I just spent a 3 day weekend in Santa Fe NM with my old college friend. We booked a very nice adobe vacation rental within walking distance of the old town square. Within 2 days we had circled the square countless times, visited many of the museums and galleries and dined in nice restaurants. The sidewalks pretty much roll up at 6 pm for everything but the restaurants. The outskirts of Santa Fe are mostly strip malls and assorted service businesses. We enjoyed our stay, but agreed that 3 days was more than enough. Yet property values in Santa Fe rival those in Santa Barbara or other luxury markets. What is the attraction? Are these second homes for the very rich who want a desert escape on occasion? Is there a vibrant private party/social scene to keep people entertained?
“Are these second homes for the very rich who want a desert escape on occasion?”
In many cases, yes.
When I think of Sante Fe, I think of the art culture, unique architecture, dining, spa stuff, and using it as a base to get out to the surrounding areas to enjoy nature and other places like Taos.
I haven’t been for many years, though, and perhaps the surrounding area is more built up than it used to be.
I think the same can be said for other tourist destinations, many of which are best as a long week end destination IMO. Napa, Newport RI, Charleston, New Orleans, etc. - there is only so much to do in any of these places. For people who live there, they get wrapped up in their day to day life like we all do, just in a more unique setting.
There’s a big art scene there – did you walk along the street with all the galleries? We also did some nice hikes in the area.
We did a day trip there and felt it was enough. I agree with your assessment of the area, but also agree that this can be said about many tourist destinations. At this stage of life, I’m no longer interested in browsing shops because I have more than enough “stuff”. Without the shopping element, many destinations don’t have much appeal to me these days.
I like to visit but really never go for longer than 3 days at a time which is enough time to do what i want to do in the old town and get out to Tesuque and other areas I like. If I went longer I’d probably expand even further out of Sante Fe proper.
Don’t want to derail the Santa Fe specific topic (and can’t comment since I’ve only been there once more than 15 years ago).
We found the same is true for many tourist destinations. Most recently, we spent our anniversary strolling Colorado Bl. in Pasadena, CA because our S18 was at a birthday party nearby. We lived in Pasadena when CB was at the start of its rebirth. We were disappointed because the flavor now is restaurants, bars, and mall stores. As we had already eaten and had a drink, that left mall stores. We left and headed further east to one of our favorite indie bookstores and browsed until it was time to pick up our son.
Now, back to Santa Fe…
We walked up Canyon Road and loved the eccentric sculptures- tons upon tons of bronze on that road. It was like an outdoor art museum with very creative and talented works on display. I wonder if most of the residents are either successful artists or their wealthy patrons, and Santa Fe is a place for the two to meet and do business. I looked at a few properties on Zillow and the interior of some of the adobes is awe inspiring. I guess some people just want a place to escape and enjoy some peace and quiet.
Edit in reply to 1518mom: At least in Pasadena you’re a short drive to Huntington Gardens and hundreds of other cultural attractions. In Santa Fe you are pretty much isolated with Albuquerque the only sizable settlement a 1 hour drive away.
Most places that are not huge metropolises, no matter how lovely or unique, can’t sustain interest for more than two or three days of dedicated sightseeing, shopping, eating. For more sustained visits, there has to be something outdoorsy to do there (or a great place to lie on a lounge by a body of water and do nothing).
LOL–I’m going to Santa Fe next week–only for a couple days. It really is just a small town,
but the history and unique flavor of Santa Fe make its legend bigger than reality.
In the winter there is skiing. I don’t really care for Santa Fe, but DH keeps harping on going. I’ve picked the last couple of trips, so I’m probably going to have to suck it up and go.
Interesting article I wish I had read before the trip- we didn’t try any of the recommended restaurants mentioned in the article. I wish I had known about The Santa Fe Institute (http://www.santafe.edu/about/) too. Clearly a hotbed of intellectual creativity that must provide a thriving social life for residents.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/07/travel/07santafe.html?_r=0
It’s about the climate and the landscape. If you were a hiker, you wouldn’t feel you had used it up in three days. 
I was there for a few days and thought Santa Fe was fascinating. The architecture is a change of pace for us Pacific Northwesterners. We liked the farmers market and daytripped to Bandelier NM. After reading 109 East Palace about the secret Los Alamos project, that town square took on a different allure.
I agree there’s a difference between visiting and living in a place. You find different things to sustain your interest on a daily basis while the tourists look for more spectacular grandeur. My sister lives in Paris and she can’t remember the last time she visits Tour Eiffel. She took me to Mont St Michel and that was her first visit after decades of living in France. Go figure.
I love Santa Fe but it is small. That is part of the charm. I’ve never been to Santa Barbara but couldn’t you see it all in 3 days too? Property values don’t necessarily equal more attractions for tourists.
We had a great girls trip to Sante Fe. A little shopping, spa day, museums, restaurants. Rented an amazing vacation home. It was the perfect way to spend a weekend catching up with the girls.
I was in Sante Fe about 6, 7 years ago, and to be honest I found it to be boring. There was some interesting architecture, but mostly what it struck me as was a venue for high end art galleries, restaurants and especially stores, kind of like Rodeo Drive in LA (which if that is your thing, that is fine). Sante Fe does have a lot of cultural offerings, there are music festivals there and they have a pretty top notch opera, but it wasn’t what I look for, I kind of liked Alberquerque better, especially along route 66, was more charming in its gritty way (and I even got to see a road runner at a nature preserve there, I didn’t see one on our walk, but when we were heading to the parking lot one showed up, as if to say “okay, buddy, take your picture, get your thrill” lol.
I agree most tourist destinations have limited appeal for long visits, but I was wondering why people would pay top dollar to live in Santa Fe. A mid-sized home goes for 1 million dollars and up. Santa Barbara has the ocean, several universities, excellent hospitals, proximity to LA, Mediterranean climate and proximity to wilderness for hiking.
Clearly Santa Fe has more to it than the impression it leaves from a 3 day visit. I’d be interested to hear from someone who has lived there about what they enjoy about the city. My trip with my friend was also a bit of a retirement scouting excursion on my part, and I feel I didn’t get an accurate impression from my visit.
I had absolutely the best piece of lemon meringue pie ever during a visit to Santa Fe. A couple of years later I went back to the same restaurant, and couldn’t wait for that piece of pie again. But alas, no pie. The owner told me that some woman up in the hills made those pies, and she had moved away. :((
Santa Barbara has those beautiful oil rigs off shore. 
I kid, kind of. I liked Santa Barbara when I visited but that was a startling sight to me. Proximity to LA also isn’t a plus in my book but we all have different tastes.
Santa Fe has proximity to skiing and nature, an art scene, dry non humid climate, a more spiritual, new age feel. I haven’t lived there but those are things I could see appealing to folks.
We totally loved Santa Fe. We were there for 8 days and had plenty to do. We did spend one day driving to Taos, and another in Albuquerque. We had friends there so visited them too. We had no shortage of things to do. Went to all the museums, and the old governors palace on the square for tours. Loved them! Because my husband was working there, we had a huge list of restaurants to visit. We also enjoyed visiting the galleries on Canyon Rd.
We would go back there any time!