Midland and Odessa are often referred to as "twin cities" as they are only 20 miles apart, which is pretty close for these wide open spaces. However, they would never be described as identical twins. These two cities are at the epicenter of the oil-rich Permian Basin of far west Texas. Ector and Midland counties comprise the hub of one of the largest oilfields in the United States.
Midland, population 100,000, is the regional headquarters of major oil companies like Shell and Texaco. It has a number of tall buildings which reflect its corporate personality. Odessa, population of about 105,000, is a "working man's town," which serves as an operations center for drilling activity, and is home to many oil field service companies and locally owned businesses which feed off the petroleum industries.
Midland is an executive corporate town. Odessa is the oilfield.
As a native of Odessa, I can feel comfortable with the description of Odessa by the character played by Cybil Sheppard in the movie based on Larry McMurtry's novel, The Last Picture Show: "Thank you for taking me to the ugliest town in the world".
Midland is the headquarters of Midland Division of the Western District of Texas, the Federal Building being on Wall street, two blocks from the Midland County courthouse.
Odessa does not have a Federal Building, but does house federal prisoners in the old Ector County jail across the street from the courthouse. The two cities are both in the Western District.
Midland has a lot of white collar prosecutions which are worked by Midland Police but filed in Federal Court due to the friendliness of the Federal Statutes toward white collar offenses.
Odessa, being more of a blue-collar town, has its share of state drug offenses and the usual dwi's and alcohol related crimes, but it also has a lot of Federal criminal activity, including oilfield related thefts and corporate white collar crimes related to the oil industry. I enjoy representing clients in both cities, in both the federal and state courthouses.