Looks like I'm moving soon from Houston. I've worked out there in the past, never thought about living. I know the NW side is the place to look for housing. But, I'm curious on the overall town itself, things to do, etc.. Any input?
Fill me in on living in Midland West Texas board....
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Last: 5 yr ago by Predmid
Most new development is on the north side of town (north of the loop). There are a couple of D.R. Horton style communities east of Big Spring street. A higher end development between Big Spring and A St (Solomon Estates). A middle-end development west of A St., north of Mockingbird (Woodland Park), as well as a few others north of the loop. I think a quick drive through each of them should give you a good idea of the type of neighborhood they are. There are also many newer neighborhoods north of the loop that are completely built out if you're not interested in new construction.
I grew up here and I live a few blocks west of the duck pond on A St. This neighborhood (commonly referred to as Old Midland, even though the neighborhood around the Museum of the Southwest is older) was developed in the late 40s through 60s. It's the area north of Cuthbert, south of Golf Course, east of Garfield, west of A St.There are some old fixer-uppers and many remodeled houses and a few new builds. I'm not sure how long you plan on being in Midland, but if planning on many years, I would probably buy something in Old Midland and remodel or build new (what I did). There's another neighborhood commonly referred to as Warwick which is north of Golf Course, south of Neely, east of Garfield, and west of I street which I also think holds it's value very well.
I'm not sure where you'll be working or where you're moving from, but a long-ish commute is 20 minutes in Midland. I used to live north of the loop and work downtown and that was 20-25 minutes at peak traffic times.
I grew up here and I live a few blocks west of the duck pond on A St. This neighborhood (commonly referred to as Old Midland, even though the neighborhood around the Museum of the Southwest is older) was developed in the late 40s through 60s. It's the area north of Cuthbert, south of Golf Course, east of Garfield, west of A St.There are some old fixer-uppers and many remodeled houses and a few new builds. I'm not sure how long you plan on being in Midland, but if planning on many years, I would probably buy something in Old Midland and remodel or build new (what I did). There's another neighborhood commonly referred to as Warwick which is north of Golf Course, south of Neely, east of Garfield, and west of I street which I also think holds it's value very well.
I'm not sure where you'll be working or where you're moving from, but a long-ish commute is 20 minutes in Midland. I used to live north of the loop and work downtown and that was 20-25 minutes at peak traffic times.
I too will be moving from Houston to Midland. From my few hours there it seems the lifestyle is a lot more laid back and slow. I think I will like that. My wife isn't as excited as I am but is very understanding and patient.
Thanks for the area recommendations TxAg20, we are looking to buy a house. What do you think of the Museum district? There are a couple of nice looking homes there for sale but like the OP I have no idea about neighborhoods.
Thanks for the area recommendations TxAg20, we are looking to buy a house. What do you think of the Museum district? There are a couple of nice looking homes there for sale but like the OP I have no idea about neighborhoods.
Welcome!
Been here since 1993 via Albuquerque, BCS, and Katy.
Raised both kids here and both have graduated college.
I live in Crestgate in Midland, I was told they were built for oil execs in the 1980s.
I have a huge soccer park behind my back yard.
Lots of Aggies have been moving in, but Tech has a stronghold here.
If your spouses teach or can teach, they start around $50k and are much needed.
There are more Private schools in Midland than Odessa.
We usually have 3 to 4 seasons of weather.
Humidity is probably 1/2 of what you are used to.
We normally have 1-2 weeks of 100+*F weather.
It will usually snow at least once per year for snowman building.
If you count the miles to some place that is the minutes to get there.
I work 20 miles away in Midland and it takes about 25-30 minutes to get there in "rush hour" traffic.
Midland has a Children's museum, Petroleum museum, and a planetarium.
Midland has the Wagner Noel for concerts, Midland Theater and Summer Mummers downtown.
We have 3 movie theaters each in both Midland and Odessa. We now have IMAX at a few.
Both Midland and Odessa have a decent sized mall.
Some of the best people anywhere in all of Texas. We might even wave as you pass on a country road.
