Brownsville area (Houston, Dallas, Aldine: school district, college, income)

[ander2868]

I'm thinking of taking a job with Boarder Patrol and moving to Brownsville. I've never been there and would like opions of what the area is like, how well received my family and I would be and what are the best places to live in the area for families? We are mixed race (she's Mexican and I'm anglo). She's a native of Mexico City and I have lived in Mexico, so we're not concerned with the culture that's the part we think we'll like about living near the boarder. We're concered about safty, schools and not feeling like it's too small of a town. I'm from Seattle, so of course this would be a huge change. Please let me know what you think.
Thanks!

[RGV]

If I hear any negative comments about my hometown, you better put on your seatbelts, because it's going to be rough ride.



But, Brownsville's a good place to start a small business or open a good small franchise. The possibilities are endless.

[AustinTraveler]

If you scroll down to the bottom of this thread, you'll see some previous threads about Brownsville. The second one (Is Brownsville Really That Bad) has some great pictures posted by RGV. They're on page 5.

[Brownsville Jim]

Originally Posted by ander2868

I'm thinking of taking a job with Boarder Patrol and moving to Brownsville. I've never been there and would like opions of what the area is like, how well received my family and I would be and what are the best places to live in the area for families? We are mixed race (she's Mexican and I'm anglo). She's a native of Mexico City and I have lived in Mexico, so we're not concerned with the culture that's the part we think we'll like about living near the boarder. We're concered about safty, schools and not feeling like it's too small of a town. I'm from Seattle, so of course this would be a huge change. Please let me know what you think.
Thanks!

I moved to Brownsville over forty years ago from the Seattle area(Kent/Renton). I married a Brownsville girl.

You will make an easy transition. Since you will have an adequate income with the Border Patrol position, you will have a good standard of living for this area. Your wife's background will make the transition almost effortless. The camaraderie with other BP agents will give you the socialization you need.

Expect some racial bias here. Some hispanics will feel that your wife has betrayed her culture. Most will accept you both with the proverbial open arms. Your children will benefit from the unique experiences of both of their parents and the gentle culture of Brownsville.

I suspect that once your fully established and housed, you will be receiving visits from your Washington state relatives who will want to experience South Padre and Mexico.

I wish your family well.

Jim

[teatime]

There's been quite a bit of drug violence lately. I'd suggest reading the local newspaper online and see what you think.

Brownsville Herald

[Spree]

The school district must be doing something right - here in Dallas all they do is complain about their hispanic students bringing down their school's TAKS test scores.

South Texas school district gets $1 million prize | AP Texas News | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

"The Brownsville Independent School District serves nearly 50,000 students — 98 percent Hispanic and 43 percent learning English. Ninety-four percent of students qualify for free or reduced lunch, a common measure of poverty. Surrounding Cameron County had the highest poverty rate for a county of its size in the country at 34.7 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
"This is considered the Nobel Prize in education," an elated Hector Gonzales, the district's superintendent, said by phone at the award presentation in New York. "It will help us move to the next level where all our students succeed."
Brownsville, in the southernmost tip of Texas, beat out finalists from Aldine, a district in Houston; Broward County, Fla.; Long Beach, Calif.; and Miami-Dade County, Fla. Each finalist will receive $250,000 for college scholarships.
Brownsville's school district, perhaps best known as an unlikely cultivator of young chess phenoms, impressed the foundation's judges by outperforming other Texas districts with similar income levels in reading and math at all grade levels in 2007.
The performance was only the most recent success of students making greater strides than similar Texas districts. More Brownsville students are taking advanced placement courses and the SAT college entrance exam than years past.
Brownsville's Hispanic students showed more improvement between 2004 and 2007 in reading and math than their peers in other Texas districts, according to the foundation's analysis.
The district closed the gap between Hispanic students and the state average for white students by 12 percent in middle school math.
Some 2,000 new arrivals from Mexico join the district's classrooms every year.
Alan Ponce, 18, was one of those new arrivals. Born in Monterrey, Mexico, Ponce moved to Brownsville in 2002 and became a U.S. resident in 2006.
The senior at Gladys Porter High School was changing classes Tuesday morning when the prize announcement was made over the loudspeaker. "I heard two words: million dollars and scholarships," he said.
"It's a huge relief because my parents make very little money," said Ponce, who hopes to study physics and astronomy in college. "They don't have enough for a tank of gas. ... It makes me think I can go to any Ivy League school I want to."

[RGV]

Thx for that Spree,

My prediction: look for the usual suspects/posters who will do anything in there power to undermine this report.

[TexasNick]

I heard a while back that there was a movie script in progress about the Brownsville chess players. It had some major A-list names attached to it. Hope it gets made.

[carolmcb]

Evidently, my old hometown Brownsville has become a hot spot in the chess world. It even looks like it started at my old elementary school, Russell Elementary. I certainly wish that program had existed when I went there.