07/30/2026
TLDR: SANTA FE IS FULL
Here's our take on the plaza closure to vehicles:
The majority vote by the city councilors on this ordinance is a testament to the closed minded viewpoints that local politicians have had for decades. While we agree that tourism is vital to the local economy, we don't believe that unchecked tourism should drive hugely unpopular decisions by the city council.
What is happening in Santa Fe is not just about the technical details of a street closure or traffic logistics around the Plaza. This ordinance represents a fundamental cultural shift where the city consistently prioritizes the interests of outside visitors over the daily lives of local residents. When leaders decide to alter our historic areas to make things more convenient for tourists, it signals that our community is being treated as a product rather than a home. Unchecked tourism in Santa Fe has steadily transformed our city into an attraction, pricing out families and shifting the soul of our town to cater to people who are only here for a few days and home/business owners that live part-time in Santa Fe.
This entire debate comes down to whether Santa Fe exists for its longtime residents or for the tourism industry. Out of state transplants and city leaders often claim that tourism is the only thing keeping us afloat. That is a misguided opinion driven by self served interests. European cities have shown us that standing up for local quality of life is about self respect. Closing the Plaza to cars for visitors is just the latest sign that our culture and convenience are being traded away. It is time to stop viewing our historic spaces through the lens of tourist dollars and start protecting the rights, history, and daily needs of the people who call Santa Fe home.
In places like Barcelona and Venice, local residents are taking direct action to make their displeasure with unchecked tourism known. Neighborhood groups have marched through crowded shopping streets, blocked tour buses, and staged symbolic protests outside luxury hotels to fight back against being pushed out. Demonstrators in Spain have even squirted water at tourists sitting at outdoor cafes and taped off popular dining spots to show how locals are getting squeezed out. In Mallorca and Venice, residents have surrounded cruise ship terminals and hung banners over bridges demanding hard limits on daily visitors. These actions send a clear message that working families will no longer quietly tolerate an industry that puts profit over the people who actually live there. It's time to stand up to for the unchecked tourism that is making life miserable for long term residents.
▪️ Over half of all whole-unit short-term rentals in Santa Fe operate year-round strictly for tourists, taking hundreds of residential homes off the long-term market (Homewise Santa Fe Short-Term Rental Report).
▪️ Vacation rentals accounted for roughly 20% of Santa Fe's total housing cost growth during peak expansion years (Homewise Policy Studies).
▪️ Over 53% of Santa Fe’s local workforce can no longer afford to live within city limits and must commute from outlying areas (Santa Fe Housing Action & City Housing Assessments).
▪️ Single-family home prices in Santa Fe surged dramatically by 20% to 30% in a single year (2021) while local wages grew by less than 3% (Santa Fe Area Association of Realtors & City Housing Studies).
▪️ 85% of local Santa Fe renters earning under $50,000 spend more than 30% to 50% of their gross income on housing (U.S. Census Bureau & NM Mortgage Finance Authority).
▪️ Local action plans and hospital data show around 400 to over 1,000 Santa Fe residents experience homelessness annually, directly linked to local housing shortages (City of Santa Fe Local Homelessness Action Plan).
▪️ Property crime makes up about 80% of reported crime in Santa Fe, with vehicle break-ins and theft heavily concentrated around high-density tourist corridors and downtown parking areas (Santa Fe Police Department & Local Crime Analysis).
▪️ Santa Fe's ~85,000 residents must absorb 2 to 2.5 million overnight visitors each year, tripling daily density during peak summer months (Santa Fe Tourism Economic Impact Reports & City Census Data).
▪️ Local drivers lose an average of $578 per year in wasted time and fuel due to citywide traffic congestion (TRIP National Transportation Research Group).
▪️ While residents practice strict water conservation using under 97 gallons daily per person, total water demand surges during peak summer tourist season (City of Santa Fe Water Division Annual Reports).
▪️ When a single major fire at the historic St. Catherine Indian School forced officials to request nearby residents to restrict water usage to maintain system pressure, it exposed how close our infrastructure sits to its limits under heavy seasonal demand (Santa Fe Fire Department & City Public Utilities Emergency Notices).
