From The Editor:
An Introduction
Seth Roffman

This is an exciting time for Santa Fe as the city commemorates its 400th (+/-) anniversary. There is evidence of a Spanish settlement in 1607, which makes SF as old as Jamestown. Unlike Jamestown, which today exists as an historic site, SF is an historic, living city. As both a small town and an international center, amazing things happen here that the rest of the world can learn from.

In response to the 2030 Challenge and the US Conference of Mayors Agreement on Climate Change, both of which seek to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Sustainable Santa Fe Commission developed the Sustainable Santa Fe Plan to address global warming and other issues of sustainability. In addition to recommending ways that we can mitigate our contributions to global warming, such as reducing the impact of building construction, the Plan also provides a vision for how SF can respond to and thrive in a future with much higher transportation and energy costs. The Commission looked to the history of this region for a model of how to develop a more self-sufficient mode while creating economic opportunities and a greater sense of community. A synopsis of each section of the SSF Plan is included throughout this publication.

Sustainability is something basic. No community is truly sustainable unless it controls its essential resources. To some extent, SF controls its water – but not energy or food. The city is a national leader in developing clean-energy and water conservation businesses to help meet long-term needs. SF is also a leader in the living wage movement and is gaining national attention for efforts to strengthen families and community through affordable housing opportunities. Water, economic development and affordable housing are interrelated. As far as becoming more self-reliant in food, most people probably don’t realize that almost all of the land around what is downtown today was, at one time, farmed. SF’s earliest known farmers lived between 400-600 A.D. The transition from a farming community to the world-class center of arts and cultures the city is today began in the Territorial period, around 1848.

Art and culture can connect people and build community. Community building is also an essential part of sustainability. Many community dialogues have been taking place. Given current local, regional and global imperatives, and a need for self-reliance, there are opportunities for people to cross cultural, generational and economic boundaries to create some things together. This will require further dialogue about the inequalities and prejudices that separate us, and the shared humanity that joins us. The restoration of the SF River is something that could bring the community together. There is a tremendous amount of culture and history tied to the river. Everyone views it as a shared community space. The City and County are dedicated to creating a River Trail from the watershed reservoirs west of town, all the way to La Cienega.

In this 4th annual Resource Guide, we have included a cross-section of interrelated sustainability initiatives, from the historic to the visionary. Former National Hispanic Cultural Center (and Palace of the Governors) director Thomas E. Chavez takes another look at who actually founded SF. El Museo Cultural President Tomas Romero provides some perspective on what happened when the border crossed the people in 1846. The word “imagine” is used in many articles in the Guide. Systems thinker John Goekler discusses accelerating sustainability by connecting social justice with raising healthy children. Bill Althouse looks at the possibility of a publicly owned electric grid powered by renewable resources. Bianca Madrid, 17, of Youth Allies for Sustainability, dispels stereotypes of apathetic teens.

Meanwhile, as the Rail Runner finally connects SF with Albuquerque, a Brookings Institution study contends that northern NM’s Rio Grande corridor from Espanola to Belen and four other “mountain megas” of the Intermountain West with interconnected economies, are transforming the region into a “new American heartland” that is among the most economically and culturally dynamic places in the country. Of course, SF has long been a “Creative City,” as the UNESCO designation affirms.

SF’s roots as a major international trade center date back centuries to the area’s earliest Pueblo Indians, who attended regional trade fairs to exchange goods with neighboring tribes and indigenous peoples of Mexico. The site of a 600-year-old pueblo is under SF’s City Hall, the new convention center and nearby federal buildings. The Pueblo peoples’ strong but sometimes subtle influences are still felt in SF and throughout Northern NM. Artist Bob Haozous reminded us recently that it is a wholistic concept of the Earth that unites indigenous peoples. They have had a way of looking at the Earth that demands tremendous problem solving from everyone. Continuing to move toward sustainability will require that as well.