El paso tx 101 (Houston, Dallas, Austin: vehicle registration, insurance, credit)

[Muhnay]

We have a few people that may not have a clue about our city. So I thought we could post some info on El Paso, to help school people on what our city offers, lacks, and see in our future.

Lets start with a couple web pages..



epcounty.com [EL PASO COUNTY WEB PAGE ]

THE CITY OF EL PASO, TEXAS - www.elpasotexas.gov [ CITY OFFICIAL PAGE ]

El Paso Texas Convention and Visitors Bureau [ CITY CONVENTION & VISITOR SITE ]

Now for some general info about our City.

LOCATION
El Paso is located in the westernmost corner of Texas, right where Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico come together. It lies 710 miles east of Los Angeles, 670 miles northwest of Houston, 565 miles southwest of Dallas, and 710 miles south of Denver. El Paso is 1,250 miles from Chicago, and roughly 1,835 miles from New York or Philadelphia.
32.0° N 106.6° W

POPULATION
Just over 700,000 people live in El Paso, which makes it the fourth most populous city in Texas. Combined with Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, though, the metropolitan area forms the largest population center on any international border in the world. About 3.2 million live in the area, with 700,000 residents in El Paso County. The median age is 32 years.

SIZE
El Paso has 248 square miles in area, making it the fourth largest city in Texas, and 22nd in size in the United States. It is the nation's third fastest-growing metropolitan area. El Paso is the county seat of 1,054-square mile El Paso County

CLIMATE
Bring your sunglasses and plenty of sunscreen, leave the umbrella and raincoat behind. El Paso's average summer high is 95 degrees with very low humidity. Its average winter high temperature is 55-60 degrees. Annual rainfall is only 8.65 inches. But a recent trend sees this changing. More monsoonal moisture has raised the Humidity levels but still low compared to many other parts of the country.

TIME ZONE
El Paso is on Mountain Standard Time. From April through October, the city observes Daylight Savings Time, setting their clocks ahead one hour in April and back an hour in October.

AREA CODE
El Paso's telephone area code is 915. (Area code throughout neighboring New Mexico is 505. And to call Ciudad Juarez, just across the Rio Grande in Mexico, dial 011-52-656 plus the seven digit Juarez number.)

INCOME TAX
El Paso has no state, county, or city income tax. El Paso County does have a high Property tax. About 23 dollars per 1000 of assessed value.

MAJOR BUSINESSES AND INDUSTRIES
The military (Fort Bliss) and other government agencies, defense-related businesses and education, retail and wholesale trades, manufacturing and agriculture form the city's economic base. The maquila industry, found just across the river in Ciudad Juarez, is also a major employer.

HOUSING COSTS
The average selling price for a 3 bedroom home in 2007 was about $90,000 to $250,000.

VEHICLE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS
The El Paso County Courthouse handles vehicle registration downtown and at three branch offices. All new residents have 30 days to register vehicles in Texas. Fees and taxes for cars are based on age; for trucks they're based on carrying capacity. There is also a new resident tax. Texas also requires annual safety inspections stickers, available at many service facilities. A nominal fee and proof of insurance is required before the sticker can be issued. Get the inspection sticker first, and then go to the tax office. Call (915) 546-2140

UTILITY INFORMATION

• Electricity is provided by the El Paso Electric Company, (915) 543-5970.
• Water and sewage services are provided through the City of El Paso (915) 594-5500.
• Trash collection is handled through the City of El Paso Sanitation Department (broken link) (915) 594-8625.

CULTURAL DIVERSITY
El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, separated by the Rio Grande, have been uniquely linked culturally and economically since their founding. Over the past 400 years the contributions of native Indians, Spanish conquistadors, Central and South Americans, Europeans and Asians have enriched El Paso's artistic and cultural life. The area does have a majority of Hispanic people around 89% with the next largest population being Caucasian.

COST OF LIVING
El Paso's low cost of living compares very favorably with other major cities. On average, El Pasoans pay 94% of the national average for all items.
Compared to other U.S. cities, El Paso's cost of living is low:
San Diego, CA 127.5
Santa Fe, NM 114.5
Denver, CO 108.6
Las Vegas, NV 107.0
Albuquerque, NM 102.8
Phoenix, AZ 100.8
Tuscon, AZ 98.1
EL PASO, TX 94.6

EDUCATION
El Paso is served by 4 local school districts, EPISD, SISD, YISD and CISD. We also have private and home base schooling in the city.

