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I lived in Santa Fe as a regional transportation planner for over a year and the long term residents there are all in on car culture. An attempt was recently made to pedestrianize a portion of Gallisteo street leading to the plaza (if I remember correctly) and it was met with screams of city corruption, real estate interests, money grabs, etc. One of the most nimby cities I’ve ever been to and lived in and I’ve also lived in Southern California. That said, the state is one of the most rural states in the country and so having a car is definitely a necessity. Transit outside of Santa Fe and abq is limited to demand response transit tailored towards seniors as New Mexico is also one of the oldest populations in the country. As a car free resident of nyc who is a huge champion of multimodal transportation, get a rental car if you visit Santa Fe or New Mexico broadly. The best parts of the state are the state parks/hiking trails, Native American pueblos, historic ruins/cave dwellings, and small towns. If you only have a day in Santa Fe, don’t miss Meow Wolf.

I'm from Santa Fe, and I grew up here, and I'm also an architecture student. Growing up here, I was mostly interacting with the long-time Hispano (Nuevomexicano) residents of the city. We sort of have three distinct populations, that being the wealthy transplants who have supplanted all of Downtown and the Eastside from their former Hispano residents, who now have had to move to other parts of the city, or out of it altogether, into Albuquerque and Rio Rancho; and then on the Southside (the nose of the horse), there's a larger recent-immigrant population of Mexicans and Central Americans. It has always frustrated me that the most historic and most walkable parts of town have been dispossessed of their historical Hispano populations, and is now mostly exclusive to wealthier residents. Plus the fact that new housing development, and especially affordable housing development is all relegated to much less pedestrian-friendly areas. It seems completely counterintuitive to me to not have more housing in the most walkable areas. Before the realty and investment offices and turquoise and rug and boot and hat stores, downtown used to be a place with actual grocery stores and department stores and places for normal residents. That being said, up until the 1940's and 1950's-ish, adobe was the default way to build in New Mexico (and Spanish was the majority language of New Mexico until the same timeframe), because that's what had been used historically, and so that's what the common practice was. So more of what you see is authentic than you'd think. The difference is that it was common to build buildings of many styles out of earthen materials (just look at the old Italianate Huning Castle that used to exist in Albuquerque, made out of terron, a type of earthen brick), so it really is strange to have a condition where a lot of buildings that look adobe aren't, and a lot of historical buildings that don't look adobe actually are. It was only with increasing Anglicization and the increased American-influence post-war that these changes rapidly set themselves to make New Mexico more typical of that of the rest of the US. There's a widespread perception of Santa Fe as "adobe Disneyland," both as a way of putting it down by outsiders, and as a way of criticizing outsiders/wealthy transplants/tourists for not understanding that this is an actual place that people live and work and have an actual culture and background dating back hundreds of years. As a Nuevomexicano, and someone who's really a proponent of architecture and urbanism, I think it is really important to honor the context and the history and the surroundings. I think it would be a shame to let modern architectural style fads diminish that. Just look at the rest of Northern New Mexico outside of Santa Fe to see what's still extant out there. Modern architecture should really embrace the concept of place that we've formed as one of the most historic regions in the nation, and that doesn't mean faking it or being set in stone, but incorporating those sensibilities into how we design buildings and spaces for the current era.

i honestly love an intentional coherent city design style. this reminds me of the building design codes in kyoto.

One thing that I was missing in the video was to mention how much sense it makes to emulate a building style that predates the invention of AC when building a city in the dessert. It's kinda crazy for me to see that in the US the houses in the scortching hot south look incredibly similar to the ones up in the north. Modern technology makes this possible, but it makes a lot of sense and it is a lot more efficient to use traditional methods to go most of the way.

One thing that would make Santa Fe more car-free accessible is if the Rail Runner had an extension to the ABQ airport. Right now, it looks like you have to take a bus from the airport to the Rail Runner station. Once you also factor in the 15-minute walk (though doable) from the Santa Fe station to the plaza, I can see why people opt to just drive there when visiting. We also drove to Santa Fe this summer as part of our cross-country move, so we definitely contributed to it (though it also doesn't help that Amtrak wouldn't allow our dog on their trains), but I do agree there's a lot of potential to make Santa Fe's historic center completely car free.

it's pretty cool to see a city have such a distinct architecual identity. one has to commend them for putting in the effort to preserve and enforce historical design.

