Thinking of moving to El Paso (Mission, Socorro: houses, neighborhoods, high schools)

[EnjoyEP]

MOD MESSAGE:

Folks, back on topic please.

Topics debating the language one, immigration, etc., are off topic to the thread at hand and the El Paso forum in general and belong in the Politics & Other Controversies forum. Also, no more personal squabbling or attacks as doing so breaks Forum Terms of Service.

[Muhnay]

Have you looked up the word Diversity?

diversity Noun
1. the quality of being different or varied
2. a point of difference

If the majority is Hispanic, then there is no DIVERSITY.

I too am a full fledge Anglo Male, born and raised in El Paso... <Mod cut: responding to deleted material>

Read this.. <Mod cut: responding to deleted material>

But really back on topic..

If you want to work for minimum wage and live in poverty, then heck Yeah move to El Paso. Regardless of what this person says.. SPANISH is required.. don't kid yourself and think it is not. People can get by without it.. I have. But I also work for myself.. and my wife works on post... so yeah it maybe a bit of a blanket statement what I said above.. but I have found that it is also a very real fact of El Paso TX.

I agree we have great Mexican food here, but if you like other types of food, like German as an example sorry.. we don't have any place here to get that now.

I noticed that people who don't live here and visit, always seem to be the ones posting the nice stuff about El Paso.. humm wonder why that is?

Originally Posted by melhoff13

It's funny to me how people always use the language barrier to downgrade EP. I am a full fledged white boy and I was born and raised in EP. I have been away for a few years now, but will be returning soon. I make trips to EP every few months and don't understand why people hate on the fact that EP is highly populated by Hispanics. Diversity is one of the greatest aspects of our great nation....<Mod cut: deleted material> Anyhow, I lived in EP for 20 years and never had a problem with the language. Over the years I picked up a little spanish, but never was fluent. You can survive. It might even benefit you and your career to learn the language.

Over the years I have gotten tired of people downgrading EP because of the language and Hispanics. There are some places in this country that are 90% white that I wouldn't step foot in....Oh yea, as I said before, I am 100% white boy....

Anyhow...EP is a great place to live if you enjoy dry heat and Mexican food....Job hunting can be tough, but there are oppurtunities out there.

[stan4]

While I can see how my quick list might make what I said sound bad (heck, it was late at night), what I was saying was a con of living in El Paso are the daytime border crossers who come over from Mexico.

Will detail one of many experiences:

New Best Buy opens on the West Side.
People cross the border to hit the new store.
Trash is thrown out of cars as border crossers attempt to hide the fact that they bought new tvs/electronics in order to avoid paying duty on them.
The first day this store opened, the whole parking lot was trashed.

[TexanWest]

Originally Posted by melissa

Looking for info on the El Paso area. Is there any parts of the city that are better than others? Areas to stay away from because of crime/gangs/violence in general? What is the job outlook? Also is there any casinos/card rooms in the area where my husband can play Texas hold 'em. I probably won't be able to drag him down there if there isn't. Also how would you rate the climate? Too hot, too humid ? Well known for tornados? Monsoon season?
Thanks for any help and advice. Can't wait to get the hell outta NY! Sick of snow, cold, and just in general NY!

Hi Melissa,

I'm a bit curious--what made you settle on El Paso? I ask because of the large number of other places in Texas that offer so much more than El Paso. Crime isn't a big problem here, but economic opportunity is. Forget about high-paying jobs--this city really doesn't have them. A job that pays, say, $60,000 in NY will pay maybe $40,000 here. No joke, the pay disparity is that bad. And ignore any comments about how "cheap" El Paso is. That's just simply no longer the case. Sure, homes here are a bit cheaper than other cities, but we have outrageous property taxes (and this is a direct result of the low-paying jobs we have here), and cost of goods and services here are the same as anywhere else.

The people in EP are nice, and, as I stated, crime is not a problem here. The weather is also decent, as well. But those things really don't make up for the fact that it's very difficult to get a decent wage here. You may want to look at other cities. Have you looked at Albuquerque, NM? Nice weather up there, better salaries, and, yes, there are casinos nearby.

Best of luck!

[alikat1205]

all i can say is ---- don't do it.

[USAFaaron]

ok, its as bad and not as bad as everyone is making it out to be. I am white and was born and raised there. While in some cases i did feel i was discrimminated against in certain jobs, i cant say i felt that way too often.

I wouldnt worry as much about the spanish everyone is talking about. Yes lots of them speak it but most know both languages. It can also be said that many if not most el pasoans are 2nd and 3rd generation, so they speak just like everyone else. Not to say that many like the spanish language so you'll notice many signs and other things written in spanish accross the city.

i lived on the east side and the school i went to was about 75% hispanic, 20% white and the rest black. its not really the same as in other cities that have that kind of ratio though, its hard to describe but for the most part i didnt really feel like and outsider as most of the hispanics were not much different than me culturally, the same cannot be said for other schools in poorer districts though.

As a white person you might want to move to the west side of town though, the ratio actually evens out and its one of the few areas in town where you can find a vast majority of whites in restraunts or shopping centers.

As for jobs, well el paso isnt known for its great economic success, so lets leave it at that. As a city though, you'll find just about every thing you need. hundreds of shoppings centers, a few big malls, good golf courses (new one is on par with many of the top in the nation) and just about everything else you'll ever need or see in any other city is right there in el paso. I"m in the air force now, and am near a small town and am wishing i still lived in a city like el paso so i wouldnt have to order everything over the internet that i want.

Take it for what its worth. Its certainly not a place i would want to go back to and live in, but its far from the worst place i could think of to be. I personally like water, trees, etc., things of which el paso is definately lacking.

[USAFaaron]

oh yeah, and world class casino/resorts and skiing are less than 2 hours away in Ruidoso/cloudcroft NM. so if you get bored in EP then you can make a getaway out there

[Muhnay]

Originally Posted by USAFaaron

oh yeah, and world class casino/resorts and skiing are less than 2 hours away in Ruidoso/cloudcroft NM. so if you get bored in EP then you can make a getaway out there

You have one a lot closer than that.. Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino.

[Locolobo]

Melissa:

I'm in the Army as well. You and about 30,000 others are part of a plan to move 1st Armor Div to El Paso. First I would like to thank you for supporting your husband during this difficult time.

As for El Paso, this move will be what you make of it. I have bought a home here with the hope of living out the rest of my life here. I have over 21 years of service and plan to retire here when I deciede to do so.

Fort Bliss is growing with more things for your family. It has a wonderfull PX and commisary and sometimes there are lines to get in because of the large military retired commnity here. Things here are affordable. If you decide to stay in housing the Chapin school is considered the best in Northeast area. I highly recommend you visit the Ft. Bliss web site the Leadership here has done their best to provide many answers to your questions.

Welcome to Texas!

[USAFaaron]

Originally Posted by Muhnay

You have one a lot closer than that.. Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino.

true, i dont like it though since i've lost so much money on horses there! But joking aside, i would say its pretty nice. i would still rather be up in the mountains in Ruidoso though. I always thought it was really weird how you go from white sands desert to complete forrest in literally 5-10 minutes traveling up the mountain. Probably one of the few places like that.