Talk El Paso to me

"PartyPooper2012" (PartyPooper2012) 03/16/2018 at 14:03 • Filed to: None

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Wife of my buddy will be doing some doctoring there for about 4 years. This means she and her husband will be moving there for a few years.

Anyone from there? How is the city? How are the outskirts? Anything one should know before moving there? Food? crime? bad areas? good areas? Can Walt drive an RV into the desert and cook with Jesse?

Textured Soy Protein > PartyPooper2012 03/16/2018 at 14:13

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It is the home of innovative taco geometry.

DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time > PartyPooper2012 03/16/2018 at 14:55

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From what I heard when I was in the Army. It’s great if you’re single, but idk if you’re married and assumingly middle aged.

PartyPooper2012 > DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time 03/16/2018 at 15:44

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I don’t know what middle aged is. I am not teen nor retired. Neither are they.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > PartyPooper2012 03/16/2018 at 19:42

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I live on the outskirts of El Paso (for another 11 days, then moving back to Las Cruces). What hospital will somewhat determine where they look. El Paso really varies a lot by neighborhood. They’ve started doing some good stuff downtown, but much of that area would still best be described as “up and coming” in real estate speak.. Some of the East side is certainly nice, and some of the very furthest reaches of the Northeast aren’t bad (but a long ways from anything). I can’t recommend most of the Northeast (that’s where the Live PD action from El Paso happens), or the Clint/Socorro/San Elizario outskirts. I like the Westside best, and most of it is pretty good neighborhoods. The schools tend to score a lot higher on the Westside, if that matters. Were I buying in El Paso, I’d look for something in the Franklin and Coronado high school districts.

Right now, probably the biggest drawback to the West side is a couple of huge highway projects that have about another year until completion. There is a mountain range basically sitting in the middle of El Paso, and I-1o is the only sizeable road connecting the West half of El Paso with the rest of the city without having to go through or around the mountain range. Traffic really, deeply sucks while this project is underway.

I’m in the outskirts of the West side now. I’d struggle to recommend Anthony or Canutillo despite both towns now having sizable new developments of reasonably good quality houses at attractive prices generally bought by commuting folks. If you get good neighbors they’re fine places to live a good price, but if you get crappy neighbors you’re not going to have police departments and/or town governments that are inclined to do much code enforcement and/or nuisance abatement. If your neighbor decides they want to run their roofing business out of their house, your only recourse is going to be moving. In central El Paso, the summit drive area is very nice (and the old money part of town). Sunset heights also has some good areas right next to UTEP and downtown. My suggestion for scoping out neighborhoods is to see what they’re like on a Sunday afternoon with good weather. That will tell you if the amount and nature of gatherings and goings on are something they’ll be okay with or not.

Its worth noting that much of El Paso is very much a blue collar town, and there is huge amount of poverty. There are tons hard working folks, but that doesn’t necessarily translate to being paid well. Like New Mexico, government jobs are the ones of choice for the most part, and aside from some aspects of international trade, everyone else tends to be fighting for scraps.

For crime, El Paso is surprisingly safe. Despite literally being next door to a place that was the most dangerous city in the world not very long ago, that doesn’t spill over to El Paso nearly as much as one might expect. In addition to what one expects for state and local law enforcement, there is a truly massive military and federal law enforcement presence in El Paso. The biggest detriment might be lots of accidents and expensive car insurance (for the West). Accidents and tons of uninsured folks make for expensive insurance, and it is surprisingly hard to find used cars that haven’t crashed.

Walt and Jessie would need to go a long ways out in the desert from El Paso to be alone. They’d have better luck on the New Mexico side of things.

For food. If they like Mexican food, the options are endless. If they want New Mexican food, they’re out of luck as Las Cruces is still mostly Mexican food. They’ll have to go to Albuquerque for New Mexican food. For dead animals, Cattleman’s steakhouse outside of Fabens happens to be recognized as one of the top steakhouses in the country. Despite literally being in the middle of nowhere, they serve some of the best steak you’ll ever have. The whole place is an experience and highly worth the trip out there at least a couple of times a year. Ripe Restaurant and Cafe on the West side is a trendy newer place that serves up some seriously good food for any meal. Cafe Italia on Mesa (or their second location waaay out on the East side) is a must eat place. Family run, small hole in the wall joint, small menu of done extraordinarily well (the owner makes the mozzarella fresh every day), bring your own bottle of wine. It is an all evening kind of place. It is my favorite restaurant bar none. Any of the Ardivino’s are also good Italian food for a quicker meal. Surprisingly, there is a serious shortage of BBQ in El Paso. It really is a crime against Texas, and I don’t know why someone hasn’t done anything about it.

Something to know before moving here? My sister was nurse in El Paso. If she’s in the medical field, knowing (or starting to learn) Spanish is going to be important. There is a significant number of folks from Juarez that seek care in El Paso for a variety of reasons. There is also a very significant American population here that doesn’t speak English. Most people in El Paso are bilingual. El Paso and Ciudad Juarez are historically, culturally and economically tied to each other. Many folks consider them different to be culturally and genealogically the same city that happens to be in different countries.   

Also, knowing what term manana means is useful (this applies to New Mexico technically, but in many ways El Paso is culturally much more connected to New Mexico than the rest Texas). In a literal sense, it is the Spanish word for tomorrow. It is also used to describe that in general, things happen a little slower around here. However, there is a difference in Southern New Mexico and El Paso. If you asked someone in Albuquerque or Santa Fe when something is going to be finished and they said “manana,” they actually do mean that they at least intend to finish it tomorrow. Down South, the term is much more likely to mean “not today” with an exact time in the future intentionally not specified. If you ask the contractor you hired to paint your house when his crew is going to start the job, “manana” does NOT mean they’ll be there tomorrow. Just that they’ll be there at some point in the future. 

PartyPooper2012 > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 03/19/2018 at 06:06

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That is awesome! Way more than I was expecting. I am sure they will appreciate the in depth analysis. They have first year in NYC and the years 2 to 4 they will be in ElPaso. If you are still around there, i’ll ping you when I go down to visit. I’ll buy you a drink of your choice.

Thanks again.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > PartyPooper2012 03/19/2018 at 11:28

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Cool. I should still be in the area. Las Cruces is just 30 minutes up the road.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com 03/19/2018 at 13:00

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So... I might be moving from Texas to New Mexico later this year. (Specifically from San Antonio to somewhere near Santa Fe.) Any advice?