It really does get discouraging seeing the lengths people will go to just to avoid walking even a tiny bit in the U.S. Walking through a city, taking in the aesthetics, connecting with people as you go, getting easy exercise while going about your daily activities...these are things that contribute to a thriving community of happy people.

I lived up in the mountains of Santa Fe near a bus stop, but most of the time I walked downtown. It was just such a pleasant stroll. And even though I could head up the mountain for a nice hike through nature, I would usually head down into the city. The architecture felt natural: the brown earth, the blue sky, and the wood of the trees. Sometimes I would just walk to the library to read and head back home before the sun set.

From an outsider perspective, I like it. In Europe in tons of cities you have the center, which is historical, walkable, beautiful... And then you have the newer areas, which all more or less look the same, irrespective of culture, geography and history: big blocky concrete buildings. Santa Fe is maybe pushing it a little bit, but it's really cool that they enforce new buildings to reflect the historic and cultural realities of the area.

more new mexico content please, what a bizarre but interesting place

Santa Fe is a beautiful city. The "monotone" color is not off-putting. Go there during the Christmas holidays. It's magical! ❤ Tourquoise is everywhere around New Mexico. If you are in southern NM go to Mesilla to experience a mini version of the square. Parking and the car situation does suck in Santa Fe. Will you do an Albuquerque video?

The foundations of the "oldest church" and "oldest house" you show several times were actually already there when the Spanish arrived. The Tlaxclalans who built the church and the house used the foundations of an older pueblo that was abandoned in 1300 I think. That whole area south of the Santa Fe River was designated for the Tlaxclalan allies (who also helped the Spanish defeat the Aztec) who came with the Spanish when they conquered NM.

Santa Fe could be so cool with more pedestrian spaces. The ones they already have do look so different than most cities in the US. Great video

Bear in mind that the storied Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad never reached any of those cities. For Santa Fe they ran a spur from the main line south of town. The Denver and Rio Grande did run from Denver to Santa Fe, but was narrow gauge.

I have traveled all over the US and Santa Fe is one of my favorite places. The colors are magical, and it feels completely unique. The history is incredible and it feels like stepping back in time. Just my personal opinions. Great video!!

In response to your statement at 1:07, " Maybe I'm just weird..." Yes, you are but, in the best way possible! You are bringing your enthusiasm for the possibilities of cities to be great to more people and you're doing it with an artist's flair. Seeing things through your eyes is uplifting and positive. Thank you.

I interviewed for a job in Santa Fe. Out of earshot of the higher-ups, one person summed up the city by saying, “Here, you either are a maid or have maids working for you.”

It's not on street parking that's the issue, it's that they put it in the middle of the area instead of on the periphery. Picking a few of the core streets to be car free but keeping parking on the surrounding side streets would be the way to go. It'd also give them the chance to do a little street-scaping instead of the monolithic slabs of cement and asphalt that they currently have.

Santa Fe really needs better transportation down to the southwest from downtown around Cerrillos. The popularity of Meow Wolf cannot be understated, and Cerrillos is about as stroady as you can get, making it really hard to get to the immersive art without being immersed in dangerous walking environments. I think a BRT route from the 599 rail runner station up to the downtown/capitol district, and making the blocks surrounding the plaza fully pedestrianized would both do wonders for the urban environment.

i grew up in albuquerque, and went up to santa fe almost once a month - field trips, with family. it was usually in the back of my mind how downtown felt a lot like a tourist destination, like old town in ABQ. it's not really a city I ever thought about living in.

This looks like a lifestyle center that became a city

There should either be a rail line from Santa Fe to Las Vegas, NM or just a frequent bus to Larmy regardless of Amtrak frequency (although a second train to El Paso would be nice)

You probably didn't notice this much as a non-driver, but Santa Fe's street network is full of weird one-ways, sharp curves, and lanes that appear and disappear as if by magic. It's maddening sometimes to navigate, even if the GPS is on. I typically find some place to park, usually near the capitol, and then spend a few hours downtown on foot. It would be great if more of the city were accessible without a car - most of the less expensive housing is pretty far from downtown.

