Brownsville TX neighborhoods (McAllen, Allen, West: school district, income, living in)

[RGV]

BUT I didn't go back after rats were running around our feet on the deck one evening!

Did you see any in the kitchen area? Maybe one was the chef ala ratatoulle (sp?)

[teatime]

Originally Posted by RGV

Did you see any in the kitchen area? Maybe one was the chef ala ratatoulle (sp?)

LOL, RGV, we don't even want to allow our thoughts to go there! I knew the owners and felt quite confident they run a clean kitchen but their deck is right on the resaca. They used to have swan paddle boats for use by their patrons but I noticed they don't have them anymore. Probably because of the vermin in the resaca. Eeeeew!

[rstrstx]

Let's see if this works. A couple of pics from Rancho Viejo








And Bayview

[RGV]

Cool pics RST. Do you know what type of tree that is with the red flowers

[rstrstx]

It's a royal poinciana

[yosoyway]

There are several resacas in Brownsville. Some of them are quite deep and carry significant water. There are others though that are mostly stagnant.

The one in Rancho Viejo I believe is one of the resacas that has more water.

[rstrstx]

The resacas in Rancho, Bayview, and most places down there occasionally have water pumped into them from the river to keep their levels up. If I understand it right, that task is under the control of the local irrigation district in most cases. I've heard they can also be drained or lowered if it appears a hurricane or major storm appears imminent though I can't say I've ever actually seen them do that (can't remember if they did that before Emily, the last real threat).

It is desirable to live next to a resaca since you have a water feature and in many cases can draw out water for your yard. The only exception I can think of are some of the resacas around San Benito, where the homes are even with or below the water level, which can cause flooding problems. As some poster mentioned, you will get more "wildlife", which is either a good or bad thing depending on your point of view. For me it's a wonderful thing, I don't mind the occasional critter. The only snakes I have seen around are indigo snakes. They did have an alligator issue in Bayview a couple years ago but I believe most of them were shipped off to the Laguna wildlife refuge. Rodents are generally no more of a problem than other areas of the state.

On the whole, though, there are more animals though that are kinda neat to have around for all but the pickiest city types. Rancho has a lot of little ground squirrels/prairie dog type critters around the golf course. I suppose some people might not like them, whatever. There are also lots of interesting birds; the parrots and chachalacas can get noisy but I love 'em. Quite a few possums and raccoons.

All in all I prefer being near the coast in South Texas, there are fewer shopping and city things to do that you get with McAllen but in exchange you get a greener surrounding, some water around, and lower summer afternoon temps due to the consistent seabreeze. Though I wouldn't feel comfortable living right on the coast or Laguna due to storm concerns and evacuation hassles (be sure and check the flood zone maps if you're looking at some place!)

[Bougainvillea]

To RSTRSTX:

What great shots of Rancho Viejo! If it really looks like that, I'm going. How kind of you to take the trouble to post your photographs. Do you remember on which street your "neighborhood" shot was taken?

I have looked at dozens of MLS listings in Rancho, via the Internet, though none show such beautiful neighborhood vistas. I am anxious to go and see for myself. There is so much negative PR about the Brownsville area on this site that I had not expected to see anything quite so nice! Many thanks.

[Bougainvillea]

Also......where is Bayview? And is it a golf course community like Rancho?

[rstrstx]

Bayview is a small town west of Laguna Vista and NE of Los Fresnos, no golfing or anything like that except over at LV. I know the area of where I took the pics but will have to look up the street names on google