Capitol Rebuild: Santa Fe
Our oldest capital is at a crossroads
Santa Fe!
One of our nation’s most beautiful and culturally rich capital cities. Why don’t we all have our bags packed to move here tomorrow?
But wait…if we all did move there, who is going to be able to afford to stay?
Put down that green chile breakfast burrito and let’s dig in to America’s oldest capital city.
How Did the Capitol End Up There?
You're probably thinking the oldest capital city in the U.S. must have a pretty wild backstory. Well, congratulations and go ahead and give yourself a gold star.
Santa Fe’s history as a capital city starts with a pretty common tale in the sixteenth century: local leader (in this case Don Francisco Vázquez de Coronado, who was serving as a Spanish governor in what is now Mexico) hears rumors of a mythical city of gold and fortune (for Coronado, it was the Seven Golden Cities of Cíbola to the north) and makes a run at it. And like most of these stories, Coronado’s expedition didn’t lead to riches, but it did introduce Spain to what is now the American Southwest, including New Mexico and the Grand Canyon, and the native Pueblo peoples who lived in the area. By 1598, Spain had established the colony of Nuevo Mexico and located its capital near the intersection of the Rio Grande and Chama Rivers in San Juan de los Caballeros.
However, a mere twelve years later, the old adage of “our capital city must, must, must be centrally located” was used to relocate Nuevo Mexico’s capital to Santa Fe, which did have excellent access to the Santa Fe River. Think about that - Santa Fe was a capital city ten years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock.
Nuevo Mexico underwent centuries of upheaval and changing of the guard; the Pueblos took it back from Spain which was followed by Spain’s reconquest, Mexico gaining independence from Spain and finally the United States annexing New Mexico as a territory after the Mexican American war. However, through it all, Santa Fe remained the capital. This continuity gives Santa Fe the title belt of the oldest continuously serving capital city in the United States.
The biggest threat to Santa Fe’s belt title came after the Mexican-American War. After New Mexico became part of the United States, Texas felt that New Mexico should be part of its large realm. This wasn’t Texas’ first rodeo with trying to annex New Mexico as in 1841 they failed spectacularly, which is very generously known as simply the Texan Santa Fe Expedition. Cooler heads prevailed this time and Texas backed off (the $10M payoff they got to do so probably didn’t hurt).
New Mexico would remain a territory for the rest of the 19th century, and a politically complex one at that, as there were Indigenous, Hispanic, and Anglo populations all envisioning the area’s future differently. Finally in 1912, New Mexico was admitted as the 47th U.S. state, with Santa Fe as its official capital.
Santa Fe’s original capital building, the Palace of the Governors, was built in 1610 (!) and served as the seat of government under Spanish, Mexican, and U.S. territorial rule. Amazingly the building is still standing today as part of the New Mexico History Museum and includes a block-long market area where you can find amazing handmade jewelry and crafts from Native artists.
The current state capitol building was completed in 1966 and is the only round capitol building in the country. It was designed to resemble the Zia sun symbol that is featured on the New Mexico flag. The capitol is a governmental powerhouse as it houses the governor, lieutenant governor, and both chambers of the state legislature.
The Arc
My Experiences with Santa Fe
I’ve never been to Santa Fe; however, like a lot of people, I’ve gotten a strong sense of its sheer beauty from the growing number of TV shows and movies set in New Mexico. For me, it was the eleven seasons of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Vince Gilligan needs to win some sort of award from the New Mexico Tourism Bureau for how beautifully he captured the landscape of this region.
What’s Working
Civic Infrastructure
We are going to talk a lot about housing throughout this piece. And while housing affordability is an issue almost everywhere, you don’t always see groups that are focused on this issue. Homewise is a group with the mission to “help create successful homeowners and strengthen neighborhoods so that individuals and families can improve their long-term financial wellbeing and quality of life”. It has a staff of 120 people that has constructed hundreds of affordable homes and has helped thousands of local residents become homebuyers. They are currently working on their largest project in southwestern Santa Fe, which could include up to 1,500 homes with at least 40% of them affordable.
