Santa Fe Downtown

How Do You Spell South Capitol?

July 24, 2016 by Malissa Kullberg Leave a Comment

How do you spell South Capitol? Or is it South Capital? South Cap is one of Santa Fe’s most beloved downtown neighborhoods. Look on the web and you’ll find the name spelled both ways. So which is it: capitAl or capitOl?

Although their spellings are almost the same, the two words refer to two different things: one, a city; the other, a building. A capital with an “a” is the seat of government for the state. Santa Fe is the capital of the state of New Mexico. The building where a state’s legislative body meets is known as “the capitol” with an “o.”

You know this. We learned about capitals and capitols in elementary school. So, why is everyone so confused?

Because both words refer to a location. The question is, are we describing the neighborhood for its location within the city, or relative to a specific landmark: the capitol? If we consider this neighborhood a place that falls in the southern sector of the capital city, it could be South Capital, with an “a.” But if the neighborhood is named for its location relative to the state’s capitol building, then it would be South Capitol, with an “o.”

Like many, we think the right answer is South CapitOl. Here’s why:

Although South Cap is one of Santa Fe’s older neighborhoods, and thus could have gotten its moniker back in the day when it was one of the few neighborhoods in the southern part of the capital city, it is just the first of many neighborhoods that are south of The Plaza. Lovato Grant and Sol y Lomas are two others. South Capitol is, however, the neighborhood most directly south of the capitol.

The official website for the Rail Runner, the commuter rail service that from Santa Fe to Belen, names the station between Alta Vista and Cordova “South Capitol.” That’s one official stance. On the other hand, the Santa Fe Multiple Listing Service spells the neighborhood South Capital?

How do YOU spell South Capitol?

Current Homes for Sale in South Capitol

$675,000 : 309 LOMITA, Santa Fe

3 beds, 2 baths

Home size: 2,106 sq ft

Lot size: 5,559 sqft

Year built: 1948

Days on market: 23
$225,000 : 1203 Galisteo Street, Santa Fe

0 beds, 0 bath

Lot size: 25,351 sqft

Year built: 0

Days on market: 57
$799,500 : 114 B Valencia Road, Santa Fe

4 beds, 3 baths

Home size: 3,366 sq ft

Lot size: 14,403 sqft

Year built: 1994

Days on market: 71
$899,000 : 110 Valencia Road, Santa Fe

4 beds, 3 baths

Home size: 4,039 sq ft

Lot size: 14,810 sqft

Year built: 1984

Days on market: 100
$599,000 : 1027 W Houghton, Santa Fe

3 beds, 3 baths

Home size: 1,574 sq ft

Lot size: 2,970 sqft

Year built: 0

Days on market: 176
$510,000 : 293 Lomita St, Santa Fe

6 beds, 4 baths

Home size: 2,572 sq ft

Lot size: 8,581 sqft

Year built: 1975

Days on market: 269

See all Real estate in the South Capital tract.
(all data current as of 4/26/2018)

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Design + Nature + Community: Santa Fe’s Chavez Center

December 15, 2011 by Malissa Kullberg Leave a Comment

Leave it to Santa Fe to build a recreational center that is an icon to Santa Fe values. The Genoveva Chavez Community Center (GCCC) is at once an art piece of exquisite design, a testament to environmental sensitivity, and a supporter and champion of community. The Center includes an aquatic complex, gymnasium, fitness center, track, skating rink, community, class and conference rooms. The space is vast, clean and slightly awe-inspiring.

The GCCC was designed by Mazria, Inc., an internationally respected leader in the field of environmental design. In keeping with Santa Fe’s commitment to resource conservation, the Mazria team incorporated passive solar heating, passive cooling, water conservation and water harvesting strategies into the building design. Energy use is further reduced through Daylighting: placing windows, clerestories and skylights to make the most effective use of natural light and minimize the amount of artificial lighting needed.

