Way out in the middle of nowhere - there are two cities. Midland is slightly larger, but not much. Midland is the nice one - Odessa the crappy one.

Why - out in the middle of nowhere - did the original settlers feel the need to start TWO towns?

One nicer city for the white collar professionals at the O&G companies, and a blue collar town for the lower paid laborers. Kinda like Tyler and Longview.

ETA: no idea if this was true originally, but at least it's how they have evolved over time.

Both towns founded in 1881.

college station and bryan
dallas and fort worth

pretty much every nice town needs a foil town.

Canyon and Amarillo
Wolfforth and Lubbock
Buda and Austin

Lake Jackson and Freeport

Teslag said:

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Midland is just as trashy as Odessa.

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Lol. Found the guy from Odessa.

Nah, Midland is the nicest town you're going to find out that way.

Midland is where you raise babies. Odessa is where you raise hell.

Because you raise a family in Midland and raise hell in Odessa

DDP

Rival railroads maybe?

Odessa may be the most depressing town I've ever driven through. And I went to Granbury once.

Ol_Ag_02 said:

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Odessa may be the most depressing town I've ever driven through. And I went to Granbury once.

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I used to feel that way about Monahans when I was working on an environmental site out there during the early 2000s.

Ol_Ag_02 said:

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Odessa may be the most depressing town I've ever driven through. And I went to Granbury once.

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Granbury

Claude! said:

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Ol_Ag_02 said:

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Odessa may be the most depressing town I've ever driven through. And I went to Granbury once.

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Dude. Hearne exists.

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I think that the fine citizens of Hearne would not appreciate being compared to your average everyday Granbury local.

I say good day, sir.

Ol_Ag_02 said:

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Odessa may be the most depressing town I've ever driven through. And I went to Granbury once.

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Odessa is alright for about a 2 mile stretch as you come in on 191 from Midland. The areas around Odessa Country Club and UTPB have some nice homes with a few more near Ratliff Stadium (Permian HS) on the north side. Once you get west of Parkway Blvd it goes downhill pretty quick. My wife used to teach on the SW side of Odessa while we lived in Midland and there were some very sketchy parts of town around her middle school. Dos Amigos was good place to catch a live concert at though and there were some great tamale shops around town so we enjoyed venturing over for that.

As for Midland, it was genuinely a good place to live and we encountered some of the nicest people around during our time there. We don't ever see ourselves moving back, but I also wouldn't try to talk anyone out of moving there for the right opportunity. Lots of good Ags in the community and plenty of opportunities to be involved with church groups, civic organizations, and other professional networks. People are generally laid back and it's a great networking town without the whole rat race feel of Houston or D/FW.

wbt5845 said:

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Way out in the middle of nowhere - there are two cities. Midland is slightly larger, but not much. Midland is the nice one - Odessa the crappy one.

Why - out in the middle of nowhere - did the original settlers feel the need to start TWO towns?

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Kick the dirt with your foot and oil would appear. You know, Texas tea...

The did not pick it, that was just where the oil was and still is...

AggieArchitect04 said:

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Teslag said:

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Midland is just as trashy as Odessa.

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Lol. Found the guy from Odessa.

Nah, Midland is the nicest town you're going to find out that way.

Midland is where you raise babies. Odessa is where you raise hell.

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I was raised in the Florida Keys and live in North Texas. Midland Odessa Lubbock Abilene and Amarillo are all the same ****hole cities. All of Texas west of hwy 281 is trash.

DrEvazanPhD said:

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Because you raise a family in Midland and raise hell in Odessa

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Never heard this saying before and here two people posted it at the exact same time.

Just thought it was interesting. Carry on.

AggieArchitect04 said:

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Teslag said:

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Midland is just as trashy as Odessa.

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Lol. Found the guy from Odessa.

Nah, Midland is the nicest town you're going to find out that way.

Midland is where you raise babies. Odessa is where you raise hell.

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Except he's right. Midland= Odessa with more tall buildings.

Teslag said:

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AggieArchitect04 said:

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Teslag said:

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Midland is just as trashy as Odessa.

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Lol. Found the guy from Odessa.

Nah, Midland is the nicest town you're going to find out that way.

Midland is where you raise babies. Odessa is where you raise hell.

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I was raised in the Florida Keys and live in North Texas. Midland Odessa Lubbock Abilene and Amarillo are all the same ****hole cities. All of Texas west of hwy 281 is trash.

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People in west Texas say the same thing about people east of 281.

That's because they are morons