El Paso vs. Rio Grande Valley (McAllen, Brownsville)

[DorianRo]

Ive been in the RGV for 10 years after moving here from NY . No issues. Great place to retire even though I'm not even close to retirement age. Its a lifestyle adjustment because people/lifestyle ARE much slower here. But overrall its been a good experience

[doolish1]

I love El Paso!! Lived there 3 years.

[brock2010]

El Paso most definitely.

[kemahkai]

Originally Posted by SanJac

Over 100,000 snowbirds flock to the RGV every year. It does have It's advantages. Fresh citrus, vegetables, year-round gardening. Great food!

I choose the lower RGV for these same reasons. The coastal location and humidity allows some good lushness even despite the lower rainfall compared to Greater Houston.

Even if I wanted a mountain fix, Monterey isn't too far away.

[pappy97]

I'm actually in DFW and considered both of these areas. We ended up deciding on El Paso and will move in 6-9 months or so:

1.) Not on Texas electricity grid. This is actually a pretty big deal after last year's fiasco. If EP has an electricity shortage, they can borrow from other western states. Doesn't look like you can choose your elec provider, but powertochoose hasn't been really good on rates in 7-8 years.

2.) No humidity. Humidity sucks. We looked at the weather today where we live in DFW vs. EP. In DFW, it was 92, but felt like 99. In EP, It was 94, but felt like 94. Also, nights are cooler in EP. (Not that DFW is all that humid, but sometimes it is, but RGV is humid).

3.) No real severe weather events to worry about. In DFW you worry about tornados. In RGV/South Padre, hurricanes. EP has none of that. It has heat, but again, dry heat with temps on par with DFW, so we see it as a big net benefit moving from DFW to EP.

4.) Mountains in EP. For me, being in RGV and saying Monterrey isn't too far, well, Monterrey is well into Mexico and I wouldn't travel that far in. But that's me. But in EP, they literally have the Franklin Mountains in the middle of the city. But overall, EP wins on geographic beauty EXCEPT for SPI.

5.) My family is from California and we have many friends in California, so EP not only brings us much closer to them, but brings us one time zone closer too. That time zone change has benefits personal to us.

6.) Looking at new and new home prices, they seem lower in the EP area, especially Far East EP and Horizon City. And just so many more new/newer homes than RGV.

7.) My work is fully remote and has no physical office, so there is no commute either way. This allows me personally to take advantage of the low prices in EP that come due to their relative isolation without any downside of commute or needing to be near a major Texas city.

8.) EP is the safest large city in Texas, and third safest large city in the country.

I say this as someone who myself and my wife, we love South Padre Island and for a time, we strongly considered Harlingen. We do love the area, and in not moving to Harlingen, hate giving up being so close to SPI. But it just make too much sense for us to move to EP.

[malcorub16]

Originally Posted by pappy97

4.) Mountains in EP. For me, being in RGV and saying Monterrey isn't too far, well, Monterrey is well into Mexico and I wouldn't travel that far in. But that's me. But in EP, they literally have the Franklin Mountains in the middle of the city. But overall, EP wins on geographic beauty EXCEPT for SPI.

.

Originally Posted by kemahkai

Even if I wanted a mountain fix, Monterey isn't too far away.

Not too many Texans driving into Mexico that's for sure.

One, it's not the safest drive on that side
Two, it's not like the border in California or Arizona where you can drive into Mexico without a permit for several hundred miles. In Texas border area, I believe you can only go 15 miles into Mexico before you need the $60 dollar permit for your vehicle in addition to the deposit of roughly 300 to 400 dollars.

This is a shame because there are some beautiful parks with mountains and waterfalls just three hour drive from the Laredo and Reynosa border.

[orl.avila]

Originally Posted by pappy97

I'm actually in DFW and considered both of these areas. We ended up deciding on El Paso and will move in 6-9 months or so:

1.) Not on Texas electricity grid. This is actually a pretty big deal after last year's fiasco. If EP has an electricity shortage, they can borrow from other western states. Doesn't look like you can choose your elec provider, but powertochoose hasn't been really good on rates in 7-8 years.

2.) No humidity. Humidity sucks. We looked at the weather today where we live in DFW vs. EP. In DFW, it was 92, but felt like 99. In EP, It was 94, but felt like 94. Also, nights are cooler in EP. (Not that DFW is all that humid, but sometimes it is, but RGV is humid).

3.) No real severe weather events to worry about. In DFW you worry about tornados. In RGV/South Padre, hurricanes. EP has none of that. It has heat, but again, dry heat with temps on par with DFW, so we see it as a big net benefit moving from DFW to EP.

4.) Mountains in EP. For me, being in RGV and saying Monterrey isn't too far, well, Monterrey is well into Mexico and I wouldn't travel that far in. But that's me. But in EP, they literally have the Franklin Mountains in the middle of the city. But overall, EP wins on geographic beauty EXCEPT for SPI.

5.) My family is from California and we have many friends in California, so EP not only brings us much closer to them, but brings us one time zone closer too. That time zone change has benefits personal to us.

6.) Looking at new and new home prices, they seem lower in the EP area, especially Far East EP and Horizon City. And just so many more new/newer homes than RGV.

7.) My work is fully remote and has no physical office, so there is no commute either way. This allows me personally to take advantage of the low prices in EP that come due to their relative isolation without any downside of commute or needing to be near a major Texas city.

8.) EP is the safest large city in Texas, and third safest large city in the country.

I say this as someone who myself and my wife, we love South Padre Island and for a time, we strongly considered Harlingen. We do love the area, and in not moving to Harlingen, hate giving up being so close to SPI. But it just make too much sense for us to move to EP.

I'm from Monterrey and I've lived my whole life here. I understand that Americans don't want to cross the border by car, you have to go through Tamaulipas which is a state with too many bad reputation however that's the reason why our Governor Samuel Garcia wants to build a new highway (La Gloria-Colombia) and improves an existing one (Salinas Victoria-Anahuac) to avoid Nuevo Laredo and drive from Monterrey to Texas directly. We share a small border, just 9 miles, but I think that this area (Anahuac NL, Colombia NL, Nuevo Laredo TAMPS and Laredo TX) will grow in the future.

About this discussion, my vote is for El Paso.

[Raider Scott]

El Paso...no doubt!


First, the weather is way better and no worries about hurricanes. It is also drier and does not rain much and is cooler, which means you can do more outdoor activities.


Second, as a mt biker...I love the fact that there is a mountain range in the middle of the city and lots of great trails near by. Smaller population than Houston, so way less people on those trails as well.


Third, El Paso is a fairly safe city with amazing food and some pretty friendly people. Sunsets are amazing as well.


El Paso feels more like MN than Texas.

[supfromthesite]

The Valley is also safe, with amazing food, and friendly people. They have sunsets too.

[nasser1990]

Rio Grande. Mainly because of the combined population of the major cities. El Paso seems too far out in the West (for me at least ).