Where to live in the El Paso area? (Corpus Christi, Mission: apartments, houses)

[inkollege]

I am moving from International Falls, MN to El Paso, TX (I am originally from Corpus Christi, TX so I am not a stranger to the heat or sun!). I have never been to El Paso and know very little about the area. I need a nice neighborhood to live because I have a wife and a little boy on the way. I want to live away from the river because I work for CBP (former US Customs) and don’t want to be near work when I am not there. I was looking at houses in the Horizon area and also East El Paso. Where are the areas to stay away from?

[Armywife77]

Trying to find out about the Horizon area myself. So far all i know on the El Paso Side is East and West are the areas to begin looking(that is just what military families told me I haven't made it out there yet) As far as areas t stay away from a realator told me to stay away from central I know Im not much help lol but thought i would share what i have been told

[desert*rat]

Hi Armywife77 and inkollage,

I know quite a few from border patrol that live here for the same reasons you mentioned. Horizon city is away from the river, and is a very quiet and safe town. There is a constant breeze and tends to be at least 5 degrees cooler than El Paso. You can live here, hop on your ATV and be at the dunes in 15 minutes to blow off your steam from the pressures of work. I live here because it is not a city but close to El Paso for those things that big cities provide. Expect to drive to most hospitals, there are 6 or 7 in El Paso. I prefer Las Palmas Hospital, which for me is a 25 minute drive, there are closer hospitals. I just haven't been to the closer ones yet, doctors have certain hospitals they go to. There is a peditrian here in Horizon, but most doctors are in El Paso. Otherwise it is typical small town, with grocery store and so forth.

Heat here is slightly different than Corpse Christy...it is dry, very dry heat. El Paso is desert, if you want trees, grass, etc. it has to be watered. I have xeroscaping, which being from the hills of PA, took some getting used to. You will see some amazing sunrises and sets here.

Take the time to read "possible relocating to El Paso" thread by felina. It has tons of great info for you to read. Check out all the listed web links.

d-rat

[NativeTXn]

IMO, the best places to look for houses or apartments are the Westside including the Upper Valley and Canutillo though they are located close the river but it is next to New Mexico not Old Mexico, Eastside and Horizon City are located away from the river, and I think the far Northeast side which is also away from the river might have some good nice new areas aswell. The places I would stay away from are Central (though there are some really nice houses but are hard to find), the lower valley (now called Mission Valley, same as Central some nice houses but hard to find), the lower Northeast side of town, and Socorro.

Another area that is growing nicely is the Sunland Park area in the New Mexico side of the area but it is located near the river. Overall there are great areas located all over town including in Central and Lower Valley..but I think that the Eastside and Westside parts of town have the better nicer (newer) communities and have everything such as hospitals and malls and other attractions within minutes of those areas.

[inkollege]

Thanks for the information. Another dumb question that I have (because I am from the flatter parts of the country) is can you see the mountains from Horizon City? From the houses that I look at you can see them from the western El Paso area, but I can’t tell about the views from Horizon City.

[NativeTXn]

Originally Posted by inkollege

Thanks for the information. Another dumb question that I have (because I am from the flatter parts of the country) is can you see the mountains from Horizon City? From the houses that I look at you can see them from the western El Paso area, but I can’t tell about the views from Horizon City.

The mountains are kind of far away from Horizon City, you can still see them but not as clearly as if you lived closer to them ofcourse. The mountains look like they are way off in the distance.

[Dray]

The cost for housing is about 15% less in Horizon, in comparison to the far-east and west side areas. But if having services close by is important to you, the east and west side have virtually everything you could desire or need, within close proximity... such is not the case for Horizon.

If you are familiar with Map Quest, you can select an area, by zip code or address, and pull up a list of nearby businesses.

[samyrod1]

i would prefer to live within the city than out in the stick like horizon. you might as well live out in chaparral new Mexico if you wanted to be away from everything. anywhere you live in El paso you can access any place with I-10. the east side and west side have good neighborhoods. northeast is good as well. downtown and central suck. impoverished and traditional Hispanic cultures mostly, the lower valley isn't great either bad water stay away from there.

[malamute]

You can live just about any where here, it depends on what kind of neighborhood you want because there are some big differences in neighborhoods. If you want to brush up on your Spanish, there are certainly neighborhoods where you can do that but if you want a good mix of people then the west side, parts of the northeast or the far east side are better for that. I think in El Paso, living in one neighborhood could be very different from living in another but it all depends on what you want. For the most part, anywhere is safe enough.

[DesertDog]

The 79938 area has nice newer neighborhoods, good schools, and is close to anything you would need. That said I also like Horizon City with the only downside being some parts are not too great so do your research.