I live in Brooklyn, and I find it frustrating that extremely wealthy neighborhoods like Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights get to use historic preservation as a shield to exclude more affordable housing typologies.

I used to live on Franklin Avenue, in Santa Fe, just behind the Owl Liquor Store.

Really great last sentence. It perfectly sums up what ‘we’ who follow your adventures desire. Not to pretend to want to have people centric vibrant communities. But actually go the distance and do it. I’m a huge fan of your work and am sympathetic to an occasional dark turn in your videos (WallE reference). Cheers Nerd

9:50 "if you wanna do the santa fe margarita trail and try 40 of the city's best agave-based beverages, you're probably going to have to do it by car." There needs to be more public transit in Santa Fe, at the very least along the trail so drunk driving accidents are decreased lol

When I flew into the Santa Fe airport last year, it was quite a shock to find out there were no busses between the airport and city center. And Lyft and Uber are not very plentiful out there either.

I love Santa Fe. I wish the rail runner ran more trains though - it wasn't an option to take it from the sunport when I got in... they only ran like 3 trains that day. They also need to connect it to the sunport. It's annoying to have to take a 30 minute bus from the airport to the train station to get to the rail runner, although probably not as annoying as waiting in line at the car rental and then driving an hour up 25. Some of the stroads surrounding downtown Santa Fe could use a diet for sure - lots of very fast and loud traffic around there. But a lot of the more residential streets are narrow and some are even one-way traffic. Those streets were really pleasant to walk on. Would like to see more of that

The video fails to mention one of the drawbacks of the Railrunner. It does not go directly to the Albuquerque International Airport. I believe that that's a major reason for it's low ridership. If I remember correctly, the car-rental companies and shuttle companies lobbied against it.

In August 2018 I visited Santa Fe and did a lot of walking and exploring. I agree with you that nowhere looks truly “historic” or “authentic” with cars parked everywhere. If you’re talking about cities built to discourage cars, Santa Fe certainly discourages people like me who abhor having to parallel park! But why can’t we have more pedestrian-only zones? They are healthier not just because they force you to walk, but you’re not inhaling internal combustion fumes while doing so.

Here in Denver, people in a certain upscale neighborhood are fighting a bike lane because it takes away from the aesthetic character of the surrounding historical homes. The hidden agenda, of course, is car privilege yet again. Hearing about the preservation of car domination in Santa Fe (and, ironically, seeing its eyesore consequences) suggests to me that there is a direct line from there to here, and it ain't by train.

My favourite part of this channel is the way you have elevated sarcasm to supreme art 😂 but seriously, you do a great job of highlighting points by not stating the obvious. Bravo!

We visited Santa Fe this summer and the design mandate really made for some amusing sights. A massive, near featureless square warehouse looking building outside of downtown, splattered with a quick spray of brown stucco and with a quick wood awning leaning against it. It was a Dollar General. Up there with the Pueblo parking garages and ATMs seen downtown.

Santa Barbara, CA also has codes on how buildings must be designed. In their case Spanish missionary style. I think having a unified aesthetic is what gives a city a sense of place. That's why I can look at almost any random street in Paris and know it's Paris. I wish it was like this in more American cities.

I go to Santa Fe a lot for work, and it's a shame that the best parts of Santa Fe in terms of vibe are the more spread out, suburban sprawl development areas along Cerrillos (st)Road in the south & west ends of the city. The beautiful, walkable center of town seems to be the exclusive domain of rich white people obsessed with "experiencing" Native American culture through the medium of high-end consumerism. I always have a much better time hanging out in the more working-class, quotidian areas that are inaccessible without cars.

I would love a train from Denver to Santa Fe. Really, the train should go from _at least_ Cheyenne to Albuquerque.

If any place should have an almost entirely pedestrianized downtown it's Santa Fe ... they're going for this historic rural town vibe and it's completely ruined by the cars parked everywhere (breaking the illusions of preservation) and the general car traffic. Imagine how incredible walking around Santa Fe could be if the streets were all car free and some kind of historic surface.

