I moved to El Paso about 5 years ago, but I actually visited here before that. Back in 2012 I had been laid off from my job in Florida and my old (now current) boss Kevin flew me out to El Paso to check out the town. There wasn't a job available yet, but he wanted to see how I liked the town.

My honest first impression was not a good one of El Paso. I'm flying in over the military base and it's all dirt, sand, and rocks. I remember saying to myself, "There's no way I could live here." Boy was I wrong. I ended up making the move in 2015, and now here I am absolutely loving El Paso. In just those 3 years from visit to move, the city has grown immensely. I could list all the things I love about El Paso but here are just a few:

  • I met my wife and started a whole new family here.
  • The food is amazing.
  • When you go to someone's house, they truly make you feel at home. Oh, and you better take that plate of food. It doesn't matter if you're on a diet, don't be rude. Eat the food.
  • The overall culture is amazing. The art, the music, all of it.

Those are just a few of the reasons I love El Paso. Recently someone asked over on Reddit, what people who moved here from out-of-town think of El Paso. Here are some of the responses. You can find the whole discussion by CLICKING HERE.

Jerryniels writes:

Moved here a year ago. Like the family friendly vibe. When I first moved here I found traffic not as congested as Austin or San Antonio, but found most drivers seem not to follow rules of the road more so than Austin or San Antonio. I also have found that the older Hispanics are polite and understanding because I am Anglo but find many under the age of 40 very rude. Despite how bad this review maybe I would start a family here.

Moved there as a kid, didn’t know what to expect. It was really hard on our family. I was most surprised because I got lots of flak of for being white and not speaking Spanish.

I developed some appreciation for El Paso as a young adult living in Las Cruces. I think partly because the city grew and changed in some ways I considered good, and because of effort spent on new friendships. Now I’m far away and miss some aspects of the city. I don’t think I would move back, for a variety of reasons, but I do want to visit.

Fungiis writes:

Moved here from California almost a year ago. Has been an amazing experience for my boyfriend and I. We love it here. Everyone we have met has been incredibly welcoming and nice to us. The summer time has been hot for sure but the rest of the year we found very pleasant. If we were in normal times we would be enjoying see bands play or going to some baseball games. Everything is cheap here, especially rent. Still have yet to experience traffic here, maybe that’s just the part of town that we’re in but it’s a very nice change of pace from bumper to bumper traffic we were used to. There seems to be a local tight knit music scene, cycling scene and people like to drink in this town, A LOT. These are things that appeal to us so we are happy to be here. It definitely does not feel like Texas, it has its own feel in a good way.

And BgDog18 sums it up like this:

Not really Texas, nice people, great food, bad drivers, lazy people, great housing, nice airport.

Mostly what I expected. Not a city feel at all. More of a large town vibe. No complaints.

 

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