Santa Fe Makes Top Lists
For years Santa Fe has been showing up on a variety of lists that speak to the city's status as an art market, travel destination, and overall desirable place. The significance is more than merely making it onto a prestigious list, it is also how regularly the city has been included. The following is a sampling of recent lists where Santa Fe has been ranked and rated.
2011
Late in 2011 Smart Meetings magazine honored the Santa Fe Convention & Visitors Bureau with a Platinum Choice Award as a "Top-notch CVB".
In a December, 2011 article, public intellectual and chronicler of cultural trends Richard Florida noted Santa Fe as the most artistic city in the country. A study done for The Atlantic magazine, where Florida is an Executive Editor, ranked Santa Fe as having more than seven times the national average of artists in its per capita population.
The Huffington Post listed Santa Fe as one of the country's 10 Best Vacation Spots for Traveling Boomers in a 2011 article.
The 2011 Travel + Leisure magazine's "America's Favorite Cities" survey ranked Santa Fe as the #1 place for a Cultural Getaway, for Peace & Quiet, for Independent Boutiques, and for Home Décor and Design Stores. The city also placed in the top ten in 24 other categories including as a Romantic Escape, for Safety, for Museums/Galleries, Weather, Ethnic Food, Fine Dining, and Friendly People
Conde Nast Traveler magazine, for the 20th consecutive year, lists Santa Fe as one of the top 10 travel cities in the U.S. For 2011 Santa Fe was ranked the third most popular travel town in the country.
Trip Advisor, in the fall of 2011, included Santa Fe in their Top Ten Food & Wine destinations, in eighth place as rated by the travel-rabid participants on the website.
In the fall of 2011 the World Health Organization, in its first every air quality survey, rated Santa Fe's air as the second cleanest in the world, following only Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. 1,100 cities were ranked as part of the survey.
Travel + Leisure magazine rated Santa Fe one of America's Best Cities for Fall Travel in September of 2011.
Once again Santa Fe was rated one of the top art markets in the U.S. by AmericanStyle magazine. For 2011 Santa Fe was selected the number two art destination for towns of 100,000 or less. Santa Fe has earned a spot in the Top 25 rankings every year since the reader poll was established in 1998 and placed among the Top 3 cities 11 out of 14 times.
Successful Meetings magazine presented the Santa Fe Convention & Visitors Bureau with a Pinnacle Award in August, 2011, as judged by the publication's readers-50,000 meeting planners.
Travel + Leisure magazine's "World's Best Awards" reader's poll included Santa Fe in its top 10 for the tenth consecutive year. The magazine's travel-savvy readers rated Santa Fe the fifth most popular destination city in North America in 2011 the fourth year in a row the city has claimed that ranking.
In April, 2011 The American Lung Association once again named Santa Fe-and Honolulu-as having the best air quality in the country. Santa Fe has been consistently ranked as tops in air quality for years.
ShermansTravels.com named Santa Fe one of its 2011 Top 10 Spring Getaways along with the likes of Antigua and Barbuda, Playa del Carmen, and Santa Catalina Island.
RISMedia lists Santa Fe as the "Best art lovers destination" in the country. "Given the charming adobe architecture and surrounding desert landscape, it's easy to see why Santa Fe has long inspired writers, performers, and visual artists alike."
Cheapflights in the UK said, "Who needs beaches?" and included Santa Fe as one of its 2011 Top Ten Destinations in the Deserts, calling the city, "an effortless blend of desert and arts."
2010
Meetings & Conventions Magazine honored the Santa Fe Convention & Visitors Bureau as one of the country's top CVB's for meetings by presenting the bureau with a Gold Service Award for 2010. The Santa Fe bureau also received Gold Service awards in 2009, 1998, and 1997.
