La Cienega, New Mexico

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Once known as the "Breadbasket of Santa Fe", La Cienega is one of the oldest Hispanic settlements of New Mexico. El Rancho de las Golondrinas was one of the original stops of El Camino Real, the trade route between Mexico City and Santa Fe. Settled since the mid-1700s, La Cienega continues to this day to be a vibrant agricultural community that supports livestock and traditional farming practices. It has been struggling with the constant threat of Santa Fe's growth an expansion within its boundaries, roughly stretching from 599 North and La Bajada south, flanked by I-25 to the south and the Buckman mesa to the North. La Cienega means "The Swamp" or "Marshland", referring to the naturally occurring springs in the area as a result of being on the southern end of the Santa Fe watershed basin.

La Cienega is designated as one of three Traditional Historic Communities within the Santa Fe Basin, along with Agua Fria and Tesuque.

Within the borders of La Cienga lie dozens of significant historical sites, ranging from ancient Indian pueblos to historical Hispanic settlements. La Cienega is one of the oldest continually settled regions in the Santa Fe Basin, with many families tracing their linage to the original settlement of Santa Fe in 1692. Significant families with historical ties to La Cienga include the Gonzales, C'de Baca, Rael, Montoya, and Romero families, who can directly trace their lineages in the region back to the late 1700s.

La Cienega as a region constitutes the locales of Upper La Cienga, Lower La Cienega, Las Estrellas, Cienegilla, and Bonanza.

La Cienega is under considerable threat from the growth of Santa Fe due to the tapping of the regional aquifer, which supplies both the springs of La Cienega as well as the Santa Fe basin south towards San Marcos and Cerillos.