From India I was in USA in 2011.My host took us around LasVegas, Albuquerque ( enjoyed balloon ride), Santa Fe. In SanteFe it was cool, calm and no crowded but scenic roads. It started to rain and weather became more chill giving a soothing feel which I cherish even today. We visited the native Indian shops spread across the floor of building premises where one shopkeeper remarked ' yes we are all Indians' and this brought me all the more closer to Santa Fe. We travelled through Sedona as well. Yes Santa Fe resembles Sedona in many respects. Santa Fe has left a lovely life-time memory for me.

People make the place. 1/4 of the population of Santa Fe are 65+ retirees. I'm sorry but I just can't with these sorts of places. I'm not "age-ist" but this demographic is making places unaffordable, and they aren't exactly making places interesting or exciting. That said, I bet Santa Fe was nice before it became unaffordable because the style is certainly unique.

Remember 90's hippy earth homes made with hay bails and earth tone stucco? Those were my favorite houses back in the day and I wish more were made. I'd love to live in one and role play as a background character from a Star Wars movie.

Could you do a video comparing some of the major Canadian cities? Vancouver isn't exactly a utopia but I just spent some time in Calgary and god it felt like driving across the country just to see friends

Excellent video and review, I agree, there definitely needs to be an emphasis on pedestrian-only infrastructure in US cities.

We've been planning an Amtrak trip to Albuquerque and then the Railrunner to Santa Fe. Looking forward to it. Sorry to hear that the public transportation is not great. We'll still use it, I'm sure.

As touristy and honestly kinda tacky Santa Fe is I do love the style and urban fabric. I wish more of New Mexico's cities took a similar approach. It reminds me of some of the beautiful small towns in Europe I visited where all the buildings were made using the same materials and it had a cohesive style. Doing it today using city codes is definitely more artificial but it is a representation of an authentic style in New Mexico. What is funny is when the pueblo revival style is copied in Arizona and Southern California, but we also have California Mission Style architecture like the Alvarado station in Abq so it goes both ways. P.S. Turquoise and coral are given to you as soon as you are born pretty much in Pueblo and NM Hispano communities, wearing it is said to protect you. Also one of the oldest Turquoise mines in the world I believe is just south of Santa Fe in Cerrillos.

Never thought I'd see you do a video about the town I grew up in! You're spot on with your information as usual. Keep up the good work

Excellent video! I have been enjoying watching your city videos like this one especially about the cities with unique quirks in their development

(9:05) Nothing says "tourist town" like a bench too narrow to sit on so that no one can sleep on it.

See, what you've got to do is make the cars faux stucco.

Hi, CityNerd, i gotta say - I really love your channel! As a Gringo that lived in Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico for 7 years (at the behest of my ex-wife - btw I actually stayed there longer than she did), I appreciate the submission, although I should point out that there is a whole other Santa Fe on the west side - the Barrio - that is an alternative existence to the downtown tourist culture that you covered in this video. As part of the white culture, I admit your video brought back a lot of nostalgia for the entertaining, but very car-centric, downtown (I moved from NM to Western Massachusetts in 2000). But there remains a lot of issues in The City Different (or The City Diffident as people referred to it then). Low wages; high housing costs. Extreme social stratification. Same as it was in 1993 when we moved there… After a couple of years in Santa Fe, in the mid nineties, I moved north to Española (some White real estate agent called it the “armpit of New Mexico” when I was first trying to find housing there). After gaining the trust of the local inhabitants (some had family going back hundreds of years there), I realized what a wonderful, community-oriented people they are! The local cuisine (try El Paragua) is unbelievable. Despite the challenges, high crime, very high poverty rate), there is a rich culture underneath the surface that, I think, is yet to be fully discovered. I only hope that people who visit the wonders of Santa Fe also take time to travel north to the Hispanic highlands and learn about the rich culture that lies there.

I agree with your final comment. I’m surprised that a failing US town or neighborhood hasn’t gone all-in on pedestrianization, just as Santa Fe went all in on ersatz Pueblo design. It’s an excellent way to differentiate your place from everywhere else. Car-free is a bright future for a town with enough guts to implement it.