Santa Fe’s distinctive character hasn’t preserved itself by accident. The Old Santa Fe Association has been guarding the city’s historic buildings, cultural traditions, and architectural integrity since 1926. Thanks to their work, the city still looks and feels like nowhere else in America.
St. John’s College is a unique academic institution that grants one single bachelor’s degree in liberal arts and has campuses in not only Santa Fe but Annapolis as well. A Capitol Rebuild dream!
Place
Santa Fe’s setting is absolutely gorgeous. Type “Santa Fe beautiful” in your browser and take your pick of a new computer background. We’ve covered a number of cities with mountain range backdrops, but none of them have the sky of Santa Fe. The combination of high altitude, low humidity, and minimal pollution creates a clarity of light and intensity of color that’s almost surreal.
It’s fitting that Santa Fe’s has the only round capital because the city’s architecture is completely unique. There are so many low-rise buildings that have the distinct earth-like color from their adobe bricks that are directly influenced by Pueblo and Spanish architecture culture.
Santa Fe has required all capital construction projects to include a percentage of the cost for public art since 1985. The requirement was doubled in 2006 (from 1% to 2%) and the result is a series of public spaces that are enhanced by murals, sculptures, and installations.
Arts & Culture
There is no way I can do justice to the arts and culture scene in Santa Fe. It was the first city in the United States to receive the designation of as a UNESCO Creative City with the designation of City of Craft and Folk Art. The city not only has an arts and cultural department but it has five (!) people listed as staff on its website. From the Santa Fe Opera to Meow Wolf, from Indigenous markets to world-class museums, Santa Fe’s DNA is imprinted with its arts and cultures scene. Simply put, it’s an amazing city to take in.
Lots of Santa Fe Hype Videos and Articles to drool upon….
I need to stop, otherwise you won’t make it through the rest of this post.
What’s Not Working
People Doing the Work Can’t Afford to Live There
Housing affordability is a familiar story across the country, but it seems even more urgent in Santa Fe. The city’s median home price is now $582,000, making it one of the least affordable small cities in the country. It’s clear that people want to live in Santa Fe. But they want to live there because of the people who have made it such an amazing city, from government leaders to artists and service workers. And if they go, so does the city.
Santa Fe is estimated to be short 6,000 housing units, a gap that represents a 10% increase over the current supply. And when workers can’t afford to live in the city, they move further out, which means long commutes that require a car and further limits their spending power on housing.
This is a cultural risk to Santa Fe. The people who have built and sustain Santa Fe’s identity are being pushed to the margins. If that trend continues, the city’s living heritage could become simply a museum piece, which would be tragic.
Too Dependent on Tourism
One silver lining of COVID was the resurgence of the great American road trip. Santa Fe has seen its tourism numbers bounce back to pre-pandemic levels, welcoming over 3 million visitors a year and it is estimated that 30-35% of Santa Fe's economy is supported by tourism. That’s great for local businesses and artists, who rely on tourist spending.
But it’s also a fragile foundation for a city economy whose other major driver is government workers. A single disruption, whether it is another pandemic, wildfires, or major economic downturn, could send shockwaves through the local economy. And Santa Fe’s growing reliance on short-term rentals like Airbnb to house these tourists only deepens the city’s housing crisis. Many homeowners can make more money renting to tourists than selling or leasing long-term which reduces housing supply and drives prices even higher.
People Doing the Work
Tomas Rivera is the Executive Director of Chainbreaker Collective, one of those organizations that starts with a very simple mission, in Chainbreaker’s case it was providing refurbished bikes and teaching mechanic skills to people without access to transportation, and over time becoming something much more. Now, it advocates for economic, housing and transportation-related issues with a focus on the Hopewell Mann neighborhood. Tomas has been there since the start and served as ED since 2009.
Danyelle Means has dedicated her professional life to the Indigenous arts so it’s no surprise that her career led her to becoming the Executive Director of the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture. It’s not only one of the crown jewels of the Santa Fe art scenes but one of the most important institutions in the Southwest.
