Vermonter looking at San Juan (near McAllen) Texas...need feedback! (Brownsville: insurance, neighborhood)
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just re-read your post. as an emt---i don't know what the pay is, but, myself and dh are healthcare professionals---the pay here it OUTRAGEOUS!!!! it is the best in the country!! i don't know specifically about emt's, but for nurses, it's probably the best i've ever seen in 26 years------
...well I'm glad healthcare providers are getting paid somewhere in this counrty. Vermont is one area that has not "jumped on that wagon" yet. I've been in it for 10 years and the going rate up here is $10.00/hour. $11.00 if you've been to college! I'm at the tail end of my Paramedic class and I have to either commute 2 hours to New Hampshire for a per-diem shift or move out of the state and find a full time job praticing medic.
I'm glad to hear that Texas is willing to step up to the plate and pay us providers for doing a job that requires so much...
Thanks for the information. I'm going to check out the jobs in and around the McAllen area.
The pay is high because no one wants to move there. Where there's smoke, there's fire.
YIKES!!! Is the area really that terrible?
I was reading a few other forums here and one lady said you have to keep an eye out for your shopping cart when you are unloading it into your car. Why, oh why would people do this? I'm not a fighting woman, but let me tell you this; if someone messes with me, my family or my personal belongings for no reason... lets just say they may want to face their maker instead of me! Up here in Vermont, you RESPECT stuff that is yours and DOUBLE RESPECT stuff that isn't.
It's just very hard to understand that this stuff goes on...
The pay for nurses has more to do with the available people here than anything. The dropout rate for kids here is close to 40%, so unlike other areas, the RGV has to go outside to find people.
yep...the sign on bonuses are OUTRAGEOUS for RN's..i have been offered as much as 25,000 bonus for signing a 2 year contract in border town hospitals. it's unreal............
the hospitals staff heavily with nurses from the Phillippines, even sponsor them to get their American RN license, give them housing etc.......of course they have to sell their soul.......sign that dotted line...contract for a few years as payback.
Quote:
Originally Posted by conanS
The pay for nurses has more to do with the available people here than anything. The dropout rate for kids here is close to 40%, so unlike other areas, the RGV has to go outside to find people.
Well all this feedback has really helped. We are going to go down there in October for a few weeks to check it out. I must say that I was a little surprised to read the reply containing information about the nursing staff. I recently had a baby up here in Vermont and they had the same worker program for nurses. Bringing them over from other countries may save them a little cheese here and there, but I'll never go back to that hospital again.
My nurse spoke very little english and understood even less. What a terrible experience that was. Not being able to understand what she was saying or about to do was very frustrating and stressful in an already very nerve racking situation! Oh, how powerful that almighty dollar is!
yep...the sign on bonuses are OUTRAGEOUS for RN's..i have been offered as much as 25,000 bonus for signing a 2 year contract in border town hospitals. it's unreal............
the hospitals staff heavily with nurses from the Phillippines, even sponsor them to get their American RN license, give them housing etc.......of course they have to sell their soul.......sign that dotted line...contract for a few years as payback.
Belle, This is off topic but I could'nt figure out how to send a personal message, I've noticed that from other posts that you're looking to relocate. My wife is the health services administrator at a small Indian Reservation in rural south central New Mexico and currently needs a R.N.clinic nurse . If interested contact Pat Renfro at pat@alamo.ihs.gov .
Again, I apologize for going off topic.
My spouse and I grew up in the Midwest, but lived in McAllen from 1981 until 1999. As hard as we tried, we never, ever felt assimilated in the area; literally EVERYONE is related to someone else in the Valley, and for those who don't have family there, you're never anything but an outsider. If your husband's family is local there, you may be more successful than we were. But the culture shock is still going to be incredible.
Public schools in the Valley were not stellar when we lived there (I speak with some expertise, as the spouse taught in one for a decade and was an administrator for another four years). The region is one of those served by the "Teach For America" program because districts there have such a horrendous time finding qualified instructors. Our children were teens in high school when we returned to the Midwest, and had to scramble to catch up with their peers in high school here once we moved.
