My take on El Paso (Bryan, Taylor: real estate, amusement parks, theater)

[elamigo]

Originally Posted by michaelmac500

I am now sitting in the lobby of a very nice hotel in Anaheim just across the street from Disney Land. My family and I are waiting for our room to be cleaned so we can complete our check in process and rest up for two days of Disney Fun.

We spent the last three days in San Diego doing Sea Wold, Old Town and La Jolla beaches. Southern California, is beautiful, crowded and very rushed. There are many places to shop, restaurants to dine at, and any type of accommodation or item can be found. I have only been in this area of the country for short durations a couple of times, so my take on the area is limited.

My view is, things look very good on the outside, but do not run very deep. It seems that everyone here is trying real hard to be cool, on the cutting edge and successful. The pace of life is very fast, and the people here tasty a tiny bit of a wide variety of experiences. The problem with that is no one experience life at a very deep level.

I know this is a long set up to present my view of El Paso, but I feel it is necessary for a complete understanding to what I'm getting at. What I'm trying to say is that while Southern California is a very beautiful place with many things to see and do (which is the same for many places in the U.S.) it didn't give me a meaningful feel.

By feel I mean I never got a sense of real personal atmosphere or feeling of calm that I get from El Paso.

I grew up in San Antonio, lived in the Seattle metro area and spent 6 years in Europe, and have never felt the calmness I feel in El Paso.

I have always tried to put a finger on what it is about EP that gives me this feeling, but I could never get it. It finally hit me on this SoCal trip.

El Paso is a city that lives in the moment. This doesn't seem like a magnificent pronouncement, but if you feel it, its a big deal.

El Paso is one of the oldest and most historic places in the southwest (or the U.S. for that matter), but the city doesn't embrace their history. To people in El Paso the past or history doesn't hold that much significance. To us (those who feel it) the past does not matter.

El Paso doesn't care about the future. City planning, the general population and the culture here has demonstrated this time and time again. The people in El Paso do not want things to change. The people here feel a sense of calm and contentment with the familiar.

So the vision I had about taking down Asarco, and making El Paso more cutting edge with an old town and botanical gardens, could be bad for EP.

What this city does very well is live in the present. El Paso cares about the here and now. People here are happy in the moment. It doesn't matter if its an old landscaper working in the hot sun or a cleaning lady mopping the floor, everyone is happy in whatever moment of life they happen to be in.

El Paso is an acquired taste. Most people, don't like it here at first, and some people never like it here. A type personalities and people that need their senses stimulated on a regular bases, hate it here. But for the rest of us, the feeling of enjoying life moment to moment slowly sets up a life (at least in my opinion) more deep and satisfying. This feeling sets in without people knowing what it is, but feel it on a subconscious level.

I believe this is the reason people don't worry about time, are slightly unmotivated, are content and friendly. This is the reason crime is low in El Paso. This is also why El Paso is one of the most laid back places around.

The Bhutanese architecture of UTEP is so ironic. Bhutan is a poor happy place, lost in time and living in the moment of happiness.

Bhutan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

What it comes down too, is El Paso is very Zen.

Interesting. You reminded me of how I felt a few years ago. I enlisted out of El Paso back in '78. Before that I went to the Job Corps in San Marcos in '70. I used to go to San Antonio and Austin during the weekends. I had this desire to some day moving to San Antonio. Later when I enlisted I put San Antonio as my place of retirement. Years went by and I still kept thinking of retiring in San Antonio. I had the chance to visti and/or live in about 25 states during my Army service. In 2000 I got orders to attend the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy in Fort Bliss. When I got back to El Paso after 22 years something just clicked. I looked at the Franklin Mountain, the desert, the sun going up or down, the city, the people, etc. and I just said 'this is home, when I die I want to be buried here'. That was it. I am now retired from the Army and retired right where I started my Army career. This is home to me, take care.

[Ballistic Gypsy]

Elegantly put. Thank you for this. We will be moving to EP in August. I have heard nothing but ugly comments about it. Thank you for giving me a little piece of mind about my soon to be new home.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by Ballistic Gypsy

Elegantly put. Thank you for this. We will be moving to EP in August. I have heard nothing but ugly comments about it. Thank you for giving me a little piece of mind about my soon to be new home.

I'm not from El Paso originally but I can't really think of a place where the climate could be better. Some places might have better mountains but are too cold or too hot. And we're close to the forests of New Mexico. Not very close to many lakes which is a downside.

People tend to like El Paso very much or they hate it. I guess when you're somewhere else you meet the ones who hated it more than who want to live here.

When you get here, it might just be a temporary move - but you can certainly make some time to do some of the really nice day or weekend trips, you can hike on the Franklin Mountains, visit Old Mesilla, Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands, some of the ghost towns near by. Go up to Ruidoso and Cloudcroft. And there is the Air Show, some of the local parades and events, the balloon fest, corn mazes especially if you have kids.