2025 Capitol Score
Capitol Score is my subjective ranking (using a 10 point scale) on how the city stacks up with regards to place, innovation, arts & culture, and overall livability. A perfect score isn’t the goal, improvement is.
Santa Fe’s 2025 Capitol Score is 6.9
Santa Fe has a Capital Score Potential of 8.5
Three Wishes from the Policy Genie
Just a quick note here. This is just me throwing ideas on the wall based on my limited knowledge of what’s happening. There are likely many many things that need improvement and the folks on the ground will always know more.
Fund affordable housing every way possible
Santa Fe has shown it's willing to put its money where its values are. In addition to the amazing policy of requiring every city capital project to set aside funds for public art, voters overwhelmingly approved a 3% tax on home sales over $1 million to support the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. That’s a huge step, but clearly not nearly enough.
To meet the scale of this issue, Santa Fe needs to get even more creative. That could mean hotel taxes, targeted sales taxes, or anything that responsibly taps into the city’s golden goose of tourism. Affordable housing should have as many funding streams as there are people trying to live here.
Make public lands a civic superpower
Public lands in this country are under attack. Fortunately, the Trump bill removed the public lands provisions that was going to allow millions of acres of public land to be sold to developers for oil and natural gas drilling and data centers. But while that was able to be fended off, the US Department of Agriculture did just remove a Clinton-era ban on road construction in 60 million acres of public land, which I’m sure has some road contractors salivating.
Santa Fe and New Mexico must be vigilant, yet pragmatic. This will require protecting what makes the region special, while recognizing that affordable housing and open space don’t have to be enemies. The key is contextual, connected development: if housing is far from jobs, services, and transit, it’s not solving the problem, it’s actually creating new ones.
Build better transit
Investing in more transit service isn’t exactly rocket science and likely would apply to every city in Capitol Rebuild. But I want to highlight it here because of the growth Santa Fe has experienced over the last fifteen years and the acute issue of housing affordability. Santa Fe only runs ten bus routes, five of which don’t operate on the weekends, and service stops at 8 pm. That is just not good enough for an economy that is so highly dependent on the service industry. Figuring out a way to invest more into transit (as well as housing) is crucial to Santa Fe’s future.
What’s Happening in Santa Fe?
Governor Hints at Special Session to deal with Trump
I’m not really going out on a limb to say the Trump budget is going to have countless negative impacts on this country. But one of the hidden costs will be the amount of time it takes from state government to mitigate the negative impacts to their residents.
Governors’ report outlines how western states, territories could build more affordable housing
Impressive leadership from New Mexico’s governor. Addressing this problem is clearly a bi-partisan issue, but I’m fearful that the solutions won’t be.
How Santa Fe’s Housing Squeeze Nearly Left Me Homeless
First person POV on the challenges with housing in Santa Fe.
Final Thoughts
It was probably around hour two of scrolling Instagram when I blurted out to my family, “We’re going to Santa Fe next year.” After showing my daughter a few videos, she was instantly on board with a Santa Fe trip as well. To say the city shows well is an understatement. It’s no wonder more and more people are coming to Santa Fe, both to visit and to stay.
But the affordability crisis isn’t going away. And if left unaddressed, it threatens to unravel the culture that makes Santa Fe so special. The good news? The issue is front and center, and there are smart, committed people working on it.
If Santa Fe can figure out how to grow without losing its soul, I think it may be the capital city that breaks out the most in this century.
Capitol Rankings
Capitol score (Capitol potential)
Phoenix, 7.9 (8.4)
Santa Fe, 6.9 (8.5)
Des Moines, 6.7 (8.2)
Montpelier, 6.1 (6.3)
Olympia, 5.6 (6.7)
Little Rock, 4.9 (7.4)
Trenton, 4.3 (6.8)
Harrisburg, 4.3 (6.1)
Next week we rev up our engines to visit one of the nation’s most successful capital cities, Indianapolis.