You probably heard lately that El Paso is the second best big city in the U.S. in which to live.
It was on the news. The City issued a press release celebrating the notice.
Here’s the report from Business Insider, as distilled from a story in U.S. News and World Report.
I was suspicious. The story claims that El Paso’s average monthly rent is $964. That’s not a lot considering our tax rate, and the fact that renters can’t claim a homestead exemption.
But now here’s another story, this one from VisualCapitalist.com, that ranks average rents in 100 U.S. cities, based on data from Zillow.com. And guess what? El Paso’s average rent is $1.4k.
Neither story mentions that our streets are crumbling, and the water utility can’t keep the taps open, and our cost of living keeps going up, and property taxes are predatory. And those other things.
But let’s not let reality intrude on a beautiful PR spin.
Or, that the folks who decide the things that are supposed to improve our daily living are trying yet again to push another folly on us that will cover a portion of the main freeway through town, near downtown, in the guise of improvement. And, anyone who bothers to look can plainly see that this will benefit only a small percentage of us, while adding to our already overloaded tax burden.