Possibly relocating to Harlingen, TX - HELP (Dallas, San Antonio: best schools, living in)

[MacTown87]

You wont be looked down if you white, if anything youll be looked up upon. White people are generally well respected here because from an honest standpoint, if your white your probably rich/wealthy in the eyes of the residents.

Your daughter will fit in really well.

Good/Bad neighborhoods are generally intertwined but mostly violent crimes stay within the bad neighborhoods/areas for the most part. I lived in Northside McAllen my whole life. My neighborhood had a high crime rate but less than half a mile away there was a neighborhood with absolutely no crime. Never did I hear of anyone from my neighborhood spreading the crime to the other neighborhood. I can't see harlingen any different because pretty much majority of Valley cities (at least the larger ones) are generally the same as far as how they are structured.

RGV schools are not that great but it is what you make of it. I have a friend who got into Harvard on academic scholarship and thats casue the school I went to (McAllen High) had a high drop out rate and not all that "prestitious".

The cities are great though. I love it, yea it has its negatives but it also has its positives. Hard work and discipline is a big deal here as well as respect for your elders. People are very helpful and nice in general. Even dealing with crime, very rarely is there random acts of violence like in other cities. Most crimes involve criminal-to-criminal, gang-to-gang. My neighborhood used to be high in crime but I never felt unsafe because everybody in my neighborhood knew I wasnt about that, so they let me be.

All in all, youll be fine.

[NOTAM]

if you are even slightly like me, you very well may not feel "at home" there. i dont know-everyone is different, and everyone has different experiences.
job market has never been an issue for me because i am an ER RN of course, but i had friends in Corpus who had hard time getting even receptionist jobs because they werent bilingual, and that is over 2 hours from the border. i can imagine how much more difficult it would be, being even closer to the border.
i urge yall to visit the area before yall take the plunge-really.

Originally Posted by BOSIE

bellestaroftexas ---he has not totally accepted the job, but it's looking like he is going to (90% sure)-- I have read some of your other blogs about the area and it's scares the heck out of me because you seem to be a lot like me -- country music, etc.....
I think my biggest concern is not being able to speak spanish and I wonder if that is going to be a big problem for me getting a job (in the clerical, administrative field) ??
I don't have a problem meeting new people, but are they going to be as accepting of me as I am to them???

And case44- you say a private school would be the way to go for my daughter-- are the public elementary schools ( like treasure hills or stuart place) not very good?? I am more worried about my daughter's safety and getting a good education than anything else

[wade_word]

Originally Posted by BOSIE

Can I ask you Wade_Word, WHY do you say try further north??

Glad you asked. I was simply suggesting staying where you were. You did say you lived in San Antonio. Basically, I was just concerned for you because of all the border jumpers in the Rio Grande Valley area. I then reread the opening post and your husband is already getting a job there. So never mind.

[BOSIE]

Originally Posted by bellestaroftexas

if you are even slightly like me, you very well may not feel "at home" there. i dont know-everyone is different, and everyone has different experiences.
job market has never been an issue for me because i am an ER RN of course, but i had friends in Corpus who had hard time getting even receptionist jobs because they werent bilingual, and that is over 2 hours from the border. i can imagine how much more difficult it would be, being even closer to the border.
i urge yall to visit the area before yall take the plunge-really.

My husband and I are going down to Harlingen this weekend to check out the area and a few homes . I'll keep ya'll posted on my thoughts. Thanks again for all of your input!!!

[NOTAM]

great. check back in with us and let us know what you thought.

Originally Posted by BOSIE

My husband and I are going down to Harlingen this weekend to check out the area and a few homes . I'll keep ya'll posted on my thoughts. Thanks again for all of your input!!!

[ggw]

I have been reading your forum and am curious as to what you thought about your visit to Harlingen.

We are also moving there, this June. We lived in McAllen for 3.5 years and I loved it. I am anglo and my husband is latin, our son looks anglo (light eyes and light hair). We had no problems fitting in or feeling out of place.

Harlingen has a larger anglo community because there is no border bridge, but believe me when I tell you there are mucho latinos! Your language should not pose a barrier. I did not speak spanish when we moved to McAllen and worked in a hospital with relatively no problems.

My concern is that I am not impressed with Harlingen at all. It seems kind of stuck in the 80's, nothing modern really. I am wondering what I will be doing on the weekends. Driving to McAllen or Brownsville routinely will eventually get tiresome.

We plan to live in Nueces Park or the back part of Treasure Hills.

So what did you think of Harlingen?

[doss1]

Originally Posted by ggw

We are also moving there, this June.

May God have mercy on your soul. That is when you can start cooking chicken on the bare sidewalks in South Texas.

[conanS]

Being from San Antonio it won't be as much a culture shock as it could have been.

I grew up in an area that was about 45% white, 45% hispanic, and 10% other, and it was still a culture shock to move to the RGV ( I am anglo by the way!!)

You might as well get used to people getting ticked that you don't speak Spanish. Many of them truly feel it is your obligation to learn Spanish if you live here. I work in retail and get that DAILY!!!

I would be suprised if your job search was hampered by not knowing Spanish. I was hired as a store manager here in Donna where approx 50% of my clientel don't speak any English, although I am sure it helps that I am the only person that does not speak Spanish in the store.

From my experience, if you don't get intimidated by those that treat you like an outcast, they'll leave you alone. Although I did have one lady cuss me out 2 weeks ago because she felt I OUGHT to have to speak Spanish to work in the RGV. Problem was easily solved when I kicked her out of my store

[mrkool]

[quote=BOSIE;2597601]My husband and I are going down to Harlingen this weekend to check out the area and a few homes . I'll keep ya'll posted on my thoughts. quote]

OK... been a month now. What did you think???

[BOSIE]

OK-- sorry to keep ya'll wondering, but we did NOT go visit Harlingen afterall. I did not have a very good attitude and my daughter was sick.
Also to make a long story short...... the contract that my husband was counting on fell through and he has since started working in Austin- and commuting. I can't even explain how happy I am to stay in San Antonio. I do want to thank you for all of your posts-- they were very helpful in calming my nerves during the whole "waiting" period for this contract (I thank god every day it did not go through)!! I will stay in touch!