Second Street Is Abuzz with Entrepreneurial Spirit
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ucked in between Cerrillos Road and St. Michael’s Drive—in what was once the heart of Santa Fe’s building industry—is now a mixed-use neighborhood and business center informally known as Second Street. A longtime hub of eco-entrepreneurs, artists, writers, designers, and “cultural creatives,” Second Street encompasses an eclectic blend of food, healing, movement, art, communication, building and construction, small business, and residential space to create a vibrant locals’ scene and an offbeat attraction for intrepid tourists who want to dig into an alternative community. The area was not always considered desirable. When Willem Malten moved into a run-down building just west of the railroad tracks to open Cloud Cliff Bakery in 1988, his customers balked. “‘Willem,’ they said to me, ‘Location, location, location. You’ll never make it here.’” Despite the criticism, Malten worked relentlessly to create a hub for healthy food and activism. In 1990, Wayne and Susan Nichols of Santa Fe and Jonathan Rose of New York City, leaders in sustainable devel-
“Second Street is on the brink of developing back into a booming local hotspot where art, culture, sustainability and communal events can thrive But more city support is needed.” John Morris New Mexico Stone 34 ecotrendsource.com
opment, purchased a five-acre property that became Second Street Studios—one of the first live/work loft-type projects in the country. Although by today’s standards the buildings aren’t “green,” internationally recognized urban planner and architect Peter Calthorpe designed them with affordability and sustainable dual-use space in mind, a New Urbanist approach back before “being green” even had language. Soon, Second Street began to attract a new and visionary crowd. Second Street Brewery opened to provide a local watering hole, and New Mexico Stone, there since the beginning, firmly established itself as the only local stone company that fabricates, cuts, and installs stonework. Now that Second Street was abuzz with entrepreneurial spirit, residents and business owners came together to unite the community. The famed Second Street Experience, where the street was closed on either end and filled with artist booths, food carts, and festivities, brought much-needed publicity. The event was also the first in town to feature a recycled fashion show and contemporary circus performers. Malten smiles as he remembers the shift in perception.
Flagstone Moss Rock Beach Pebbles Boulders Custom Fabrication
Photographs by Robert Reck
850 W. San Mateo Santa Fe, NM 87505 505-820-ROCK (7625) Everybody Must Get Stone www.newmexicostone.net