The first time I took my daughter there to swim, some five years ago, I found the pool area dark. Much as I dislike florescent lighting, I’m accustomed to its hard, bright illumination. But over the hour, I came to love the soft ambiance.

The Chavez Center design is a sturdy marriage of form and function, execution and intent. A multi-level atrium visually connect the Center’s major spaces –Aquatic Center, Gym and Ice Arena. The treadmills overlook the 50 meter pool; the elliptical machines are hard by the track, itself situated to capitalize on stunning shots of the Sangres. While other gyms have TVs poised above their machinery, I’ll take the unpredictable and ever-changing vista of real people any day. As I cycle my way up “hills” of resistance, I get sucked into the world on the ice rink: the graceful spins and leaps of figure skaters and the heart-charming earnestness of the Pee Wee Hockey team. Nothing soars my heart and humor like a line of equipment-swathed squirts simultaneously hurling themselves onto the ice for practice falls.

Membership is a steal: $369.00 annually for an individual, $551.00 for a couple –less if you sign up during this month’s 20% off drive. Carpe sanitas!

Living Santa Fe: The WSJ’s Take on Santa Fe & Taos

June 24, 2011 by Malissa Kullberg Leave a Comment

by Alexandra Eldridge — I Long –Alexandra Eldridge

Reading an outsider’s take on a city I know well sets me a tad on the defensive, especially when that outsider hails from a large, sophisticated city. Will she judge Santa Fe against the standards of a major urban center or burrow for context, measuring Santa Fe against itself and its aspirations? In her Wall Street Journal travel piece, Take Monday Off: Santa Fe & Taos, author Kate Bolick shows a good understanding of Santa Fe’s perennial appeal: the pheromone cocktail of wide-open vistas, maverick charm, and the promise of personal reinvention.

Her eclectic roster of picks range from the pricey but sense-dazzling Inn of the Five Graces to the down-home NM diner, The Pantry. I favor Andiamo over La Boca and haul more out-of-towner’s to The Museum of International Folk Art than to The Georgia O’Keeffee Museum, but that’s just a matter of taste– or a mark of the Western transplant’s assertion of independence that got me here in the first place.

Given one, tight longish weekend in Santa Fe, where would you go? What’s your must-do cultural experience? Must eat food? Canyon Road, The Plaza or The Railyard? Green, Red or Christmas. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

**Image courtesy of Alexandra Eldridge. Please visit: AlexandraEldridge.com

The Santa Fe V.I.P.: the Genie from the Jar of Memories

March 26, 2011 by Malissa Kullberg 1 Comment

“I wanted to connect with people,” says Victor Romero, the force behind the Facebook Page You Know You’re “Old School Santa Fe” When… It was the furthest thing on my mind for it to be a success.”

After being laid off, Romero, who’d been working since he was 13, decided to create a job for himself. He liked the name “Santa Fe VIP” but wasn’t clear what sort of business it should represent. “I wanted to …focus on nightlife, to try and bring better music to Santa Fe.” While waiting for his idea to cohere, Romero decided to play around with a Facebook page where people could share their stories about growing up in Santa Fe.

“There’s a jar of memories that people always open up when they get together. Remember this, remember that…. I tried to think of some things that, If you were going to prove that you were from Santa Fe New Mexico, you would know. My first posts were about the expression “A la Ver…,” Frito Pies at Woolworth’s, Cinnamon Rolls at Dee’s, and buying Z. Cavaricci’s at Dunlap’s.

From its launch date in late January, 2010, the membership of “You Know You’re Old School Santa Fe When…” rose rapidly into the thousands. Today, it’s over 5,100. Clearly, Romero had tapped into a local hunger. But as a former concierge with years of experience in the hospitality business, Romero is good at giving people what they want. And it was that combination of deep local savvy and strong service ethic that gave final form to the business known as the Santa Fe V.I.P.

