Moving out to midland in December and just now beginning the housing hunt. Any areas I should really look into/stay away from? Young, single guy if it makes a difference.

Northwest corner of town is where all of the newest homes & apartments are going. I would say it is generally considered the "better" part of town, but maybe "newer" is more accurate. Outside of loop 250 going due north and due west there are some nice areas going up also. You can go rural in almost any direction depending on what you are looking for. There are good areas inside the loop, but I am less familiar with those.

Downtown is trying to get better with the new energy tower and word of condos being built there.

The term "south of the tracks" applies to both Midland and Odessa, but some of the best local restaurants can be found there.

I hate to say this, but look at far east odessa for housing. They're building lots of apartments far faster than anywhere in Midland. If you can't find anything in town, that'd be the place to look.

If you let us know what area you are going to work in in can help also.

Traffic patterns can be horrible to manageable depending on your direction and time of day. Just like all of the bigger cities.

I live in NW Midland but I work in SE Odessa 24 minutes away. About 1 mile/minute driving is really good in TRAFFIC.

There are several good areas in Midland. Are you looking to buy or rent? If buying, your choices are newer houses in newer neighborhoods or older houses in older neighborhoods (trees and proximity to downtown are going to be better in older neighborhoods). Size of house and budget will narrow down which newer neighborhoods you'll be shopping in.

I'll be working in downtown, and for now I'm going to rent.