5 Bad things about Abilene,TX

[Bo]

Some posts above were deleted. Nowhere is it mentioned in the TOS that posting negative things about a place is a violation of a rule. That is why it's not your place to criticize anyone who posts negative things about a place, ESPECIALLY in a thread where lists of negative things about a place is the topic!

If you disagree with items on a list, say so. That will be helpful to the OP. Getting personal with your disagreement is not allowed here on any topic.

[TT Dave]

Originally Posted by girliegirl007

Abilene is a TERRIBLE desolate backwards town. I also noticed a very high percentage of mentally challenged and physically deformed people when I recently visited (Sept 9-11 2011). I am not prejudice, just an observation. Perhaps pollution in the water is causing higher than average birth defects - it was THAT noticeable! It was obvious that the average income was very low too. I would not recommend anyone moving there. Sorry Abilene =(

There is a very large state supported facility here in Abilene for people with mental retardation. You probably saw some of them out in the community...lol. The average income is fairly low here but so is the cost of living so it balances out. Abilene is no utopia by any means but it's really not significantly different than other West Texas cities of similar size (In addition to Abilene, I've lived in Midland, San Angelo, and Lubbock).

[hitchhiker2012]

1) expensive private universities (they have a jr college and a small technical school) but if you have kids, you will be paying a ton for school, more than going to UT or Texas Tech
2) low pay (jobs that pay a lot more in other places are going not going to pay much here, granted cost of housing is cheap)
3) not much to do other than church (not that I'm against church)
4) it gets very hot and doesnt cool down at night (it can still be 90F at midnight in summer)
5) not many jobs or opportunities

[texantodd]

Very poor layout for free ways and roads.

The mall is pretty sad, and the shopping pretty poor. And that is being kind.

The dining options are pretty poor.

Very little nightlife.

Lots of poverty.

A fairly ugly city, with poor parks. That said, it is more green/attractive than many spots further west (Midland/Odessa/etc).

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To me, Abilene is a city of "perspective". What I mean by that is that if you are either a native, or from a small town, you might find that you enjoy Abilene. The dining/nightlife/entertainment/etc here for example, is definately superior to what is on hand in Midland/Odessa or any of the smaller towns to the west and south. However, if you come from anywhere that has any kind of quality culture/dining/atmosphere/nightlife/entertainment options then you will find Abilene to be sorely lacking.

Personally I would never move there again.

[traveler<3]

Abilene is a great place to live!!! Golf courses are really nice, there are NOT a lot of people with birth defects, the school system is amazing (my cousin is a year ahead in every subject), it is easy to have a great experience with athletic teams(my cousin also participates in every team there imaginable), there is no pollution because it is not a dirty place, and it is a small town. As for shopping, would it really kill you to go to Lubbock if you need something from the mall THAT bad???? And, there are A TON of restaurants!! If you are that picky, go complain somewhere else!! Also, what city in Texas DOESN'T have mosquitoes?? Are you kidding me?? Abilene is a great place to raise children and start a family. People from ALL over Texas go to ACU (Abilene Christian University) and Harding-Simmons is a good school too. If you have heard anything negative concerning Abilene, consider the source. Thanks and have a great life! MOVE TO ABILENE!!!

[Westerntraveler]

I have always liked and enjoyed Abilene.

[saltman80]

So, there is good and bad here in Abilene.
The bad news is that for older folks there really is not a lot to do. There is some parks, plenty of places to eat out, and places to play tennis and what not. Other than a few small lakes you will need to travel to do more exciting things. Oh, there is a large mountain bike circuit here. Also, airsoft is picking up if you are into it. Castle Airsoft Surplus just start about a year ago.

There are some small attractions here, but the good news is that Dallas and Austin are about 3-4 hrs away. As for jobs the place is growing with Tech Jobs. WaveCreste formally Genesis is a tech support company for global clients. I worked there and we had about 150 people and growing. Was a great job if your into IT. There are lots of other great things starting to happen in town as new people are moving here from the City. You of course have high level companies starting to form here in town and you have companies that don't know what they are doing.

Another great thing about Abilene is the entrepreneurship and business spirit. There are plenty of people coming up with business ideas and launching new things. There are two companies that stand out. One is called Dream Spectrum which can be found at dreamspectrum.com They build start-up software, websites and do marketing. They have helped several companies that have been involved with ACU Springboard. The other company that is bringing entrepreneurs together is West Texas Innovation Network at WTIN.org. They teach Kauffman courses and work with the Texas Tech SBDC. My grandfather built the Texas Tech SBDC and has done amazing things for the community. I would for sure check out Dream Spectrum as they are probably the only software and web development company I would trust in town. Anyways, there are some cool tech places to work and there is some things going on in town.