The tale of one city

Associated Press

RANCHO SANTA FE, Calif. — The schools are outstanding, there’s almost no crime and the sun shines 320 days a year. Only residents can join the community’s world-class golf club.

"It’s a wonderful place," said Annie Perez, who owns Bolero Mexican cafe in the tiny downtown area and lives nearby. "This is the best life."

But only the rich need apply. Rancho Santa Fe ranks as the nation’s wealthiest community, according to Census figures released Tuesday.

The per capita income of more than $113,000 puts Rancho Santa Fe ahead of the Bay Area enclaves of Atherton and Woodside, as well as Palm Beach, Fla. and Bloomfield Hills, Mich., Census figures show. Indian River Shores, Fla., ranked No. 1 in 1990, was seventh in the latest survey.

Rancho Santa Fe was also the most expensive place to buy a house in the United States over the past year. The median single family home price is $1.7 million, according to DataQuick Information Systems of San Diego.

But few residents are complaining about home prices.

"I consider myself lucky," said Albert Plattner, who lives a short walk from his real estate office in Rancho Santa Fe’s two-block downtown. "I think it’s the greatest place to live in the world."

What’s luring the wealthiest Americans? In a word, privacy.

Rancho Santa Fe’s rural feel has been zealously guarded for 74 years by a strict set of rules called the Protective Convenant. Most properties are a minimum two acres. All homes must meet the standards set by a design board that calls itself the Art Jury, which strives to ensure that even 18,000-square-foot homes blend into the landscape.

"To buy a property up here, you have to invest a lot of money," said Keith Behner, Rancho Santa Fe’s planning director. "But once you invest a lot of money, you don’t have to worry about a McMansion going up next door that’s flamingo red."

Only residents can join the community’s golf and tennis clubs or use the 26 miles of hiking and equestrian trails.

There’s no home mail delivery and streetlights are banned to enhance the rural feel. On Election Day, some residents in the town of 5,000 pull up to the polls in golf carts. Others feel safe enough to leave their keys in the cars parked in their driveway, 30 miles north of downtown San Diego.

"We have this country life going on in the middle of the city," said resident Joy Bancroft.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, the singer Jewel and the sultan of Brunei reportedly own properties here, said Lorine Wright, editor of the Rancho Santa Fe Review. Howard Hughes owned a house there long ago, as did Bing Crosby, who helped finance the local golf course.