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Why save the small town?

Cities may seem inevitable, but rural communities are finding ways to hang on.

The old mine isn’t far from downtown. After nearly a century carving molybdenum from the land around Questa, today the only mining-related jobs in this northern New Mexico hamlet are restoring what miners spent the last 100 years taking apart.

Chevron ceased operations for good in 2014, laying off around 300 people in this majority-Hispanic town of 1,700. Though what’s next for Questa is unclear, few question the mine’s future. This time, the jobs aren’t coming back. "We are not a mining town anymore," said Malaquias Rael, a former Questa mayor who now works on a local economic development committee, and whose family has lived in the area for generations. A transformation is underway in Questa, he said. "We have to be able to determine what our own future will look like."

Leah Todd/Solutions Journalism Network

http://www.hcn.org/articles/state-of-change-why-save-the-small-town?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email

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