In the Southwest, art and soul converge

0 Comments | USA TODAY, August, 2008 | by Larry Olmsted

The first out-of-towners to visit what is now Santa Fe arrived from Mexico in the 16th century. Soon, people were coming from as far as Spain, and by 1610 the city had been firmly established, making it the second-oldest city in the USA (behind St. Augustine, Fla.).

Now, nearly 400 years later, people are still being drawn to Santa Fe's myriad charms.

Compared with other Southwestern cities that have large second-home areas such as Phoenix/Scottsdale and Las Vegas, Santa Fe is still quite manageable.

"It's a city that lives like a small town," says Mary Schroeder, a broker with Prudential Real Estate and president of the Santa Fe Association of Realtors. "We have been on so many lists of the best places to live, to retire, the healthiest, it's hard...