How bad can El Paso Be?

[Matagorda 118]

In my field of work, El Paso is paying close to three times normal wages.  
 

Any of you live and have an opinion about the town?  Am I looking at just getting my family members kidnapped/beheaded, or is it safe and all that Narco stuff overblown? 
 

 

[Gil Bang 26069]

My kid lived there for a few years when he was at Bliss.  It's a pretty nice town overall.  And a very safe city too. 

[fattyflattie 4639]

7 minutes ago, Matagorda said:

In my field of work, El Paso is paying close to three times normal wages.  
 

Any of you live and have an opinion about the town?  Am I looking at just getting my family members kidnapped/beheaded, or is it safe and all that Narco stuff overblown? 
 

 

It’s pretty safe, imo.  It’s definitely got it’s own vibe, but for 3x the pay, you only have to stay 1/3 as long. 

[CooterBrown 18038]

El Paso is the safest city in the US.

Crossing the border to work the donkey show in Juarez may be a painful commute though.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

El Paso is a cool town. Love the desert. But Chico’s Tacos suck.

[royiv 9402]

To answer the question in the subject, it’s not bad at all. Overall good climate, safe city, affordable compared to a lot of Texas cities, good food, etc. Downsides are that it’s remote to the big TX metros, airport is pretty limited and you’re not going to have all the amenities of the big metros. I think EP punches above its weight class and you could pick a lot worse places to live in TX.

[Surly Bevo 25256]

The views from the hillsides are incredible

[ztejas 43604]

Lotta dudes. 

[elfenix 34364]

1 hour ago, royiv said:

Downsides are that it’s remote to the big TX metros

closer to phoenix than to san antonio and closer to denver than to dallas

[royiv 9402]

1 minute ago, elfenix said:

closer to phoenix than to san antonio and closer to denver than to dallas

Hence why I said the big TX metros.

[C-Man 27293]

And only a couple of hours drive up into the NM mountains.

[CooterBrown 18038]

closer to phoenix than to san antonio and closer to denver than to dallas

100 miles closer to San Diego than to Beaumont.

[elfenix 34364]

1 hour ago, royiv said:

Hence why I said the big TX metros.

which is why i illustrated your comment.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

which is why i illustrated your comment.

Which is why I quoted you quoting him quoting you illustrating his comment.

[tx 3 putt 77650]

7 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

El Paso is the safest city in the US.

Crossing the border to work the donkey show in Juarez may be a painful commute though.

 

that donkey show must really pay !!

3 times more than the valley ??? congrats !

Edited November 9, 2022 by tx 3 putt

[tx 3 putt 77650]

if you're making that much cheddar, I'd hit up this local sports bar ... https://www.instagram.com/timmyz_eptx/

 

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

Desert Oak BBQ is good, but if it was located in any other major city in Texas, it would be a second tier joint (like Roegel’s).

[Dewey 3299]

16 hours ago, Matagorda said:

In my field of work, El Paso is paying close to three times normal wages.  
 

Any of you live and have an opinion about the town?  Am I looking at just getting my family members kidnapped/beheaded, or is it safe and all that Narco stuff overblown? 
 

 

You've been misinformed if you think there's ever a chance of being kidnapped or beheaded. I lived there for about 8 months and my work might send me back because others in the company are just as misinformed. It is remote, but lots of flights go directly to all major Texas cities. The airport is an easy in and out. The drive back home for me (Austin) isn't that bad, it's an easy 8 hours. I had worse drives going back home when I lived 4 hours away in Galveston. The one hour drive I have now from New Braunfels sucks too. 

As for El Paso itself, it's great. People are nice, food is great, plenty to do. As said already, really safe place to live. It has its bad parts, like all cities. When I lived there, I had to find a place quick, sight unseen, apparently a bad part of town, but I didn't find it so. Nice neighbors, park down the street, but the locals I worked with kept telling me I lived in what is called the devil's triangle. Neighbor across the street did have a truck stolen from him, but he had 4 other vehicles and left the truck unlocked with keys in it. Lol. 

