Brownsville, TX what's it like (best, culture, history)

[baysky]

I've never been but I decided yesterday to move there when I finish graduate school (just started). I am in love with Mexico and would love to live in the Yucatan, but the country is obviously too instable. Brownsville seems like a great compromise. Please do PM me if you move there and let me know how you like it!!

[ckenneth]

I lived there for 2 years (temporary duty) before I was transferred out. I would like to go back. This is my experience. Choose were you want to live. I recommend renting first while you know the area. There are no communities being build. Basically you buy a lot and have a home build. Because of this you can have a very nice home next to a no so desirable home. Rancho Viejo area is desirable while Cameron Park is not (north part of BRO is better than the south). Recently home prices have risen due to well off Mexicans moving to BRO to avoid the violence in Mexico. Brownsville is mostly Mexican descendants with Mexican traditions and you can expect Spanish to be the main language however, business will have people who can help you. Not to many white or African American in Brownsville. White American live on Padre Island or Laguna Vista. Harlingen has more English speaking population. As for food you will find major restaurants as well as plenty of Mexican cuisine (very reasonable prices). Padre Island is the touristic place with pubs and burger joints. I found that crime was not a big issue (other that burglaries). If you need any kind of labor, you will find that labor is cheap. The issue I had was with my child's public school. He was the only blue eye blond. Private school took care of that. Expect to pay around $5K a year. Among the population, you will find that the well-off Mexicans don't sympathize with blue collar worker and the blue collar worker don't sympathize with the illegals. Weather is very bearable. There is always a sea breeze that mitigates the humidity. I did not experience any hurricanes however, there are portions of BRO that will flood.

[DashRiprock]

There was a brewery from the Valley called Glasscock Brewing back in the 90's. It was part of the "first wave" of craft brewers in Texas. I don't think it lasted very long. Not many of those early breweries are still around; off the top of my head I can only think of St. Arnold's, Real Ale and maybe Celis if you don't count their 20 year hiatus.

The industry has exploded so much in the past 5-10 years that I can't even keep up with what Austin has, much less the rest of the state, but South Padre has had a brewpub for a while. I imagine there are other breweries down there now but I haven't checked into it lately. I'm not sure how well one would be received or what the market will bear; the entire Rio Grande Valley is unique in ways good and bad. If that's what you intend to do, though, I'd make sure you have a really good handle on lighter style lagers, because that will be 75% of your sales at least. Even here in Austin nearly everybody now has a "Mexican" style lager in their rotation.

[georgste]

I am familiar with Brownsville. but I cannot remember if there was bus service there.

[brock2010]

Originally Posted by georgste

I am familiar with Brownsville. but I cannot remember if there was bus service there.

If you're talking about transit then it's Metro.

[Ghost Town]

I know this thread is fairly old and I guess OP already had made his choice. But I would definitely prefer AL coast, not for the ethnic/cultural reasons but first of all due to the location. Between Florida and Texas, near major interstate, not too far from East Coast, within reasonable distance from many places even including New Orleans airport, really nice beach, etc. In Brownsville you are stuck in the remote corner of Texas, pretty far from everything.
Culture is also an important thing if you want to feel yourself like you are in the real US.

[supfromthesite]

Brownsville is the real US. What a silly statement.

[Ghost Town]

Originally Posted by supfromthesite

Brownsville is the real US. What a silly statement.

Culturally not. If you don't understand local language, that means it's not a typical part of the US.
In Alabama there won't be any language barriers.

[supfromthesite]

Most citizens of Brownsville speak English.

Certain parts of Alabama feel much more alien than any part of south Texas.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by supfromthesite

Most citizens of Brownsville speak English.

You know what he means. If you don't speak any Spanish, you'll feel left out pretty often (even when it's not deliberate).

I'm glad this thread was revived, I'm really interested in Brownsville and would consider moving there, so I'm curious to hear opinions from people familiar with the area. I've been to plenty of places, but never south of Corpus Christi (I've been to southern Mexico, but flew.)