Ennis

[turf3]

My understanding was that a lot of people moved into Ennis in anticipation of long careers working at the SCSC, and when it was abruptly cancelled and all those people found themselves suddenly jobless, it had a significant depressing effect on the economy of the Waxahachie/Ennis area.

[Katana49]

Originally Posted by turf3

My understanding was that a lot of people moved into Ennis in anticipation of long careers working at the SCSC, and when it was abruptly cancelled and all those people found themselves suddenly jobless, it had a significant depressing effect on the economy of the Waxahachie/Ennis area.

I think that's a bit of an overstatement, the project was never close to completion (only about 12 miles of tunnel were dug out of a proposed 50+ miles) so the number of people involved wasn't really that high. During that time, there was a mild recession going on and some people have blamed the SSC cancellation for that, but I think the reality is that our economy was still feeling the effects of the national recession that occurred under Bush Sr. The cancellation didn't help, but I certainly wouldn't argue it was the cause for an economic slowdown. Texas always seems to lag the nation in feeling recessions and recoveries.

[SciFiNerd1]

Which communities south of Dallas are considered as nice places to live? I read that Ennis is one of most beautiful small towns in Texas so are Mansfield, Wilmer, and Cedar Hill.

I don't know much about Waxahachie and Midlothian. How are they?

[Stevehanrahan41]

Originally Posted by SciFiNerd1

Which communities south of Dallas are considered as nice places to live? I read that Ennis is one of most beautiful small towns in Texas so are Mansfield, Wilmer, and Cedar Hill.

I don't know much about Waxahachie and Midlothian. How are they?

Mansfield, Midlothian, Waxahachie are all nice places to live. Ennis is just a bit far out for my taste. I work in Dallas city limits and it takes me exactly 30 minutes to get to work in the morning from my house, which is in southern waxahachie.

So it really depends on what you're looking for, where you work, etc.. but all 3 are nicer southern burbs. Cedar Hill isn't bad either

[SciFiNerd1]

Does anyone have any comments about Wilmer and other smaller towns off I-45 on the way to Ennis, such as Ferris, Palmer, and Hutchins?

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by SciFiNerd1

Does anyone have any comments about Wilmer and other smaller towns off I-45 on the way to Ennis, such as Ferris, Palmer, and Hutchins?

Wilmer and Hutchins used to belong to the worst school district in North Texas, Wilmer-Hutchins Independent School District (most of its students came from segments of South Dallas, not Wilmer and Hutchins). This 1996 Dallas Observer article talks about the situation there: Last in the Class | Dallas Observer

Despite its urban demographics and location just a few minutes from downtown Dallas, much of the school district has an incongruous rural feel. Within Dallas city limits, pig farms sit cheek by jowl with burglar-barred houses in sprawling subdivisions built 25 or 30 years ago. The shops along Hutchins' Main Street--the W&W Grocery "Home of the King Burger," Linde's Hair Salon, and Evelyn's Flowers--give it a faded, smalltown feel. Nearby, Wilmer-Hutchins High sits on a two-lane macadam road.

For years, this corner of Dallas County has been ground zero for things nobody wants in their part of town. There's the Hutchins State Jail and the McCommas Bluff landfill, a mountainous city dump fed by a stream of garbage trucks that grinds down Old South Central Expressway like so many worker ants.

It's hard to find a new house, store, or building anywhere in the district. People tend to blame that economic torpor on the abysmal state of the Wilmer-Hutchins schools.

In 2006 WHISD ran out of money, so Dallas ISD picked up the slack. AFAIK school performance improved but the WHISD schools aren't considered to be that great. My impression (as a non-Dallasite, as I am from Houston) is that Wilmer's just a tiny town and that Hutchins isn't so desirable (as there is a state jail and a landfill nearby).