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Old 12-21-2009, 06:41 PM
 
2,410 posts, read 5,789,445 times
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What is McAllen like? I see that it's a border city with Mexico, which can mean several things these days (some good and some not so good). Does it have a unique downtown area?
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Old 12-22-2009, 10:06 PM
 
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McAllen really isn't a border town, that would be Hidalgo, TX, about 10 minutes south. McAllen is totally separate from the border and you have to drive throguh "country" to get to the border. Now, Brownsville, Laredo, El Paso are true border towns on the other hand.

McAllen does have a unique little downtown area that has cheap shops where you can buy made in China products and other dollar store items, but the city is also pushing a club strip where young people hang out.

McAllen is a destination for many Mexicans to shop, so there are strip malls and shopping centers galore. Very busy and congested with lots of variety. The area is very Texan in that it is flat, hot hot hot in the summer and can get cold or be surprisingly mild in the winter (compared to climates within a short drive away in Mexico or farther north in Texas). There are few shade trees except inolder, established neighborhoods but there are tons of Mexican Fan Palms everywhere...the city is very spread out...it's very isolated from other population centers in Texas (3 hours to San Antonio)....but at the same time it has everything you need there. You just might go stir crazy after a while unless you don't mind driving long distances to other places.

It is a safe city overall, laid back and people are friendly for the most part. Most homes are one story older models, lots of new places on the north side that are more upscale.

The airport is very convenient and easy to use, it is relatively cheap to live there but the local jobs pay horribly.

Is there anything else you want to know?
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Old 12-23-2009, 03:11 AM
 
Location: Lubbock, TX
100 posts, read 444,823 times
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Stay away from drugs and you'll be fine. Oh yeah and Bar Rio.
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Old 12-23-2009, 12:42 PM
 
108 posts, read 365,572 times
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The thing i agree with is McAllen isn't really a "real" border town. McAllen is several minutes/miles north of the border (that may not seem far from Northerners, but McAllen is not by the border). McAllen's downtown does not have much to offer, unfortunately. It actually looks like the Valley's china town. Many Asians live and have shops in Downtown McAllen. I believe it's the only Asian community area in the Valley. People always ask why doesn't McAllen have any historical building or landmarks past 1800s? Well you got to realize McAllen and the Valley are very young compared to the rest of the state. McAllen hasn't even reached it's centennial birthday (from what I heard)! Yes it has a population is of a mid-size city, but thats due from the boom it had from 1980-1990. Many visitors complain that McAllen doesn't have any culture or actual zoning. That's because the sprawls and suburb looking areas through-out the whole city were not planned by the city. They never expected the area to grow so fast. That explains the lack of freeways, major roads and planned zoning. The population is estimated to be 130,000.
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Old 01-02-2010, 10:53 PM
 
Location: McAllen Texas
78 posts, read 246,425 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 956kidd View Post
Well you got to realize McAllen and the Valley are very young compared to the rest of the state. McAllen hasn't even reached it's centennial birthday (from what I heard)!
Actually I think McAllen Celebrated its Centennial in 2004, I remember hearing about it a lot back then. But that was a while back, I wasn't even in middle school yet.
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