I was born in El Paso, and go there every year. This year, in particular, I spent a lot of time there, especially from September - November, because my dad was very ill until he passed away on 26 November.
There are a lot of nice neighborhoods in El Paso. My dad had a beautiful house on the East Side - it's a tri-level with 3 bedrooms a formal living room, loft, two bathrooms, huge kitchen, beautiful backyard (of course, he watered it a lot & had a covered patio).
My cousins who are rather successful live over on the West Side, and there are a lot of nice new neighborhoods with affordable housing. There are three main malls there - the most popular is Cielo Vista, but there is also Sunland Mall on the West Side, and Basset Center, which is okay.
Carlsbad Caverns are about 2 hours away, and so is Ruidoso, which is a mountain retreat. My cousins went there often, but I haven't been there since I was a baby - most of our visits have been at Christmas. Las Cruces, New Mexico is 45 minutes, and White Sands a little further. Albuquerque is 4 hours away, and San Antonio is 6 hours away. Juarez is, of course, right across the border, and you can see the houses there. It's been quite awhile since I've been to Juarez, but if you know where to go, you can do some nice shopping, or go for the typical tourist stuff.
The army base there is called Fort Bliss.
You'll find the best Tex Mex food there -- try Julios on Gateway East & my favorite Applebees is also on Gateway East.
About 30 miles east of El Paso is a famous steakhouse called Cattlemens - fantastic atmosphere & delicious food - they filmed Courage Under Fire there, and at night they put out scraps of meat and the coyotes come right up to the big picture windows.
Sunsets are gorgeous, and so are mornings - the air is so clear, and you can see a lot of stars -- of course, I live in Los Angeles, so I think you can see more stars anywhere else other than Los Angeles.
El Paso is a city in the desert, and the main color is brown - the brown Franklin Mountains, brown desert, brown sand -- but, like I said earlier, there are some really beautiful neighborhoods there.
Since I am Mex descent, the Mex population doesn't bother me - but there are a lot of gavachos there, too, and a large German community since Germany has a base there. There is even a tv channel in German.
Summers can get very hot, however, there is a monsoon season where it does rain in the desert. I was surprised that this year there was actually "green" but my aunt told me it rained a lot this year, so it didn't really dry out. Oh, and speaking of dry -- I get really dry when I'm there - the inside of my nose, and I have to put a lot of lotion on... but like anything else, you get used to it.
Winters can get pretty cold and we've been there in the snow. I love the desert in the snow, though - it's beautiful. The snow doesn't usually last long, and in less than a week it usually melts away.
UTEP is there - excellent university, and it seems everyone there is a Minor fan. When you go, be sure to watch the outdoor play Viva El Paso that is held in McKelligon Canyon at night -- it is a musical put on by the towns people that tells the history of El Paso through song -- very entertaining. We see it everytime we're there in July.
Stuff on El Paso
Some pictures I found:
Franklin Mountains -- At night a huge star is lit
Aerial view of El Paso
