I was shocked to see a photo of an old motel here in Deming that has been closed for quite some time in a recent issue. It gave the impression that we are approaching ghost town status. We are 17 miles west of Akela Flats, the proposed site of the Apache Homelands Casino, the subject of the story (“Whose Apache Homelands?” HCN, 10/14/13). In the past few years, almost every major motel chain has built a modern facility here: Hampton Inn, Holiday Express, Days Inn, Comfort Inn, Super-8, Motel-6. We have most all the major fast food franchises and many nice local restaurants. Walmart built a Supercenter here, and we have a K-Mart. We are right on the I-10 corridor, and Amtrak serves our city. Yes, unemployment is still too high, but that’s true in all of New Mexico.
Walt Hoefer
Deming, New Mexico
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline An unfair portrait of decline.
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