Could you make a video on Boston? Particularly, your opinions on its walkability and urbanism? I find that individual neighborhoods are walkable but in some ways, the neighborhoods are disconnected in an odd way (such as South End being separated from Back Bay by a highway)

last time i was this early to a citynerd video robert moses was still bulldozing neighborhoods

Bravo! Your witty analysis of all your videos is what keeps me coming back!

We love Santa Fe. It's historic, beautiful and has a very good food scene.

I love your attention to detail in these city-breakdown videos. Really impressive.

Whether in residential or commercial architecture, I find courtyards to be the most tragic loss when adapting a European style into an American application. Street parking is ruining that chance for an organic meeting place of humans that is not focused on consumerism. And really with houses of these styles, you'll often see courtyards replaced by garages... What will it take for our country to embrace the magic of courtyards/plazas??

The galleries in Santa Fe have such great wildlife art. In fact, a lot of the southwest is rich with amazing wildlife artists.

Would it be a stretch to say that Santa Fe reminds me a lot of Sedona, AZ? Both are mostly walkable and have a lot of great history and scenery, but they’re also dominated by the wealthy and tourists, meaning lots and lots of expensive restaurants and tourist traps with almost nothing in between. Not to mention the color pallets being very similar and equally strict.

Can you do a topic on Atlanta and or other large southern cities. Atlanta would be cool though because I want to hear your perspective on the beltline and the potential for future urbanism

Santa Fe is where you go with your mom so she can shop for jewelry all day. Although the American Indian Art Museum is awesome. It's a quaint little weird place. The real city is Albuquerque, anyways.

Oh hell yeah Santa Fe trip I'm nerding my pants right now

Blue/turquoise doorways are traditional, and long thought to be protective against bad spirits, still popular in local design. Turquoise is just one of many traditional materials used by our local Pueblo and Navajo artisans. New Mexicans wear their jewelry with pride, supporting local artists. There are free shuttles connecting the Railyard to Museum Hill. You must visit the Museum of Indian Arts and Culture, and the Museum of International Folk Art!

Excellent video. Especially the point about cars and the visual impact

YOU WILL ALWAYS BE WELCOME TO SPAIN SIR, EXCELLENT VIDEO. GREETINGS FROM MURCIA, SPAIN. UN ABRAZO

Sisters, Oregon. Has a similar city ordinance... but everything has to look like a log cabin...

The conclusion at the very end was spot on. Very well articulated!

That substation enclosure was awesome!

Would love to see a video on Culdesac Tempe!

As a New Mexican I love the Santa Fe highlight, so nice to hop on a train in Albuquerque and spend the day walking or biking around beautiful Santa Fe! Only thing I will say is that the ‘Santa Fe Style’ is more Spanish Pueblo Revival and less Colonial. Meant to emulate the Spanish Colonial Pueblos that are around us such as Quarai, Gran Quivira, Santa Clara, Taos Pueblo, and even Albuquerque started as Spanish-invaded Indigenous Pueblos.

Back in 2007 my daughter and I took a trip on Route 66. We took the old alignment that went through Santa Fe. We drove around the tight streets for awhile and never were able to get out and walk around because we never could find a parking spot.

I think another dimension to the abundance of cars in Santa Fe is its proximity to national parks in that entire region. Nearly unlimited possibilities of day trips out to a different canyons, mesas, and parks. Yes, I definitely think the downtown area should not have street parking so that it can be truly pedestrian friendly and additional local transit will help move people around the city. But I don't think the cars will go away because there is still a significant number of people passing through Santa Fe on a road trip or going out to national parks from Santa Fe.

I'm a big fan of the aesthetic. However, it can't really be enjoyed with gigantic SUVs and pickups everywhere, a lack of shade, and high rates of crime

I visited Santa Fe back in 2006 in the days before the railway and took Greyhound and it dumped me way on the outskirts so it’s great that the railway exists. My Days Inn which was about a 15 min walk from the centre definitely did not confirm to the Spanish pueblo style but did keep me dry during a huge thunderstorm. I went to Seville and Córdoba last month and the car free streets were such a pleasure.

Love your videos and pleasantly surprised to see you’re currently hanging out in New Mexico. Any chance of doing a video on the dynamics between the National lab and surrounding communities? The housing situation in Los Alamos is pretty insane, commuter traffic is terrible, and the lab still wants to hire a few thousand more employees. I know small towns aren’t really your thing but I know some labbies who would definitely appreciate the issue getting more attention.

