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Old 08-10-2013, 10:25 AM
 
9 posts, read 25,963 times
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We are looking to move from San Antonio to Abilene and wanted to get some ideas of people who may live there.

1) What part of town is best for looking for a house in? The safest, and more upscale I would say. Range around $120-$150k.

2) We own two Acura's, and there doesn't seem to be a Acura dealer any where close to this city. Is this true? Do you guys know what is best to do on this? I mean if we must I will sell the cars and get something that is there (Toyota, Nissan, etc). (Edit: No Acura dealers and just found out Honda will not work on Acuras especially under warranty).

3) High Speed Internet. What providers are there and what are the best deals? We currently have Time Warner here and get 20 down and 2 up. I do game, so latency is important.

4) Cell phone coverage. How good are the providers? What are the best in that area? We currently have AT&T.

5) I am in the Information Technology field, and looking for a company to grow with and get a good job with. Any recommendations for companies down there? Also any job hunter companies that you would recommend if I needed it?

6) How are the utilities costs (water, electricity, gas) compared to a major city like San Antonio or Dallas?

This is about all I can think of right now, but any more pointers, please let me know.
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Old 08-10-2013, 04:04 PM
 
Location: Kaufman County, Texas
11,816 posts, read 26,650,028 times
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I'm pretty familiar with Abilene from traveling there with two former jobs, and attending college in San Angelo. First, you need to know more about the town.

Obviously, Abilene is much smaller than San Antonio, so you will not be able to get some things there that you are used to in the bigger city. The only "industry" in Abilene is the three universities, the Air Force base, local ranches, oil and wind power, and the two main hospitals. Probably 1/4 of the town's population is retirees. Pretty much everything else in town supports those industries. There is a good variety of shopping/retail/restaurants, medical offices and medical equipment companies, and ag supply houses. That's about it. I honestly cannot think of any IT companies, other than positions at the hospitals and the universities. The only "head hunters" that I'm aware of there a a couple of local temp agencies. So, if you don't have a job before you move, you might have some difficulty finding one.

No, no Acura or Hyundai dealer. Unless you are willing to tow your car to the dealers in Midland or Fort Worth, you're going to be stuck. Your best bet will probably be to sell the cars and buy something that has a local dealer.

There's not really much "upscale" housing in Abilene, and especially not in that price range. Housing prices are similar to DFW, but there is not as much on the high end. The southwest part of town heading towards Wylie has the most new houses, and there are also some nice neighborhoods out by the airport.

Now the big question: WHY do you think you want to move to Abilene? If you are looking for a slower pace, and more small-town lifestyle, you will find it there. But there are sacrifices that come with it, too. The public schools aren't known for being very good academically, and there is a pretty significant drug problem. There are a lot of low-income households, too. So, you need to question why you think you want to live there before you make your decision.
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Old 08-10-2013, 04:25 PM
 
Location: Texas State Fair
8,560 posts, read 11,165,686 times
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I don't live in Abilene but did attend public schools there, many years ago. My mom lived there until a few years ago so I have visited frequently.

Best part of town...
There is a trend in Abilene to move either to the northeast sector, near ACU, or to the southwest, towards Buffalo Gap. Those will be your better neighborhoods.

Acura...
Sorry, don't know about the Acura service but don't put that into a surprised category. Abilene is not big on attracting new business. Never has been, never will be.

High speed internet...
Looks like Suddenlink and Comcast are your choices. You might try AT^T for uVerse.

Cell phone...
I used Sprint while visiting Abilene with no problems. No idea otherwise.

IT field...
Again, Abilene isn't big on big business but last I knew there was a Blue Cross/Shield call center there. And of course, Dyess AFB. And banks, and county,etc.

Utilities...
Most electricity in Texas comes from the same source. I don't expect it'll be any cheaper in Abilene but you can start looking at Powertochoose.com.

Learn to like KoolAid or Tea. The water in Abilene can occasionally be nastiest stuff you ever flushed a toilet with. Where you have humidity in San Antonio you'll have searing heat in Abilene.

And now a little geography...
It's 148 miles to Midland
It's 147 miles to Fort Worth, downtown to downtown. Hulen Mall is in southwest FW, so a bit closer.

In the Buffalo Gap area (near to but south of Abilene) is a range of hills, the Callahan Divide, running west to southeast. Cattle drivers used to drive cattle from south Texas through Buffalo Gap - a gap in that range of hills - through the Abilene area and on to market.

