Misconceptions about Texas's border towns? (Houston, Dallas: wages, quality of life, living in)

[Foamposite]

I see on the general US forum all the time, people claiming that the border areas (such as El Paso and RGV) are basically an extension of Mexico and not Americanized. Meaning that you hear much more Spanish than English.
I even see this claim about San Antonio to a lesser extent. Which is weird, because Dallas and Houston seem to be more of a magnet for Latin American immigration.

But my mom just spent 2 weeks in El Paso and didn't find that to be true at all. One of her remarks was that the city seemed to mostly be Americanized Hispanics, and coming from New York, she wasn't used to that besides Puerto Ricans (the Mexican and Central American population here is overwhelmingly immigrants and 2nd gens under 25).

I was always skeptical of claims that say, El Paso and McAllen are culturally extremely Mexican and have mostly non-English speakers. I've always known Latinos born in the US to talk to each other 99% in English, even if both of their parents are immigrants.

[ChristieP]

El Paso is a bit of an anomaly because of Fort Bliss and White Sands military bases. A base brings a ton of non-Hispanic, non-locals to a town, many of which are younger.

[malcorub16]

Originally Posted by Foamposite

But my mom just spent 2 weeks in El Paso and didn't find that to be true at all. One of her remarks was that the city seemed to mostly be Americanized Hispanics.

I would say this is more true of San Antonio where the majority of Hispanic San Antonions are English speaking and never venture South of the border.

El Paso and McAllen will be 50/50 Spanish/English but as an visitor it's hard to tell which of the Spanish speakers actually live in El Paso/McAllen versus who is just visiting for the day from Juarez/Reynosa.

I do agree that border towns are very Americanized with a Mexican touch...but you could say the same for Juarez and Tijuana where Americanization crosses South.

Originally Posted by Foamposite

I even see this claim about San Antonio to a lesser extent. Which is weird, because Dallas and Houston seem to be more of a magnet for Latin American immigration.

If you came from your country to make money and have no ties to the border, why stay in a border town which usually have low wages and lower quality of life (exception is San Diego).

[Foamposite]

Originally Posted by malcorub16

I would say this is more true of San Antonio where the majority of Hispanic San Antonions are English speaking and never venture South of the border.

El Paso and McAllen will be 50/50 Spanish/English but as an visitor it's hard to tell which of the Spanish speakers actually live in El Paso/McAllen versus who is just visiting for the day from Juarez/Reynosa.

I do agree that border towns are very Americanized with a Mexican touch...but you could say the same for Juarez and Tijuana where Americanization crosses South.



If you came from your country to make money and have no ties to the border, why stay in a border town which usually have low wages and lower quality of life (exception is San Diego).

My mother went to Juarez a few times and said that it looked much more run down than El Paso, and that it even smelled like sewage. So it might be Americanized in some aspects, but it seems like it's not really that similar to the border towns in the US.

As for your last statement, I'm in agreement. Proximity to the border isn't really a deciding factor in immigration anywaymore, many Mexicans move to the Midwest, Northeast, and non Texas South these days.

[Foamposite]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

El Paso is a bit of an anomaly because of Fort Bliss and White Sands military bases. A base brings a ton of non-Hispanic, non-locals to a town, many of which are younger.

My mom got around plenty, and said the people in the supermarkets (the locals) mostly seemed to be US born Hispanics.

[aab7855]

I guess it all depends on one´s starting point. If you´re coming from Latin America then yes, the places in question will feel pretty American. If you´re coming from Peoria, Illinois or countless other cities that fit the description of Americana well then it´s easy to throw your arms up and declare that Mexico invaded this place, blah blah blah.

I´ve been living in Colombia now for 7 years, before then I was in Puerto Rico (also kind of a hybrid place to be honest) and I think the borderland will be a happy medium for my family. My wife is Colombian and I´m a native-born gringo, albeit a bilingual one.

I honestly didn´t think that San Antonio felt THAT "foreign" at all...I spent a lot of time in the "barrio" and while I heard Spanish, I heard more English. Get near or outside of the loops and to me it just feels like another Texas strip mall suburbia (fine if you like that, but I´ll pass). What struck me about San Antonio, and perhaps EP and the RGV will strike me the same, is that the average person doesn´t care what language you speak...I´d say that many Hispanics in SA are indeed bilingual, even if they prefer speaking English day to day. There are some places where people aren´t as comfortable with sociolinguistic matters...for example there are definitely Puerto Ricans who won´t answer gringos in Spanish, even if they can speak it perfectly...a thick book could be written about why, let´s just say it´s complicated. It feels as much like they´re trying to accommodate you as they´re trying to exclude you or put you "in your place" so to speak.

