacola colony in West Florida, founded by Tristán de Luna y Arellano in 1559, with the area abandoned in 1561 due to hurricanes, famine and warring tribes. Fort Caroline, founded by the French in 1564 in what is today Jacksonville, Florida only lasted a year before being obliterated by the Spanish in 1565.)

Except for the years 1680–1692, when, as a result of the Pueblo Revolt, the native Pueblo people drove the Spaniards out of the area known as New Mexico, later to be reconquered by Don Diego de Vargas, Santa Fe remained Spain's provincial seat until the outbreak of the Mexican War of Independence in 1810. In 1824 the city's status as the capital of the Mexican territory of Santa Fé de Nuevo México was formalized in the 1824 Constitution.



United States
"I can hardly imagine how [Santa Fe] is supported. The country around it is barren. At the North stands a snow-capped mountain while the valley in which the town is situated is drab and sandy. The streets are narrow... A Mexican will walk about town all day to sell a bundle of grass worth about a dime. They are the poorest looking people I ever saw. They subsist principally on mutton, onions and red pepper."

- letter from an American traveler, 1849

In 1841, a small military and trading expedition set out from Austin, Texas, with the aim of gaining control over the Santa Fe Trail. Known as the Santa Fe Expedition the force was poorly prepared and was easily repelled by the Mexican army. In 1846, the United States declared war on Mexico, and Brigadier General Stephen W. Kearny led the main body of his Army of the West of some 1,700 soldiers into the city to claim it and the whole New Mexico Territory for the United States. By 1848 the U.S. officially gained New Mexico through the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Colonel Alexander William Doniphan under the command of Kearny recovered ammunition from Santa Fe labeled "Spain 1776" showing both the quality of communication and military support New Mexico received under Mexican rule.

In 1851, Jean Baptiste Lamy arrived in Santa Fe and began construction of Saint Francis Cathedral. For a few days in March 1862, the Confederate flag of General Henry Sibley flew over Santa Fe, until he was defeated by Union troops.

Santa Fe was originally envisioned as an important stop on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. But as the tracks progressed into New Mexico, the civil engineers decided that it was more practical to go through Lamy, a town in Santa Fe County to the south of Santa Fe. The result was a gradual economic decline. This was reversed in part through the creation of a number of resources for the arts and archaeology, notably the School of American Research, created in 1907 under the leadership of the prominent archaeologist Edgar Lee Hewett. The first airplane to fly over Santa Fe was piloted by Rose Dugan, carrying Vera von Blumenthal as passenger. Together they started the development of the Pueblo Indian pottery industry, a major contribution to the founding of the annual Santa Fe Indian Market.

In 1912, New Mexico became the United States of America's 47th state, with Santa Fe as its capital.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 37.4 square miles (96.9 km2), of which, 37.3 square miles (96.7 km2) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km2) of it (0.21%) is water.

Santa Fe is located at 7,000 feet (2134 m) above sea level, making it the highest state capital in the United States. The highest state capitals are:


 * 1) Santa Fe, New Mexico – 7,199 ft (2134 m) right through the center of the Capitol building
 * 2) Cheyenne, Wyoming – 6,062 ft (1,848 m)
 * 3) Denver, Colorado – 5,280 ft (1,609.3 m)
 * 4) Carson City, Nevada – 4,802 ft (1,463 m)
 * 5) Salt Lake City, Utah – 4,226 ft (1,288 m)
 * 6) Helena, Montana – 4,058 ft (1,237 m)

Climate
Santa Fe belongs to the cool semi-arid climate zone (Koppen BSk), with cool winters, and hot summers. The 24-hour average temperature in the city ranges from 29.3 °F in January to 69.8 °F in July. Evenings are much cooler than afternoons due to the aridity and elevation, with most days of the year averaging above a 30 °F-change difference between the high and low. Snowfall is typically light and due to the high elevation and low latitude, snow does not linger on the ground for long. The city usually receives 6 to 8 snowfalls a year between November and April. Heaviest rainfall occurs in July and August. Santa Fe has 300+ days of sunshine a year and an average relative humidity of 50%.

