El Paso and living on disability (San Antonio, Beaumont: apartment complex, to rent, insurance)

[king3933]

Hello:

Is it possible to live in El Paso on $1500 a month. Don't need much just a small apartment and maybe a VA hospital to go to. Also how much does it snow there, I hate snow and cold weather that is one reason I'm moving from Ohio.

[Muhnay]

Oh heck yeah, I would think so.

Don't worry about cold and snow.. yes we do get it once in a while but by 10am the following day you would not know it snowed. We do get some cold weather.. but I see people from up north walking around here in shorts and tee-shirts going what, you cold? We have many more warm days than we do cold.

We have a VA hospital here.. as well as a military hospital attached to it.

Good Luck.

[Six Foot Three]

Hey Muhnay....this post got me thinking and that is how's the new apartment construction coming along in EP. I remember reading a while back in the EP Times that with all the troops coming in that would create a demand for more apartment complexes as at the time several were under construction.

Then that leads me to my next question and that is will most live on post or will they live in the apartments which will raise the rents around town.

Whats your take on all this.....

[Muhnay]

Do you recall the pep Boys on the corner of Dyer and Diana? there is a new Apartment Complex behind it, now taking renters. There are 3 new ones going up near Beaumont, and there are 2 new ones going up out here in the North East out near North Hills.

I am sure there are some out on the East side too.. but I dont spend much time out that way any more so I don't know. But I was on the West side last week and saw many new complexes out there.

I find it cheaper to rent a House over an Apartment. That is when I rent.. I own a house here so.. but anyways, there are many new options going up all over.

[Six Foot Three]

Originally Posted by Muhnay

Do you recall the pep Boys on the corner of Dyer and Diana? there is a new Apartment Complex behind it, now taking renters. There are 3 new ones going up near Beaumont, and there are 2 new ones going up out here in the North East out near North Hills.

But I was on the West side last week and saw many new complexes out there.

WOW !! Things are moving down there as thats good to hear. It's been a couple of years since i was down there so as soon as it warms a tad i'll get down there to visit.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by king3933

Hello:

Is it possible to live in El Paso on $1500 a month. Don't need much just a small apartment and maybe a VA hospital to go to. Also how much does it snow there, I hate snow and cold weather that is one reason I'm moving from Ohio.

Definitely yes -- many families live on less than that. You can find apartments in older homes in the Central part of town, and you can find small homes that rent for $500 or $600 or so in some areas.

Almost never snows here -- if it snows it's gone by noon. It doesn't get very cold here -- it might get chilly at night but usually gets into the 50's and 60's in the winter.

[Taylorcraftbc65]

Hey King,
There are MANY people living down here on retirement, myself included. One thing that you DO need to know straight out though, is that El Paso only has a VA Clinic, NOT a Hospital. You are equidistant between the three available VA Hospitals, Tucson, (my favorite), Albuquerque, and San Antonio.
That is the ONE THING that is holding El Paso back from becoming a retirement destination the likes of Tucson, the lack of a full blown VA Hospital.
A Hospital not withstanding, Texas has something going for it that many other states do not, that being that they hold their Veteran population in VERY high regard.
The Texas State Veterans Assistance board offers MANY grants and loans to Veterans who become Texas residents. They CONSTANTLY have representitives "trolling" the VA Facilities in El Paso, handing out brochures to any Veteran they can collar.
My suggestion to you is that you come down for a visit NOW in the height of your winter, and see what it's like down here. Your could also visit the Texas state Veteran's affairs office, and check out the home loans and grants that they offer to vets who become residents down here. Brie

[Muhnay]

That is not entirely true King. William Beaumont Army Medical Center/Hospital will take VA patients. I know I have stayed or been seen there for various reasons, though the VA. And we do have a VA retirement home here now in the North East, something you may consider.

I will agree they do hold the Vets here in high regard. And Brie gave you some good advice on the affairs office.

[king3933]

I have heard Texas is a great State that indeed do honor thier Vets. I did spent some time in Wade Park Va Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. It was a very bad place to be, dirty, staff on drugs and drinking on the job, and patients left alone who needed help. The second turn and midnights were the worst.

I stopped going to VA in Ohio too many of the Docotrs are from overseas and can not understand them. Also a VA hospital is a learning institution and you are the person they learn on if they have never done that operation or procedure before. They had me on 21 pills a day and I could not even carry on a converstion or think straight. I told my wife I would rather die than be like that.

Thank God, her insurance picked me up after a 3 year waitng period on my heart.

My brother also has heart problems and does not get any disability as the Government tries to get you to die or kill yourself before they help you. It took me 8 years to get my SSDI and I worked job after job and got heart failure and loose my job, had to file bankruptcy, sold everything I had, guns, truck, cameras, bows, to try and keep my head above water, but they still made sure I drown. After 7 years they made a deal if I would accept 2 years back pay instead of the 7 years they owed me they would give me my SSDI. I had to accept the deal and try to move on. Problems stared with a heart attack in April 1995 and it was in December of 2002 untill they agreed to go back to December 2000 to pay me.

I take care of my brother as he is homeless without me. It is food only that comes into play as rent is rent and we don't do much. He can find no work here in Ohio as the manufacturing work is gone and he can not do heavy lifting after his quadupal by-pass. He can mow grass, work in the parks and has worked for the Street department here for a seasonal job.

How is work in El paso compared to Odessa? I seen on one site there was 2000 jobs in Odessa that needed filled. A lot of work for the city in the Parks and Recreation area. I thought maybe he could try and mow grass if the heat would not get too great for him. The cold and humidty is hard on a heart person. You can work if they just don't try to push you too hard.

[Taylorcraftbc65]

Muhnay,
I did not mean to imply that he could not get care here, just that it would be a whole lot less anxiety producing for MANY Veterans if there was a one stop, one responsible party in charge of the Veteran's problem health care provider available in El Paso for Veteran's health care.
Case in point. I have a very good friend who had to go through a little over a year of buck passing, blame shifting, redundant test taking to get his left kidney which was ridden with cancer due to agent orange exposure removed before it broke through the Kidney, and into the rest of his body. Had he been in Phoenix, Tucson, Tampa, the entire thing would have been handled in-house by one or two teams, and it would have been handled quickly, and efficiently.
On three occaisions, I had to go in and explain to either the VA Clinic doctors, (NOT his primary care Physician who was as exasperated as I was), BAMC personnel, and the staff at the hospital at the VAMC in ABQ who seemed to REALLY be "put out" to have to deal with him, what it would do to their image if I went to World News Tonight, the internet, and several Senators to get him the care they were witholding from him, by dragging their feet, WHILE the cancer clock was ticking.
Thankfully, they got the kidney out in the nick of time, and my friend is home with Tee and I recouperating now.
I have walked friends through similar situations in all the other above mentioned VAMC facilities, and everything was taken care of in a matter of months diagnosis to surgery, with the Veteran's nerves in MUCH better shape through it all.
I believe that if there is only one responsible agency, that is operating through one self contained facility, the continuity, and quality of care is markedly better. Brie