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My husband and I have been looking for the "perfect place" to relocate for sometime now. My latest interest is in Santa Fe; just curious...is there quite a bit of "urban sprawl" all around Santa Fe? What I mean is, are all of the main roads leading to and from the town built up and dotted with every fast food joint and discount center imaginable?
My thoughts are that urban sprawl would just about the least of one's concerns regarding Santa Fe. Overall, it is a fairly small town, and it "feels" and looks that way. Very scenic area with very little-to-no urban sprawl.
I find there is quite a bit of urban sprawl evident when coming into Santa Fe from I-25. Once you get past it, SF is a very charming place, but it does suffer from typical early 20th century automobile-induced sprawl. It can be kind of disappointing on your first visit, because it is not indicative of the "city different." Once you are in town, you can quickly forget about the box stores, motels, and strip centers. The real danger of continued growth in SF, is that the city will become a parody of itself; it's already starting to look like much like a Disneyland version of itself.
Santa Fe is a wonderful city, and quite unique as well. As mentioned above, you will need a car, or bus ride to get around much of the city. But if you can live near the Plaza, you'll have everything you'll ever need within walking distance. The Plaza is what makes Santa Fe!!! You have great galleries, museums, spas, shopping, and dining, all you will ever needin such a small area. Santa Fe's housing is expensive, and that to me is its only downfall. I find Santa Fe to be a very cosmopolitan city, and that is a big statement for a city fewer than 100,000 people.
Thanks for the information. At least now I can be prepared to see that. I love the idea of a small yet cosmopolitan city/town that is self contained and surrounded by nature as opposed to ongoing commerce connecting town to town...but I don't think it's possible to find this.
A friend just came back from Santa Fe and loved it, but did say it's a little "Disney-esque"; we'll see. I'm not quite sure what that means. The only town that I've visited that seemed sort of theme-parkish is Jackson Hole. Is it similar to this?
I find that there is not the same urban sprawl as some other cities. Most of that type of development is along Cerrillos Road, which, yes, is cluttered and somewhat ugly. BUT .... much of the sprawl is confined to that area. I believe Santa Fe still has a sign ordinance so businesses cannot put in huge, tall signs that block the mountain view.
And the rest of the city is delightful. The downtown/Plaza area is charming and wonderful. As finmqa1 has said, everything in the Plaza area is in walking distance.
I would say compared to other cities, there is not much urban sprawl in Santa Fe. But reading posts from others at this discussion board, I find that my view of the city doesn't seem to be as critical as some others have. I don't even understand the "Disneyland" reference in regards to Santa Fe. Theme-parkish? I have certainly never thought so.
So...I suggest you visit Santa Fe, and decide for yourself. I hope you end up loving it as much as I do.
Flatlander, just my opinion but I don't think Santa Fe has the sprawl a lot of other cities have. It does has some, but the downtown area is well preserved and feels small amidst the city. I think what someone said about it being like Disneyland may be due to it being somewhat touristy on selling arts, pottery and so forth, but I never felt it was "amusement park" kind of stuff. You can also find areas around Santa Fe, in the hills with homes scattered about, but still very private. The sprawl I think you are thinking of is like around ABQ, Rio Rancho and Bernalillo where you will see oceans of homes and such.
The idea of Santa Fe having an urban sprawl is a joke. When I first got into town I was a little disappointed as to what little the city had to offer.........not that I wanted to visit a giant city but it's nice and quiet and quaint and all that.......but to call it any type of urban sprawl is a joke!
I enjoyed New Mexico as a whole...........
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Urban Sprawl Even In Santa Fe
Theme-parkish? I have certainly never thought so.
