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Wisconsin, wow now that is cold! The only reason I was looking at Chama was because I was told it wasn't too bad ( HA HA) and I know the land there is dirt cheap. I don't really care if it is a small town or now.
I guess I will keep looking. Thanks for your response !
We really love Chama but it is BBBBRRRRRRRR Cold in SEPTEMBER
We always visit Chama on our way back from spending winter in Mexico and love it. We're usually there in August or September and this year had to drive back to Espanola and over the Raton summit to get out. There was snow on Sept 21.
It is an amazingly beautiful area; we spend time on the Cumbres Pass, there is a lovely supermarket and next to it Yoga/Restaurant that tries to get organic food. Oh, it is also a bookstore. The visitor center offers a free wifi spot and I believe there is internet in town; otherwise get satellite internet.
Chama is absolutely beautiful, but I wouldn't want to live there. If you didn't grow up there, or have family members, or from one of the original hispanic settlers you are not welcome there. Sure there are some nice cabins, but you can't leave anything in there, the locals believe everything is there's and they will steal it. Crime is rate high because there's nothing to do but drink do drugs and have ALOT of kids. Around Red River, Raton, those areas you will have better luck at getting accepted.
I have been going to Chama for about 40 years. It is about the least-changed town that I know of in either New Mexico or Colorado during that time. Overall, for me, I consider that a good thing. This region doesn't need any more yuppie resorts.
Yes, winters there are cold and snowy, but no more so than many other mountain towns in the Rockies. Weather-wise, the only thing that I would dislike in Chama is that the summer is indeed short.
Chama definitely is isolated. For people with any medical issues, that can be a problem living there, I'm sure. Having to drive to Alamosa, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, or Farmington for anything but basic shopping could get tiresome, especially if fuel prices continue to explode.
As to being closed to outsiders, I've heard both sides from my friends who live or have lived in Chama. Some have gotten along just fine there; others couldn't move away fast enough. If you are Anglo, especially if you are moving from a bigger metro area, moving to Chama would probably be a major culture shock. Most of the Anglos that I know who have lived in Chama as full-time residents and like it tend to be natives of either New Mexico or Colorado and have a more rural than urban background.
Someone mentioned Silverton, CO in this thread. Silverton is a very interesting town, but the real estate market there has gone completely insane in the last two years. Run down houses on 25' lots are selling for a quarter of a million. Silverton living in the winter is not for the faint of heart, either.
I've been to chama a few times but only in the fall. We love it. we're retireing in a few years and have been looking at land prices in chama. Expensive. We will be selling a 300 acre ranch in Oklahoma so that will help with the land prices but I still want at least 10 acres to play on. I do not care about city things to do but want people who live there all year round and not just summer residents. Medical scares me to. Were quite healthy but as time goes, I might need medical. What do the people do that live there do for medical? Do people retire there and live all year round. I love the scenery and being only a few hours from Santa Fe is a plus.
Before living in Oklahoma which lacks snow I live on the Ill, Wis, Iown border in a town called Galena, Ill. We had tons of snow and I miss that. Once we lived in the mountains of Utah and had snow. I miss the mountains.
This year (fall) we will go back to Chama for 2 weeks but I think I'll drive to Raton and see what the scenery is like there and also Pagosa, Co and take a look there.
any information would be wonderful. I am scared to sell this ranch and move only because my children will still be living in Okie land.
I wouldn't mind spending a summer working for the railroad. I would mind spending a winter shoveling more snow than we get around here in New Hampshire. I could see snowbirding inside the state of NM. Lower Rio Grande valley for the summer and Chama for the summer. Save a lot of driving.
I wouldn't mind spending a summer working for the railroad. I would mind spending a winter shoveling more snow than we get around here in New Hampshire. I could see snowbirding inside the state of NM. Lower Rio Grande valley for the summer and Chama for the summer. Save a lot of driving.
Great idea. Or you could pick one of many valleys for the winter and drive into a nearby mountain for the summer. After all, 2,000 feet up equals 600 miles north. From where I live I could easily do 2,000 feet in an hour and stop for fast food on the way -- that's like driving 600 miles an hour.
Or you could pick two different neighborhoods in ABQ.
I wouldn't mind spending a summer working for the railroad. I would mind spending a winter shoveling more snow than we get around here in New Hampshire. I could see snowbirding inside the state of NM. Lower Rio Grande valley for the summer and Chama for the summer. Save a lot of driving.
Most of the railroad jobs, except for specialized crafts and even some of those, are held by locals--by locals, I mean multi-generation, usually. Probably a majority of the employees have worked there for 20 years or more--several are from multi-generational railroad families (a couple are probably third or fourth generation railroaders). Take it from someone who knows, it is very dirty, disagreeable and hard work. You have to love railroading (and I mean love it) to do it. There is nothing "glorious" about it.
I do love Chama, but even the people who have lived there forever will tell you that it is not an easy place to live. This winter, with record snowfall (that collapsed the roof of the only grocery store in town--demolishing it), has been especially difficult. I just talked to some locals down in that area this week, and they are concerned that high gas prices are going to decimate the tourist season all over that area this summer. $4.00/gal. plus, maybe way plus, appear to be a certainty. Diesel is nearly $4.00 right now in most places in Colorado or New Mexico.
When I first went to that region in the mid- to late-1960's, it was still quite isolated. I think it may revert to that if the present economic and fuel price problems continue to worsen--and my prediction is that they will.
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We really love Chama but it is BBBBRRRRRRRR Cold in SEPTEMBER
Great idea
