Is there anyone that has an opinion of Abilene? (Austin: section 8, 2013) - Texas (TX) - Page 6 - City-Data Forum

onefastsailor · 08-10-2010, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James2496

If you live on the far west side of town, you will see B-1's. My wife and I frequently drive down Arnold Blvd just to watch them. There is also a good view from Tye or from 707 as it goes around the back of the base.

I live in Northeast Abilene, near the new WalMart and the new Lowes. We are right under the flight path of the Abilene Regional Airport.

What do you think of the apartments over on the east side of town? There are several complexes on Judge Ely. (Like Riatta Ranch)

James2496 · 08-10-2010, 09:27 AM

There are some brand new nice apartments on East Lake Road, just north of Interstate 20, in the Heritage Parks area that would be convenient for you. I will find out the name of them. A cousin of mine just moved in and likes them. Riatta Ranch, Cimarron, Mesquite Square and Eastern Oaks are older, but they appear to be well kept at least on the outside. I can't speak for the apartments on the inside. ACU has an apartment complex on Judge Ely that really looks nice--University Park I believe--but it is mostly students. There is also a fairly new, large complex at the corner of Interstate 20 and Judge Ely Blvd called The Groves that looks nice. I think that it also has lots of ACU and H-SU students. You might check this link to get ratings on those apartments. The brand new ones are not on here. Abilene Apartments 26 thru 35 for Rent - Abilene Apartments Reviews and Ratings

James2496 · 08-10-2010, 09:51 AM

The first page of the link I posted above is: Abilene Apartments for Rent - Abilene Apartments Reviews and Ratings

James2496 · 08-10-2010, 02:57 PM

I just drove out to locate the new apartment complex that is not on the list. It is called The Residence at Heritage Park. ResidenceHP website - Home page

onefastsailor · 08-10-2010, 05:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by James2496

There are some brand new nice apartments on East Lake Road, just north of Interstate 20, in the Heritage Parks area that would be convenient for you. I will find out the name of them. A cousin of mine just moved in and likes them. Riatta Ranch, Cimarron, Mesquite Square and Eastern Oaks are older, but they appear to be well kept at least on the outside. I can't speak for the apartments on the inside. ACU has an apartment complex on Judge Ely that really looks nice--University Park I believe--but it is mostly students. There is also a fairly new, large complex at the corner of Interstate 20 and Judge Ely Blvd called The Groves that looks nice. I think that it also has lots of ACU and H-SU students. You might check this link to get ratings on those apartments. The brand new ones are not on here. Abilene Apartments 26 thru 35 for Rent - Abilene Apartments Reviews and Ratings

Thank you for all of your help. What do you think of the neighborhood? Many of the reviews are negative, probably because only the people with bad experiences feel compelled to relate their experiences. It's a little cheaper to live over on the East side of town compared with the Southwest side of town. Are there bad areas over on the East side? It sounds like the area on the West side of town near I-20 has some problems, but other then that there really aren't any bad areas.

James2496 · 08-11-2010, 04:09 PM

The areas around Judge Ely Blvd and East Lake Road are good neighborhoods. Closer in to downtown are some rougher areas on the east side. Abilene Christian University and West Texas Technical College are close to or on Judge Ely Blvd. Lots of students live in the area.

Most of the residential areas off of Judge Ely and East Lake are upper middle class. Some new areas (University Hills, Heritage Parks, and Wildlife Trails) are in these neighborhoods and are all new or nearly new upscale homes. I moved from the Southwest side of town to the Northeast side two years ago. We live just south of Wildlife Trails, east of University Hills--about 6 blocks east of Judge Ely Blvd. We have been quite happy and have had no trouble in this area. We sold our house in SW Abilene for enough money to pay off the balance of the mortgage and had enough left over to pay cash for our smaller retirement condo over here. The roughest parts of town are in zip code 79603, but there are good areas there too. (That is the area on Interstate 20 on the west side of town.) The north east side, 79601, has a few rough areas nearer downtown, but most of it is a good place to live. I have lived in 79605, 79606, and 79601 since moving here 29 years ago, and I have been pleased with all of the neighborhoods that I have lived in. 79606 is the most consistently upscale area. Property taxes are high in the areas of 79606 that are in the Wylie School District. 79605 is the older upscale area along with some subdivisions with cookie cutter middle class houses. Some of the areas are beginning to show their age. 79602 has older cookie cutter homes in most of the area inside the "loop," but there are many new and beautiful up scale homes in the southern and eastern parts of the zip code out of the loop.

TT Dave · 08-11-2010, 04:52 PM

onefastsailor...I think The Grove apartments that James2496 mentioned above is strictly for college students. Check out the link below for more info. The other complex he mentioned, The Residences at Heritage Park are as nice as the apartment complexes on the southwest side side of town. If that one is in your price range, I think you would enjoy it. As mentioned above, there is a lot of newer development in the far northeastern side of town around Judge Ely Blvd and East Lake Road and that is a nice area so you should be able to find a nice apartment somewhere around there.

Here's The Grove Link:

The Grove Apartments in Abilene, TX | Student Housing in Abilene, TX | Home (http://2007.gogrove.com/interior.cfm?city=abilene - broken link)

onefastsailor · 08-12-2010, 05:32 PM

I really appreciate all of the information that everyone has provided. Too early to apply to any apartments yet, I am still awaiting an arrival date to start work. Hopefully, soon!

onefastsailor · 09-02-2010, 10:49 AM

Well, it's official! I will be in Abilene next week! Thanks so much to everyone who provided information about Abilene to me. I am pretty excited, and look forward to starting a new phase of my life.

TT Dave · 09-02-2010, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by onefastsailor

Well, it's official! I will be in Abilene next week! Thanks so much to everyone who provided information about Abilene to me. I am pretty excited, and look forward to starting a new phase of my life.

I'm glad the information was helpful. Good luck to you!