I first moved to Santa Fe in 1965 and have watched as the town morphed into a small city. Growth and change are inevitable and not unwarranted. However, the striking explosion of apartment building approvals during the Webber administration, promoted as an answer to Santa Fe’s need for affordable housing, neither answers that need nor demonstrates intelligent expansion that preserves the city’s unique character.
According to the city’s Office of Affordable Housing, the approximate number of “affordable housing units” in Santa Fe is 2,000. According to TheSanta Fe New Mexican, Santa Fe had 16 apartment projects with 1,548 units in various phases of construction, with 161 units identified as affordable by U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department metrics (“Market buildup: Large Santa Fe apartment projects move forward with construction,” June 16, 2020).
Another six large apartment projects with a combined 1,236 units had received city Planning Commission approval, with the 355-unit Madera Apartments (since reduced to 218) set to become Santa Fe’s largest apartment complex, located across South Meadows Road from the South Meadows Apartments.
Current search of apartments in Santa Fe shows listings starting at $1,250 and ranging to $2,900 a month. Even with Section 8 assistance ($700/month on average, with only one opening in Santa Fe County), the title “affordable” is ludicrous. At a minimum, developers should not be allowed to buy out of affordable unit requirements.
Instead of alleviating Santa Fe’s affordable housing crisis, since 2018, Mayor Alan Webber and the City Council have recklessly approved at least 3,984 living units in 24 projects, for a city whose water supply is severely limited, and whose basic city services — schools, public transportation, road maintenance, sanitation, senior services, parks, police and fire departments — are underfunded or in decay.
According to the city website, Mayor Webber’s “action plan” includes to “make tourism younger, hipper, and cooler” and “invest in 21st century infrastructure: high-speed internet, reliable cellphone service, and an upgraded airport.” I assume the 3,984 apartment units are intended to attract the “younger, hipper, cooler” community. They will certainly not solve the existing affordable housing crisis. Mayor and councilors, maybe you should focus on keeping the city livable instead of transforming it.
Gail Robertson for the past 18 years has been a teacher and professional musician with Santa Fe Pro Musica, the Santa Fe Symphony and other performing arts organizations.
