Abilene Options

[schwab]

I got a job offer there, is that town really that bad?

Anything to do there?

[cupcake]

I'd move there in a heartbeat. cheap cost of living, rad lake, badass hunting (buffalo gap)...not TOO small...has a couple colleges, starbucks lol, etc.

my buddy has a cabin outside of buffalo gap and it's gorgeous land and my "getaway" from dallas.

but then again, I am weird and am tired of big cities.

what kind of job is it?

[schwab]

a construction job....project engineer sort of position.

[cupcake]

shit I'd be all over it.

but then I LIKE abilene...not just tolerate it.

[schwab]

i figure its a lot like lubbock

but just smaller

i think i could handle it since i would be closer to things like austin and dallas

[cupcake]

that's actually exactly right.

you're only 3hrs from dallas (don't know what it is to ATX). smaller than the LBK but not that much noticeably smaller...4 colleges (including the tech campus), cheaper than LBK...and more importantly way far prettier land than LBK. hills, valleys, canyons, small mtns...with dry weather, so unlike ATX or DFW you aren't suffocating in humidity during the summer heat.

huge lake for skiing, fishing...pretty girls out there. and burly deer, turkey, and boar population if you hunt.

you buy a nice pad for cheap.

I'm not trying to sound like the damn chamber of commerce, just that on the surface one mights say "abilene wtf?!?" but I've spent a lot of time there in my adult life and rate it higher than most places in texas.

[Aaron]

Agreed. I've never spent more than a few days at a time in Abilene, but it seems to have all of the great qualities of Lubbock (friendly people, good size, little traffic, weather, cost of living) without many of the not-so-great qualities (dry county, relatively isolated, etc.).

I'd live there.

The only negative (relatively minor) that I can think of is that you might have fewer options as far as air travel in and out of the city. Apparently the only major carriers that service the airport are Continental Express and American Eagle, and they just fly to and from Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth.

[schwab]

yeah, its good to hear these things, because im leaning towards the job

the pay is better than i was expecting, and a lot of bonuses....i figure its good that i can still come back to lubbock every once in a while since it isnt that far.

[Aaron]

If the pay is high enough to where you would take the job in Dallas or Houston, jump all over it. The cost of living in Abilene is 7.6% lower than Dallas and 2.5% (I would have thought this number would be bigger) lower than Houston.

[Billy]

I am from abilene and I will testify that it is indeed much better now than it was in the past. Businesses are actually moving to abilene. However, the city is not really growing...just moving. I would not recommend living in abilene if you are the 'city' type, as there is little you will enjoy there. On top of that, being that it is such a small monotonous city (very little diversity), you will get bored very fast if variety is the type of thing you enjoy.

On top of that, Abilene is just that...abilene. There is nothing near abilene. The surrounding areas are just welfare towns, which are all shrinking very fast. If you get tired of abilene, it is not easy to take a short trip to one of the larger cities. Dallas is three hours away. Austin is 5 hours. So unless you intend to make your trip a weekend trip, it is senseless to go anywhere.

The scenery is only pretty four months out of the year: april through june and sometimes july. The rest of the year whatever was green turns yellow and stays that way for awhile. However, it is cheap to live in abilene, but that is not without reason: not enough people are moving to abilene to cover the people who are leaving. For the most part, abilene's population is stagnant.

There are very few people here from abilene who will recommend living there. The only people who will recommend it are people who have visited, but have had the option of going back to the civilized world. Abilene is worse than lubbock as far as quality of life is concerned, if that says anything. The only people who recommend living in abilene that are from abilene are those who have accepted their low lot in life and are ignorant of anything better.

Final verdict: If you can find a job elsewhere, I would take it. It would take a sigificant annual salary ($200,000+) for me to live in abilene to compensate for the dull unhappiness of living there.

[Billy]

yeah, its good to hear these things, because im leaning towards the job

the pay is better than i was expecting, and a lot of bonuses....i figure its good that i can still come back to lubbock every once in a while since it isnt that far.

The two and half hours from abilene to lubbuck feels significantly longer than the 4 hours from dallas to houston. FYI

[jonathan83]

Abilene is basically Lubbock, without a huge university.

we've got 3 private Christian schools, and a Tech building (engineering i think)just opened up a couple years ago.

good mexican food, etc.

oh and there's a train that goes straight through town and is pretty loud. but i actually kinda like it because i feel like i'm living in the 1800s old west or something, lol.

anyway, cupcake what lake are you talking about, ft. phantom? because that place is all muddy and not great for swimming at all (not sure about fishing though).

[FORSAKENR320]

Abilene is basically Lubbock, without a huge university.

we've got 3 private Christian schools, and a Tech building (engineering i think)just opened up a couple years ago.

good mexican food, etc.

oh and there's a train that goes straight through town and is pretty loud. but i actually kinda like it because i feel like i'm living in the 1800s old west or something, lol.

anyway, cupcake what lake are you talking about, ft. phantom? because that place is all muddy and not great for swimming at all (not sure about fishing though).

cupcake doesn't swim... he's a manly man

[cupcake]

what lake? I'm talking about lake abilene out by buffalo gap. boating, fishing...you know...a lake.

I'm not a big consumer, nor do I do clubs anymore, so it seems to fit me just fine.

I don't know what renegadepeon is talking about regarding being pretty only a few months...the fall and winter during deer season is gorgeous.

I have more to do there than I do in dallas.

edit: I can see why anyone who grew up there would find it boring, but as you get older and are more well-traveled place like that are nice. I'd rather live somewhere cheap and have the finances to travel extensively and play well, than pay out the yinyang to live somewhere cool and never get to do jack shit (like I did in NYC).

[Billy]

what lake? I'm talking about lake abilene out by buffalo gap. boating, fishing...you know...a lake.

I'm not a big consumer, nor do I do clubs anymore, so it seems to fit me just fine.

I don't know what renegadepeon is talking about regarding being pretty only a few months...the fall and winter during deer season is gorgeous.

I have more to do there than I do in dallas.

edit: I can see why anyone who grew up there would find it boring, but as you get older and are more well-traveled place like that are nice. I'd rather live somewhere cheap and have the finances to travel extensively and play well, than pay out the yinyang to live somewhere cool and never get to do jack shit (like I did in NYC).

I think it comes down to us humans are always about the grass being better on the other side. I didn't actually live in abilene. I lived on a ranch out in the nowhere. Lots of mosquite forrest to explore. But when you grow up with it, you tire of it. And when abilene is "the big city", it's very frusterating. And I guess vice versa with city life.

But I grew up fairly high in the lower class bracket. So that might have something to do with my disdain of country life. Nothing is fun when you're poor.