The Santa Fe V.I.P. is an atypical visitor’s guide serving “the world traveler, local explorer and young professional” alike. Capitalizing on his connections and insider info, Romero offers a range of ways to make the most of “The Santa Fe Experience.” Daily blog “editorials” and the events calendar keep readers in the know. The V.I.P. site also archives dining tips, dating ideas and even hosts parties.

“It takes a special kind of person to be in the service industry,” says Romero, citing a combination of knowledge, passion and sensitivity as cornerstones of success.” Through The Santa Fe V.I.P., Romero lives to share the wealth of his beloved Santa Fe.

Creating the Perfect Santa Fe

February 9, 2011 by Malissa Kullberg 4 Comments

A great deal of ink and shutter snaps have been expended by writers and photographers in their efforts to capture the vivid allure of Santa Fe. The latest effort we ran across was “Celebrate Santa Fe” a piece published in Destinations Travel Magazine.

I’m a bit wary of outsiders’ assessments of Santa Fe, or of any city I know well. Example: a recent Wall Street Journal piece labeling the Albuquerque area near Gertrude Zachary’s “Castle” –an area which includes the Elements Urban Townhomes, a desirable Green Development– as “Skid Row” and “derelict” is an egregious example of the distorted lens of distance. But Darlene Perrone’s piece rings true in the main. As she says at the start, “There is no place on earth like Santa Fe….”

~*~*~

A little over a year ago, Zane Fischer, writer for the Santa Fe Reporter (Zane’s World), wrote a column entitled Mirror, Mirror. In it, he said:

“On the whole, it appears the time is right for Santa Fe to head into the New Year understanding that accolades from travel magazines are nice, but clear-eyed assessments of how to move into the future are nicer. All of us need to consider the short- and long-term paths to maintaining the city’s integrity and character while positioning it as a genuine center for creative innovation.”

Accolades are nice. We get a lot of them. But what’s more important than plaudits based on surveys and dreamy sketches by swing-through visitors is a healthy self regard. Santa Fe isn’t perfect, but it is genuinely and deeply creative. Entities such as the Santa Fe Complex, a matrix of interdisciplinary cross-pollination, show this small town’s remarkable reach for innovative action.

On Monday, I read a piece Creating the Perfect City is About Illusions, Such As Shorter Blocks about a grassroots urban planner working to make his city more vibrant and liveable. Anthony Lyons, the planner, and David Green, an urban designer from Perkins+Will, have teamed up “to re-imagine how we address the challenges cities face in the coming decades.” They started with the simple question, “What kind of city do we want to be?”

So how ’bout it Santa Fe: what kind of city do we want to be? Through Changing Gallery and this blog, I regularly cast my votes in support of emerging and independent artists and musicians. Joshua Maes and I are also, through lifestyle, affiliations and advocacy, supporters of sustainability and Green initiatives. There’s a hot debate about incentives for the film industry, and bills under consideration covering education, energy, marriage and many other issues core to our civic identity. What do you think?

Dining Santa Fe: The Green Chile Cheeseburger

January 11, 2011 by Malissa Kullberg 1 Comment

“No state is more passionate about its burger than New Mexico,” states The New Mexico Department of Tourism, a claim that Texas, California, Illinois or half-a-dozen other burger-loving locales might dispute. But the Land of Enchantment can call first and best for the marriage of burger and green chile.

Chile is what makes New Mexican food New Mexican, versus Mexican or Tex-Mex. Red and Green chile come from the same plant, harvested at different times. Red chile, made from dried, ground pods, has a sweeter, slightly smoky taste. Green chile is to me what pesto was to Genovese sailors: it holds the bright, fresh essence of New Mexican sunshine in a taste.

New Mexico’s Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail, put together by the New Mexico Department of Tourism, is a”[selection of] some four dozen of the state’s outstanding green chile cheeseburger restaurants, cafes, drive-ins, and joints.” Below– in alphabetical order, not order of preference– are our recommendations for the best local spots in downtown Santa Fe.