Santa Fe style and “The City Different”
"This year we are making a studied conscious effort not to be studied or conscious. Santa Fe is now one of the most interesting art centers in the world and you, O Dude of the East, are privileged to behold the most sophisticated group in the country gamboling freely...

And Santa Fe, making you welcome, will enjoy itself hugely watching the Dude as he gazes. Be sure as you stroll along looking for the quaint and picturesque that you are supplying your share of those very qualities to Santa Fe, the City Incongruous... Be yourself, even if it includes synthetic cowboy clothes, motor goggles and a camera."

- 1928 Santa Fe Fiesta Program



The Spanish laid out the city according to the “Laws of the Indies”, town planning rules and ordinances which had been established in 1573 by King Philip II. The fundamental principle was that the town be laid out around a central plaza. On its north side was the Palace of the Governors, while on the East was the church that later became the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi.

An important style implemented in planning the city was the radiating grid of streets centering from the central Plaza. Many were narrow and included small alley-ways, but each gradually merged into the more casual byways of the agricultural perimeter areas. As the city grew throughout the 19th century, the building styles evolved too, so that by Statehood in 1912, the eclectic nature of the buildings caused it to look like “Anywhere USA”. The city government realized that the economic decline, which had started more than twenty years before with the railway moving west and the Federal government closing down Fort Marcy, might be reversed by the promotion of tourism.

To achieve that goal, the city created the idea of imposing a unified building style – the Spanish Pueblo Revival look, which was based on work done restoring the Palace of the Governors. The sources for this style came from the many defining features of local architecture: vigas and canales from many old adobe homes, churches built many years before and found in the Pueblos, and the earth-toned, adobe-colored look of the exteriors.

After 1912 this style became official: all buildings were to be built using these elements. By 1930 there was a broadening to include the “Territorial”, a style of the pre-statehood period which included the addition of portals and white-painted window and door pediments. The City had become “Different”. However, “in the rush to pueblofy” Santa Fe, the city lost a great deal of its architectural history and eclecticism”. Among the architects most closely associated with this “new” style is John Gaw Meem.

By an ordinance passed in 1958, new and rebuilt buildings, especially those in designated historic districts, must exhibit a Spanish Territorial or Pueblo style of architecture, with flat roofs and other features suggestive of the area's traditional adobe construction. However, many contemporary houses in the city are built from lumber, concrete blocks, and other common building materials, but with stucco surfaces (sometimes referred to as "faux-dobe", pronounced as one word: "foe-dough-bee") reflecting the historic style.

In 2005/2006, a consultant group from Portland, Oregon, prepared a “Santa Fe Downtown Vision Plan” to examine the long-range needs for the “downtown” area, roughly bounded by the Paseo de Peralta on the north, south and east sides and by Guadalupe Street on the west. In consultation with members of community groups, who were encouraged to provide feedback, the consultants made a wide range of recommendations in the plan now published for public and City review.

Government
The City of Santa Fe is a charter city. It is governed by a mayor-council system. The city is divided into four electoral districts, each represented by two councilors. Councilors are elected to staggered four-year terms and one councilor from each district is elected every two years.

The municipal judgeship is an elected position and a requirement of the holder is that they be a member of the state bar. The judge is elected to four-year terms.

The mayor is the chief executive officer of the city and is a member of the governing body. The mayor has numerous powers and duties, but does not vote with the councilors except to break ties. Day-to-day operations of the municipality are undertaken by the city manager's office.

Federal representation
The Joseph M. Montoya Federal Building and Post Office serves as an office for U.S. federal government operations. It also contains the primary United States Postal Service post office in the city. Other post offices in the Santa Fe city limits include Coronado, De Vargas Mall, and Santa Fe Place Mall. The U.S. Courthouse building, constructed in 1889, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.

Arts and culture
The city is well-known as a center for arts that reflect the multicultural character of the city; and has been designated as a UNESCO Creative City.

