With that growth, a vigorous new era may be just ahead for the city. By Dennis Wall W hen people think of northern New Mexico, it's Santa Fe that often comes to mind. But if you want to experience the true essence of traditional norte o culture, you'll find a much better sampling in Espa ola. Twenty miles north of Santa Fe on Hwy. 285, Espa ola has for a century been the heart of New Mexico's northern mountain and pueblo communities, a place where indigenous people red and brown, along with a few descendants of early Anglo settlers, have done their business.
Trailers sit squarely beside adobes, which rest alongside tract and even luxury housing.
Low riders still jam up traffic on the main avenue, rumbling alongside old pickups stacked high with firewood. Abuelas y abuelos hunch on storefront sidewalks, pausing to talk about old times and new changes, of deaths and births, family triumphs and tragedies. Just as they've done in the area for nearly four centuries. These days, those old folks often talk about change. Profound changes are coming to this town of 10,000, which serves as the business and cultural hub for numerous mountain villages as distant as the Colorado border.