Bert’s Burger Bowl: Our usual order is a green chile cheeseburger with a side of sweet potato fries and spicy sauce, but the flavorful gourmet burgers, such as lamb, Kobe Beef and Ostrich– are what really set Bert’s apart. Service is perfunctory. Outdoor seating options are tables on busy Guadalupe or in a plastic-windowed shotgun patio without atmosphere or adequate heat for cool weather. Also note that the Arnold Palmers are made with Sprite, not lemonade. Still, for quick, filling, savory and cheap, Bert’s is a good bet. Diners, Drive-ins and Dives’ Guy Fieri visited Bert’s in November of 2009. Watch the YouTube.

Bobcat Bite: This small, ever-busy, no-nonsense diner is a perennial Santa Fe Reporter “Best of Santa Fe” winner that has reaped kudos from sources as diverse as GQ, Bon Appetit and The Chicago Tribune. The thick, juicy 10 ounce burgers are made of choice ground choice whole boneless chuck or sirloin served on a toasty, cornmeal dusted bun. Homefries extra. Well-worth the 15 minute drive. 420 Old Las Vegas Highway Tel: 505.983.5319 Winter Hours: 11-7:50.

Cowgirl Santa Fe: The Cowgirl’s half-pound choice burger comes with fries and slaw, topped with your choice of cheddar, Monterey Jack, Swiss or Blue Cheese. Add a dollar for green chile strips and the Cowgirl’s burger is still a bargain relative to other sit-down restaurants. Plus, the Kaiser Roll beats the typical tasteless, super-soft white bread bun by a yard. Feeling adventurous? For a few dollars more, you can get an Elk, Buffalo or Venison burger, smothered in Green, topped with cheddar, with a salad on the side. Tel: 982.2565; 319 S. Guadalupe St. For hours and Directions, click here.

Santacafé: I haven’t had their Green Chile Cheeseburger and, frankly, this isn’t the sort of fare I seek out at this upscale restaurant known for its American-Southwest-dash-of-Asian fusion cuisine (the Calamari with 4 Chile Lime dipping sauce is a must-try.) But if you want your burger in slightly more sophisticated surroundings, Santa Cafe is a good bet. The courtyard is a wonderful setting in fair weather. 231 Washington Avenue Tel: 505.984.1788

Second Street Brewery: The half-pound choice burger can be topped with green chile and cheese for an additional $1.75. Homemade fries or chips are included, or you can substitute slaw, onion rings, soup, stew or a salad of mixed greens– my usual choice. Quality, handcrafted beers and frequent live music are among the reasons Second Street made the list. The newest location in the Railyard, is walking distance from the Plaza, and hard by Box Gallery and SITE Santa Fe, two of our favorite places for Contemporary Art. Tel: 989-3278 The original Second Street Brewery is located at 1814 Second Street, near the Pacheco Street Arts District. Tel: 982-3030 The new Second Street is brand new and a tad swankier, but the old building has Ernie– as sensitive and savvy a waiter as you’ll find at any price point.

I put the vote for best Green Chile Cheeseburger out to my friends on Facebook. The swift and rich response included plugs for Albuquerque eateries (Lumpy’s, Five Star Burger, Duran’s and O’Neill’s) as well as both confirmation (Bobcat Bite) and counterpoint (Rio Chama, Del Charro, Horseman’s Haven, San Francisco Bar & Grill, and El Milagro) for our Santa Fe lineup.

Have an opinion? Leave your comment below. We’d love to hear your thoughts.

READERS NOTE: Through the end of the month, you can nominate your favorite candidate for best New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger. Follow this link to fill out the brief nomination form. Voting runs from March 1st through March 31st, so be sure to check back and cast your vote.

UPDATE: The burgers made famous by John and Bonnie Eckre at the Bobcat Bite can now be enjoyed at their new location Santa Fe Bite, at the Garrett’s Desert Inn, in downtown Santa Fe on Old Santa Fe Trail.

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