Monterrey or McAllen? (Brownsville: apartment, violent crime, homes)

[LittleGreenMan]

What do you think is a better place to live?

[love roses]

I'd pick McAllen.

[LittleGreenMan]

Why is the Mcallen metro area a better place to live than Monterrey, Nuevo Leon?

[brubaker]

My understanding is that Monterrey is a huge, industrial city....and McAllen is a small, somewhat 'crime plagued' border town.

But you probably already knew that if you're interested in moving to these places.

[hellpaso]

I wouldn't call McAllen "crime plagued", and it is not that small.

[gabetx]

Originally Posted by brubaker

My understanding is that Monterrey is a huge, industrial city....and McAllen is a small, somewhat 'crime plagued' border town.

But you probably already knew that if you're interested in moving to these places.

You really shouldn't post about someplace you obviously know nothing about...

[Chelito23]

I agree with brubaker, McAllen is certainly not a crime plagued border town. It is pretty clean, has little vandalism, most homes and streets and public areas are well taken care of...now Brownsville, that's another story, but McAllen doesn't fit that bill.


Now choosing between the two? Monterrey is in another stratosphere, it depends what you want. If I could choose and money was not an option, probably Monterrey because I like big city living. But in reality, you would be living abroad and there are cons to living there as well.

[brubaker]

Originally Posted by gabetx

You really shouldn't post about someplace you obviously know nothing about...

Very insightful post. Thanks for sharing.

[rstrstx]

Crime is probably higher in Monterrey, violent crime is fairly rare on the border (well, on the US side). But it's not quite fair to compare a giant massive metropolis that has both the very nice and the very ugly to what until recently and in many respects still is a larger suburbia type town.

The scenery is spectacular in the Sierra Madre outside Monterrey while McAllen's biggest asset is probably the coast, which ends up being nearly 2 hours away by the time you pull out of the driveway 'til the time you hit the sand (South Padre by the way is Monterrey's easternmost suburb). Climate is comparable in both areas unless you can afford to live up on the mountain in Monterrey, where it's cooler in summer. And be prepared to pay US prices in Monterrey, the areas you'd want to live in are not cheap. McAllen has more American amenities and the inevitable sterility common to suburbia - if you're a US citizen it's less of a culture shock. At least passable Spanish is an absolute must for living in Monterrey and extremely helpful in McAllen or anywhere in South Texas. If you have kids in school you'd want to do a private school in Monterrey (they have an American High School there) and a private school would probably be the best way to go in South Texas too - certainly that's the case around here in Brownsville but in McAllen I hear the Sharyland district is decent enough (check with other members on here)

I quit posting on city-data quite a while back; the endless "my-place-is-better-than-your-place" ramblings get old fast, but this is too fascinating of a thread to pass up. It's really a very interesting, curious question you pose: one is a big city in a foreign country while the other is a giant suburb in the US even though it has more cultural ties to the city in question. If you want excitement or proximity to the mountains and know enough Spanish and can earn decent money or already have a little money then go with Monterrey; if you want to live in the US (barely!) and would prefer to live in a mid-sized city or be closer to the coast or are the least bit uncomfortable living in a foreign country then McAllen is the obvious pick.

If you're a beach person and like the city life (but not TOO big) you may want to pay a visit to Tampico, I always love going there - but then again I'm a total sucker for the tropical ambience. It would be my darkhorse town in this thread worth mentioning.

Personally if money were no object I'd have a lovely lush resaca-side home in South Texas and keep an apartment in Monterrey on the mountain or just west of downtown.

[texan55]

everything rstrstx said.

spot on.