Welcome to EPISD - El Paso Independent School District - El Paso, Texas

Socorro Independent School District

Ysleta ISD - TX - YISD Home

Canutillo ISD

We have UTEP as the local University.

The University of Texas at El Paso Home

But we also have a fantastic local Community College.

El Paso Community College

NEWS SOURCES

Local news Paper

EPT HOME - El Paso Times

News Stations

KTSM

El Paso News, El Paso Weather, Las Cruces News, Las Cruces Weather

KVIA.com El Paso, Las Cruces - Weather, News, Sports - Home

El Paso/Las Cruces News, Weather, Sports and Entertainment - KDBC 4 - We are CBS! | Home

Well I hope thats enough info to get you started. One last bit of info.. our Military Friends may want.. Fort Bliss Info..

https://www.bliss.army.mil/ [ OFFICIAL SITE ]

Fort Bliss MWR [ MWR SITE ]

https://www.bliss.army.mil/Garrison/sites/local/ [ GARRISON ]

Good Luck, and welcome to El Paso and Fort Bliss. If there is any more info you need please let us know, and I am sure one of the many members here will answer you as soon as they can.

[Synopsis]

I made this a sticky to replace the "Official El Paso Chattin' Forum." I do believe this thread serves as a really good, informative resource for El Paso.

Post away my El Paso friends!

PS. Muhnay is the CD member responsible for the initial post and should be given all credit for this initiative.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by Synopsis

I made this a sticky to replace the "Official El Paso Chattin' Forum." I do believe this thread serves as a really good, informative resource for El Paso.

Post away my El Paso friends!

PS. Muhnay is the CD member responsible for the initial post and should be given all credit for this initiative.

Great informative post. One little minor detail...

El Paso's telephone area code is 915. (Area code throughout neighboring New Mexico is 505.

The area code for southern NM changed from 505 to 575 in October 2007. Right now, you can dial either, but the "permissive dialing" period ends in Oct 2008.

New Mexico 575 Area Code Relief Home Page

On a side note.....as one who spent the majority of her life living within the 915 area code in Texas.....did I ever hate to lose it, LOL!!

[Muhnay]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

The area code for southern NM changed from 505 to 575 in October 2007. Right now, you can dial either, but the "permissive dialing" period ends in Oct 2008.

New Mexico 575 Area Code Relief Home Page

Thanks Cathy, for that info..

And thanks Syn for the props.

[Sixx Foot Three]

Originally Posted by Muhnay

VEHICLE REGISTRATION REQUIREMENTS
The El Paso County Courthouse handles vehicle registration downtown and at three branch offices. All new residents have 30 days to register vehicles in Texas. Fees and taxes for cars are based on age; for trucks they're based on carrying capacity. There is also a new resident tax. Texas also requires annual safety inspections stickers, available at many service facilities. A nominal fee and proof of insurance is required before the sticker can be issued. Get the inspection sticker first, and then go to the tax office. Call (915) 546-2140

Question about the vehicle registration....as i thought that's at the same place as the Texas Motor Vehicle dept where you get your Drivers Liscense like the station on Hondo Pass....

[Jammie]

Wow, that is loaded with info and you put a lot of work into it. Thank you, Muhnay.

Sorry I'm late, but I see my good friend, Synopsis is on the ball.

[Muhnay]

Originally Posted by 6/3

Question about the vehicle registration....as i thought that's at the same place as the Texas Motor Vehicle dept where you get your Drivers License like the station on Hondo Pass....

They centralized it.. I think in an attempt to cut cost.

[Miner72]

Thanks for posting that info. A lot of info for the locals and newcomners.

[malamute]

Yes, this is good and helpful information.

[Mitmont]

Great Info, Appreciate the conciseness. One of the areas of interest is the business opportunities and what it takes to start a new business in Texas and El Paso. For any type of oraganized business ie, partnership, llc, corp the Secretary of State in Austin is the source. You can find it online. Also a major change that was voted on 6 years ago now affecting businesses is the Margin Tax which is a .05-.1 of the difference between gross and profit. There are stipulations and exclusions so this should be in no way considered a complete brief. More info should be found on line or through a CPA. Ft Bliss is expanding and the base next to it Biggs Field is gowing through a mega building boom.

Along with the business startup is what type of networking groups are there and what opportunities are there for new people coming to El Paso to find work, find customers... basically get on the ground and be productive?
I for one just moved to El Paso 3 weeks ago. I think it's great and has a lot of opportunity and anyone coming should be prepared to hit the ground running to make it a fit for them. You'll see me here posting periodically and as I come across new items I'll get them posted here.

Mitmont