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I was all set to move to Abilene this fall...and then I heard about the snake in the toilet! ha! I'm kidding - that didn't change my mind...though the story definitely got my attention!
I would really like to hear from Abilene locals on the good and the bad of Abilene (crime stuff has pretty much been resolved)...looking mainly for the everyday stuff...like road issues (good or full of pot holes) traffic problems, grocery stores...doctors...along with your personal take on life in Abilene.
One question that may seem silly...is there a roach issue? My thinking is that Abilene, not being particularly humid nor coastal; may not have a roach problem. Snakes don't scare me, but roaches do! (again...j/kidding) really just curious.
I know there's an HEB there...is it a good one? What other grocery stores are in the area and are there some great Farmer's Markets?
I was trying to research cable companies and was hoping for ATT U-verse...is that available there? If not, who's got the best deals and service. I tried to research (a little) online, but saw mainly satellite TV companies. I have DISH here and like it fine, but if I get heavy rain, it's out! Moving to an area where severe weather is more common, would like to have reliable television for news.
I saw the climate stats and see it's rather windy there....I assume it's dusty, but are there big dust storms (like Lubbock area?)
Is damaging hail a frequent threat? In other words, if I don't have a garage is my car gonna get pummeled to death?
And finally, cleanest, cost friendly long term hotel ( until I find an apt or house to rent)?
speaking of renting...do most homes have a basement or storm cellar? Seems like I read somewhere, they do not. Refresh my memory please.
Anything else y'all wanna share that seems good to know - go ahead - I'm an Abilene information sponge!
Hi there - congratulations on your upcoming move!
I've lived in Abilene for just under 8 years now and I love it here. No place is perfect, but it really feels like home. People are friendly, and we have some great amenities for a city our size.
Not sure if you have a family or not, but Abilene is a very family friendly city, with kid friendly events downtown, neat museums, and a nice zoo. There are some pretty good schools here too (Wylie ISD, on the south side of town, is ranked as one of the better school districts in the state, but Abilene ISD is pretty good as well).
We have two good hospitals, a regional airport (for connections to DFW, mostly, but it is convenient), and a growing selection of local restaurants/venues to enjoy.
If you like the outdoors, there are several lakes nearby, as well as a state park just south of town. The hills/plateaus south of town have their own beauty and make for some good afternoon drives.
Traffic problems are virtually non-existent, from my perspective. Of course, I previously lived in the DFW metroplex, so anything here seems very easy to deal with. With a few exceptions, most of the major roads are okay - we passed a bond election for road improvements recently, so some of those are still underway. However, residential streets aren't always great, especially on the north side of town. We also don't have much of a drainage system, so watch out for road closures when we get exceptionally heavy rains (happens a handful of times each year).
We have a pretty good selection of grocery stores. An HEB (where I do most of my shopping - it's not the nicest HEB I've seen, but has a good selection), four United Supermarkets, a Market Street (probably the nicest grocery store in town, but not the cheapest), two Walmart supercenters, and a Walmart neighborhood market, in addition to some of the smaller discount grocery places. There are at least two farmer's markets that I can think of, with lots of good local produce - one downtown and one on the south side. The downtown one is set up on Tuesday and Saturday mornings, if I remember right.
For cable and high-speed internet, I'd recommend using Suddenlink. They are pretty reliable and offer residential internet speeds up to 1Gbps. AT&T seems to have reliability issues here for residential internet service. However, AT&T is a good bet for cellular coverage - LTE service with good speeds throughout town.
For roaches - you may see a few, but what I notice more are the crickets. We get a wave of crickets each fall, some years are worse than others.
As to climate, it is pretty windy here, but not as dusty as places further out west. We do have several dusty days each year, but I wouldn't say it's common - although, depends on where you are coming from I guess. We do have numerous severe thunderstorms that roll through each spring, with occasional bad hailstorms. I have a garage now and would recommend having one, but in the three years that my car lived outside, it was never damaged - so it's doable. Most places here do not have basements or storm cellars. Thankfully we haven't had much of an issue with tornadoes here, but I'd recommend keeping a weather radio on hand and subscribing to severe weather alerts just to be safe.
