Please help I need to know about Mcallen Tx (Dallas: fit in, real estate)

[nicholeh]

HI I am really hoping that someone can tell me about Mcallen, Tx. I have a job offer there and I will have to move there. I currently live in a very small rural town in California. I am married with 2 daughters ages 9 and 11. My husband is a stay at home dad and is a self employed as a contractor. I work for the goverment. We are county people and we live on our family farm now. My daughters ride quad atv's, and love to play outside. They go to a smaill country school now. We are portuguess and attend chatholic church. I have read some posts about the area and I am very very connfussed. I do know much about the Texas area expect that my brother lives in Killeen, Tx and I was in Dallas, Tx in Sept 06 for a month and a half, but that is all that I know. My main concern and need is a very good and safe school for my daughters. Like I said we are use to living in the country and we would like to find the same. We also like the water area. My husband and youngest daughter have asthma. My husband also had brain surgery and he had his sinus cavities removed so he needs to be some where where he will be able to breath good. I guess I really would just like to know if anyone knows a good area to live either in Mcallen or the surrounding area. I do mind if I have to commute every day to get to work. I am hoping that I can find some where that is no more that a hour and a half max away from Mcallen. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!!
Thank you, Nichole

[Western Man]

Originally Posted by nicholeh

HI I am really hoping that someone can tell me about Mcallen, Tx. I have a job offer there and I will have to move there. I currently live in a very small rural town in California.

I once moved from a small town in NE California to McAllen and the surrounding area. That was back in '98, and I left McAllen after a couple of years, so some of my information might be a bit dated. But I kind of know what the move is like.

I am married with 2 daughters ages 9 and 11. My husband is a stay at home dad and is a self employed as a contractor. I work for the goverment. We are county people and we live on our family farm now. My daughters ride quad atv's, and love to play outside.

There's a lot of agriculture in the surrounding area. It's a major citrus-producing area, and there's plenty of country-living.

However, the whole Rio Grande Valley is pretty urbanized. McAllen itself feels like a city. At least, it does to someone who's used to small-town life, like me. I had come from a town of about 10,000 people. Many of the immediately surrounding areas are also pretty urbanized. The flat land leaves little limitation on urban sprawl.

But when you get out a little bit, you can find places that are sitll pretty rural. Especially if you go any kind of distance to the north. There is basically nothing at all between the Rio Grande Valley and Corpus Christi. And if you go north along the river, the land gets similarly empty.

I used to live in Hidalgo, which is a little town right on the border about 15 minutes or so south of McAllen. It was a very quiet town and quite comfortable — just a few thousand people and they were all very friendly and everyone knew everyone and so forth. And it was completely safe. Kids would play out in the street until long after dark and have no problems at all.

And when I was there (almost ten years ago now), there were some places along the fringes of Hidalgo where people had quite a bit of land and space. Even a bit of farmland with banana trees and guava trees and so forth.

Another good place to consider that's within an hour's ride from McAllen is Harlingen. The town is smaller than McAllen and feels like a small town. And there are a lot of people living outside of town on quite a bit of land and in pretty rural settings.

They go to a smaill country school now. We are portuguess and attend chatholic church.

The Catholic Church is strong in the Rio Grande Valley, so that won't be a problem in the least. But school might be different. Spanish is very helpful if your kids are going to be in public schools. Most of the kids will speak Spanish (whether they also speak English or not), so they'll fit in a lot better if they can speak Spanish too. Also, I've heard that educational standards are somewhat lower there than they should be. When I was there, Bush was governor, and he had a mini-version of No Child Left Behind in place down there. The Rio Grande Valley was pretty anti-Bush, so I heard about them doing things to undermine the program — things that ended up giving students the impression that their education didn't matter.

But I think Texas is pretty friendly to homeschooling if your husband wants to try that.

My main concern and need is a very good and safe school for my daughters.

Safe? Easy to find. Good? From what I saw, which wasn't first hand, I'd say your best bet would be homeschooling or private schooling. There are definitely good private schools in the area. But then again, each town in the Valley is pretty unique. Some towns will have better schools than others. Hopefully someone else can give you better information on that.

