Is Brownsville really that bad?! (San Antonio, Austin: crimes, credit, house)

[HerkyHerk]

Originally Posted by JULZGLZ

I Live In Mcallen Which Is Not Very Far Away. I Can Answer Truthfully Any Questions You May Have About Brownsville. What I Can Tell You Is That The "white" People As Previous Posts Stated Are Not Discriminated Against As Far As I Can See. Many Of Our Prominent Business Owners And Politicians Are White. The Anglos That Live Here Do Eat Mexican Food And Sometimes Speak Spanish Better Than Some Hispanics. The Crime Is Not So High. The Beach Is Close By. The Weather Is Great. There Are A Lot Of Good Things About This Border Area. We Are Booming Economically. I Personally Love Mcallen But Brownsville Is Okay.

You can answer truthfully? That just means you're biased.

As for McAllen being "great"...ha. They need to can the over-inflated egos. They're all in love with themselves over there...because nobody else is.

[HerkyHerk]

Oh, and I never lived in Brownsville or McAllen...so it's an objective POV.

Thank you, thank you.

[GausJAMS]

Originally Posted by HerkyHerk

Oh, and I never lived in Brownsville or McAllen...so it's an objective POV.

Thank you, thank you.

You are just the spice we needed up in here! Now, I suppose that would be Chile', as you said you were hispanic?! tee-hee!

Mix it up and preach on with your bad-self! I'm a hater of the Rio grande Valley - thought I'd be back in TX, for the first time in 4 years - yeah right! This ain't TX and there ain't nothin' grande about it - except that it's got grande problems! ha!

Bienvenidos, Herky!

[coastlover]

Originally Posted by Vicman

Wait, isn't Santería of Caribbean origin?

And what was the unlucky victim's name?

I know that in the early 1900's many White people "stole" certain Mexican-American businesses and plots of land by asking for titles (the people did not have titles as the land belonged to them for generations). I wonder if the animosity is a product of the issues in the early 1900's.

I believe his name was Mark Kilroy, and also think he was from Houston.

[CajunDoll]

Well, I don't know what to say. I know my beloved Brownsville is not what it used to be but when my family moved there in the 50s and lived for a few years in that paradise, we LOVED it. The whole family hated to leave when Daddy's job transferred us away. My hubby and I visit there fairly often for pleasure as well as business and love to visit. He offered to retire us there if I wanted but I don't. I'm SAD that I don't, though. It was a WONDERFUL place to live in the 50s. It's still a great place to visit and I've lived in 13 countries on 5 continents! By the way... We have NEVER experienced even a moment of prejudice there and we are "Gringos"! :-)

[racing75]

Most people work in close by towns such as Port Isabel, Brownsville, San Benito, and my favorite Harlingen. The drive is not that bad. If you live in a Large city you will probably drive the same distance to and from work, as you would drive to another city. The Island is beautiful place to live and we love the food. My husband was from TN and he is white and he had no trouble adjusting to the way of life here. I on the other hand got horrible looks as if I has two heads when driving to his home town. Every town has it's good points and bad ones. We are from San Benito, Tx about 30 min. from Brownsville. We just got a year membership to Brownsville's Zoo. We love taking the family down to stroll and enjoy the wildlife. It has a wide assortment of restaurants and plenty of stores to shop in. Yes, we do have our share of rude drivers and a good majority of the older people speak spanish. Compare the crime rate of Brownsville to any big city and you will see it's by far safer here. We have a very extensive hospital and medical facilites. Brownsville has a Driscoll children's hospital and cancer center.
The only people who get rude looks and attitude are the ones who look down at the working class person.

[go2thecoast]

Originally Posted by tamalli

I've visited Brownsville and the lower RGV quite a bit, and I've fallen in love with it. We're from Oklahoma but are planning to move there later this year. I think it just all depends on your individual tastes.

Hi, I am also an oklahoman. I too have visited the Rio Grande Valley and have an opportunity in moving there becuase of a job change. I would be interested in knowing what your ideas are of the area that you will be moving to and why you like it. I did not get to spend as much time there as I wanted to so I am interested in your thoughts. Why have you decided to move from Oklahoma.

[conanS]

Originally Posted by HerkyHerk

Oh, and I never lived in Brownsville or McAllen...so it's an objective POV.

Thank you, thank you.

POV's from someone who doesn't have first-hand experience, are like excuses. And we all know what they say about those

And Herky, in your case, objective should be replaced with uneducated.

[IMFRMBVILLE]

I am a "caucasion" and I grew up in Brownsville. I cannot believe a lot of the rediculous stuff being written here from people who obviously know little about the area. It is very laid back, the people will give you the shirt off their back and if you make an effort to assimilate, there is very little discrimination to be had. Yes, there are a variety of restaurants and satanic cults are not prevalent in the area.

The photos were great and I know all of those place, but they fail to show the modern side of what is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States and they also failed to show any of the University of Texas Campus in downtown, an ultra modern fast growing university with over 20,000 students. The schools are good and yes it also has one of the finest private schools in Texas there. (No Brownsville is not uneducated).

It has its bad side and like any city it is what you make of it, but the weather is great, Mexico is fun to shop in (especially Progresso) and the clean beaches and great fishing are 20 minutes away. The dirt roads in Back Roads are not in Bronwsville by the way and only a small part of the moview was filmed there.

I left there two years ago for a great job opportunity in the Austin area, but we will be moving back eventually.

[teatime]

Sorry, but education in the RGV is the pits, aside from the private schools and South Texas ISD. The reason UT-Brownsville has so many students is that they accept everyone! There are virtually no admissions standards -- no SAT/ACT scores required, no minimum GPA needed!

Do some research -- check out UT-B's retention rate and the number of remedial courses they have to offer because their students can't handle even low-level college courses. Something like 50 percent of their students don't even make it past the remedial courses, thereby wasting classroom space, professors' time, and financial aid money. UT-B's graduation rate is in the cellar. There are a few good programs there (that have to have their own admissions standards) such as nursing but the rest is a joke. A bachelor's degree from UT-B is equal to a diploma from a good high school elsewhere.

I took graduate courses there and they weren't any more difficult than the undergraduate courses I took in the Northeast. I actually had professors apologize to me privately because they had to water down the content and expectations to meet the poor preparation of the majority of the students.

The area suffers from chronic low expectations, massive poverty, and corruption. Companies locate there for cheap labor. God help them if a hurricane ever hits because there isn't the education, professionalism, or competent governmental leadership to handle any sort of disaster.