My take on El Paso (Dallas, Austin: appointed, for sale, rent)

[Caltep]

Ok...I'm not a big LA fan, but I was there recently for a visit and certainly enjoyed aspects of it. I like that there are options, and not all of them are expensive. I spent time at the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica and walked over to the boardwalk after. It was nice to spend that time on a postcard day in CA. I think in cities and urban areas like that, it's nice to have these places to go, even if you don't go there all the time. Once in a while it was nice to go to an NBA game or MLB game...expensive, but right there if you choose to go. I like Quartermania nights at Cohen Stadium, but watching the Lakers at Staples or (ahem) the Dodgers (and preferably anyone who is beating them) is a whole different experience Same with all the touristy things about an area like that. As with any other place, the locals know where to enjoy and avoid the crowds. I hope that in my time here in El Paso options continue to present themselves. With the recent development talks, it would appear that El Paso is making some progress in that direction.

[Six Foot Three]

I'll be down in a week or so to give my Honest assessment on City Data as i'm now somewhere in Southern NM . EP has been my home off and on since 1970 when i was in the 1st grade so i've seen alot good and bad over the years.

6/3

[malamute]

Originally Posted by 6/3

I'll be down in a week or so to give my Honest assessment on City Data as i'm now somewhere in Southern NM . EP has been my home off and on since 1970 when i was in the 1st grade so i've seen alot good and bad over the years.

6/3

Has it been a while since you've been gone? And if so tell us what seems different -- better and worse.

It can be interesting hearing those who left, saw other places and people and have come back. Usually they notice some changes better than those who have stayed and got used to things slowly.

I left once and was gone only 4 years and was shocked by how much growth there was -- what had been nice wide open space was crawling with traffic and buildings put up practically overnight.

[caiguar]

That is accurate like some of you guys have no idea. I don't know about a lot of people but, for me los angeles is mostly a dirty city. Very, very dirty. Sure it has nice places to go but, for normal people like almost all of us(people with money of course have a different opinion) I'm sure they will think the same.

Don't get me wrong; I loved California but, it's a place to visit, not to live. For me at least. Tried living there and could never do it. If you like wasting a LOT of your precious time on stupid things like traffic and lines, go right ahead.

One more thing, since I came back here, I've noticed that there's a lot of people from the Los Angeles area now living here in ELP. I think it's all the people that left many years ago and coming back now. I am not old enough to know that but my dad tells me that a los of people from juarez and el paso went to los angeles back in the day and that now all those people are coming back.

"Nos vamos a LOS", that's what they used to say when someone was moving to Los Angeles.

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

I would take ELP *anytime* over LA! Yes, LA has great weather, cool beaches, Disney Land, Universal, Hollywood... etc., but those are tourist attractions, and what people have been programmed to know through Hollywood. Those places are largely frequented, and visited just as any tourist would. In other words, you can always travel to LA to experience those things and then go back home.

However, living in LA, as you noted, is a different story. Unflattering, for lack of a better word, is what most of LA is like in my opinion. Sure there are exclusive and affluent neighborhoods in LA, but what city does not have that? 'Just happens LA has it to a higher degree.

It is said that well over 90% of what humans know/learn is through the sense of vision. Based on that, if I start from my earliest memories of LA and fastforward like a DVD, I would not be too impressed with LA, aside form the tourist attractions. LA really does not look that good, bar the nice neighborhoods and tourist attractions.

If it were a pie, most of it would be dirty and uninviting, then there would be some nice slices of it as well. Overall, to a large degree, it looks and remnids me of many of the cities in Mexico, and South America.

[southernbliss]

My bestfriend is from CA. and loved it,got married to a guy in the army and moved around for a few years then moved to MS. where his people are from, have a few kids and go back to CA. she made it 3wks.!! she hated it, it had been 10years since she had been there and nothing was the same she could not wait to get home to ms. she told me she would never go back and would never want her kids to grow up there, she did not know if she had changed so much are if it had been CA. that changed but it was nothing she missed.

[Six Foot Three]

Originally Posted by malamute

Has it been a while since you've been gone? And if so tell us what seems different -- better and worse.

It can be interesting hearing those who left, saw other places and people and have come back. Usually they notice some changes better than those who have stayed and got used to things slowly.

I left once and was gone only 4 years and was shocked by how much growth there was -- what had been nice wide open space was crawling with traffic and buildings put up practically overnight.

It's been since 2005 since i last visited so we'll see what's changed. I haven't been on the new portion of loop 375 on the east side as it was still under construction back then and also the new east side hospital hadn't broke ground then either. Also all the Fort Bliss construction and Patriot freeway construction and UTEP expansions will all be cool to see as well as checking out the old home territory (Dyer and Fairbanks) in NE where i went to high school....

[skoro]

El Paso is an acquired taste.

I think that's definitley true for outsiders who move to El Paso. For natives, it's their default reality and if they ever move somewhere else, they'll compare the new setting to their El Paso roots. We all judge new surroundings by what we're accustomed to. I moved here in 1982 and I've become a desert rat. It isn't for everyone, but it suits some of us real well. Compared to my midwest origins, it has its charms.

[XChucoresident]

I love everything and anything about El Paso..that is why I keep going back!

[1979]

For some reason people often have high expectations of California. I think its because that's where Hollywood is; where all the movies are made. We see movies and TV shows with beautiful back drops of expensive houses with beautiful ocean front property and tons of elegantly placed palm trees. This is where so many of the rich and famous live, so we conclude, it has to be glamorous. The problem is, when an area has that much allure, everyone else wants to be there too, including the undesirables.

The desert in CA is very beautiful, and by comparison El Paso looks very stark. El Paso doesn't have the color or scenery that Southern California, Arizona or Nevada has. El Paso doesn't have the seguaro cactus, or anything similar to the Sonora desert or the Painted Desert in AZ. It doesn't have anything close to Palm Springs. El Paso's gritty and foresaken look leaves less to be absorbed and processed by our senses, and allows us to gather our thoughts more easily. I hope it never changes.

[drifter4ever]

I always felt El Paso had everything you needed without a whole lot of bad stuff bigger cities have. I never had a problem getting the stuff I wanted. The Airport is very convenient and much easier to navigate than a big city Airport like Atlanta. Living is much cheaper in El Paso too. I live in Dallas now and I realize that it costs far more to live here. If I can find a decent job in EP I'll move back tomorrow.