Abilene, Tx (Waco, Wylie, Center: apartments, how much, hotel)

[NEWSMD]

Hi Y'all
Abilene west of dfw, would welcome any info on the socio-economic state to the city. The city & county populations look like they had a net gain of about 6000 people....in last 5+yrs...
Any direct comments from Abilenians would be welcome too... Where is the city heading?
Thanks
NEWSMD

[WestTexan87]

Abilene's a great town. It tends to be overrun by ultra-conservative churchy people, but hey, you grow to tolerate them if not enjoy them for their enthusiasm. Abilene is home to 3 universities: Abilene Christian University which was founded in 1906 and has an enrollment approaching 5,000; Hardin-Simmons University which was founded in 1891 and has about 2,500 students; and McMurry University which was founded in 1923 and is home to roughly 1,600 students. There is also a large branch of Cisco Junior College which just built a new campus in east Abilene and currently enrolls roughly 4,000. Also, there is a branch of Texas State Technical College and a graduate branch of Texas Tech School of Engineering. Also, the Texas Tech School of Pharmacy is currently under construction in north Abilene. Overall, there are well over 10,000 students living in town. The city's downtown is undergoing a complete revitalization since in the 1980's and is a wonderful place to visit. It is home to the Grace Cultural Center, the Paramount Theater, the Center for Contemporary Arts, The National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature, Fronter Texas!, the 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum and dozens of other cultural attractions. Just a couple years ago, a 16-story art-deco skyscraper downtown was overhauled into the city's most exlusive and expensive apartments, remaining essentially 100% occupied since opening. This, along with other residential developments has pumped life into downtown. Downtown is also home to the first ever Hilton Hotel, which is now a retirement home. Abilene Independent School District recently moved downtown as well, bringing hundreds of employees with it. As was the case with most cities from the 1950s-1970s, Abilene spread outward after WWII. Much of the city's growth over this time period has been to the south and west. Also during this period, Dyess Air Force Base located on the western edge of town and it remains to this day the largest employer in the city. (It's the reason I'm there.) Anyway, there is a mall, 2 Wal Mart Supercenters, dozens of restaurants, a Zoo, and about a thousand other nice amenities you wouldn't expect from a town of 115,000. Let me know if there's anything else you're interested in knowing.

[NEWSMD]

Thank you much for your detailed view of the city.... I must say every thing you have written is accurate as I visited Abilene today.. You are right about Churches there are usually two or so on every street... well on one road I think I may have seen 3+ in less than a quarter mile...
Got there early morning spent the day driving up & down the city..I am not sure I saw much of the downtown but I saw ACU and the Cisco college around Industrial blvd area. Having driven the spread of the city - it was hard to beleive the population figure to be accurate after that...
Although the net gain of people in Abilene has stagnated for over 5 or so years now & I wonder why? Maybe young folks after college etc move out to other cities/states..
I must say I did see a lot of seniors every where... Small talk I had in a store with locals was warm & people seemed quite nice.
I remember passing by a business in a nice bldg, "Meals on wheels" don't remember where, perhaps south west of downtown area. Seemed like a well established business to me...wonder what they do?
I wish I had stayed there longer to see more of the city but I did not want to get stuck in DFW traffic... so had to escape early enough...
Just a question about acreage around south of beltway & around Wylie schools/Buffalo Gap what does it fetch? would you know...I could not find a RE agent that has any listing around that area...
Now that I can say I have been to Abilene... yes I would have more questions in the following replies...Thanks once again for your pure input on the city...

[WestTexan87]

Meals on Wheels is a pretty national non-profit organization that cooks, packages, and delivers meals to people who cannot otherwise leave their homes. My Uncle in NYC drove for Meals on Wheels for a while and I used to go with him. Most of the customers were elderly people who were unable to leave for medical reasons. The new Meals on Wheels building that you saw was built within the last 2 or 3 years and is located on North 10th St northeast of the downtown core. As for acreage in that area, I would estimate a standard half-acre lot in one of the new developments probably goes for between 20 and 30,000. If you're looking for a big plot of land, you might want to move further south where new developments are going up with each house on an acre or more. I couldn't really tell you how much a lot there would cost, but my guess would be less than 50,000 before building a house on it. I lived in several areas around Abilene while growing up, but spent most of my life in a house in south Abilene near Fairway Oaks Country Club. The house sits on about .4 acres and is valued at about 30,000 with the house valued at about 180,000. Yes, there are LOTS of senior citizens. Several massive senior housing projects have either recently been completed or announced. This has quite a bit to do with the population boom in the 1960's and the abundance of good healthcare int he city. Abilene boasts 3 hospitals and dozens of other wonderful medical facilities, rivalling anywhere in west Texas. As for the lack of young people, it is a problem Abilene has been trying to correct. There are just not enough jobs in the area to keep the college graduates here. That is slowly changing, though. A computer graphics engineering company just moved into Abilene's tallest building in southern downtown and has thus far hired 40 people with plans for about 100 more. Though a baby step, it is a step forward nonetheless. Anyway, I have to get to class, but just let me know anything else you'd like me to discuss.