I´ve heard about people in South Texas being hostile towards Anglos, but since I haven´t visited yet, I have no idea if it´s true. It could depend on the place, too...McAllen and Harlingen have a pronounced white/Anglo minority like El Paso...Brownsville is, well, about 99% brown. Laredo is too.

[As Above So Below...]

El Paso's Mexican population is 30% foreign born.

Only one metro area in the US has a Mexican population thats over 50% foreign born. Its Charlotte, NC. Atlanta's is close behind at 47%.

Houston and Dallas are both around the 40% mark.

So saying a place is mostly American born Mexicans is true for everywhere in the US except Charlotte.

[aab7855]

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

El Paso's Mexican population is 30% foreign born.

Only one metro area in the US has a Mexican population thats over 50% foreign born. Its Charlotte, NC. Atlanta's is close behind at 47%.

Houston and Dallas are both around the 40% mark.

So saying a place is mostly American born Mexicans is true for everywhere in the US except Charlotte.

Very true, but you won´t find Mexicans with work permits crossing the bridge to their day jobs in Charlotte. San Antonio is about the farthest north you can get where droves of monied Mexican shoppers come to spend money, sometimes entire tour buses of them. The border culture is going to make the place feel much more "foreign" than better off places with their migration patterns ever could.

[Foamposite]

Originally Posted by aab7855

I guess it all depends on one´s starting point. If you´re coming from Latin America then yes, the places in question will feel pretty American. If you´re coming from Peoria, Illinois or countless other cities that fit the description of Americana well then it´s easy to throw your arms up and declare that Mexico invaded this place, blah blah blah.

I´ve been living in Colombia now for 7 years, before then I was in Puerto Rico (also kind of a hybrid place to be honest) and I think the borderland will be a happy medium for my family. My wife is Colombian and I´m a native-born gringo, albeit a bilingual one.

I honestly didn´t think that San Antonio felt THAT "foreign" at all...I spent a lot of time in the "barrio" and while I heard Spanish, I heard more English. Get near or outside of the loops and to me it just feels like another Texas strip mall suburbia (fine if you like that, but I´ll pass). What struck me about San Antonio, and perhaps EP and the RGV will strike me the same, is that the average person doesn´t care what language you speak...I´d say that many Hispanics in SA are indeed bilingual, even if they prefer speaking English day to day. There are some places where people aren´t as comfortable with sociolinguistic matters...for example there are definitely Puerto Ricans who won´t answer gringos in Spanish, even if they can speak it perfectly...a thick book could be written about why, let´s just say it´s complicated. It feels as much like they´re trying to accommodate you as they´re trying to exclude you or put you "in your place" so to speak.

I´ve heard about people in South Texas being hostile towards Anglos, but since I haven´t visited yet, I have no idea if it´s true. It could depend on the place, too...McAllen and Harlingen have a pronounced white/Anglo minority like El Paso...Brownsville is, well, about 99% brown. Laredo is too.

Interesting observations. Though Mexicans and other Hispanics are becoming more and more common in "Americana" type places like Grand Rapids and Beloit, for instance.

I'm also a (nearly) bilingual gringo, and I have found that some Latinos (mostly US born in my experience) would get annoyed at me speaking Spanish, perhaps because they view it as a secret code.

And foreign borns would reply in English sometimes just because my Spanish isn't that great (I don't make terrible mistakes or anything, but from my accent I'm obviously nowhere near a native speaker).

Originally Posted by As Above So Below...

El Paso's Mexican population is 30% foreign born.

Only one metro area in the US has a Mexican population thats over 50% foreign born. Its Charlotte, NC. Atlanta's is close behind at 47%.

Houston and Dallas are both around the 40% mark.

So saying a place is mostly American born Mexicans is true for everywhere in the US except Charlotte.

That's quite interesting, because people on General US always treat the border towns as being more foreign (in regards to the Mexican population), while Houston and Dallas likely have a higher percentage of non English speaking Mexicans. And in any case, it seems to always be lower than 50% foreign born for Texas Mexicans.

[Foamposite]

Originally Posted by aab7855

Very true, but you won´t find Mexicans with work permits crossing the bridge to their day jobs in Charlotte. San Antonio is about the farthest north you can get where droves of monied Mexican shoppers come to spend money, sometimes entire tour buses of them. The border culture is going to make the place feel much more "foreign" than better off places with their migration patterns ever could.

True, but does El Paso have so many Mexican shoppers that it would make you hear more Spanish than English?