Each Wednesday the alternative weekly newspaper, The Santa Fe Reporter, publishes information on the arts and culture of Santa Fe; and each Friday, the daily Santa Fe New Mexican publishes Pasatiempo, its long-running calendar and commentary on arts and events.

Visual art and galleries
The city and the surrounding areas have a high concentration of artists. They have come over the decades to capture on canvas and in other media the natural beauty of the landscape, the flora and the fauna. One of the most well-known New Mexico–based artists was Georgia O'Keeffe, who lived for a time in Santa Fe, but primarily in Abiquiu, a small village about 50 miles (80 km) away. The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe is devoted to exhibitions of her work and associated artists or related themes. As of early 2006, it holds over one thousand of her works in all media. O'Keeffe's friend, western nature photographer Eliot Porter, died in Santa Fe.

Canyon Road, east of the Plaza, has the highest concentration of art galleries in the city, and is a major destination for international collectors, tourists and locals. The Canyon Road galleries showcase a wide array of contemporary, Southwestern, indigenous American, and experimental art, in addition to Russian, Taos Masters, and Native American pieces.

Santa Fe is generally considered to be the second largest art center in the United States after New York City.

Sculpture
There are many outdoor sculptures, including many statues of Francis of Assisi, and several other holy figures, such as Kateri Tekakwitha. Given that Francis of Assisi was known for his love of animals it is not surprising that there are great numbers of representations of crows, bulls, elephants, livestock and other beasts, all over town. The styles run the whole spectrum from Baroque to Post-modern. Notable sculptors connected with Santa Fe include John Connell, Luis Jiménez, Rebecca Tobey and Allan Houser.

Literature
Numerous authors followed the influx of specialists in the visual arts. Well-known writers like D.H. Lawrence, Cormac McCarthy, Douglas Adams, Roger Zelazny, Alice Corbin Henderson, Mary Austin, Witter Bynner, Dan Flores, Paul Horgan, George R. R. Martin, Mitch Cullin, Evan S. Connell, Richard Bradford, John Masters, Jack Schaefer, Susan Gardner, Hampton Sides and Michael McGarrity are or were residents of Santa Fe. Walker Percy lived on a dude ranch outside of Santa Fe before returning to Louisiana to begin his literary career.

Music, dance, and opera
Music and opera are well represented in Santa Fe with the annual Santa Fe Opera productions, which take place between late June and late August each year, the Santa Fe Desert Chorale and the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival which is also held at the same time, mostly in the recently refurbished movie theatre, the Lensic Theater, now a major performing arts venue. Santa Fe has its own professional ballet company, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, which performs in both cities and tours nationally and internationally. The Santa Fe Jazz and International Music Festival was also held at the Lensic Theater for several years. Santa Fe New Music is a leading national presenter of new post-classical music and presents events year-round in many venues. GiG, a small performing arts center in Santa Fe, showcases jazz and world artists from all over the world year-round. The city's dance scene is quite varied, including the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, the National Dance Institute of New Mexico, Moving People Dance Theatre, and many other small ensembles. Many well-known national dance companies, including the Pacific Northwest Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Complexions, and the New York City Ballet, have also performed at the Lensic regularly while on tour.

Museums
Santa Fe has many world-class museums. Many are located around the historic downtown Plaza or close by:
 * New Mexico Museum of Art – collections of Southwestern Arts.
 * Institute of American Indian Arts Museum – Native American arts with political aspects.
 * Georgia O'Keeffe Museum – devoted to the work of O'Keeffe and others whom she influenced.
 * New Mexico History Museum – located behind the historic Palace of the Governors, showcasing the history of New Mexico.
 * Site Santa Fe – A contemporary art space, located at 1606 Paseo De Peralta. Known as the forefront for contemporary art presentation in the Southwest.

Others are located on Museum Hill
 * Museum of International Folk Art – showcasing folk arts from around the world.
 * Museum of Indian Arts and Culture – exhibits Native American arts.
 * Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian – Native American art and history.
 * Museum of Spanish Colonial Art – Tradition arts from the Spanish-colonial era to contemporary times.

