Ol_Ag_02 said:
Odessa may be the most depressing town I've ever driven through. And I went to Granbury once.
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.