HISTORY & CREATION OF OSHARA VILLAGE
A planned community thoughtfully designed around concepts of new urbanism
In the 1990’s, a group of developers, real estate professionals and sustainability advocates began envisioning a community planned around the concepts of green living, diversity, affordability and “new urbanism”, which is a way of structuring a village to support the environment, dark sky, mixed use, walkability, community interactions and quality of life. Planning for such a development in the Santa Fe area took over a decade before the Oshara Village Master Plan was created and approved.
The name Oshara Village was taken from the name “Oshara” which was an archaic indigenous, basket-maker group which pre-dated the Anasazi and Puebloan ancestors. A group of archeologists researching in the south of Santa Fe in the 1940’s lived at a ranch they called the Oshara Ranch. That is the area where Oshara Village is now. The Oshara Master plan shows a number of archeological sites of the ancient Oshara habitations. These sites are preserved and will be protected in future Oshara development.
The desirability of Oshara Village as a place to live is enhanced by principles of mixed uses of commercial and residential property, diversity of home styles and sizes, diversity of residents’ life styles, ethnicity, income levels, talents, ages and cultural backrounds. The mix encourages openness, respect for others and community engagement.
A location with nearby assets and resources also makes Oshara Village a vibrant small community. It is close to the Santa Fe Community College, Santa Fe Place Mall, Zafarano Street businesses, Amy Biel Elementary School, Presbyterian Hospital, Genoveva Chavez Community Center, New Mexico Land Conservancy and nearby churches, private schools and a popular Oshara Village restaurant.
Oshara Village is a new and developing community. It is still a work in progress, meeting challenges of communication, learning how to work together, and how to temper dreams and visions with reality and patience. It is growing as an inclusive, diverse extended family where our differences are present, but can be valued.