One advantage to the Valley that makes private schooling perhaps more of an option is the fact that absolutely everything is a whole lot cheaper there than in California. And if you do shopping in Mexico from time to time, you can get even cheaper. I was amazed at how far I could stretch my money down there, and without even trying very hard. Granted, I was single at the time. But I could live on $60 a month after fixed expenses like rent, utilities, and insurance. I could never have lived that cheaply in California. And rent was a whole lot cheaper, too.

Like I said we are use to living in the country and we would like to find the same.

That's easily available with a reasonably small commute.

We also like the water area. My husband and youngest daughter have asthma. My husband also had brain surgery and he had his sinus cavities removed so he needs to be some where where he will be able to breath good.

If this means you want a humid climate, then I would suggest looking to some of the communities to the east of McAllen: somewhere from Pharr to Harlingen, inclusive. You get smaller towns (with more rural opportunities along their fringes) than McAllen without getting more than about an hour of commuting. And it's gets a lot more humid really quick as you get east of McAllen. McAllen, Mission, and places like that can get pretty dry from time to time. McAllen is kind of like southern or central California that way. By the time you get to Harlingen, though, you're into a lot more humidity than anywhere in southern or central California.

While we're on the topic of water, though, it's worth mentioning that most of the people I knew in the McAllen area never drank tap water. They bought water from vending machine purifiers instead. In Harlingen, it wasn't like that; but over in McAllen, not many of the locals drank tap water. I didn't try the tap water there — I figured if the locals were afraid of it, then I should be too.

I guess I really would just like to know if anyone knows a good area to live either in Mcallen or the surrounding area. I do mind if I have to commute every day to get to work. I am hoping that I can find some where that is no more that a hour and a half max away from Mcallen. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE HELP!!!!
Thank you, Nichole

Like I said, my information is pretty old. Hopefully someone else can give better information that that. But there's what I can offer, for what it's worth. I wish you the best of luck!

[Othon]

Housing is cheap. Although there's been a lot of growth, you can still find rural settings just a fifteen minute's drive away. As mentioned, the Catholic church is strong here. And the public education isn't great, but you can find some good elementary and middle schools, and a few above average high schools in the area.

[TexasNick]

strip malls, junk food and low cost of living. That sums it up! McAllen has no character, but the smaller towns around it do. Enjoy.

[shannon247]

I would agree with "Western Man", McAllen is a good town. McAllen-Mission-Edinburg was the 3rd fastest growing area for part of the 90s.

[kabrown]

Hi my family and were going to move to Mcallen but we didnt because of family. My husband was trying a new job for 6 months and we went down there in january. We honestly think it was beautiful. Your not to far from Mexico but it is beautiful down there. I have 2 daughters both blonde hair blue eyed. We are from Indiana. When we went down there we were the minority, but the kids really loved it. I dont think your kids would have a problem down there. The schools are really well educated. We like sharyland plantation the best if you want more info on that click this Sharyland Plantation | A Master Planned Community in Mission, Texas | McAllen Real Estate | Mission Real Estate | McAllen Homes its a community with beautiful homes and wonderful schools. The Sharyland High School was ranked really high in test scores throughout the U.S. etc not too long ago. Buti hope i helped you and if you have any more questions i can help

[anna121]

i grew up in mcallen since i was a preteen. this is a 97% hispanic area of almost all mexican american decent except a lot of phillipinos in the hospitals. people are very supsious here of people they do not know but once u have a friend they can be very kind. the people here do not like white people much but u will probably fit in a little better but they will assume that u are mexican american. they are crital of imperfect language even though the language here is tex-mex.

the men here are tend to be lustful, lots of strip clubs and the women act very jealosy. but the more mature, the more peaceful. one nice thing about here is if someone hates u, u can tell right away. being nice in a sweet quiet way esp. as a woman is taken as a sign of weakness. people are fisty and afraid of being taken advatage of perhaps bec of discrimination or preceived discrimination.

people are fam oriented here. u shouldn't have problems w your children but it might b good to move when they are teenagers.

like any place, if u get into a good company, clubs, church, friends you'll have it good. there are also a lot of religious people here. mcallen and sharyland schools are the best.
my fav towns are mcallen, north esp. and sharyland, mission has some nice places. but u don't want to live out in the country here bec it is a little unsafe.

this is also a bad area for allergies.
winter's are nice, not cold.
the beach is an hour and half away.

i hope this is helpful. sorry to b so negative but someone should tell u that side too.
good luck