Gentleman's Quarterly named Santa Fe one of the Coolest Small Cities in America in the fall of 2010. Of the city's most ubiquitous food stuff, chile, the magaxzine said,"It's not a condiment or a sauce, and it's definitely not that meat-and-bean stew they ladle out in Texas. New Mexico green chile--a thick, spicy roux made with searing chopped peppers--behaves like biscuit gravy: It justifies almost anything that lies beneath it."
In Conde Nast Traveler's 2010 reader's poll Santa Fe was voted the third most popular travel destination in North America. For the 19th consecutive year, the city was included in the poll's top 10 choices for where to go.
Travel + Leisure magazine's 2010 "America's Favorite Cities" poll ranked Santa Fe as the number one city for Peace & Quiet as well as the top Cultural Getaway. Overall, the city had 16 top ten rankings, from B&B 's and Inns and Relaxing Retreat to Weather, Romantic Escape, and Shopping.
In TripAdvisor's 2010 Traveler's Choice Awards Santa Fe was rated as the #2 US destination in the Relaxation & Spa category, #9 in the US for Great Food & Wine, and #10 for Culture and Sightseeing in the US.
AARP Magazine placed Santa Fe as the number four city in the nation in the magazine's survey of Top 10 Healthiest Cites to Live and Retire. The magazine highlighted Santa Fe's healthful environment and the report also indicated that Santa Fe's rates of diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol are among the lowest in the country. In addition, Santa Fe was rated the second "skinniest" city in the country.
2009 & Earlier
For 2009 the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Santa Fe one of its Dozen Distinctive Destinations. The organization recognized Santa Fe for both its extraordinary past and the city's ongoing commitment to historic preservation. The city's efforts to safeguard the authentic sense of place found in its old neighborhoods, winding streets, historic buildings, and cultural traditions has led to Santa Fe's reputation as one of the most original and authentically-preserved cities in the country.
In April, 2009 IncentiveMagazine.com rated Santa Fe as one of the hottest domestic destinations that are getting increasing interest from incentive planners and corporate travel groups.
Trip Advisor's inaugural Travelers Choice Destination Awards polled millions of travelers about their favorite destinations. For 2008 Santa Fe was selected in the Top 25 United States destinations on the basis of votes by real travelers and the city's overall popularity.
CNN.com named Santa Fe one of its "Five Great Tax-Rebate Getaways" for the summer of 2008 saying, "Santa Fe commands its own dreamy identity."
In the winter of 2008 Fortune Small Business named Santa Fe one of the best 100 cities in which to run or start a business.
Prevention Magazine and the American Podiatric Medical Association voted Santa Fe the top walking city in New Mexico and one of the Top 100 Walking Cities in the country for 2008. In a survey of 500 American towns, Santa Fe was ranked the 22nd best walking town in the U.S.
In 2008 Smithsonian Magazine's ranked Santa Fe as one of its top cultural cities in which to live.
Men's Journal rated Santa Fe the fourth best small city in which to live in a feature of the 50 Best Places to Live in the U.S.
Organic Style magazine rated Santa Fe the healthiest city in the U.S.
AARP Magazine named Santa Fe one of the 15 best places in the country to "reinvent yourself."
Santa Fe appeared in the "10 Best Places for Business and Careers" as determined by Forbes magazine. The business publication ranked Santa Fe as 9th best among 168 small places for business potential.
Where to Retire magazine listed Santa Fe as one of "Eight Great Tax-Friendly Towns". Senior housing, medical options, volunteer opportunities and the city's many diverse attributes were listed as reasons people would consider Santa Fe as a retirement destination.
If all of that wasn't enough, over the years Santa Fe has been named one of the slimmest cities in the country and one of Family Fun magazine's top family towns to visit for 2 consecutive years. Travel + Leisure readers chose Santa Fe as their favorite town in the Southwest and the city they would most like to return to and the American Automobile Association listed the city as a "Hot Spot" for summer travel.
It all adds up to underscore Santa Fe's lasting charm and diversity. A place worthy of anyone's list.