I miss the cost of living there, pay me what they do, feels like I won some kind of lottery. Downside for me, maybe not for you, no HEB. But I offset that with Vista Market. If your uncomfortable being around a lot of Mexicans, no matter how safe it is, then stay put. I love the place, hopefully for me I go back after the holidays, but with work, they'll probably call me and ask me to go tomorrow. 

One last thing, weather is mild except for the occasional dust storm. A lot of houses have swamp coolers, so if you go looking, keep an eye out for that. Look for central air. 

Edited November 9, 2022 by Dewey

[Gil Bang 26069]

That airport may be small, but it’s actually quite nice

[MeerkatBong 115]

El Paso is very cool. If you are used to creature comforts of a large metro (Dallas/Houston/Austin in Texas) then you will have to adjust your lifestyle a bit, but El Paso offers 75% of what those cities have.

What it makes up for is in cost of living and culture-- a good analogy is that El Paso is to a major Texas city like what a college town is to a city.

El Paso is more closely related to Las Cruces, NM than anything else as well. 

[Longhornfan1024 1707]

The only reason to be worried is if you're scared of brown people.  

[RPM 26374]

Never lived there, have been thru / stayed there many times mostly 20+ years ago so a lot of shits changed, but the city ain't moved. It's an oasis. Satellite TV and Amazon has changed the game. Low crime, good food, what's not to like?

[ScottS 1076]

I feel confident that no one will get the cities of Matagorda and El Paso confused with each other.

[4th&Five 41618]

obligatory:

 

I've spent a lot of time there for work over the years and grew to like it.  Good food, daytrips to the mountains and White Sands are great.  

[RiverwalkMiner 257]

Being born and bred in El Paso, I'll echo what everyone else has already posted. Weather is nice, except for spring dust storms. Also, El Paso is connected to the Western power grid, so less chance of death in winter. Hell, even Alamo Drafthouse House moved in a couple of years ago. 

IF I could get 3 times my San Antonio salary, I would give it a hard look, and I have no living family there anymore. 

I would stick to the westside of town. Can't beat the sunsets over the New Mexico valley. 

Edited November 9, 2022 by RiverwalkMiner

[High Plains Drifter 11054]

 

All the above is true. El Paso is a great small city. Not a bad drive to ski areas in NM if that is your thing.

By far worst problem is air quality. Horrible air pollution. Starting to get a lot of sprawl also.

And traffic on I-10 can be a shit show, although probably not any worse than any other Texas metro.

[High Plains Drifter 11054]

 

When I was a kid, my dad had business in El Paso a handful of times a year. He'd take me sometimes and we'd go over to Juarez and eat like kings, hit up the dog races.

Memories.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

 
When I was a kid, my dad had business in El Paso a handful of times a year. He'd take me sometimes and we'd go over to Juarez and eat like kings, hit up the dog races.
Memories.

It’s a shame what the US war on drugs and other policies have done to our neighbors. (Surly fascists, don’t get all in a hussy, yes, they have their own homegrown problems as well).

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4979]

El Paso also has world class bouldering and there are probably plenty of areas close by for sport and trad climbing if you are into that or think it might be something you might like to take up.

[gmr548 16617]

The biggest question is what’s so whacked out about the situation in your field locally that it’s a 3x raise. Assuming you’re in Texas, there’s nowhere in those state worth passing that up.

[Helobious 9477]

On 11/8/2022 at 2:33 PM, Matagorda said:

 Am I looking at just getting my family members kidnapped/beheaded, or is it safe and all that Narco stuff overblown? 
 

The great irony of the Walmart shooter’s belief that Mexicans are inherently violent and dangerous is that he eclipsed the entire El Paso homicide total of 2018 in that one 2019 shooting. EP is probably safer than wherever you live now.

[South Austin 52659]

I took my first expert deposition in El Paso in 2000. That’s all I got.

[Dahobbs 17717]

Who are you listening to that is telling you El Paso is bad? It is the safest city in Texas. 

[YGIFS 19453]

I went there once a quarter for work every quarter from 2001-2006.  And still get out there about once a year for other conferences.  Have many good friends there.  Never felt unsafe there even walking back to the hotel at 2am.  Great restaurants, love that new(ish) ballpark, met Dave Chapelle in that domed bar once before he got really big.  Art Museum is fantastic.  Very walkable.  Not a whole helluva lot to do unless you wanna drive out of town and get a good hike.  Mom's family is from the RGV.  I feel very safe down there as well and was there all the time for work stuff as well.  

