5 Bad things about Abilene,TX (Dallas, Austin: tech jobs, school, universities)

[Pjgroundhog]

Originally Posted by blessedmom2sweetboys

I am not sure how to post a thread outside of a thread. I looked but could not get it sorry.

I am moving to Abilene for a job and I am not going to get the luxury of coming ahead of time to check out where to live. So until I decide what part of town I like or where to put my roots I thought I would do the RV thing so I am not stuck in a part of town I do not like.

But I would like to know if there are any RV parks or places to to camp with an RV either in Abilene or close enough to drive to Abilene for work?

Thanks so much

There is a park east of town on I20 too. It is between 351 and Clyde , near Elmdale but I'm not sure what exit.
Plus there was 2 in Tye just a few mile west of Abilene, but I don't recomend those There were hookers and drug dealers in them last time we stopped.

[TedH71]

Lived in Abilene for over a year. Quit my job with Blue Cross Blue Shield. They're corrupt depending on what position you work in. I was doing call backs on various claims...was told that my worked claims should be 300 a week or else I would be fired. I am deaf so I had to use a relay service to place calls and such. Found out from my ex-girlfriend who used to work at the Wichita Falls branch that the actual claims worked per week was supposed to be 150! My supervisor was trying to look good for our division and making everyone work harder and faster. She was trying to get me to do 400 a week! Found out purely by accident....thought about staying in Abilene but had no girlfriend or anything to hold me back so I moved. You can get by with a swamp cooler there. Means your electrical bills will be much lower. Negatives are that the trees are nothing to be happy about..they're ugly, short, and scrubby. The ground is infested with thorns...the burr type. My dogs kept stopping every few feet to pull out the thorns. Was told by my landlord that fertlizing the ground would get rid of the burrs. Don't know if that was the truth. CHEAP housing! You can get a 4 bdrm 2 bath for $50k on nice property.

[Sklarvaex]

Originally Posted by txsizzler

Abilene proper, in my opinion, is alright looking. I have been through there many an occasion, and whilst Abilene itself looks alright, once you get outside of the city (especially north of the city), it gets plain butt ugly. Vast nothingness (save the occasional refinery, mobile home, cactus mound). Even outside of Wichita Falls looks vastly improved to the outside of Abilene.

Ian

Agreed! Once you cross the Brazos just north of town on US 277 you might as well be in Oklahoma, lots of red dirt and mesquite, bleh.

[Pjgroundhog]

I have to correct something I said about the income in Abilene. After my daughter transfered back into abilene she recieved a dollor raise in pay. She has been working with Walmart for 18 months and they just pay more in abilene. plus we saw signs all over town for workers than even MCdonalds sign seemed to offer higher wages than Houston (the sign claimed $8.50 for openers, here they get $6.50) and with the lower living cost it sounds good to me.
we did have a really hard time finding her a place to live. The requirments to get into the nicer apartments seemed very strict, some asked for an income 3 times the rent where most places we have lived only ask for 2 times the rent in a lot of cities.
and it seems houses rent out very fast in the cheaper but nice areas. there were tons of good prices on houses for sale, prices were down from the last time we looked at buying there, but she isn't ready to buy now.
If you are moving there be sure you know where you will be staying while you look and it seems the electric companies all take 5 to 15 days to get the power on unless you pay $100 extra then it was 3 days.

[Bob Knight]

People who tell you Abilene is not a bad place to live is not telling the truth. For the most part, the reason the individuals tell it's ok... 1. They're either from this area; 2. The are a Texan. I have been here for awhile via military, and it's one of the worst places I've been since entering the military. As stated above in previous replies, there very little restaurants to choose from, and to say the least shopping. The individuals were right when mentioning that if you wnated really do some shopping that matters you would have to drive at least 2 plus hours. What bothers me the most about this town is that people say it's family oriented... that is not true unless your children is the average age of 62. They could have so much more in this town, and yet it is ran by people who would rather halt progression and bring in revenue only to push potential investors out. I could go on and on about this town but I would be wasting my time and precious internet time.

[mikey01]

5 bad things about Abilene:

1.lots of people on poverty--41000 according to city-data
2.Not necesarily bad, but lots of young pregnant girls, just sad to see
3.If your looking for wealth, consider that the avg income is around $40,000/year
4.as for shopping, i didn't get to involved with the local shops, as for main chain stores, they provided me with what I needed to live.
5.Moving out of the town!!!

After I've been thinking of the 5 bad things for about 20 minutes, here is the good:

The people are very friendly, and they are very respectable of others as well. There were times where I felt as people valued me even if they didn't know me. It was amazing how many people in their 50's called me sir, and I"m in my later 20's. As for golf, I play alot, the courses were nice. I worked for the school system there, and the schools were not good, they were perfect. I couldn't imagine what a school system better than Abilene would be like. I worked for one of the main chain stores, and it was very good job. Abilene provided me the best jobs I have held so far, not only that I have the longest tenure with those jobs. I have to agree with the landscaping of the town from above. Its actually very pretty their. Not many buildings "dolled up" to look good. Its been 4 years since I have moved out, and where I am now still doesn't have the home feeling like Abilene did. Honestly, I don't think I have ever felt that feeling till I moved and lived in Abilene. I have family in Lubbock, and i think Lubbock would be just as good.

[butterflybird]

Five bad things:

Roads in bad shape - big potholes in many areas and in parking lots
Employment problems - empty storefronts, low wages, most kids who get their degrees move away to larger cities like Austin, Dallas, etc. for better wages
No sidewalks for the kids to walk or people to walk their dogs in many of the older neighborhoods, so that goes against the "family friendly" concept
Bugs - mosquitoes will eat you up in the warm summer months if you are prone to getting bitten
Flooding - seems like if there's even a relatively small amount of rain, some of the streets and intersections already have a lot of water in them

on the good side, the people are friendly and respectful, hold doors open, old fashioned small town courtesy, so that's nice. Can't fault the friendliness, it's just that the town has problems that need a lot of working out to bring in jobs and improve the general appearance of the area.

[Lisa tran]

I want move to abilene tx but I don' t know school good or not for my kid ,she 11 years old help me please

[Pontificator]

It's in Abilene.

[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 =(