For hotels, it depends on what you consider cost-friendly. There are some nice new hotels near the IH-20 and SH-351 intersection on the north side of town that offer long-term rates that would be worth looking in to.
When you move here, be sure to get out and explore. Try out the food trucks, go to the downtown festivals/events (such as ArtWalk, which is monthly), check out the museums and the zoo, go to a philharmonic orchestra concert, head out to Buffalo Gap, etc.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions
Hi there - congratulations on your upcoming move!
I've lived in Abilene for just under 8 years now and I love it here. No place is perfect, but it really feels like home. People are friendly, and we have some great amenities for a city our size.
Not sure if you have a family or not, but Abilene is a very family friendly city, with kid friendly events downtown, neat museums, and a nice zoo. There are some pretty good schools here too (Wylie ISD, on the south side of town, is ranked as one of the better school districts in the state, but Abilene ISD is pretty good as well).
We have two good hospitals, a regional airport (for connections to DFW, mostly, but it is convenient), and a growing selection of local restaurants/venues to enjoy.
If you like the outdoors, there are several lakes nearby, as well as a state park just south of town. The hills/plateaus south of town have their own beauty and make for some good afternoon drives.
Traffic problems are virtually non-existent, from my perspective. Of course, I previously lived in the DFW metroplex, so anything here seems very easy to deal with. With a few exceptions, most of the major roads are okay - we passed a bond election for road improvements recently, so some of those are still underway. However, residential streets aren't always great, especially on the north side of town. We also don't have much of a drainage system, so watch out for road closures when we get exceptionally heavy rains (happens a handful of times each year).
We have a pretty good selection of grocery stores. An HEB (where I do most of my shopping - it's not the nicest HEB I've seen, but has a good selection), four United Supermarkets, a Market Street (probably the nicest grocery store in town, but not the cheapest), two Walmart supercenters, and a Walmart neighborhood market, in addition to some of the smaller discount grocery places. There are at least two farmer's markets that I can think of, with lots of good local produce - one downtown and one on the south side. The downtown one is set up on Tuesday and Saturday mornings, if I remember right.
For cable and high-speed internet, I'd recommend using Suddenlink. They are pretty reliable and offer residential internet speeds up to 1Gbps. AT&T seems to have reliability issues here for residential internet service. However, AT&T is a good bet for cellular coverage - LTE service with good speeds throughout town.
For roaches - you may see a few, but what I notice more are the crickets. We get a wave of crickets each fall, some years are worse than others.
As to climate, it is pretty windy here, but not as dusty as places further out west. We do have several dusty days each year, but I wouldn't say it's common - although, depends on where you are coming from I guess. We do have numerous severe thunderstorms that roll through each spring, with occasional bad hailstorms. I have a garage now and would recommend having one, but in the three years that my car lived outside, it was never damaged - so it's doable. Most places here do not have basements or storm cellars. Thankfully we haven't had much of an issue with tornadoes here, but I'd recommend keeping a weather radio on hand and subscribing to severe weather alerts just to be safe.
For hotels, it depends on what you consider cost-friendly. There are some nice new hotels near the IH-20 and SH-351 intersection on the north side of town that offer long-term rates that would be worth looking in to.
When you move here, be sure to get out and explore. Try out the food trucks, go to the downtown festivals/events (such as ArtWalk, which is monthly), check out the museums and the zoo, go to a philharmonic orchestra concert, head out to Buffalo Gap, etc.
Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any other questions
Hello Q32!
Thanks so much for the reply; I certainly appreciate your information! I am really excited to move back to Texas. I have been away many years -living way up north! Looking forward to being back home. I was in Sweetwater for 5th/6th grades, but that was forever ago it seems. Being a kid, I remember a few things about the area, but have forgotten most of it. Your post was positive and helpful. Much more there in the way of grocery stores and amenities than I imagined...sounds like we will have plenty to explore and do there!
I saw the ads for SuddenLink, but I guess the word "link" threw me - as I thought it was satellite. I will look them up again and pay better attention.