From here you can get anywhere, you are not trapped.
Midland Airport flies 737s from SW.
Ruidoso is about 5 hours north and west. Carlsbad is 2.5 hours
El Paso is over 4 hours west.
Dallas is 5 hours east, Abilene is 2 hours east.
Big Bend is 3 hours south.
Amarillo is 4hrs north. Lubbock is 2 hours north.
If you are so inclined.
Speed limit is 75mph in almost every direction.
I think we have really good Tex-Mex.
Try a Brisket and cheese Torta from Martinez Bakery on Florida in south Midland.
There is a long thread about local foods.
We are getting more big city chains. (i.e. Panera bread, 5 guys, Grub burger, Freebird, Chipotle)
Nearest fishing lake is about 1 hour away.
We have been getting more water in our lakes than we have been using since El Nino kicked in. (Very good news)
There is Midland College, Odessa College and UTPB in Odessa.
That should give y'all something to chew on.
I will post more if more is needed.
Been here since 1993 via Albuquerque, BCS, and Katy.
Raised both kids here and both have graduated college.
I live in Crestgate in Midland, I was told they were built for oil execs in the 1980s.
I have a huge soccer park behind my back yard.
Lots of Aggies have been moving in, but Tech has a stronghold here.
If your spouses teach or can teach, they start around $50k and are much needed.
There are more Private schools in Midland than Odessa.
We usually have 3 to 4 seasons of weather.
Humidity is probably 1/2 of what you are used to.
We normally have 1-2 weeks of 100+*F weather.
It will usually snow at least once per year for snowman building.
If you count the miles to some place that is the minutes to get there.
I work 20 miles away in Midland and it takes about 25-30 minutes to get there in "rush hour" traffic.
Midland has a Children's museum, Petroleum museum, and a planetarium.
Midland has the Wagner Noel for concerts, Midland Theater and Summer Mummers downtown.
We have 3 movie theaters each in both Midland and Odessa. We now have IMAX at a few.
Both Midland and Odessa have a decent sized mall.
Some of the best people anywhere in all of Texas. We might even wave as you pass on a country road.
From here you can get anywhere, you are not trapped.
Midland Airport flies 737s from SW.
Ruidoso is about 5 hours north and west. Carlsbad is 2.5 hours
El Paso is over 4 hours west.
Dallas is 5 hours east, Abilene is 2 hours east.
Big Bend is 3 hours south.
Amarillo is 4hrs north. Lubbock is 2 hours north.
If you are so inclined.Speed limit is 75mph in almost every direction.
I think we have really good Tex-Mex.
Try a Brisket and cheese Torta from Martinez Bakery on Florida in south Midland.
There is a long thread about local foods.
We are getting more big city chains. (i.e. Panera bread, 5 guys, Grub burger, Freebird, Chipotle)
Nearest fishing lake is about 1 hour away.
We have been getting more water in our lakes than we have been using since El Nino kicked in. (Very good news)
There is Midland College, Odessa College and UTPB in Odessa.
That should give y'all something to chew on.
I will post more if more is needed.
TexMex is trash in the petroplex but I agree with pretty much everything else.
Yeah. We don't. The good news is that even mediocre Tex-Mex is pretty good.Quote:
I think we have really good Tex-Mex
I am really curious where this GREAT Tex-Mex exists?Moe 92 said:Yeah. We don't. The good news is that even mediocre Tex-Mex is pretty good.Quote:
I think we have really good Tex-Mex
Are we talking Taco Bell or what?
If you're having trash tex-mex in Midland then you are eating at the wrong places.
Care to specify then?Mr_mo8268 said:
If you're having trash tex-mex in Midland then you are eating at the wrong places.
I will say Cancun Grill isn't full blown trash, but its not that great. I suppose Abuelo's is fair, but who counts chains?
El Banquete, Cancun Grill, Tampico, Carambas, Jorge's, El BurritoWestTexAG said:Care to specify then?Mr_mo8268 said:
If you're having trash tex-mex in Midland then you are eating at the wrong places.
El Banquete is great, been making great food for about 18 years now.