My in-laws lose their minds whenever they find out I'm anywhere near the border for work.  Meanwhile their youngest daughter has most recently lived in Topeka and Wichita, two of the most violent hellscapes in the continental U.S.  But because it's in their homestate, they don't believe the data.  They were genuinely surprised last time they visited Austin that we didn't have illegals just running through our creekbed at night.  

[South Austin 52659]

7 hours ago, YGIFS said:

They were genuinely surprised last time they visited Austin that we didn't have illegals just running through our creekbed at night.  

[YGIFS 19453]

Because I live by a creek or because my in-laws are white?  

 

although this does remind me of a post I did  a  few months ago where  I declared we had a whopping (2) two TV's !  

Edited November 11, 2022 by YGIFS

[Buzzrock 15007]

The first time I really understood how big Texas is was when my buddy got transferred to El Paso and told me that Dallas was about halfway when he would drive home to Atlanta.

[Js1 85651]

13 hours ago, Buzzrock said:

The first time I really understood how big Texas is was when my buddy got transferred to El Paso and told me that Dallas was about halfway when he would drive home to Atlanta.

Yeah, you can drive from Houston to Philadelphia in 23 hours and travel through 10 different states.  You can drive from Houston to Denver in 16 hours and only hit 3 states, and you spend 11 of the 16 hours within the state of Texas.

It's dumb sometimes. 

[Bevo 13608]

2 hours ago, Js1 said:

Yeah, you can drive from Houston to Philadelphia in 23 hours and travel through 10 different states.  You can drive from Houston to Denver in 16 hours and only hit 3 states, and you spend 11 of the 16 hours within the state of Texas.

It's dumb sometimes. 

Whatever, Armybrat misses when New Mexico was part of Texas.

[South Austin 52659]

One of The Gourds' best songs.

 

[crash_davis 23121]

This is a fucking first. 40 post in and no one has shit on the town. Can't ever say that about any thread about any other Texas city.

[cabowabo 4520]

Rosa's Cantina is supposed to be a happening place.

[royiv 9402]

4 hours ago, crash_davis said:

This is a fucking first. 40 post in and no one has shit on the town. Can't ever say that about any thread about any other Texas city.

And OP was never heard from again. Maybe he went to go check El Paso out after reading all the good things here and ended up being kidnapped by one of the cartels.

[NeverMarryAStripper 21996]

He left to drive to El Paso after starting the thread and just hasn’t arrived yet

[Dewey 3299]

4 hours ago, crash_davis said:

This is a fucking first. 40 post in and no one has shit on the town. Can't ever say that about any thread about any other Texas city.

Well, there is a California population there, but not like the kind that moves to Austin. They blend in pretty well. 

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

I’d rather be in El Paso than Houston (except for the bbq).

[tx 3 putt 77650]

On 11/15/2022 at 7:53 AM, Js1 said:

Yeah, you can drive from Houston to Philadelphia in 23 hours and travel through 10 different states.  You can drive from Houston to Denver in 16 hours and only hit 3 states, and you spend 11 of the 16 hours within the state of Texas.

It's dumb sometimes. 

 

houston in milwauke in 23 hrs 

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

What y’all are trying to say is El Chuco is closer to San Diego than it is to Houston.

[StassneyHorn 6673]

Made a Phoenix to Victoria,TX drive few days ago that was 630 AM MST departure and 3AM CST arrival. Stopped three times to nap in the morning though.

El Paso is fun to go through since the overpasses on I-10 are painted up and look different. Didn’t stop to eat or do anything fun in the city though. So my post is worthless. One pro is you can’t smell any of the cow shit from Anthony TX.

[Ignatius 4050]

On 11/9/2022 at 8:12 AM, Dewey said:

You've been misinformed if you think there's ever a chance of being kidnapped or beheaded.

Ever? There’s a non-zero chance you can get kidnapped/beheaded in Antarctica…