Good news on the hail being agreeable for you. I will take your advice and look for a garage or at least a carport.
I love a good loud thunderstorm and look forward to those, but will be mindful of the localized flooding and make sure my NOAA All Hazards Radio is operational!
I do have questions about the water that I forgot to ask...is it hard or soft...tasty or not so much? expensive or affordable? Just curious, because my water in Michigan is awful and expensive! lol
For roaches - you may see a few, but what I notice more are the crickets. We get a wave of crickets each fall, some years are worse than others.
For hotels, it depends on what you consider cost-friendly. There are some nice new hotels near the IH-20 and SH-351 intersection on the north side of town that offer long-term rates that would be worth looking in to.
When you move here, be sure to get out and explore. Try out the food trucks, go to the downtown festivals/events (such as ArtWalk, which is monthly), check out the museums and the zoo, go to a philharmonic orchestra concert, head out to Buffalo Gap, etc.
Forgot to mention the crickets in the fall - thanks for the heads up on that...and glad the roaches do not appear to big of an issue.
Looking forward the downtown events...I saw pix of Abilene with the gals on horses for one of the parades and a band performing on one of the corners...too cool!
Also looking forward to some great TX Produce!!
I was all set to move to Abilene this fall...and then I heard about the snake in the toilet! ha! I'm kidding - that didn't change my mind...though the story definitely got my attention!
I would really like to hear from Abilene locals on the good and the bad of Abilene (crime stuff has pretty much been resolved)...looking mainly for the everyday stuff...like road issues (good or full of pot holes) traffic problems, grocery stores...doctors...along with your personal take on life in Abilene.
One question that may seem silly...is there a roach issue? My thinking is that Abilene, not being particularly humid nor coastal; may not have a roach problem. Snakes don't scare me, but roaches do! (again...j/kidding) really just curious.
I know there's an HEB there...is it a good one? What other grocery stores are in the area and are there some great Farmer's Markets?
I was trying to research cable companies and was hoping for ATT U-verse...is that available there? If not, who's got the best deals and service. I tried to research (a little) online, but saw mainly satellite TV companies. I have DISH here and like it fine, but if I get heavy rain, it's out! Moving to an area where severe weather is more common, would like to have reliable television for news.
I saw the climate stats and see it's rather windy there....I assume it's dusty, but are there big dust storms (like Lubbock area?)
Is damaging hail a frequent threat? In other words, if I don't have a garage is my car gonna get pummeled to death?
And finally, cleanest, cost friendly long term hotel ( until I find an apt or house to rent)?
speaking of renting...do most homes have a basement or storm cellar? Seems like I read somewhere, they do not. Refresh my memory please.
Anything else y'all wanna share that seems good to know - go ahead - I'm an Abilene information sponge!
Thanks!!
Hi StormTamer57,
Welcome to Abilene.I love Abilene.I dont think SuddenLink is a good cable company.Abilene is a real Bible Belt/Friday Night Lights kind of town.High school football is real big there.Abilene has three private uiversities: Hardin Simmons which is Baptist affiliated,McMurry which is Methodist affiliated and Abilene Christian University which is affiliated with the churches of Christ.ACU is the most prominent university in Abilene.I would buy a house with a garage to protect your car from hail.I think most houses there dont have basements.Abilene has HEB,United, and Market Street grocery stores.I would not think that Abilene has as many dust storms as Lubbock.You can go to a booking sight to find a hotel. I think the WoodSpring Suites or Candlewood Suites could work.However, the Woodspring is cheaper but not as good as the Candlewood.Traffic aint bad in Abilene
Hey C24L! Thanks for the information. We will likely be renting an apt and would like to keep the rent under 1100...which appears very possible.
Good to hear there's a Candlewood Stes there. I'm familiar with them. And yes- I've looked online at hotels, but again, if someone has stayed in a place recently, that personal information is a plus.
Last edited by StormTamer57; 03-28-2017 at 07:49 AM..
SuddenLink had poor reliability for us.Candlewood Suites are nice.Abilene does get severe weather in the spring.I think they may be expecting some bad weather today.
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really just curious. 
