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Rancho Santa Fe is an unincorporated census-designated place in San Diego County, California, United States. The population was 3,252 at the 2000 census. It is the highest income community in the United States with at least 3,000 households.

Rancho Santa Fe has strict design restrictions. Many streets outside of the downtown area are lined with landscaping; on side streets the landscaping of individual properties provides ambient decor. Very few homes are visible from the road.

The downtown is centered around the intersection of Linea del Cielo/Paseo Delicias and La Granada/Via de Santa Fe. It is the site of offices of financial firms, restaurants, and small stores. A library and a school are also located here. Outside of this area, Rancho Santa Fe is exclusively residential except for a number of golf courses and country clubs.

Rancho Santa Fe's ZIP code (92067) was ranked second on Forbes list of most expensive zip codes for 2006, after Sagaponack, New YorkForbes.

Geography

Rancho Santa Fe is located at (33.023943, -117.200110).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 17.8 km² (6.9 mi²). 17.7 km² (6.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.2 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (0.87%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,252 people, 1,204 households, and 947 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 183.8/km² (476.2/mi²). There were 1,339 housing units at an average density of 75.7/km² (196.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 93.33% White, 0.46% African American, 0.15% Native American, 2.77% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 2.15% from other races, and 1.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.32% of the population.

There were 1,204 households out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.4% were married couples living together, 4.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.3% were non-families. 17.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the CDP the population was spread out with 25.9% under the age of 18, 2.9% from 18 to 24, 17.7% from 25 to 44, 33.0% from 45 to 64, and 20.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47 years. For every 100 females there were 95.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.7 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was in excess of $200,000, as is the median income for a family. Males had a median income of over $100,000 versus $86,933 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $113,132. 3.5% of the population and 2.0% of families were below the poverty line. none under the age of 18 and .5% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

Communities of Rancho Santa Fe

  • The Covenant refers to the original planned community of Rancho Santa Fe. It includes the downtown area (see above), as planned by Lillian Rice, who also designed the library, civic center, elementary school, numerous private homes, and the only hotel within the Covenant, The Inn at Rancho Santa Fe. The area offers some 45 miles of riding trails, available for use by Covenant residents, who take full advantage of these facilities as well as those availed of them by the Rancho Santa Fe Riding Club and Saddle Club. Aesthetics and architecture within the Covenant are protected by an Art Jury, a non-governmental organization which must approve any exterior alteration to any building, fence, sidewalk (although no sidewalks exist outside of the downtown area), or other structure. Other trademarks of Covenant life are typically large lots and winding roads with simplistic Spanish names (usually just a noun with its corresponding article or adjective; e.g. Las Planideras, La Noria, Lago Lindo). Many properties have sewer connections, but there also are septic tanks on individual properties, as well as above-ground power lines. The Covenant lacks street lights, sidewalks, and traffic lights, as well as at-home mail delivery (each Rancho property-owner is assigned a post office box reflecting the original developers' goals of security and privacy; Covenant dwellers have desirable three-digit box numbers). Despite what many would regard as drawbacks, properties in The Covenant, especially on the north side thereof, are higher-valued than corresponding properties elsewhere in Rancho Santa Fe. The Covenant is bordered on the north by Escondido Creek, on the south by the San Dieguito River, on the east by Camino del Norte, and on the west by El Camino Real.

  • Fairbanks Ranch, Hacienda Santa Fe, The Summit, Del Rayo, Morgan Run, The Bridges, and The Crosby Estates.

Social History

Rancho Santa Fe has its origins as Rancho San Dieguito, a Mexican land grant made during 1836–1845 to Juan María Marrón (the first mayor or alcalde of the San Diego area). In 1906 it was sold to the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway Company, which renamed it after the second transcontinental railroad to reach California. The Railway planted extensive groves of eucalyptus trees in the hope of having a near-inexhaustible supply of raw material for the railway ties they needed to expand in the Western American market. Eucalyptus wood, however, proved too soft, splitting when the spikes were hammered into it. One Sydney Nelson, about whom little else is known, helped finance the purchase of the ten square mile plot, as well as the construction of a golf course (today the main course of the Rancho Santa Fe Golf Club). Nelson also drew up rudimentary community plans.

Rancho Santa Fe gained popularity between World War I and World War II, finding special focus following the construction of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club. Bing Crosby is credited as an "early settler", hosting annual clambakes on the golf course at the Club. The present-day luxury tract home development "The Crosby Estates" stands on the site of his former estate.

In addition to many notable Hollywood figures (Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford) who played important roles in the founding and popularization of the resort town, Rancho Santa Fe has been the scene for a good deal of San Diego County's high social dramas. For example, the former mayoress of neighboring Del Mar, Nancy Hoover, left her husband and home in 1983 and moved in with Rancho resident J. David Dominelli, who proceeded to defraud dozens of locals in foreign currency scams. In 1992, the family of alleged CIA operative Ian Spiro were found shot to death inside their Covenant home;Spiro was found behind the wheel of his SUV in the Mojave desert a few days later, having died of cyanide poisoning. The case was declared a murder-suicide, but some profess doubts. March 1997 "Heaven's Gate" religious cult, whose leaders preached that suicide would allow them to leave their bodily "containers" and enter an alien spacecraft hidden behind the Hale-Bopp comet. http://www.primenews.com/suicide.html

Rancho Santa Fe is in the 50th congressional district. Their representative, Randy Duke Cunningham resigned from the House on November 28, 2005 after pleading guilty to federal charges of conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion for underreporting his income in 2004.

Rancho Santa Fe has only one Catholic Church, the Church of the Nativity, which was founded in 1985. For decades, Catholics had been forbidden from owning property in the Covenant.

The Rancho Santa Fe Golf & Tennis Club extends on-approval membership to all Covenant residents—with some exceptions. The notoriously strict policies of the Club include the denial of membership to residents of the condominiums constructed in the Village during the 1970's. The Club board's dislike of the condominium complexes extends to the blackballing of any current member who moves into one. Such strict regulations are not restricted to residency; they also apply to behavior on (and off) Club grounds, as well as (off-books) race and religion. One member of some 40 years standing had his privileges suspended for a month after he brought his Labrador retriever along for companionship during a solo round on the links.

Prominent Residents of Rancho Santa Fe

Rancho Santa Fe is and has been inhabited by many persons of note. Among them:

References

External links

100 Highest-income places in the United States | Census-designated places in San Diego County

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Rancho Santa Fe, California".

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