Find the food that you like best. There is a lot to choose from.
If you are into shooting sports there are at least 2 indoor and 2 outdoor ranges in the area. There is 1 indoor and 1 outdoor in each of Midland and Odessa. There are a couple of gun shops in the Petroplex and Academy and Walmart for basic supplies. Guns shows at Odessa's Ector County Coliseum and The Midland Horseshoe at fairly often intervals.
If you are into winter sports we have a winter ski supply place called Ski Skeller sports in Midland.
Last I checked only Midland had Private High Schools: Midland Classical, Midland Christian, Midland Trinity.
Both Midland and Odessa have Pre-K to at least 6th grade in Private.
I believe you can scuba dive in Balmorea, TX.
There is an Observatory in Ft. Davis, as well as Prude (Dude) Ranch that my kids went to on an overnight field trip to.
We have a working replica of Shakespear's Globe theater at Odessa College.
There is a West Texas Native Stone Henge on the campus of UTPB.
We have rodeos in Odessa.
Midland holds a Celtic festival at the Midland Horseshoe Pavilion in March.
County fairs in Midland and Ector (Odessa). Some local private schools do a fair for funding such as St Ann's in Midland.
If you are into shooting sports there are at least 2 indoor and 2 outdoor ranges in the area. There is 1 indoor and 1 outdoor in each of Midland and Odessa. There are a couple of gun shops in the Petroplex and Academy and Walmart for basic supplies. Guns shows at Odessa's Ector County Coliseum and The Midland Horseshoe at fairly often intervals.
If you are into winter sports we have a winter ski supply place called Ski Skeller sports in Midland.
Last I checked only Midland had Private High Schools: Midland Classical, Midland Christian, Midland Trinity.
Both Midland and Odessa have Pre-K to at least 6th grade in Private.
I believe you can scuba dive in Balmorea, TX.
There is an Observatory in Ft. Davis, as well as Prude (Dude) Ranch that my kids went to on an overnight field trip to.
We have a working replica of Shakespear's Globe theater at Odessa College.
There is a West Texas Native Stone Henge on the campus of UTPB.
We have rodeos in Odessa.
Midland holds a Celtic festival at the Midland Horseshoe Pavilion in March.
County fairs in Midland and Ector (Odessa). Some local private schools do a fair for funding such as St Ann's in Midland.
I've lived out here for three years now, and have experienced the boom and the bust.
Here's my take:
-Overall a nice place to live with a young family, nice parks, enough events and activities locally to keep you busy. Close knit community.
-For O&G employees its the place to be right now and as an onshore development opportunity I can think of no better place to learn the business, it's almost a College like atmosphere for professionals in the business as just about everyone you meet will be tied to the industry and will have something you can learn from.
-The natives would disagree, but coming from Houston, I would say Midland's population and geographical spread is near perfect. There are enough people that there are options for just about everything and not so much that it has problems of urban sprawl like Houston, DFW, the San/Austin/I35 messes. You run into people from work/school/church/neighbors/sports everywhere.
-Weather - you actually get four seasons, there is no humidity which almost always makes for nice evenings, and you will get snow 1-2x per year. Being from Houston I appreciate it. However, I do hate the dust storms and incessant wind sometimes. It hailed yesterday.
-Proximity to great camping opportunities. Proximity being 3-5 hrs. Guadalupe Mountains National Park, McKittrick Canyon (Most scenic spot in Texas during the Fall), Big Bend, Palo Duro & Caprock Canyons, The Davis Mountains, Ruidoso, Balmorhea, Monahans Sand Dunes are all within ease of reach.
-Medical - if you get something serious, go to Dallas.
-What they lack for in traffic mass they almost make up for with their special breed of terrible drivers and poor roadway designs (two way feeder roads). Avoid all trucks with a welding unit.
-Crime - I ran a guy off trying to break into my garage fat Rambo style, and also had a package stolen of my front porch... who I then identified vigilante justice style and was able to get arrested and prosecuted. This particular POS later robbed a co-workers house, but fortunately was arrested last February with a map of law enforcement officers addresses circled and had a truck filled with pipe bombs and a firearm - he's now facing federal charges.