Housing prices in the area are extremely low; the house we sold there in 1999 went at the top of the market, and sold for less than half what we paid for a much smaller house in our current home town.
Some food prices, notably agricultural products that are grown locally, are significantly less expensive than you'll find in the Northeast. Milk will probably be costlier, also eggs. Northern varieties of produce (apples, cherries, etc) are more expensive. If you are fond of organic food, you may struggle to find much. If you prefer to eat vegetarian or vegan, you will have a really hard time. If you like meat, especially barbeque, you'll be very happy.
Heating bills can actually be surprisingly high during those two or three cold fronts; the houses aren't built with as much insulation as is common up north. Also, I have never yet paid a heating bill in Wisconsin that was as expensive as the air conditioning bills I paid in Texas. And heat bills up here last 5, maybe 6 months; you'll be running that A/C 10 or 11 months out of the year in the Rio Grande Valley.
There are many, many wonderful Mexican restaurants, and some good Chinese restaurants. Some big chains were starting to move into the Valley in the late 90's, but at least when we lived there, there were very few other ethnic food types represented.
During the time we lived there, the nearest decent book stores were in Corpus Christi (120 miles away) or San Antonio (250 miles away). There was one small book store in all of Hidalgo County. This may no longer be the case, or it may not be a problem for you, but if you enjoy reading, check out the bookstores on your visit.
We enjoy classical music, and had a hard time finding any. Country and Western or Latin music are predominant.
One thing that I would recommend is that you start reading the local papers online to get a feel for the local culture, issues and values. The McAllen Monitor is a good representation, or the Valley Morning Star, or the Brownsville Herald. You can also see what jobs are available (and at what pay rates - you may be disappointed) and you can get an idea of what the locals say in letters to the editor. That, by the way, is something that I'd strongly advise to anyone considering a relocation; the local chamber of commerce and the realtors will paint a rosy picture no matter where you look, but often you get a more realistic view from the local news.
One final word of caution: living in a free house is a good way to save money, but it isn't cheap to move halfway across the north American continent. Factor that in (both the expense to move there and the expense to move back) when you're doing the cost-benefit analysis.
Last edited by MidwesternBookWorm; 06-18-2007 at 09:56 PM..
Reason: Forgot to mention heat & a/c cost comparisons
Ive lived in McAllen pretty much all my life (since I was 2-years old), I'm 20yrs old now and in college. The City has been improving a lot in both businesses and crime. The school's are still lacking but if your kid puts in the work they can still match other schools that are ahead of the pace because I've had a couple friends get into great universities (Notre Dame and Harvard). Crime has gone down a lot, when I was growing up I grew up on the far Northside of town, off 23 st. and my nieghborhood had one of the higher crime rates in the city, even compared to the Southside of town. It was really bad at one time but the police cracked down very hard and many of the hoodlums were arrested, ran off or just plain out disappeared. Mona St. across the street fro where I lived used to be real bad as well but since has also been cleaned up.
School wise I went to McAllen High (McHi) and from my freshmen year to my junior year it was one of the most dangerous schools in the state of Texas along with Nikki Rowe. I'm not going to lie, there were a lot of big gang fights that took place constantly but just like my neighborhood they cracked down hard and its cleaned up a lot. Nikki Rowe though has gotten worse because at McHi instead of suspending kids for a week for a fight or assault they expell them and there forced to goto Nikki Rowe, so Nikki Rowe has been getting the gang members and trouble makers from McHi only adding to the problem.
Now and days now that I've come back to visit from college its much calmer, and slow paced. My neighborhood is pretty clean, no crime has taken place in it since I've graduated. Everybody is friendly, the only ones who try to cause problems are the high school kids who think there tough but if you just call them out on their bluff they scurry off like the cowards there are, which I've had to do a couple times. San Juan's a good place to live very laid back and is right next to McAllen and Edinburg so its easy for you to find wha tyou need there if you cant find it in San Juan. Basically if your respectful to people theyll respect you back. Of course you have a few *******s but what city/area doesnt. But yes keep your stuff locked up, cause stupid high school kids will try to steal your stuff.
Plus the city/area is one of the fastest growing in the U.S., so get a place now before it becomes a major city/area and the cost of living goes up.
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