Moving to el paso from California; what areas should i consider living in; which should i avoid? (Hondo: affordable apartments, renters)

[B1purtle123]

So I am totally new to El Paso and the state of Texas. For the past year and a half I have been unemployed and living with my father in California, and finally landed a job at the El Paso Airport. ill be starting in early July, so I need to move quickly.

I was planning on renting a one bedroom apartment, and had a few questions. 1) I will be making $37,356.18 to start out at my job; is this enough to live decently on in El Paso? having lived in California most of my life i'm used to VERY high costs of living. I'm thinking a budget of $625-725 Per month for a one bedroom--is that a reasonable price for a decent location? 2) More importantly, I want to know what areas should I AVOID (i.e. Dangerous, very poor areas)? 3) What areas would you recommend I look at for moving in to a one bedroom apartment? I'm not looking for SUPER EXPENSIVE or fancy areas, but something that is safe, and reasonable to my budget of $625-725 per month?

I really have no ideas which areas are safe and which are not, so I would appreciate any help or any tips you can give me for my move to El Paso. Again i'm not familiar with the layout of El Paso ,so anything helps...if you have any other tips about where to move, or about moving to El Paso in general please feel free to write in.

Sorry in advance if this has been posted before-- but I really wanted a fresh current recommendations from people familiar with El Paso, about where to live.

Thank You Very Much

[joqua]

There are numerous apartment complexes within a short drive time of the airport, and all are in low crime neighborhoods, so you should have no problem at all finding somewhere to live. Your quoted salary for a single person will be more than adequate for a 'normal' style of life, but of course you won't be looking to buy a Maserati, etc.

[TexasCCW]

If you are near the airport I would recommend living near Cielo Vista Mall. There are tons of apartments on Viscount Ave. I would try to stay away from the Northeast simply because of recent crime. Welcome to El Paso and come back to the forums let us know about your experience!

[katzpaw]

If you are working at the airport I'd look at the 'wedge' between Montana and Hwy 10. (south of Montana, north of Hwy 10). El Paso has low crime rates but the sketchier/poorer areas are east/north-east of downtown and parts of the the lower valley (south of Hwy 10). (I agree with TexasCCW re Cielo Vista / Viscount area)

[malamute]

El Paso's homicide rate is very low -- and there is no part of town that is better or worse as far as homicides. Burglary rates are probably higher in the more affluent areas. I don't think there is any really bad part of town as far as dangerous.

It makes sense to live closer to the workplace because the traffic here is horrendous -- unless you enjoy spending time in traffic jams. I agree with the Cielo Vista area but also the Northeast. That salary puts you well above the average income for El Paso.

[atrabilius]

Originally Posted by malamute

El Paso's homicide rate is very low -- and there is no part of town that is better or worse as far as homicides. Burglary rates are probably higher in the more affluent areas. I don't think there is any really bad part of town as far as dangerous.

It makes sense to live closer to the workplace because the traffic here is horrendous -- unless you enjoy spending time in traffic jams. I agree with the Cielo Vista area but also the Northeast. That salary puts you well above the average income for El Paso.

If you work at the airport and you're going to move to Northeast, maybe north of Sean Haggerty Drive wouldn't be the best choice, but there are apartment complexes in 79904 and 79924 that might suit you. You probably would want to avoid the Triangle neighborhood between Dyer Street, Hondo Pass Avenue and Gateway North Boulevard, though.

[TexasCCW]

Please don't choose the Northeast. You will not like it and there really isn't much variety as far as hospitals, grocery stores and entertainment is concerned. If you choose the areas of 79925 & 79935 you will be centrally located to all of El Paso. Get a short term lease and then move once you've settled in and gotten to know the area.

[katzpaw]

$37,356.18 sounds like a government pay grade. If it's TSA it could be 2 short shifts/day (morning rush/afternoon rush) so it's best if you live close. The Northeast has some nice affordable apartments but fewer amenities & less shopping than the area south of the airport.

[B1purtle123]

Originally Posted by katzpaw

$37,356.18 sounds like a government pay grade. If it's TSA it could be 2 short shifts/day (morning rush/afternoon rush) so it's best if you live close. The Northeast has some nice affordable apartments but fewer amenities & less shopping than the area south of the airport.

Its not TSA, but it is a government job. Nice guess! Thankfully it sounds form all the responses here like El Paso is a relatively safe place to live, so that puts me at ease more. I take all the recommendations here when looking. It sounds like I might be able to find something pretty decent in my budget of $600-725. Seems like El Paso is definitely more affordable than California.

[unnativeelpasoan]

Originally Posted by B1purtle123

I was planning on renting a one bedroom apartment, and had a few questions. 1) I will be making $37,356.18 to start out at my job; is this enough to live decently on in El Paso? having lived in California most of my life i'm used to VERY high costs of living. I'm thinking a budget of $625-725 Per month for a one bedroom--is that a reasonable price for a decent location? 2) More importantly, I want to know what areas should I AVOID (i.e. Dangerous, very poor areas)? 3) What areas would you recommend I look at for moving in to a one bedroom apartment? I'm not looking for SUPER EXPENSIVE or fancy areas, but something that is safe, and reasonable to my budget of $625-725 per month?

I really have no ideas which areas are safe and which are not, so I would appreciate any help or any tips you can give me for my move to El Paso. Again i'm not familiar with the layout of El Paso ,so anything helps...if you have any other tips about where to move, or about moving to El Paso in general please feel free to write in.

Just some thoughts:

-Your salary should be just fine for a single person in El Paso.
-As far as your apartment budget, does that include utilities?? $625-725 is very doable for the rent itself, but your electric bill alone can easily set you back another $100 during the summer months.
-El Paso is very safe for a city of it's size, but because it is a border town poverty is pretty widespread. As others have mentioned some areas of the Northeast can be pretty sketchy - from watching the local news it seems to me that a lot of the violent crime here happens in the Northeast part of town.
-If you are willing to commute longer to work I would recommend the West side of town. The Cielo Vista area others have mentioned isn't a dangerous area, but IMHO the West side is a lot nicer. (I have lived on both sides of town, btw.) I also think the West side is a better area for single people.
-I would highly recommend that you get an apartment with refrigerated air. Stay away from apts. with swamp coolers.
-Before you decide on an apt. I would always go to Apartment Ratings :: The leading source of apartment reviews by renters for renters. and read their reviews. Although you aren't likely to find a place without a single negative review, I would definitely advise you to stay away from those places with a lot of very negative posts (and be wary of those perfect reviews written by the management).

Hope this helps.