-Schools - Overall the public school system is an abomination. Magnet elementary schools are decent, and they do have one of the best in the state Carver, but overall it's terrible. Trinity (private) is great per my co-worker who has kids there, but you pay college tuition prices for Kindergarten. There are other less regarded and more affordable private school options.
-The Blue Door makes an excellent Old Fashioned.
-There is a good mix of local restaurants and chains.
I work in the rust palace, drop a line when you get out here and we can meet up
Here's my take:
-Overall a nice place to live with a young family, nice parks, enough events and activities locally to keep you busy. Close knit community.
-For O&G employees its the place to be right now and as an onshore development opportunity I can think of no better place to learn the business, it's almost a College like atmosphere for professionals in the business as just about everyone you meet will be tied to the industry and will have something you can learn from.
-The natives would disagree, but coming from Houston, I would say Midland's population and geographical spread is near perfect. There are enough people that there are options for just about everything and not so much that it has problems of urban sprawl like Houston, DFW, the San/Austin/I35 messes. You run into people from work/school/church/neighbors/sports everywhere.
-Weather - you actually get four seasons, there is no humidity which almost always makes for nice evenings, and you will get snow 1-2x per year. Being from Houston I appreciate it. However, I do hate the dust storms and incessant wind sometimes. It hailed yesterday.
-Proximity to great camping opportunities. Proximity being 3-5 hrs. Guadalupe Mountains National Park, McKittrick Canyon (Most scenic spot in Texas during the Fall), Big Bend, Palo Duro & Caprock Canyons, The Davis Mountains, Ruidoso, Balmorhea, Monahans Sand Dunes are all within ease of reach.
-Medical - if you get something serious, go to Dallas.
-What they lack for in traffic mass they almost make up for with their special breed of terrible drivers and poor roadway designs (two way feeder roads). Avoid all trucks with a welding unit.
-Crime - I ran a guy off trying to break into my garage fat Rambo style, and also had a package stolen of my front porch... who I then identified vigilante justice style and was able to get arrested and prosecuted. This particular POS later robbed a co-workers house, but fortunately was arrested last February with a map of law enforcement officers addresses circled and had a truck filled with pipe bombs and a firearm - he's now facing federal charges.
-Schools - Overall the public school system is an abomination. Magnet elementary schools are decent, and they do have one of the best in the state Carver, but overall it's terrible. Trinity (private) is great per my co-worker who has kids there, but you pay college tuition prices for Kindergarten. There are other less regarded and more affordable private school options.
-The Blue Door makes an excellent Old Fashioned.
-There is a good mix of local restaurants and chains.
I work in the rust palace, drop a line when you get out here and we can meet up
WestTexAG said:Care to specify then?Mr_mo8268 said:
If you're having trash tex-mex in Midland then you are eating at the wrong places.
La Bodega
We are done here
Exactly the place that is the most pure trash, thanks for making my point.C4D said:WestTexAG said:Care to specify then?Mr_mo8268 said:
If you're having trash tex-mex in Midland then you are eating at the wrong places.
La Bodega
We are done here
C4D said:WestTexAG said:Care to specify then?Mr_mo8268 said:
If you're having trash tex-mex in Midland then you are eating at the wrong places.
La Bodega
We are done here
They have the best chile rellenos. But you have to tell them not to put any damn raisins on them though.
They have good old school supreme nachos too. None of that ridiculous six individually prepared and plated chips nonsense.
Get yourself a chile relleno burrito from El Burrito. Incredible. Ground beef, cheese, dived up relleno, and maybe potato. It's a treat.Tripacer said:C4D said:WestTexAG said:Care to specify then?Mr_mo8268 said:
HIf you're having trash tex-mex in Midland then you are eating at the wrong places.
La Bodega
We are done here
They have the best chile rellenos. But you have to tell them not to put any damn raisins on them though.
They have good old school supreme nachos too. None of that ridiculous six individually prepared and plated chips nonsense.
