Interesting neighborhood? (El Paso: apartment, rentals, crime)

[OliviaBrown]

I'll be moving to El Paso in September and will be working at the courthouse. I was just wondering if anyone could recommend an interesting part of town for me to rent a place. I don't care about crime (I box), or schools (no kids), or nightlife (I'm nerdish). I speak Spanish, so I'm not worried about living in a neighborhood where only Spanish is spoken. I don't care if it's a newer or older place, I'd just like it to have some character.

Any ideas?

[holmes]

If you want character, all the neighborhoods surrounding downtown have plenty of it.. See the other thread, but I'll summarize. The coolest areas adjacent to downtown are union plaza, san francisco dist, sunset heights. These neighborhoods are what I'd call transitional, with sunset heights being the nicest overall. The union plaza and san fran areas are nice in their own right, having benefitted from streetscape and building improvements in the not too distant past. I would tend to call these neighborhoods a little rougher around the edges still. I used to live in a cool old apartment building in the san fran district. Rent was very reasonable and the area was pretty cool. Basically downtown, but it still feels a bit secluded. Kern place is also an option but it is a bit out of walking distance, unlike the other neighborhoods. It is also lacks in rentals, particularly apartment buildings. The other three neighborhoods have a higher concentration of rental space due to their proximity to downtown.. Hope it helps!

[OliviaBrown]

Thank you so much. That's very helpful!

[malamute]

I second what Holmes wrote -- anything downtown has character -- especially if you are looking for the older kinds of homes and apartment buildings -- the ones with the most character are closest to downtown.

[Muhnay]

Another place that would be great is Memorial Park area, near Copper and Gold Streets.

[holmes]

I think that's bordering the five points neighborhood, right? Here's an interesting city link that shows the boundaries of the various neighborhoods in the city:

www.elpasotexas.gov - Neighborhood Association Boundaries Reports

[holmes]

Interesting that the neighborhood between sunset heights and golden hills is called the el paso high neighborhood. I've always called it that for lack of my knowing the actual neighborhood name. It describes it perfectly!

[WildWestDude]

Want character?

Kerns Place near UTEP is the place to be, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!