Moving to Texas from CT - Lubbock, Abilene or Odessa? (Dallas: transplants, job market)

[katydid77]

Good Morning!

I am looking to relocate to Texas, Georgia, North Carolina or South Carolina for an accelerated Second Degree Nursing program. I'm looking at the program at Texas Tech, because courses are online except for clinicals. I have a 2 1/2 year old, and a husband who has experience as a CDL B driver, and lots of customer service experience too.

Which Texas Tech location would be best for a young family - Lubbock, Abilene or Odessa?

Thank you in advance!

[lifertexan]

I would avoid Odessa like the plague.There is a saying around there that you live in Midland (Odessa's sister city) to raise kids,and you go to Odessa to raise hell.

Either Lubbock or Abilene would be OK.Probably more in the way of entertainment and shopping in Lubbock,plus the TT football games,but both are OK for families.Abilene would be closer to places like DFW for weekend trips.The Abilene site is probably pretty small compared to the Lubbock site,so the services each campus could provide might be something to look at.

[Westerner92]

I'm not a big fan of Odessa either, but Midland closeby is an okay town.
Lubbock is the largest of your choices and most definately has the best hospitals in the region. The medical facilities are widely considered better and more advanced than those in much larger cities like El Paso, Albuquerque, and Tucson. Most of the schools in both Lubbock and Abilene are top notch, so I don't think you could go wrong there. Abilene has a little bit more of a small town feel than Lubbock and is about 2 1/2 hours from all that the DFW Metroplex has to offer. Lubbock has more amenities and culture than you would expect from a city its size, but it is 5 hours + to Dallas. I don't think you could go wrong with Lubbock and Abilene.

[katydid77]

Thanks so much for your help so far!

How is the job market in Lubbock and Abilene, specifically for my husband (in a CDL-B driving position or customer service position)? How is the cost of living?

Also, my husband is really looking forward to living in a red state. Some of the cities we looked at in North Carolina had so many transplants that they were very liberal, maybe even more so than CT. Are Lubbock and Abilene still conservative?

Thanks again for all of your suggestions.

[TT Dave]

Originally Posted by katydid77

Thanks so much for your help so far!

How is the job market in Lubbock and Abilene, specifically for my husband (in a CDL-B driving position or customer service position)? How is the cost of living?

Also, my husband is really looking forward to living in a red state. Some of the cities we looked at in North Carolina had so many transplants that they were very liberal, maybe even more so than CT. Are Lubbock and Abilene still conservative?

Thanks again for all of your suggestions.

I can assure you that Lubbock and Abilene are still conservative. I remember seeing a list online of some of the most conservative cities in the nation a short while ago and Abilene and Lubbock were both on it...LOL. Anyway, I haven't seen any recent unemployment figures here in Abilene, however, they did recently announce a large company here that is going to close so that is a little bit of bad news for our city. The cost of living here in Abilene is very affordable and I think it is in Lubbock as well. I graduated from Texas Tech and lived in Lubbock for a few years back in the early 90's and have been back there many times since then. The main campus of Tech is in Lubbock, so if you end up needing more classwork beyond the online stuff or additional clinical training you might be better off in Lubbock since there are more and larger medical facilities there. Both cities are a nice place to raise a family and both have good public schools. Lubbock is about twice the size of Abilene so it just depends on what size city you might like better, and as mentioned above, Lubbock is a little farther from the other metro areas in Texas than Abilene so it just depends if that would matter to you or not. Good luck to you!

[cometfan63]

Not sure what part of CT. your from, but I'm from Rhode Island. I'm in North Carolina now and I can't say I hate it, but close. The politics are getting horrible, High gas taxes, high water prices, etc. I'm wanting to move to Abilene next year about this time, maybe a bit later. If you get there (Abilene) let me know how it is.
John

[elan]

From what you have said, I think Lubbock would fit your needs the best.

[KoT]

Lubbock

[onjicamnden]

I've lived in most of these places and I would say Georgia.

[case44]

Originally Posted by katydid77

Good Morning!

I am looking to relocate to Texas, Georgia, North Carolina or South Carolina for an accelerated Second Degree Nursing program. I'm looking at the program at Texas Tech, because courses are online except for clinicals. I have a 2 1/2 year old, and a husband who has experience as a CDL B driver, and lots of customer service experience too.

Which Texas Tech location would be best for a young family - Lubbock, Abilene or Odessa?

Thank you in advance!

The best bet for you would be Lubbock due to the largest concentration of medical facilities between Dallas and Albuquerque. It'd be a good choice for young families. Traffic is usually light compared to other Texas cities and it has a good balance of small-city charm plus big-city amenities.