Rio grande has great tacos and chicken, though none of the other typical Tex Mex fare.
Quote:
Summer Mummers
I heard my name. What's up?
I've always enjoyed Casa Del Sol & Gerardos.
C4D said:WestTexAG said:Care to specify then?Mr_mo8268 said:
If you're having trash tex-mex in Midland then you are eating at the wrong places.
La Bodega
We are done here
It's been a few years since I've been to either, but we always really enjoyed Jorge's and Ajuua's for Mexican.
I'm not familiar with much other than hotels and restaurants and Uber there as I just travel there frequently.
The midland Beer Garden is a cool spot that's pet friendly, similar to the Katy Trail Ice House in Dallas. Little Woodrow's is another decent spot to grab a beer. The Hemingway is a nice little spot to grab a drink and smoke a cigar. Has an outdoor area so even if you aren't smoking it's still a cool spot.
Downtown midland only has a couple places to eat:
Luigi's: Good Italian food, they cut you off after 2 drinks which is fine except when you are trying to kill 3 hours with your dinner like I am usually trying to do.
Cancun grill - solid tex mex
Wall Street bar and grill - no way I'd spend my own money at this place. Definitely overpriced. That said, it's the only place in downtown to serve traditional American food that I'm familiar with and I travel on an expense account so when I stay downtown I'll eat here sometimes.
Uber: my experience has been pretty good in Midland and hit or miss in Odessa. I'd say average weight time in midland is 10 minutes. In Odessa I've had 20+ minute waits and even "no cars available" at like 8am.
All that being said, we recently moved 2 of my direct reports to Midland. They have both made friends quickly as everyone is in oil and gas so it's been easy for them to connect with neighbors and people at church. They both seem to legitamitely be enjoying the move.
The midland Beer Garden is a cool spot that's pet friendly, similar to the Katy Trail Ice House in Dallas. Little Woodrow's is another decent spot to grab a beer. The Hemingway is a nice little spot to grab a drink and smoke a cigar. Has an outdoor area so even if you aren't smoking it's still a cool spot.
Downtown midland only has a couple places to eat:
Luigi's: Good Italian food, they cut you off after 2 drinks which is fine except when you are trying to kill 3 hours with your dinner like I am usually trying to do.
Cancun grill - solid tex mex
Wall Street bar and grill - no way I'd spend my own money at this place. Definitely overpriced. That said, it's the only place in downtown to serve traditional American food that I'm familiar with and I travel on an expense account so when I stay downtown I'll eat here sometimes.
Uber: my experience has been pretty good in Midland and hit or miss in Odessa. I'd say average weight time in midland is 10 minutes. In Odessa I've had 20+ minute waits and even "no cars available" at like 8am.
All that being said, we recently moved 2 of my direct reports to Midland. They have both made friends quickly as everyone is in oil and gas so it's been easy for them to connect with neighbors and people at church. They both seem to legitamitely be enjoying the move.
We ain't so bad out here, but you would swear no one ever cooks their own dinner in Midland or Odessa.
LoudestWHOOP! said:
We ain't so bad out here, but you would swear no one ever cooks their own dinner in Midland or Odessa.
Then why tf is HEB always a mad house 24/7?
Lottery tickets, Blue Bell and Beer I guess.Predmid said:LoudestWHOOP! said:
We ain't so bad out here, but you would swear no one ever cooks their own dinner in Midland or Odessa.
Then why tf is HEB always a mad house 24/7?
I'm coming back to Midland tomorrow for a second interview with an Operator there.
What's the single life look like? That's the only real thing I'm worried about coming from Houston, about to be 32 and single.
What's the single life look like? That's the only real thing I'm worried about coming from Houston, about to be 32 and single.
Go away. Midland is full.
Sounds like someone doesn't want competition
ahahahaha.
I welcome competition.
But seriously. Midland is full. GTFO.
I welcome competition.
But seriously. Midland is full. GTFO.
Predmid - was this you?
Predmid as a representative of Summer Mummers declines to comment on that hilarious joke that ended up on national news.
Interview seemed to go really well. See you in a month or so, Predmid.