what to expect in our move to texas

[Mrs Perkins]

Originally Posted by tomjayden

Hey get ready for the worst driving experience of your life. People here are very impatient, when stopping for the red light they try to switch to the empty lane at the very last moment. Get ready for my many more surprises which you haven't experienced anywhere in your life.

crop! thanks for the heads up

[Mrs Perkins]

Originally Posted by Army_Guy

The drivers here are pretty bad, a lot of the bad ones have yellow plates that say "Land of Enchantment."

Seriously though, a lot of slow moving traffic in left hand lanes and if you believe what the Army tells you, drunk drivers.

1. You might consider staying on post. His commute will also depend on which unit he is at as Bliss is a huge post. The commute from main post to east Bliss is 10.5+ miles. East side El Paso seems to be popular, housing is cheaper there than the west side but traffic isn't very good on the east side. I personally prefer the west side even though the commute is longer and housing seems to cost more.

2. It seems like a decent amount of non-Spanish speaking spouses (mine included) have a difficult time finding work. If you browse some employment ads, you'll see a lot of them require fluency in Spanish.

3. I live a boring life so I couldn't tell you much. However, I do like eating and there are a lot of great food places here. I also enjoy biking, it's a bike friendly city, IMO. El Paso has a lot of history.

4. I think the weather is good. Yes, it gets hot, I'm sure he's experienced hotter but it's dry. I've been stationed in GA and LA and I have an absolute hatred for the humidity, I can withstand hot temperatures but humidity is where I draw the line. We get over 300 days of sunshine a year. Even though it was 30 this morning, the sun kept you warm. But I will also caveat that weather doesn't affect me as much as it probably would for most people.

IMO, El Paso gets a bad rap and most of the people who I have heard that badmouth it have never even been here.

thank you so much for the details.

[kparker313]

what neighborhood are you guys in? we will be moving by may. if we decide to live on base how many months in advance we need to call for the housing?

We are in Aero Vista. The website for housing is Fort Bliss Housing :: Fort Bliss, TX Housing & Relocation Information - I don't know what the wait list is like, but as soon as you have orders, you can submit an online application and you'll get assigned a housing specialist who will be super helpful. We were assigned a house within 4 days but I don't know if that's typical of all housing areas/ranks.

[wellshii]

The Millitary help with rent correct? There are plenty of houses,alot of new houses going up pretty fast.Rent has increased due to the millitary increase.But again,lots of houses. Try trulia.com. I reside in Horizon,which is a suburb alittle outside El paso,really only 10 miles away from the eastside. It's nice out here for the most part.
As far as finding a job,whats your field? Im not billingual either,that really doesnt matter much to be honest.It's just a plus on an app .
Echostar will start you off at ten bucks an hr if you have customer service skills,it's a call center for Dish Network.But again,IDK your field.
Things to do,well,ummm....depends what you like.There are plenty of bars,and plenty of restaurants. Amusement parks will amuze you in the wrong way here. The mountains are nice,but it all gets old pretty quick.
They opened up a new baseball stadium in downtown if you like that.
Weather,yea its good,barely if at all snows or rains. Right now it's 59 degrees and clear. Coldest it gets here,maybe 15,which is from an extreme cold front. Dusty come march-may,then the heat really hits. Summer is dry and hot,100s pretty much the whole summer until late August,early September.Like I said earlier,it barely rains,but when it does rain hard,it floods all too easily.
Anyhting you else you would like to know,just ask.I have been in EP all my life.

[Chelito23]

There is work there if you look for it and have skills and can get along with people different from you.

Traffic is not an issue except at rush hour (to be expected).

Housing varies, many options and pretty affordable.

Weather is not that great....pretty typical Texas winters. Surprisngly harsh, a few mixed/ice events and sometimes light snow...very cold and windy with mild days...but the constant wind makes that 55 degree high feel colder.