Moving to McAllen Texas from Indiana (Houston, Dallas: buy, public schools, university)

[RGV]

Oh, I forgot to mention, I still can't read or write in English. Right crbcrbrgv.

[crbcrbrgv]

RGV, you are an attorney. I am a former math teacher training to become an actuary. If you look at the numbers, you are definitely the exception.

[carolmcb]

I didn't have any trouble in college or graduate school, which were not in the Valley or even South Texas. I attended one of those substandard high schools in Brownsville, Texas. I could be that my professors felt so sorry for me in college and graduate school that they just let me pass on through since my life had been so blighted by growing up in the "Valley".

Well, I made a good living off my lousy start.

Why does almost every poster on this forum hate the Valley?

[crbcrbrgv]

I don't hate the Valley. But numbers don't lie. Half the population doesn't have a high school degree. About 16 percent have a college education or better. Politicians are crooked. And yes I understand politicians are crooked everywhere. In the Valley, they really take the cake. And I hate how they patronize the generally uneducated populace. It's like "Hola, yo soy Candidate A. Quieres una botana" and that alone gets their vote. This is why the school boards in many Valley cities are a wreck. What really frustrates me about the Valley is it has so much potential. The weather is beautiful. There are tons of birds and butterflies everywhere. A beautiful beach is nearby. The fact of the matter is too many people in the Valley are uneducated and the wrong people are in charge. Too many people take advantage of welfare in the Valley. I know of people who make 50k or more a year that still take advantage of Section 8 housing. The culture of dependency is shocking. As for having an open mind? Rudimentary at best. Until more educated people live in the Valley, it will be stuck in neutral. And by the way, carolmcb, wy don't you still live in the Valley? RGV jumps down my throat every time I say something on here and he lives in the Valley. The Valley needs more RGV types. Why did you go?

[Bubble]

Go ahead and move to Mcallen and your are not going to regret the move.

[RGValleyite]

I have lived in the Valley all my life. It is a great place to be. I grew up on a farm and after college I will return to the Valley with my wife and work on the fields. I am white, blue eyed...i had no problem getting into college. I was #28 of my class of close to 500. Scored really well on my SAT's. I went to Sharyland. It was a good school when I went there. The problem is that people associate the valley with Mexico. But Whites are the Minority in ALL of TEXAS. San Antonio is getting bad as well. El Paso...Basically that is Mexico. Yeah, the RGV is 90% Hispanic, but that is a great culture. We have great banks, hospitals, and are attracting many businesses to the valley. I love the weather (95 during summer/humid), going to the beach and fishing, hunting, shopping in Mexico. There is so much stuff to do. My Fiance is from McAllen and she can't wait to move back either to teach. She is also white and green eyed.

And all this you hear about violence on the border. Media...takes it TOOOOO far.

But def., move to the valley. It is a great place. You will not regret it at all.

[InMcAllen]

I was born and raised in a town about 45 miles from McAllen. I then moved to Edinburg, a city adjacent to McAllen, where I attended Pan American University. My husband was born and raised in McAllen. Upon graduation we moved to Austin, TX where we started our Youth Fitness business. After a few years in Austin, we began to notice the tremendous growth in the McAllen Metro Area. We decided to move our business to the McAllen area. It was a rough few years as the consumers in the Valley are quiet different, but we're doing very well do to the growth in population and other various reasons.

I currently reside in McAllen and run a couple of businesses here. While some of the outlandish generalizations listed before contain threads of truth it is not quiet as bad as they are painting it. McAllen is far better than your run-of-the-mill border town. No, we're not Houston, but we are what we are. I never feel unsafe or threatened by border crime. I've never had a crime occur to me or to anyone I know personally, but tell me about a place that has no crime.

The schools aren't the greatest, but I don't like public schools anyway. I will home school my kids. Public schools are sorry all over the country.

I do have a complaint about the language thing. Too many business owners employee people that only speak spanish and when you speak English to them they answer in Spanish. I consider that incredibly rude. We are still in America after all. And that's because I actually speak Spanish fluently.

People here are friendly for the most part. The nationals aren't very friendly and do get on my nerves. I wouldn't dare go shopping on the weekends, as they swarm the shopping centers like it is the last day of the world. But weekday shopping is pleasant.

You can't beat the cost of living and it is a pretty good trade-off for the scorching summer heat. If you've never run your air condition 24/7/365 you will now. =O)

You should check out the city website City of McAllen, TX

Good luck.

[carolmcb]

Originally Posted by crbcrbrgv

I don't hate the Valley. But numbers don't lie. Half the population doesn't have a high school degree. About 16 percent have a college education or better. Politicians are crooked. And yes I understand politicians are crooked everywhere. In the Valley, they really take the cake. And I hate how they patronize the generally uneducated populace. It's like "Hola, yo soy Candidate A. Quieres una botana" and that alone gets their vote. This is why the school boards in many Valley cities are a wreck. What really frustrates me about the Valley is it has so much potential. The weather is beautiful. There are tons of birds and butterflies everywhere. A beautiful beach is nearby. The fact of the matter is too many people in the Valley are uneducated and the wrong people are in charge. Too many people take advantage of welfare in the Valley. I know of people who make 50k or more a year that still take advantage of Section 8 housing. The culture of dependency is shocking. As for having an open mind? Rudimentary at best. Until more educated people live in the Valley, it will be stuck in neutral. And by the way, carolmcb, wy don't you still live in the Valley? RGV jumps down my throat every time I say something on here and he lives in the Valley. The Valley needs more RGV types. Why did you go?

Why did I go? Wow! You ask a very complex question. First, I went many, many, many years ago. I graduated from Brownsville High School. This means that there was only one high school at that time so long ago. I believe that there are 5 regular high schools now. Texas Southmost College was a 2 year institution. In Brownsville at that time, my career choice would have been bank teller or teacher. Neither job interested me.

Brownsville was a small town with a population of about, if I remember correctly, 54,000. I was young and wanted the excitement of somewhere new and different.

My godfather, who was a professor at Texas Southmost College, recommended that we not consider Pan American University but send me further afield.

There were also some family problems that made me want to get away.

After college and graduate school, I lived in Dallas. I enjoyed it very much. I married there and followed my husband's jobs to Columbus, Georgia and Columbus, Ohio. We then did a turn around and he followed me to Nashville, Tennessee for my job.

So, like many young (at that time) people, options were limited in Brownsville and the Valley. I think that, in many ways, that the options are still limited. This is a recent article in the Brownsville Herald.

Local: City a paradox of poverty and prosperity | brownsville, city, jobs - Brownsville Herald

My point is just that I was not irrevocably harmed by going to school in Brownsville and that, in reading the posts on this site for the past couple of months, there is a great deal of negativity towards the Valley.

You obviously care about the area and want change so that the current generation of students gets a good education and that critical issues are addressed. I couldn't agree with you more.

[Insomniac]

Wait, so Bellestar who is a loud critic of the RGV has never even been there before?

[Insomniac]

Originally Posted by RGValleyite

San Antonio is getting bad as well.

Could you explain this sentence?