Thinking about moving to Abilene Texas (Wylie, Atlanta: rent, homes, unemployment rate)

[kenh1]

My wife and I are thinking about retiring to Abilene in the future. I want to know if there are any areas of Abilene that are safer to live in. Housing prices seem to be great, but not too sure of the areas of town. Thank you.

[missela3]

Originally Posted by kenh1

My wife and I are thinking about retiring to Abilene in the future. I want to know if there are any areas of Abilene that are safer to live in. Housing prices seem to be great, but not too sure of the areas of town. Thank you.

Not sure how far out you mean by "future", but Abilene is in the news right now due to the ebola scare, so you might wait and find out about that before making a decision.

Only other thing I know about current-day Abilene is limited shopping, restaurants, housing, etc.

Any place far west of DFW will have that "out in the middle of nowhere" feeling.

[ChristieP]

The housing prices seem so good because there aren't many good jobs in Abilene. Unless you are in the USAF, or work in healthcare, it's difficult to find a good-paying job there.

[Westerntraveler]

Originally Posted by kenh1

My wife and I are thinking about retiring to Abilene in the future. I want to know if there are any areas of Abilene that are safer to live in. Housing prices seem to be great, but not too sure of the areas of town. Thank you.

The South Side and the ACU area are the nicest parts of town......However, I don't know if I would recommend Abilene for a retired person because its supposed to become a crazy oil boom town due to the Cline in a number of years.....nobody knows if and when at this point.The Cline has 30 billion barrels of oil which is roughly equivalent to 10 South Texas Eagle Fords on top of each other so it has the potential to get very big city feeling.Now would be a good time to buy if you decide on Lene Town.

[TT Dave]

The south side of town (especially far south) and the area around ACU are indeed the best parts of town. As Westerntraveler said above, if Abilene becomes an oil boom town, home prices will rise quickly. It's hard to say if that will happen or not but it's something to consider at least.

[Mark Senior]

Not sure how far out you mean by "future", but Abilene is in the news right now due to the ebola scare, so you might wait and find out about that before making a decision.

Searched for this in the "news", Abilene? I think you can ignor this, read about the extreme unlikely spread of ebola in the US.

[TT Dave]

There is no ebola here in Abilene. The man in question that has the virus is being sent to Atlanta for treatment/observation. His wife and kids are here in Abilene but they were not exposed to the virus. Here's the link to a local news story about that:


ACU alum battling Ebola to be brought back to U.S. | News - Home

[Mark Senior]

Originally Posted by TT Dave

There is no ebola here in Abilene. The man in question that has the virus is being sent to Atlanta for treatment/observation. His wife and kids are here in Abilene but they were not exposed to the virus. Here's the link to a local news story about that:


ACU alum battling Ebola to be brought back to U.S. | News - Home

Yes, thanks, I was trying to correct the Missela3 above post, yes we knew the national story, but I guess Missela thought the man with the virus was bringing it home to his family and saying don't move Abilene just now, wait?

[butterflybird]

Abilene will be a big culture shock for anyone coming from CA. There's a lot of things that a Californian takes for granted that you won't be able to find in Abilene in terms of shopping, recreation, etc. Also, it's not the prettiest looking place, although Texas tends to have that "brown" look, but some of the neighborhoods are not the greatest as far as upkeep, fences falling down in the older areas of town, old vacant looking storefronts in downtown areas. You need to stick to the newer areas of town where the housing prices will be somewhat higher but still probably a lot lower than CA. But as someone else said, prices are low in Abilene because jobs are limited. If you're not affiliated with military, the hospital or the universities, most of the jobs are min. wage stuff or handiman self-employed guys working for themselves. About the ebola, the wife of the infected doctor is in Abilene, and people are probably nervous about that. She apparently does not have the virus but also apparently is not in any type of strict quarantine. He was a graduate of ACU - Abilene Christian University. There are so many church people there, it's not surprising that there are quite a number of residents involved in missionary-type work, or supportive of it through their church. Abilene is really best for retired folks who don't need a job and are low key people whose main interests are going to church, going out to the same restaurants every weekend and enjoying a very laid back lifestyle. Nothing wrong with that, but you need to really be sure that's what you want. Personally, I don't think a Californian would be happy there unless they had family there or some other type of direct contact, and even then , it's still a culture shock. You might be happier in a somewhat larger city/town. Maybe visit for awhile and rent something in an area of town you like.

[q32]

Abilene is a nice place to live, in my opinion, and has several good areas to choose from. There are plenty of great neighborhoods in the Wylie ISD area (which is the most affluent part of town). Zip codes 79606 and 79602 are generally considered the most desirable, although you can find nice homes in safe neighborhoods in the other zip codes for a lower cost, if you are willing to look a bit harder.

As far as the economy, Abilene has one of the lower unemployment rates in the state and there's been news of new companies continuing to move in, or existing ones hiring new employees. Don't move here for a job before you have one lined up, though (good advice regardless of where you are moving). Pay can be bit lower here, but the cost of living is also much lower.

Abilene is good for retirees - but it's also good for young families or single folks looking to set down roots in a stable job. There are fewer retail options than you'd find in larger metro areas, but as a former DFW resident, I don't feel like I'm missing out on too much (and the relative lack of traffic is worth it to me!). While there isn't a huge nightlife culture here, the city does have a nice mall for a town of this size and most of the big retail/restaurant chains have a presence in the city, along with some good local options.

Hope that this helps - let me know if you have any other questions, and best of luck if you do decide to make the move!