What's your favorite city in Texas ? (Houston, Dallas: living, architecture, rated)

[Nostalgic]

New Braunfels - with its' lakes,rivers and Schlitterbahn you can't help but have fun! It is also a friendly city with a small-town feel.

[JamesAbilene]

I live in Abilene and love it, but if I could afford to live anywhere, I would probably pick the Fredericksburg, Comfort area.

[Lucidus]

Mine is Midland/Odessa. Its certainly not the prettiest place around and its had its share of hard times, but I love it the way I love my dog, a tough old stray that I rescued. M/O is a polarizing place, its almost impossible to be neutral or apathetic about it, people usually either love it deeply or hate it intensely. I can't explain what it is, just a general feeling of the place that I don't sense in other cities.

My other favorites are Tyler and Athens (its funny that I consider Athens my hometown because thats where my family is from but I have never actually lived there), but I love all of Texas and there is no city in Texas that I dislike.

[case44]

I've always said Houston is my favorite city in the Lone Star State, and it still is.

Runners-up are Austin, El Paso, and Lubbock.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by Lucidus

Mine is Midland/Odessa. Its certainly not the prettiest place around and its had its share of hard times, but I love it the way I love my dog, a tough old stray that I rescued. M/O is a polarizing place, its almost impossible to be neutral or apathetic about it, people usually either love it deeply or hate it intensely. I can't explain what it is, just a general feeling of the place that I don't sense in other cities.

My other favorites are Tyler and Athens (its funny that I consider Athens my hometown because thats where my family is from but I have never actually lived there), but I love all of Texas and there is no city in Texas that I dislike.

I wonder why Midland-Odessa is apparently hated so much..? I lived there for 30 years, and the only thing I didn't like about it was that skiing was so far away (300 miles to Ruidoso is STILL a long way, and there is not snow every year, so you end up going 400 miles to Sipapu or flying to other areas) and no mountains.

It has a very high quality of life, all the amenities, very clean air, wide streets, et al.....housing, while it has gone up in this boom period, is still far more affordable than most other areas in Texas.

It's a LOT more affordable than New Mexico, as I am finding out. EVERYTHING is higher here.....groceries, gasoline, housing, utilities...it's all higher than it was in Midland. The ONLY thing cheaper is my year-around swimming membership, at $10 less per month. While I have only four 25 yard lanes (as opposed to COM Aquatics 16 lanes)....I can swim anytime from 6am to 6pm, no restrictions....so that makes up for the lack of lanes.

I am now only 65 miles from Ruidoso....so if there is snow this year, I will be skiing afternoons, and will be able to return HOME at night, instead of having to drive and pay for motel rooms, eating out, etc.

The mountains here are just gorgeous...and the people friendly, so there ARE compensating factors.

If I ever return to Texas to live, it WILL be WT....my favorite area in TX is the Alpine-Ft Davis-Marfa area. If that area had skiing and year-around swimming, I would not have given NM a second look.

[Lucidus]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

I wonder why Midland-Odessa is apparently hated so much..? I lived there for 30 years, and the only thing I didn't like about it was that skiing was so far away (300 miles to Ruidoso is STILL a long way, and there is not snow every year, so you end up going 400 miles to Sipapu or flying to other areas) and no mountains.

It has a very high quality of life, all the amenities, very clean air, wide streets, et al.....housing, while it has gone up in this boom period, is still far more affordable than most other areas in Texas.

It's a LOT more affordable than New Mexico, as I am finding out. EVERYTHING is higher here.....groceries, gasoline, housing, utilities...it's all higher than it was in Midland. The ONLY thing cheaper is my year-around swimming membership, at $10 less per month. While I have only four 25 yard lanes (as opposed to COM Aquatics 16 lanes)....I can swim anytime from 6am to 6pm, no restrictions....so that makes up for the lack of lanes.

I am now only 65 miles from Ruidoso....so if there is snow this year, I will be skiing afternoons, and will be able to return HOME at night, instead of having to drive and pay for motel rooms, eating out, etc.

The mountains here are just gorgeous...and the people friendly, so there ARE compensating factors.

If I ever return to Texas to live, it WILL be WT....my favorite area in TX is the Alpine-Ft Davis-Marfa area. If that area had skiing and year-around swimming, I would not have given NM a second look.

I love Ruidoso, if I was to ever leave Texas that would be where I would probably go.

[catman]

I rather like West Texas. It's not for the faint of heart, but I like it. Alpine-Marfa-Ft Davis is definitely my favorite area, but it's remote. I could live with that, but many couldn't. The nearest big town is almost 200 miles away (Odessa, I think). I don't know whether DSL is available or not. I'd hate to go back to dial-up, especially if I were having to do all of my shopping on line. But the climate is great, the scenery is wonderful, and the sky is very dark at night!

[desert sun]

I like Amarillo and Dallas.

[WildWestDude]

If you take out the job factor, El Paso is the best kept secret in TX

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by Lucidus

I love Ruidoso, if I was to ever leave Texas that would be where I would probably go.

I haven't been to Ruidoso since 1984, so this winter is going to be interesting!

The thing that bothers me about living in Ruidoso/High Rolls/Cloudcroft/other mountain communities....the thick forestation and the associated fire hazard.

These communities ARE beautiful, though. I have my eye out for maybe a very small place in Ruidoso to use during ski season.....but it won't be easy finding something affordable as a second home.