[anormalman]

I venture to say that the reason Abilene is such a great town is exactly because of the "ultra conservative" people and all the churches. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to reason this out.

[JamesAbilene]

Abilene is a great place to live and a well kept secret for some reason. My wife and I are constantly amazed at how much there is to do here for a town its size.

[JamesAbilene]

Originally Posted by WestTexan87

Abilene's a great town. It tends to be overrun by ultra-conservative churchy people, but hey, you grow to tolerate them if not enjoy them for their enthusiasm. Abilene is home to 3 universities: Abilene Christian University which was founded in 1906 and has an enrollment approaching 5,000; Hardin-Simmons University which was founded in 1891 and has about 2,500 students; and McMurry University which was founded in 1923 and is home to roughly 1,600 students. There is also a large branch of Cisco Junior College which just built a new campus in east Abilene and currently enrolls roughly 4,000. Also, there is a branch of Texas State Technical College and a graduate branch of Texas Tech School of Engineering. Also, the Texas Tech School of Pharmacy is currently under construction in north Abilene. Overall, there are well over 10,000 students living in town. The city's downtown is undergoing a complete revitalization since in the 1980's and is a wonderful place to visit. It is home to the Grace Cultural Center, the Paramount Theater, the Center for Contemporary Arts, The National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature, Fronter Texas!, the 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum and dozens of other cultural attractions. Just a couple years ago, a 16-story art-deco skyscraper downtown was overhauled into the city's most exlusive and expensive apartments, remaining essentially 100% occupied since opening. This, along with other residential developments has pumped life into downtown. Downtown is also home to the first ever Hilton Hotel, which is now a retirement home. Abilene Independent School District recently moved downtown as well, bringing hundreds of employees with it. As was the case with most cities from the 1950s-1970s, Abilene spread outward after WWII. Much of the city's growth over this time period has been to the south and west. Also during this period, Dyess Air Force Base located on the western edge of town and it remains to this day the largest employer in the city. (It's the reason I'm there.) Anyway, there is a mall, 2 Wal Mart Supercenters, dozens of restaurants, a Zoo, and about a thousand other nice amenities you wouldn't expect from a town of 115,000. Let me know if there's anything else you're interested in knowing.

Don't forget Emery Riddle University at Dyess. Check out all of the universities/colleges here:

Universities loc: Abilene, TX - Google Maps

[JamesAbilene]

A company announced today that it is moving here to build a manufacturing facility for windmills. That is the second announcement in as many months of new manufacturing/repair facilities for the windmill/electrical generating business in the Abilene area. Each one is about 150 employees. Fairly good salaries. Good news.

[momof4boys:p]

My husband and I are looking at re-locating to Abilene from southeast NM. It may sound like an odd question, but what is it like living in Abilene when your a Hispanic??? The reason I ask this question is because my husband lived in Waco TX, and he was shocked at how often he heard the word "SPICK" or "WET BACK". I am a mother of four boys, and the schools in our city rank poorly, hence the reason for looking at Texas since I hear Abilene schools ranked well in the nation. However, It would break my heart to hear my children being called a SPICK, or simply treated differently because they are Hispanic. I apologize in advance if my question offends anyone.

[teatime]

I don't think you'll have any problem. Abilenians seem to mix well and get along. My neighborhood is a mix of white, black and Hispanic folks and it's a joy to see all of the children playing so well together and the neighbors all being friendly.

You MAY hear some grumbling in the home improvement sector about illegal immigrant workers. I've had some work done on my house and the contractors I've interviewed have made it a point to tell me that their workers are legal and have been with them for a long time. But that's an economic and legal issue, not one against Hispanics.

I think Abilene is about 25 percent Hispanic and the Hispanic community does have some activities if that's your thing. There's a Cinco de Mayo celebration and a Hispanic soccer league, too. But, really, everyone turns out for city events and there's no racial/ethnic tension at all.

Abilene is a great place to raise kids. I think you'd like it!