Sports
The New Mexico Style were an American Basketball Association franchise founded in 2005, but reformed in Texas for the 2007-8 season as the El Paso S'ol (which folded without playing an ABA game in their new city). The Santa Fe Roadrunners were a North American Hockey League team, but moved to Kansas to become the Topeka Roadrunners. Rodeo De Santa Fe is held annually the last week of June. It is one of top 100 rodeos in the nation.

Science and technology
Santa Fe has had an association with science and technology since 1943 when the town served as the gateway to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), a 45 minute drive from the city. In 1984, the Santa Fe Institute (SFI) was founded to research complex systems in the physical, biological, economic, and political sciences. It hosts such Nobel laureates as Murray Gell-Mann (physics), Philip Warren Anderson (physics), and Kenneth Arrow (economics). The National Center for Genome Resources (NCGR) was founded in 1994 to focus on research at the intersection among bioscience, computing, and mathematics. In the 1990s and 2000s several technology companies formed to commercialize technologies from LANL, SFI, and NCGR. This community of companies has been dubbed the "Info Mesa."

Due to the presence of Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories and the Santa Fe Institute, and because of its attractiveness for visitors and an established tourist industry, Santa Fe routinely serves as a host to a variety of scientific meetings, summer schools, and public lectures, such as International q-bio Conference on Cellular Information Processing, Complex Systems Summer School, LANL's Center For Nonlinear Studies Annual Conference, and others.

Tourism
"Touch the country [of New Mexico] and you will never be the same again."

- D.H. Lawrence, c. 1917.

After State government, tourism is a major element of the Santa Fe economy, with visitors attracted year-round by the climate and related outdoor activities (such as skiing in years of adequate snowfall; hiking in other seasons) plus cultural activities of the city and the region. Tourism information is provided by the convention and visitor bureau and the chamber of commerce.

Most tourist activity takes place in the historic downtown, especially on and around the Plaza, a one-block square adjacent to the Palace of the Governors, the original seat of New Mexico's territorial government since the time of Spanish colonization. Other areas include “Museum Hill”, the site of the major art museums of the city as well as the Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, which takes place each year during the second full weekend of July. The Canyon Road arts area with its galleries is also a major attraction for locals and visitors alike.

Some visitors find Santa Fe particularly attractive around the second week of September when the aspens in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains turn yellow and the skies are clear and blue. This is also the time of the annual Fiestas de Santa Fe, celebrating the "reconquering" of Santa Fe by Don Diego de Vargas, a highlight of which is the burning Zozobra ("Old Man Gloom"), a 50 ft marionette.

Popular day-trips in the Santa Fe area include locations such as the town of Taos -- about 70 mi north of Santa Fe. The historic Bandelier National Monument and the Valles Caldera can be found about 30 mi away. In addition, Santa Fe's ski area, Ski Santa Fe, is about 16 mi north of the city.

Architectural highlights

 * New Mexico State Capitol
 * Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi, the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe
 * Loretto Chapel
 * Palace of the Governors
 * San Miguel Mission and the rest of the Barrio De Analco Historic District
 * Santuario de Guadalupe
 * Oldest House in the USA

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 62,203 people, 27,569 households, and 14,969 families living in the city. The population density was 1,666.1 people per square mile (643.4/km2). There were 30,533 housing units at an average density of 817.8/sq mi (315.8/km2). According to the Census Bureau's 2006 American Community Survey, the racial makeup of the city was 75% White, 2.5% Native American, 1.9% Asian, 0.4% African American, 0.3% Pacific Islander, 16.9% from other races, and 3.1% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 44.5% of the population.

There were 27,569 households out of which 24.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.6% were married couples living together, 12.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.7% were non-families. 36.4% of all households were made up of individuals living alone and 10.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.90.

The age distribution was 20.3% under 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 28.0% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 91.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $40,392, and the median income for a family was $49,705. Males had a median income of $32,373 versus $27,431 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,454. About 9.5% of families and 12.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.2% of those under age 18 and 9.2% of those age 65 or over.

