There is a job offering that I've been asked to apply for that would have me in El Paso about 1/3 of the time. I won't live there, but I will be there a lot. I've only passed through El Paso once, and never stopped. Has anyone lived there? What is it like?
I haven't personally lived there, though I'm good friends with someone who grew up there. He says the 700+ miles Houston is from there isn't far enough away.
I had an Aunt who lived there before joining the Army as a doctor. I got the impression that she thought the Army was much more culturally sophisticated than El Paso. I also understood that there was a foreboding sense of isolation because of the vast distance to anything. It also is, of course, a desert. That should be obvious, but it bears repeating. If you like the color green, it is not a good place to be. For me, the dead looking foliage wears me down after a while. If you are kind of an individualist who likes hiking outdoors in the desert and you aren't into culture it might be a cool place to be. Sort of like any of the out of the way places in Nevada. If you would like to live in the desert in the middle of Nevada, you will probably like El Paso.
My parent's grew up in El Paso. It used to be clean little desert town. It is now over crowded and expanding rapidly. There is, of course, Leo's Mexican food restaurants. Comfort food for anybody from the area. You are also only about 2 hours away from Ruidoso, New Mexico, which is a nice place to ski and hit the Indian Casino, Inn of the Mountain Gods. You will want to stay or live on the West or Northwest part of town.
I'll add to the other comments that it is increasingly polluted by the metropolis across the border. I wouldn't want to spend more than a weekend there, but at least you aren't too terribly far from Carlsbad. As was said, you need to be a desert lover, like Lawrence of Arabia.
**** that place. I stayed a night there once on my way through. It takes you like an hour to drive through that place.
I remember eating at a ghetto Chucky Cheese on my drive through. I drove the 3 extra hours and stayed in Scottsdale instead. Nice mountain with the star...
Pros: There are mountains and hills and it is close to some good skiiing destinations, lots of hot latin girls, some great mexican food, semi-decent nightlife Cons: Ugly, corrupt, desert, no grass grows, on the border with mexico, you can see the shanty towns on the other side, overbuilt
El Paso is an incredibly boring, dull place. From my first step off the airplane, I can't wait to leave. The idea of spending a lot of time there on a regular basis would send me into depression.
I flew in and out of there to go to Ruidoso. On the way back through El Paso a sandtorm enveloped the freeway where you couldn't see past the window glass, some scary *****. When I turned the rental car in, some of the paint had been literally sandblasted off the automobile. Southern New Mexico is nice though.
Its not that bad of a town when compared to the next closest city, Lubbock. That place was hell when I was there for a few months.