Growing up in LA, we used to go to Palm springs or san diego for vacation, so the desert aesthetic of these kinds of cities has a special place in my heart. I definitely will put Sante Fe on my vacation list!

I spent a few days in Santa Fe back in 2018 - its historic downtown core is delightful.

Your point about how much better a car-less Santa Fe would be is well taken. A lot of older cities, or old sections of cities, would benefit greatly from a car ban. When I visited, our car stayed in the hotel lot the entire time. We saw most of what we wanted, visited the museums, ate in some great restaurants, and never regretted not using it. If you think about it, there were no cars when the old, authentic adobe structures were built. If the really wanted to lean into the historic thing, ban cars and run shuttle busses. It will probably never happen though.....

Loved this video! I’ve lived in Santa Fe for 8 months now, so it was so cool to see you talk about it. I would have liked you to touch on what Santa Fe is like outside of the plaza and railyard though which is unfortunately extremely car-centric. I live a 10 minute walk to Walmart, but am too scared to walk there due to the super busy and pedestrian unfriendly stroad I would have to walk along to get there.

I stayed a few miles outside of DT SF along Cerrillos Road. We even walked the 2.5 miles or so to downtown a couple times, but this was actually really hard to do because sometimes the sidewalks just end. Along a major road. I will give the bus system credit for only being a $1. So if you're going to force me to do exact change, at least its one single dollar bill rather than like $1.35 or whatever. And yes, housing is really expensive especially when you get a bit outside such as Los Alamos. And honestly I don't know what jobs everyone is doing to justify the expenses of the city.

Great video as usual! When I visited Santa Fe I had no idea there even was a train to get to where I wanted to go. Will definitely use it next time as driving in New Mexico kinda sucks.

I visited Santa Fe in 1967. My father, an Albuquerque TV news anchorman, was a friend of Governor David Cargo and we spent part of the day with the gov in the Capitol (which is the architectural exception, btw). The city wasn’t yet overrun with the “pseudo artists” my Dad said flocked there in the ensuing years. We later ate at a restaurant filled with white, sort of church lady types on a group tour who listened to two Hispanic children singing in Spanish, then applauded and gushed patronizingly. Likely, they had not understood one word they had just heard. To this day, though it’s not really my call to speak for those children, that encounter forms my definition of colonialism: if you sing for the tourists, you are colonized.

Houses in Acoma, Taos, and Hopi are definitely older (and lovely!)

I ADORE Santa Fe. I’m from New Zealand, so we have nothing even remotely like it in this part of the world. I love art and galleries and art museums, so was in heaven on canyon road haha. I thought the downtown area was also one of the most charming I have ever seen, and the rail yard area was great too. I even wandered the residential areas near downtown and they were so lovely, the most gorgeous little houses and so many flowers everywhere. I Can’t wait to visit again! And yes, I have travelled all over Europe, Mexico, Asia, etc and still think this is one of the most charming little cities I have ever been to - even with the on street parking haha!

Been waiting for this one! Santa Fe is definitely a unique city. Only other places that remind me of it are St. Augustine Florida and bits and pieces of downtown Golden Colorado 🙂

Good video! Word of caveat for going all pedestrian downtown: Las Cruces, NM ran that experiment decades ago on Main St (government buildings, shops and courthouse) and it was a disaster. Half of the businesses closed down, despite being a vibrant area (even today as limited thru-traffic has returned).

I figured you’d make a video on Santa Fe eventually when I saw you had moved here to New Mexico. There are things to love about Santa Fe, but there are also some very frustrating things about it as well. Perhaps our paths will cross next time I’m up that way

Fun facts: the style guidelines were expanded about 15 years ago so that every building in the entire city, not just downtown, needed to be in that style, with a selection of 5 colors of brown to choose from. A few years later, when it was shown that historically these buildings would have been plastered all sorts of colors, they relaxed that part, thankfully. The 2 pedestrian roads on the plaza were not created for the benefit of pedestrians. They were created to stop people from crusin' the plaza. (Driving around in circles showing off thier cars, trying to pick up girls) which, combined with the selection of which roads are one way which way create a situation where it is nearly impossible to circle around the downtown area. Also neither the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe nor the Santa Fe Southern railroad actually came through Santa Fe. The closest they came was actually Cerrillios. The spur line from Lamy, where the Sky Railway goes, is the old connection. Side note, come along the Turquoise Trail at some point! Cerrillios and Madrid are both very different exercises in walkability. The NMDOT is currently planning some sorely needed and less than perfect traffic calming for Madrid.

