Lots of questions about McAllen, Texas (Edinburg, Mission: sale, apartment complexes, rental)

[vclw]

Hi! My husband will be doing some work in McAllen, TX this year, so we need to get an apartment there. We're an african-american family with 2 small children. I'm a SAHM and he's a physician. We're looking for a 3 bedroom apartment in a safe, quiet area with easy access to shopping, but we don't want to spend too much since it won't be our primary residence. Ideally it would be near Rio Grande Medical Center. From what I can see online, it looks like Atrium Place Apartments might fit our needs, but I'm looking for advice. If you can help with any of my questions below, I would really appreciate it!

1. Which apartment complexes/areas would you recommend? Have you heard anything regarding Atrium Place Apartments on E Camellia Ave?

2. What parks/places to explore would you suggest for children under age 5?

3. Are there any Mom's Clubs or playgroups in the McAllen area?

4. Where would you recommend getting cheap furniture and used toys for the kids to play with while we're there? Is there a Facebook yard sale page or something for McAllen?

5. Do you have any other advice or recommendations for us?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

[hellpaso]

Review threads in this forum by searching McAllen & the RGV. Be thankful your relocation is temporary. Good luck.

[HDZ]

Though there are some who are negative about McAllen, you will find it's a very nice place. I just visited last week and was impressed with all the growth. McAllen has nice weather in the winter time so you can actually do things outside. Check out their city website for a list of things to do. The library is great, shupp park, convention area, mall, bike and walking trails, main event, and an hour away the zoo, bass pro and beach. Enjoy the great food!

[956kidd]

Originally Posted by vclw

Hi! My husband will be doing some work in McAllen, TX this year, so we need to get an apartment there. We're an african-american family with 2 small children. I'm a SAHM and he's a physician. We're looking for a 3 bedroom apartment in a safe, quiet area with easy access to shopping, but we don't want to spend too much since it won't be our primary residence. Ideally it would be near Rio Grande Medical Center. From what I can see online, it looks like Atrium Place Apartments might fit our needs, but I'm looking for advice. If you can help with any of my questions below, I would really appreciate it!

1. Which apartment complexes/areas would you recommend? Have you heard anything regarding Atrium Place Apartments on E Camellia Ave?

2. What parks/places to explore would you suggest for children under age 5?

3. Are there any Mom's Clubs or playgroups in the McAllen area?

4. Where would you recommend getting cheap furniture and used toys for the kids to play with while we're there? Is there a Facebook yard sale page or something for McAllen?

5. Do you have any other advice or recommendations for us?

Thanks for any help you can offer!

here's a nice teaching session you can take your children to at the Lark Libary in McAllen


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJK5FrZ0-wI


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYnBhvrApHE

here's the facebook "estates" page where people sale or look for items in the McAllen area
https://www.facebook.com/groups/McAl...rgEstateSales/

[gguerra]

Although there are some people that will always go out of their way to knock it, you will probably like it. The weather is quite warm in the summer months but overall you should have a nice experience. As far as things to do, it is not quite up to big city standards but there is still a lot. There are many apartments available as well as rental houses. If you are looking for a 3 bedrooms you will probably do better by renting a house. a 3bd in a nice middle class neighborhood should run you about $1200 avg. A bit more than apartment, but so much nicer and more private. The cost of living is quite low here.

[NewTexico76]

Originally Posted by hellpaso

Review threads in this forum by searching McAllen & the RGV. Be thankful your relocation is temporary. Good luck.

I would just add that some of the negative threads about the Rio Grande Valley at large may or may not apply to McAllen itself, some of the other towns in the area have serious problems.

[vclw]

Thanks for your help, everyone! It's encouraging to hear some nice things about the area! We're going to stick with an apartment instead of renting a house because we'll only be in McAllen a couple of weeks at a time, so we wouldn't be able to keep up with home maintenance. We'd also really like a pool for those hot days :-) Atrium Place doesn't have available apartments when we need it, so we're still looking.