Relocating to Raton NM (Santa Fe, Hobbs: for sale, how much, employment)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My wife and I have stayed in Raton several times on our trips from DFW to Denver. From the highway it doesn't seem like much, but after spending a few nights, driving the streets and talking to locals we kind of like it. It has a small but nice downtown area and very pretty setting.
We love eating breakfast at the Enchanted Grounds coffee shop. We have been on the lookout for a nice place to retire, but Raton is just too far away from bigger communities for us. But it does have some charm.
Too late, I've already bought the house, moving in next month (November). I'll see how it goes, I have positive hope. If the fast food help is telling you not to, remember, they are barely scraping by on those wages, any place would be miserable living on their wages. Sad, but true. And yes, the high altitude being nearly 7,000 ft would be difficult if you had oxygen issues. So far, none of that. Thanks for your honest input!
Update: I lived in Raton for 7 months, and sold my home. Was in escrow when the Covid 19 pandemic started. NIGHTMARE... People of Raton for the most are really down to earth and kind people. But the businesses are short lived and or closed down. Used to have 3 grocery stores, but now only has 1, and I can honestly say, the only thing good about that store is the Liquor isle. Best bet if you live there is to travel to Trinidad, CO 20 miles north on I-25 over the pass and shop at Safeway or Walmart for your food. We did end up having breathing issues at the high altitude there, so with that, and the shopping issue, we decided to sell and move again. Loved our home there, but... yeah. Didn't want to end up on oxygen.
It's been a while since Raton has been discussed on the NM forum. Interesting post above^^. Raton is one of those towns that are slowly winding down and it is sad to see IMO. Their population for 2020 lists at 5959, in 2010 it was 6885. It topped at 8241 in 1950.
Geojody makes a good point--and yes, the elevation in Raton is high, it's at 6680 ft. While it's not quite as high as, say Santa Fe, it's problems lie in employment--opportunity. Raton IMO was never a bustling place, but it provided jobs--coal mining jobs. Southern Colorado had a major tremor in 1983 with the closing of Colorado Fuel and Iron, just east of Pueblo, a bit over 100 miles from Raton. It employed thousands of people. The mines eventually closed from Walsenburg to Aguilar to Raton. These towns have slowly declined in population since. I was through Raton about two years ago, stayed the night at the Oasis Motel, had dinner in their cafe. I was very familiar about the place. I lived there for 4 months as I worked on a CO-2 pipeline that started west of Walsenburg, then went to Hobbs and crossed U.S. 87 16 miles east of Raton. I liked living there, so did 125 plus welders, laborers, drivers, and side boom operators. This was a few decades ago. And the owner of the place remembered me, he sat and had coffee with me for breakfast as I was headed to Edgewood later that day.
Simply put, the area needs jobs. I've always liked the area surrounding it. One of its drawing cards going back to the mid 1980's was the La Mesa Racetrack, they raced quarter horses. And brought in a lot of people from the panhandle states, Kansas, and Colorado. The place ceased operations by 1987, I believe.
I've thought on more than a few occasions about Raton as a destination place for retirement, my background was three plus decades in pipeline, power plant, and road construction. Raton's winters are like Colorado winters. And I look instead to the southern part of the state and also towns like Tucumcari.
Hopefully some people on this forum can add to this thread, not much going on for Raton on this forum.
2020 doesn't have much in it, but it links to the current plan approved in 2003.
127 page download. Should give some sense and flavor of the community.
I'll be in Trinidad in a few weeks. NM has that 14 day quarantine so I'll just drive I 25 North to Trinidad. Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado are very nice areas.
Love the St. James. Stop there on the way to Philmont.
My boss stayed in the Jessie James bedroom when we were in the area for work.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Sad, but true. And yes, the high altitude being nearly 7,000 ft would be difficult if you had oxygen issues. So far, none of that. Thanks for your honest input!