So I live in Chicago and don't drive. However, I did fly to Albuquerque and rented a car to drive to the Grand Canyon. There needs to be at least 10 trains a day trains between flagstaff and Albuquerque (potentially Sante Fe). The Grand Canyon is one of the largest tourist destinations in US. These train don't even need to be high speed as the scenery is beautiful (Amtrak's one train travels through this segment at night). And there needs to be a robust transport network to get people from stations to attractions (maybe double decker buses) .

I live in Leavenworth, WA which is a slice of Bavaria in Washington State. The commercial buildings have to meet the design standard style of Bavaria of white stucco, dark wood, and painted murals by City code. Yes, even McDonald's, Safeway, and other chains. Leavenworth has routinely been voted to be among the best and prettiest Christmas towns in the US. Yes, we have a year round Christmas shop, Kris Kringle. We do have Link transit buses that come through town regularly. Amtrak does stop at Leavenworth and we do have a small building for passengers to wait.

I honestly love Santa Fe. It's unconventional, but enjoyable. It's too bad the rich people are ruining it.

I used to visit friends in Santa Fe and it's really a small town and a bit monotonous. It's one large tourist trap with carbon-copy shops and trinkets. Like Vegas, I could only take it for 2-3 days at a time once or twice a year. Once you eat at the 3-4 nice places, you're done.

We took Amtrak to Santa Fe (via a shuttle from Lamy Station) a few years ago. We enjoyed staying at an inn downtown and seeing the area on foot. However, we rented a car for a couple of days to tour areas to the north (Bandolier National Monument and the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic RR). Nice experience.

Can you do a topic on Albuquerque? I have enjoyed your videos and perspective on design, transportation, and cities!

I couldn't agree more with your assessment of Sants Fe. I visited in 2007 before the new rail route and it was such a pain to get there without a car. I had to take Amtrak to Albuquerque then a van shuttle. When I arrived I was dismayed at the lack of public transit and ended up renting a car. Although it was a lovely trip replete with all the sights shown in your video, I couldn't help but wonder how much better it could have been if ithe city had been more pedestrian/bike friendly. I look forward to a return visit on the new rail line and probably just staying downtown so there's no need to rent a car. Thank you for the video!

Great video! I live here in Santa Fe and moved here after 18 years of living in Albuquerque partly because of how interesting the architectural standards make the city feel. I live in the not-as-walkable outskirts of town for affordability’s sake, but use Santa Fe Trails (our local bus system) and walk to stores and restaurants whenever possible, driving less than half the time. Of course, living and working near the 2 bus line definitely helps with that (lol). I would love to see a video of you exploring some other parts of Santa Fe using our bus system and let us know your thoughts on it.

Just got back from Spain last night and I was pleasantly surprised to see so many of the cities I just visited in this!

Hey you are living in ABQ, I had no idea! Maybe I'll run into you some time at Michael Thomas coffee or on the Rail Runner. My wife and I take our young daughter on Rail Runner day-trips to Santa Fe about every other month. I feel SO lucky that we have this service in New Mexico. Honestly just astonishing for such a poor state. It shows that it really is just priorities when it comes to building this sort of stuff. Having worked a lot in Santa Fe over the years, and used the Rail Runner for commuting (not just joy-rides), I've noticed the same thing how car-centric SF is. Like, why aren't all four streets around the plaza closed? What is the purpose of having street-side parking by the plaza? And to your point, you really only showed one small part of Santa Fe. You skipped the sprawling stroad-y mess that heads southwest from downtown. Also the giant parking lot next to the second-to-last Rail Runner stop. That should be converted to housing for sure.

Wow! A reviewer who actually visited the city and gets what Santa Fe is and could be. Thank you CityNerd.