The Callahan Divide is also the northern divide between the Brazos and Colorado rivers water shed.

DO NOT speed through Callahan County.

And what ChristieP says.

Good luck, travel safe, and GO! You mighty Warbirds...

Last edited by Willsson; 08-10-2013 at 04:41 PM..
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Old 08-10-2013, 06:49 PM
 
Location: Texas State Fair
8,560 posts, read 11,165,686 times
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Just a note, just in case...

From ChristieP's post above, 'The southwest part of town heading towards Wylie...' is an area referred to as Wylie but is a Wylie school district. Not to be confused with Wylie, Tx, east of Dallas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wylie_...lene,_Texas%29
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Old 08-10-2013, 08:22 PM
 
Location: Warrior Country
4,573 posts, read 6,739,255 times
Reputation: 3978
A couple of random thoughts from a twice a year visitor:

- A lot of good tennis players (& football players) in Abilene. & lots of places to play tennis.

- I think ACU is moving up to D1 soon (fwiw)

- Motels aren't cheap.

- The people are very nice....I like Abilene.
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Old 08-11-2013, 11:32 AM
 
Location: Abilene, Texas
8,746 posts, read 8,987,940 times
Reputation: 55906
Native Abilenian here. I grew up in Abilene, graduated from high school there, moved away for a while then moved back there in 1994 and have lived there from that time until just here recently. I'm only here in DFW on a temporary job and I still have a home in Abilene and will be back there soon.

Like the others have said, the southwest part of town out in the Wylie area is the best part of town. There are many newer housing subdivisions out in that area that have sprung up in recent years. Most of the "upscale" homes will be in that area and will be about 300K or more in price. However, you can still get a very nice home in the 120 to 150K range in many areas. Most of the best homes will be in the 79606 zip code in the far south Abilene/Wylie area or in the 79602 zip code over in the southeastern part of town. Some of those newer subdivisions in the 79602 zip code are on larger lots (some 1 acre or larger), if that would be of interest to you. There are some newer homes in the far northeastern part of town near Abilene Christian University that would probably be in your price range as well.

There is no Acura dealership there for sure.

The best high speed internet in town is through Suddenlink cable. I've used them for a long time and no other ISP compares to the speed you'll have with them.

I've had AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint in Abilene for cell phone coverage. I've found all three to be about the same quality. Most of my friends in Abilene have AT&T and most everyone seems happy with their service. I currently have Sprint and have no major problems with them, just occasional drops offs in service.

I have no idea about IT jobs in Abilene. I only know one person in IT there, he works for a local bank there running their IT services.

It's hard for me to comment about utilities in Abilene vs large cities since I'm staying with a friend here in DFW. For my house in Abilene, I've found that TXU Energy has some of the cheapest electricity rates. I've used them for the last few years and have no complaints.

As far as the schools go, AISD is about average, but Wylie ISD schools are very good academically. Wylie ISD serves far southern Abilene and unicorporated areas outside the city limits to the south in central Taylor county. School taxes in Wylie ISD are higher than AISD taxes.

Someone above mentioned something about a drug problem in Abilene. I'm not sure what the current crime rates are in Abilene, drug usage, etc., however, it seems like crime has generally increased in Abilene since I moved back there in 1994. With that being said, the crime rates are probably similar to other cities of similar size in Texas. You'd just have to google the crime stats or look it up here on CD. If you have any more questions about Abilene just let me know.
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Old 08-30-2013, 08:29 PM
 
9 posts, read 25,963 times
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thank you guys for the responses. We are going to visit next week to see how things are! And look for a house.
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Old 08-31-2013, 05:02 PM
 
Location: Kaufman County, Texas
11,816 posts, read 26,650,028 times
Reputation: 10537
You've never even been there before?!?! Yes, please do take a look around before deciding to move there!

A good site to check out for neighborhood crime rates:
Moderator cut: link removed, linking to competitor sites is not allowed

Last edited by Yac; 09-04-2013 at 07:38 AM..
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Old 08-31-2013, 09:26 PM
 
9 posts, read 25,963 times
Reputation: 10
We will be moving there no matter what at this time. But just needed advice. Thanks
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Old 10-27-2015, 06:10 AM
 
6 posts, read 6,019 times
Reputation: 15
Hi, Nizmoz, I realize this is a two-year old thread, but I wanted to see if you have insights on Abilene since moving there, specifically on cell service, internet, utilities, and ideal neighborhood. My husband and I are going to be stationed there next year, and we're looking to buy a home. Thank you so much!
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