[TexasCCW]

Another upside is that our only "natural disasters" are dust storms. When you compare that to earthquakes, tornadoes and flooding. El Paso isn't really all that bad. Now there have been some exceptions, but for the most part we are pretty safe.

[Seoid]

Originally Posted by Ballistic Gypsy

Elegantly put. Thank you for this. We will be moving to EP in August. I have heard nothing but ugly comments about it. Thank you for giving me a little piece of mind about my soon to be new home.

People that don't get El Paso are the ones that say the horrible things. Just like any city it has pros and cons depending on what you expect out of somewhere you live.

I was born and raised in El Paso and my parents still live there. I never had the huge appreciation for it when I lived there, or even when I came back for summers during college but I did once I started making other cities my permanent home. I miss it even though my career has taken me in the opposite direction in this giant state of ours. I don't know if I'll ever move back but it will always be home.

I totally agree that there is something about the flow/spirit/feel of El Paso. It's got a beauty all its own. There just isn't anywhere else like it. I crave visiting now because I feel truely relaxed and at home.

It also became sort of a litmus test when I was dating. Most guys scoffed at the mention of my hometown. My husband (a midwest native), appreciates it as much or possibly more than I do. He gets 'El Paso'. I'm a lucky girl!

[Smooth from ELP]

Hey everybody. I am back. Been in the background reading y'all posts. My disappointment with the current El Paso regional events unfortunately continues.

Whats with all of these automobile fatalities? OMG! What an increase since last I checked.
More people from the military and Juarez means more cars on the road. Yikes!

Going to your city (notice I said your city not mine) next week from some HS graduations. Not too excited about the visit like I used to be a few years ago. For those than don't know me I used to be one of the biggest [domain blocked due to spam] and Citydata defenders and advocates for El Paso. But in due time my old friends and family wore me out...the city just plain let me down. Tried to move back on many occasions. Had hiring a manager practically spit out their coffee during job interviews when the $$$ subject came up.

Well let's see what El Gaucho has in store for me next week.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by Smooth from ELP

Hey everybody. I am back. Been in the background reading y'all posts. My disappointment with the current El Paso regional events unfortunately continues.

Whats with all of these automobile fatalities? OMG! What an increase since last I checked.
More people from the military and Juarez means more cars on the road. Yikes!

Going to your city (notice I said your city not mine) next week from some HS graduations. Not too excited about the visit like I used to be a few years ago. For those than don't know me I used to be one of the biggest [domain blocked due to spam] and Citydata defenders and advocates for El Paso. But in due time my old friends and family wore me out...the city just plain let me down. Tried to move back on many occasions. Had hiring a manager practically spit out their coffee during job interviews when the $$$ subject came up.

Well let's see what El Gaucho has in store for me next week.

I completely agree about the traffic. It's nothing like it used to be when it was only a good-sized city.

It used to be like 5 towns laid out around the mountain, West Side, South side, Central, Northeast and East Side. El Paso was isolated from the rest of the country but it was almost like going to another town when you went from one part to another. And there was also Juarez back then if you wanted to go to another country.

The traffic was nothing - 20 minutes and you could be whisked from one end of town to another and El Paso was a lot friendlier and also quirkier. People from the East Side would claim people on the West Side were snootier. Or people on the Northeast side would say they had the best view or the mountains, the South side had it's own flavor and flair.

El Pasoans were unified in some ways no matter what side of town - places like the Charcoaler, Bowie Bakery, Chicos, the Downtown shopping with stores like the Popular, the White House, Cielo Vista mall when it was the only mall, 5 points for some of the small specialty shops, Pill Hill for health care or the downtown hospitals. And we had the Hotel Dieu and Diablo hospitals, the Diablos played in the Southside and that was when baseball here was best.

Now it's turning into a lot of look-alike subdivisions and 8 lanes of highways everywhere. Any vacant lot gets turned into a subdivision overnight with houses packed in like sardines. A lot of the old El Paso is just gone. Too bad all these newcomers will never see what it once was here.

[Cathy4017]

I guess it's like a lot of other places that have changed a bit with the influx of newcomers.

I agree. I liked the El Paso of 30 years ago better than I do now. The same goes for Austin and San Antonio. They've all just gotten too big, and the infrastructure (especially Austin) sometimes cannot handle the load very well.

[Smooth from ELP]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

I guess it's like a lot of other places that have changed a bit with the influx of newcomers.

I agree. I liked the El Paso of 30 years ago better than I do now. The same goes for Austin and San Antonio. They've all just gotten too big, and the infrastructure (especially Austin) sometimes cannot handle the load very well.

I agree. The hippies elected to office did not want or anticipate so many transplants in the 1990's from elsewhere and now all the road to market and farm to market roads act like major arteries causing big time traffic jams. Infrastructure was put on the back burner.

Just imagine north loop-type roads everywhere with in a city with a population just over 790,000 as 2011. The new tollroads have helped alot but way over due.

[Rogarven]

I like visiting Austin but I agree. The traffic there, IMHO, is worse than ELP.