Brownsville, TX what's it like (Houston, Dallas: crime rates, houses, unemployment rate)

[zerosoma]

Looking at some coastal places to move to. This one looks nice with some decent home values for what we are looking for. We don't have kids yet. Plan to.

What kind of food options are best there? I assume the Mexican is totally awesome as it borders the country. We were considering MS/AL because of their warm climates too but mostly because of cajun food. Is there good cajun in Brownsville? How's the sea food?

I plan to start a brewery eventually so would that be well received there? How's the medical community? My wife is a medical technologist.

Exploring all of our options before we decide to take another long road trip from South Dakota.

Thanks!

[C24L]

whats your budget for housing?

[lonestar2007]

C24L He's not inquiring about housing. Read his post again.

[tmtex]

Gets very hot/humid

[C24L]

Originally Posted by lonestar2007

C24L He's not inquiring about housing. Read his post again.

okay thanks.lol my mistake.

[turkeydance]

in our opinion: Brown.
PC be damned.

[supfromthesite]

You won't find that good of Cajun food outside of southern Mississippi and Louisiana. Not sure about seafood probably pretty good especially in south padre. Mexican food is excellent. Pretty sure there are lots of medical jobs. A brewery wouldn't be bad.

I don't think being a minority will be that big of an issue (I am assuming you are white) but your kids might face some problems in school. Maybe a private school would be the way to go.

I think southern Louisiana and southern Mississippi is a nice area too although the beach in far South Texas is probably better overall. Housing is cheap in both places, probably cheaper in Brownsville and surrounding areas if I had to guess. I think the houses are probably cooler too.

I would pick south Texas assuming you can afford private schools.

[earthisle]

The entire town is what you would consider "a bad area". If you'd be happy living in the rough part of Houston or Dallas, you'd be fine in Brownsville

[aab7855]

Originally Posted by earthisle

The entire town is what you would consider "a bad area". If you'd be happy living in the rough part of Houston or Dallas, you'd be fine in Brownsville

This just isn´t true. There are large segments of the city that are poor, yes, but the crime rates are more on par with Austin and El Paso (also safe!) and not the other big cities of Texas. I notice a huge amount of hate on the RGV in general in this forum, and it often comes from people who don´t understand the true dynamic of the place. North Brownsville has seen a lot of growth recently, and it´s the positive kind.

OP, you certainly laid out what you wanted/expected and maybe Brownsville isn´t it. Nearby Port Isabel or even Harlingen might be a community that is more receptive of your brewery idea. HOWEVER, downtown Brownsville is trying to make a comeback, and you might find a lot of love from the Chamber of Commerce and/or the city if you make plans to put a new business in a place that really needs it. There´s also McAllen, which has more amenities and just enough diversity to make it a little easier to land there.

The Valley in general is very unique. Anglos who know no Spanish and think they´re moving to Dallas South might hate it because, well, it´s a heavily Hispanic area and the people there kind of don´t understand why outsiders who can´t connect with their culture would want to move there. It´s easy for outsiders who can´t see the subtle differences in different Hispanic subcultures to easily say, "This place is exactly like Mexico", but rich families from Monterrey who have moved there and helped to fuel positive growth in the region can easily see that the local culture is very much Americanized and that the locals often speak more Spanglish and love many things that can be found elsewhere in Texas (think chain stores, etc.) If you check the place out with an open mind and don´t expect that it will be like any other place in Texas, or any other place in Mexico, maybe you could make it work. Brownsville schools have improved a lot recently, they do amazing things with what they have:

https://www.the74million.org/article...ing-heres-why/

[ChristieP]

Historically, the Rio Grande Valley has the highest unemployment rate in the State. As of today, Texas' state rate is 3.7%, RGV is 6.4%. That's not bad, but it's still a lot higher than DFW, where it is 3.4%. Historically, the Rio Grande Valley is also lower income than the rest of Texas. 25% of the population in the RGV lives below the poverty line, and the median household income is $45k. If you're looking to open a business that's going to be dependent on people's discretionary income, I'm not sure that's the demographics you're looking for.