EL PASO, Texas -- So much of what is coming out of Wall Street and Washington, D.C., lately sounds troubling, but El Pasoans KFOX spoke to on Thursday seem optimistic about the future.

"We're in a slump, but we've been in slumps before, the depression, even in the '80s, so we've gone through it once, we're probably going to get through it at least one more time," said Eric Melson from Northeast El Paso.

"A little hesitant, a little nervous, see what's going on with the bailout that President Bush has planned, and hopefully that does help bring our economy back around," said Lisa Askenazi from West El Paso.

UTEP professor of economics Tom Fullerton said even now El Paso continues to buck the national trend.

"Local business conditions in El Paso have improved relative to what's been observed as a nation as a whole," said Fullerton.

"I think living in a border city is completely different. The relatives and family I have up in the Midwest, and in Michigan and Wisconsin are being a whole lot harder hit then we are here in El Paso," Askenazi told KFOX.

Fullerton believes as a result, the average El Pasoan may not feel the effect of the economic bailout.

"This bill probably doesn't mean a whole lot, at least in a direct manner," said Fullerton.

Fears of another Great Depression are far from becoming a reality.

"It has not translated into the type of overarching economic weakness that occurred in 1929," said Fullerton.

"It's bad, but it's not that bad," said Melson.