Best city in west texas??? el paso, abilene or odessa? (Lubbock: theater, high schools)

[malamute]

One more thing - check the property taxes out before you move, property taxes in El Paso are very much on the high side and you might think a house is affordable until you get your yearly property tax statement.

[abilenefndliestpplullevrc]

Abilene (IMO) is a very friendly place to live. I love being two hours away from DFW and 3-4 from Austin, as noted earlier. It has its seasons of being busy and quiet. During school years it is more busier because of three universities and a couple of other schools..when summer lets out and winter lets out, the roads in Abilene arent as busy anymore, as if they ever really are. But there are nice communities to grow your family in and there are also areas where it is bad. Of course this is evident in any city. I have been to every city mentioned above, and they are all nice cities but I have told myself that Abilene is about as far west Texas I will ever live. There is a wonderful Texan feel to it where things arent to modern but not to old school. Abilene is a delightful place to live!

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by gottaq

I want to move to west Texas because it has the best climate for me. What is the best city in west Texas? El Paso, Abilene or Odessa? El Paso seems perfect for me, except that I'm white. I don't know if i'll fit in there, since it is all Mexican. which city would you recommend?

You're all over the place leaving out a lot of other good choices. How about you give us some more info to better help like age, job career, and hobbies?

[unnativeelpasoan]

I have nothing against Mexicans or Mexican-Americans or Hispanics, but if you are white, non-hispanic and not associated with the military (like me) it is really difficult to fit in El Paso - especially if you don't speak Spanish! Also it is VERY crowded here and VERY dry. And El Paso isn't really Texas anyway - everybody here knows it is really New Mexico!

[SVTRay]

Originally Posted by unnativeelpasoan

I have nothing against Mexicans or Mexican-Americans or Hispanics, but if you are white, non-hispanic and not associated with the military (like me) it is really difficult to fit in El Paso - especially if you don't speak Spanish! Also it is VERY crowded here and VERY dry. And El Paso isn't really Texas anyway - everybody here knows it is really New Mexico!

I've got a good friend who is Black and from El Paso. We used to make trips there all the time to harass his parents back before his Father died and I got married etc. Anyhow, he told me once, Ray (me being white), we're the minorities in El Paso..meaning both White and Blacks combined. El Paso is very much Hispanic and can be difficult to for non Spanish speaking people. So that is something to keep in mind when thinking about moving to El Paso. There probably isn't much work over there as well unless you're in the college educated white collar level. The blue collar level is probably swapped with day labors from across the border...it only takes a few minutes to cross the bridge into El Paso from Juarez.

[unnativeelpasoan]

You're wrong, actually. It takes hours to cross the bridge from Juarez to El Paso. I've done it numerous times. It takes only a minute to go into Mexico, but hours to enter the United States. (The rest of your post I pretty much agree with, though.)

[Solana]

If given a choice between Abilene, Odessa, and El Paso I'd go with El Paso every time.
Comfortably dry, sometimes uncomfortably hot, but with the cool Sacramento mountains only an hour to the north.
You'll find much more diversity in the El Paso area geographically, culturally, and gastronomically than you will in either of the other two.

And a large Hispanic population, even though I am not Hispanic myself, is a plus in my opinion.
Speaking from my own experience they usually make better friends and neighbors than gringos do and thusly build more people-oriented neighborhoods and cities that people actually enjoy living in as opposed to merely "making money" in.

[ryanez5]

Speaking spanish is not a requirement to live in El Paso. You'll only really need to use it near downtown or in the lower valley, and even then, you can get away by speaking english as long as you can understand them trying to speak english.

you'll find a higher concentration of white folk on the West Side and in pockets of the East side. I lived in El Paso for 20 years and never noticed any racial tension going on there. In terms of fitting in, you shouldn't have any problem in either side of town.

as for choosing cities, it depends on you. To me, growing up in El Paso and driving through/staying in Midessa/Abilene, the eastern-West Texas cities seemed very small and I always felt i'd be bored very quickly. again, that is a personal experience coupled with the fact that i didn't stay very long.

[badhornet]

Sanderson

[JJG]

El Paso by a universe's length. Even if you threw Lubbock and Amarillo in there...