Sister cities

 * Bukhara, Uzbekistan
 * Parral, Mexico
 * Zacatecas, Mexico
 * Santa Fe, Spain
 * Sorrento, Italy
 * Tsuyama, Japan
 * Holguín, Cuba

Air
Santa Fe is served by the Santa Fe Municipal Airport. Currently, American Eagle provides regional jet service to and from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, which began on June 11, 2009. An additional flight to and from Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport was added on November 19, 2009 alongside a new flight to and from Los Angeles International Airport. Many people fly into the Albuquerque International Sunport and connect by other means to Santa Fe.

Road
Santa Fe is located on I-25. In addition, U.S. Route 84 and U.S. Route 285 pass through the city along St. Francis Drive. NM-599 forms an expressway bypass around the northwestern part of the city.

In its earliest alignment (1926–1937) U.S. Route 66 ran through Santa Fe.

Public transportation
Santa Fe Trails operates a number of bus routes within the city and also provides connections to regional transit.

The New Mexico Rail Runner Express is a commuter rail service operating in Valencia, Bernalillo (including Albuquerque), Sandoval, and Santa Fe Counties. In Santa Fe County, the service uses 18 miles of new right-of-way connecting the BNSF Railway's old transcontinental mainline to existing right-of-way in Santa Fe used by the Santa Fe Southern Railway. Santa Fe is currently served by three stations, Santa Fe Depot, South Capitol, and Santa Fe County/NM 599. A fourth station, Zia Road, is under construction and does not yet have a planned opening date.

New Mexico Park and Ride, a division of the New Mexico Department of Transportation, and the North Central Regional Transit District operate primarily weekday commuter coach/bus service to Santa Fe from Torrance, Rio Arriba, Taos, San Miguel and Los Alamos Counties in addition to shuttle services within Santa Fe connecting major government activity centers. Prior to the Rail Runner's extension to Santa Fe, New Mexico Park and Ride operated commuter coach service between Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

Rail
Along with the New Mexico Rail Runner Express, a commuter rail line serving the metropolitan areas of Albuquerque and Santa Fe, the city or its environs are served by two other railroads. The Santa Fe Southern Railway, now mostly a tourist rail experience but also carrying freight, operates excursion services out of Santa Fe as far as Lamy, 15 mi to the southeast. The Santa Fe Southern right-of-way is one of the United States' few rails with trails. Lamy is also served by Amtrak's daily Southwest Chief for train service to Chicago, Los Angeles, and intermediate points. Passengers transiting Lamy may use a special connecting coach/van service to reach Santa Fe.

Trails
Multi-use bicycle, pedestrian, and equestrian trails are increasingly popular in Santa Fe, for both recreation and commuting. These include the Dale Ball Trails, a 30 mile network starting within two miles of the Santa Fe Plaza; the long Santa Fe Rail Trail to Lamy; and the Santa Fe River Trail, which is in development. Santa Fe is the terminus of three National Historic Trails: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail, the Old Spanish National Historic Trail, and the Santa Fe National Historic Trail.

Education


Santa Fe has 3 major High Schools:


 * Santa Fe High School (1,500 Students)
 * Capital High School (1,300 Students)
 * St. Michael's High School (750 Students)

The public schools in Santa Fe are operated by Santa Fe Public Schools, The city has three private liberal arts colleges: St. John's College, the College of Santa Fe and Southwestern College; plus Santa Fe Community College  and the Institute of American Indian Arts.

The city has six private college preparatory high schools: Santa Fe Waldorf School, St. Michael's High School, Desert Academy, New Mexico School For The Deaf, Santa Fe Secondary School, and Santa Fe Preparatory School. Santa Fe is home to the Santa Fe Indian School, an off-reservation school for Native Americans. There are also several charter schools, including Monte Del Sol, the Academy for Technology and the Classics and Charter School 37. The city has many private elementary schools as well, including Santa Fe International Elementary School, Rio Grande School, Desert Montessori School, La Mariposa Montessori, Santa Fe School for the Arts, and The Tara School.