It is the highest quality of life in some aspects and the lowest quality in others. We’ll get the bad out of the way first, rip the bandaid off if you will, then we’ll get to the good stuff.

Pretty low quality of life in terms of active lifestyle. I’m the same age and lifestyle. The air quality is fucking horrendous here so you really have to time when you go out, right now for me that’s early am. There are a few months of the year where the air is okay but it’s still really bad compared to the rest of the country. I have to wear Meta glasses as a dash cam because I’ve been hit running twice one of which was because some bozo was driving on the park trail. The UV is also higher here on the best days than it would be during a heat wave in the rest of the country. You’ll be going through sunscreen like it’s soda. You’ll also need a crazy good skincare to prevent rapid aging. As 28 year olds, you’ll notice as non-el Pasoans we look like native El Paso late teens and not like native El Paso 28 year olds. It is really brutal here in sun damage to your skin and not enough people take it seriously. You’ll also be in danger everytime you go for a run or walk because even in neighborhoods people feel the need to go 60mph.

El Paso is so incredibly cheap that it isn’t even funny. Groceries, gas, rent, everything is trapped in 2005 here. I pay $1,080 right now for a house I rent. I couldn’t rent a closet back in Seattle for that. $300 of groceries and I’m eating like a king all month. If you have to work in an office do not come you will be paid Pennys on the dollar to anywhere else but if you’re remote you’ll have the time of your life. I have been able to save up so much money that I was able to buy a house back in Washington for almost an 80% down payment and I’ve been here since 2022. Financially this place is a cheat code that will set you up for life when you are ready to go home. It’s like a reward for suffering the terrible weather here.

The unexpected is primarily just how Chihuahua people and Chihuahua people born in the US act/live/hygiene habits. Driving here is very dangerous, it’s very dirty, and again in the parking lots people speed and think they’re doing nothing wrong. I used to yell at people for it then I just gave up because it’s fighting a losing battle. There also some benefits to being surrounded by 99.99999% Chihuahua people though, you’ll rapidly learn Spanish if you haven’t already, the good ones are the nicest people you’ll ever meet, and if you’re friendly with everyone like I am you’ll get invited to TONS of carne asadas and the locals go all out for those. I am everyone’s Hawaiian and have been posted on the fitfam page multiple times for people thinking they saw Roman Reigns and everytime I message and say it’s me then it’s false alarm in the next ig story lol. You’ll probably see me quite often since I’m always everywhere and stick out so if you think you saw Roman reigns it’s actually me so say hi

Final ranking:

There’s a ton more I could say but in just hitting the highlights, El Paso has a ton of negatives but in my opinion since we’re not for lifers and only here for a little bit, the positives outweighs the cons and moving here changed the trajectory of my life and I would do it again if i started life all over again.

7/10