is sunset heights a safe neighborhood in el paso? Im think of going to college in El Paso on Scholarship for music...

[TexasNexus]

Originally Posted by kidicarus89

As for being ostracized being an outsider, I'd say that's a dated assumption from the 90s. Things change, and the fact is that there are a lot more different groups moving to EP (due to military, med school students, UTEP students from further away), so its not the stagnant podunk that even I remember just 10 years ago.

I haven't found things to be much different since I returned to EP a few years ago. If anything, things have skewed even more Hispanic since the mid '90s.

The demographic data bears this out too, i.e. that "Anglos" have been leaving EP in large numbers. Non-Hispanics are definitely seen as outsiders here, which in a way is an interesting experience for a group that is typically in the majority throughout most of the United States. I regularly preside over public meetings in my job with the State and I've gotten plenty of the "you don't get it because you're whitey from the East" attitude. Yes, many of these people are the professional axe grinders who attend NEPA meetings, but to say that attitude doesn't exist here is nonsense. I think that most people don't venture outside of their social groups much, and thus don't encounter these attitudes.

[TexasCCW]

TexasNexus, I am sorry you feel that way. It might have something to do with you too, though. My accountant is Caucasian and he loves El Paso. He moved here from Illinois many years ago and has not gone back. Our very own, Mistabinks, does not speak any spanish so I assume he is also caucasian. He does not have any issues and has a small business that caters to the hispanic community here and he is doing well. Many anglo, white, caucasian, or whatever the word of the month is, are well situated here.

[malamute]

Ironic because I have a lot of "hispanic" friends who have also left. Just because El Paso is becoming very Mexican doesn't mean that Americans of any race will necessarily fit in. One of my "chicano" friends from the Midwest visited here and hated it, asked me why the heck I'm living here.

I think it comes down to what one is looking for in a place. If one wants to live in the USA but speak and hear almost only Spanish and keep with the culture of Mexico, they will very much like it here. Another reason to really like it here is the sunshine every day, mild climate where it's not too cold, not too hot and the view of the mountains being carved up.

However if you need bodies of water, don't want to drive for hours to go boating, fishing, rafting, etc, then it's not that great here, same if you really prefer green tree shaded streets, rolling green fields, farm lands and that kind of thing.

[Old Gringo]

Sunset Heights is in a real good location for UTEP students; close to both the school and downtown. It's an older neighborhood with a lot of stately homes and has undergone a "gentrification" over the past couple of decades. If I was college age, I'd definitely be looking for a place in that area.