McAllen, Texas (San Antonio, Brownsville, Harlingen: sex offender, best schools, living in)

[rstrstx]

I think he means it's the fastest growing in the state (in terms of %, not in actual numbers being added). And I have to agree with RGV, even though McAllen may be running rings around the rest of South Texas (dubious about throwing Corpus in there though), Brownsville/Cameron County has some desirable things missing in McAllen: lakes, greener, historical downtown, a slightly more tropical feel, closer to the beach, and those afternoon-evening summer seabreezes (nice if you want to be outdoors at 6 or 7pm).

To me life in Cameron County outweighs the shopping/more "American" amenities lure of McAllen, but the two areas are close by and compliment each other in many ways so it's no big deal. The proximity of the region to Monterrey and some incredible scenery in NE Mexico is also a hugely appealing part of living down there that many people unfortunately don't take advantage of.

[adhina]

I have been living down here for the last five months...i have five months left to go and I'm out of here fast. I work as a teacher for la joya isd. after nearly 10 years of teaching, i have never been waiting this long for the summer! The schools are awful down here! If you do come down, think about other options for education if you stay long enough to enroll your children...public school is not an option.

As for positive...it is a great cultural experience. I have seen posadas, crossed the border, and attended mananitas for the Virgin of Guadalupe. That's been great fun! A lot of the people are really sweet, esp. those without an education. (Those who have a college degree are really arrogant because having a degree is so rare here.)

I'm a native Texan and love my home state. I really wanted to make a difference down here, but it's not really a welcoming place after all, but if it's for a short time, you can make the best of it. Hope that helps -

[rstrstx]

La Joya? Hmm, surely you are aware that there are better school districts down in the Valley. There are certainly decent schools in the area but you need to do your homework ahead of time; other posters to this forum can help you with this better than I could. An interesting sidenote - four of the best ranked high schools in the country are in the Lower Rio Grande region:

http://www.usnews.com/articles/educa...l-schools.html

[kabrown]

We have the same deal for our family. My husband was offered a very good job. He was offered a job in Reynosa Mexico. But we would live in McAllen, Edinburg, Mission, Pharr, Sharyland,etc. We are from Indiana. I have two kids. They both have blonde hair and blue eyes. One does cheerleading,swimming, and diving in school. The other just does compettitive dance. I was really worried about my kids. My husband is actually down there trying a job for 6 months. And he comes up about once a month. But we went down to McAllen the first week in January. We really loved it. Even the kids. It is beautiul down there. Palm trees everything and your just an hour away from the beach it so wonderful. The schools are really nice. a lot of kids from mexico come in and go to school everyday so they can get a better education. But if your worried about all of the Spanish in the schools a lot of the schools said like 80% of the kids dont know Spanish. But when you go shopping you will here a lot of people speaking spanish then the next minute they will start speaking english. It is definently a culture shock but its not too bad. The # 1 place i recomend is Sharyland Plantation. If you havent checked it out go to Sharyland Plantation | A Master Planned Community in Mission, Texas | McAllen Real Estate | Mission Real Estate | McAllen Homes or just click right here.
But when we went out the people are actually really nice. But some kids would look at my kids because they had blonde hair. They didnt really mind it. The mall is wonderful it is really nice. They have tons of places you can go out to eat. The weather is almost always sunny. It can get hot there but thats one of my last worries. When we were down there we felt like we were on vacation. There actual winter only lasts like 3 to 4 weeks. Like it gets down to the 40s 50s or 60s for the low. Well i hope i helped you or anyone else out.

[hellpaso]

i'm glad to see someone actually posting a positive review of the valley. we moved here a year and a half ago from another border city (el paso) & have had none of the problems some of the posters here whine about. we're anglo and speak minimal spanish, and have never, ever had a communication problem. maybe the fact that we're from el paso and were not threatened by the border culture makes a difference. the fact is that this is very different from el paso as well, not quite as laid back. but, hey, life is what you want to make of it, and coming here with a negative attitude is only going to make you miserable.

[TexasNick]

Three words: Wait for Summer.

Start packing the ice NOW.

[RGV]

i'm glad to see someone actually posting a positive review of the valley

I hear, I don't even know why I still open up threads about the Valley. All you hear is someone spurting trash. Perhaps it makes them feel better about themselves to put down others.

[kys]

I have been offered to move down to Mcallen and after reading comments from everyone, I am bit confused. Any suggestions people?

[DawnW25]

My suggestion is to go there and check it out for yourself. Seriously. We may be relocating to Texas very soon (again--we've lived in Austin but won't be going there this time) and that's what we'll do. You can't go by the negative things people say on these boards because there are a whole lot of factors that go into their opinion. Maybe they had a bad experience, for whatever reason, maybe their criteria is different from yours...the possibilities are endless.

Example: We currently live in Tucson, Arizona. Go to the Tucson boards and read the vitriol spewed by locals and non-locals alike. You'd think Tucson was a third world country with gang members on every corner and the ugliest buildings/landscape/everything on earth. Well, in my experience, it's not. It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever lived (others include San Francisco, Boulder County Colorado, and Austin, TX), people are extremely polite, laid back, and friendly, and I'm loathe to leave here because of my positive experiences that span six years.

I hope that helps anyone trying to make a decision. The people who post good things are the ones I'd really focus on, but again, even those comments are subject to personal interpretation. The only way to find out if you like a place is to go there yourself. We always rent a house for a while when we relocate in case we decide it's not right for us.

Good luck to everyone making moving decisions! They're tough. McAllen sounds nice to me from all I've read here.

Dawn

[LCC1968]

Adhina, "the schools are awful down here???" How can you generalize like that--and YOU'RE A TEACHER for God's sake. The Valley has nationally ranked schools, frequently highlighted in TIME and US News and World Report. (Science Academy/Med High) Your poor students--they probably sensed your negative energy and had a miserable experience with you in front of the class. How embarrassing for you.