Cost of living is pretty high. Groceries, gas etc. As far as hospitals, if you need anything serious you are going to have to travel. Alpine has changed quite a bit over my lifetime , but then again so has the rest of the state. Great place to live ….as long as we can keep the liberals from taking over .

I grew up in Alpine but now live in Houston. I would move out there right now if I could get my wife on board. I would consider all realistic options between Alpine, Marathon, Marfa, and Ft Davis.

I lived in all those places for a time and Marathon was my favorite.

I do remember being quite bored as a teen and falling into a not-so-great crowd. Most of my friends and I grew out of it when we started working. I suppose teens doing dumb stuff because of boredom isn't unique to the region, but it's what I remember about my time there.

My mother's large family was from Alpine so I spent lots of time out there. I grew up in west Texas, just not that far west. Had a great aunt and uncle who ranched north of Ft. Davis and spent many summers on that ranch.
First time my wife ever went to that part of the state was for my family reunion in 1980.
She thinks she could live in Ft. Davis and the way the world is now I'm liking that idea more and more. We have several friends out there from my family connections. BUT the lack of good health care is a major concern as we get older.
I'm pretty sure we will just keep visiting, but for much longer periods of time.

I have lived here since 2019 and have visited the area every summer for 30 years. My wife and I love it.

Shopping - Expect to drive a minimum of an hour if you need to get shoes, clothes, electronics etc. I don't mind.

Groceries - Yes more expensive and not a lot of selection. Usually do an El Paso run once a month or so.

Hospital - Is in bad shape and not one to rely on. I will say since moving here My son had an appendectomy t the hospital and it went well. Dad had to travel to Odessa for open heart surgery, but was fairly easy and straightforward.

Climate - It IS NOT TYPICALLY hot and dry in the summer (July/Aug/Sept). We get monsoon flows and the average high is upper 80's/lower 90's. Lows are typically mid 60's and we get a lot of pop up showers. Now June is typically hot with a handful days hitting 100, and april/may is dry and DUSTY. Winters are fairly mild 30's lows and 50/60's highs and we have gotten a couple decent snow a year .

Small cheap movie theater, and lots of outdoors activities.