Development in border cities Eagle Pass & Laredo (Houston, San Antonio: real estate, low crime)

[orl.avila]

Hi y'all.

Is there any possibility to see growth in cities like Eagle Pass & Laredo? I've seen that all Texas major cities (DFW, Houston, Austin, San Antonio) have increased its cost of living due to the success of this state. On the other hand, El Paso & McAllen are the most important cities in Texas-Mexico border which El Paso shares border with Chihuahua and McAllen with Tamaulipas.

Personally, I see potential in Eagle Pass & Laredo. Eagle Pass shares border with Coahuila and Laredo with Tamaulipas and also Nuevo Leon and both cities are 2 1/2 hours away from San Antonio. In the case of Eagle Pass there could be a new interstate between E. Pass and San Antonio (I-31 or I-33) and connect it to Coahuila cities like Piedras Negras, Region Carbonifera, Monclova and Saltillo. And in the case of Laredo they have plans on building I-69W and I-27, there is a 2017 article talking about Laredo's booming: https://www.lmtonline.com/local/arti...g-11158247.php

I'm from Monterrey and the Government of Nuevo Leon is planning to build a huge logistics hub in Colombia, Nuevo Leon where Laredo Colombia Solidarity International Bridge is located: https://www.bnamericas.com/en/news/c...-border-bridge

Of course in order to do that there should be enough investment and water however unfortunately all region is suffering lack of water.

[supfromthesite]

I hope not too much. They are both on my list of places to consider moving to once I get tired of the growth in San Antonio.

Moreso Del Rio and Eagle Pass than Laredo though.

[gguerra]

Monterrey is the one suffering from lack of water, always has and it's now gotten to the breaking point.

As for the water situation, the Laredo area (still) has the Rio Grande River. We'll see how that goes. Further up river in New Mexico and even in El Paso the river is running dry. New Mexico want's it's share. Lower down there are tributaries that feed the Rio Grande and we have to share with Mexico. Eventually (I hope not) we may see water troubles like they are seeing with the Colorado river. Our saving grace may be a hurricane or tropical storm to could help fill the reservoirs up again.

Eagle Pass' trade route if you can call it that is redundant with Laredo's which is already established. I seriously doubt anything big will take place there. What's south of Eagle Pass? Not much in the way of industry. It's mainly desert.

[orl.avila]

Originally Posted by gguerra

Monterrey is the one suffering from lack of water, always has and it's now gotten to the breaking point.

As for the water situation, the Laredo area (still) has the Rio Grande River. We'll see how that goes. Further up river in New Mexico and even in El Paso the river is running dry. New Mexico want's it's share. Lower down there are tributaries that feed the Rio Grande and we have to share with Mexico. Eventually (I hope not) we may see water troubles like they are seeing with the Colorado river. Our saving grace may be a hurricane or tropical storm to could help fill the reservoirs up again.

Eagle Pass' trade route if you can call it that is redundant with Laredo's which is already established. I seriously doubt anything big will take place there. What's south of Eagle Pass? Not much in the way of industry. It's mainly desert.

Exactly, it seems to be difficult in Eagle Pass and that's because Piedras Negras is far from any major city in Mexico, Saltillo and Monterrey are up to 5 hours away. Laredo and McAllen are closer to Monterrey so it's just a matter of time to see growth in Laredo area.

Is that true that Laredo houses are increasing? A month ago I went to Laredo and I've got a magazine called Laredo Real Estate and houses are starting at 200k.

[malcorub16]

Complete outsiders perspective, but to me there is nothing attractive about Laredo (other than low crime rate) and even less so its sister city across the river. Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras are off in their own little world as are Acuña and Del Rio.

Texas is hot in the summer, but Laredo consistently has even more intense heat and humidity than the rest of the state. My take is that unlike McAllen and El Paso, if there is going to be any real individual investment in the area, its not coming from Americans North of San Antonio but rather Mexican nationals.

In California, American investment crosses the border into Tijuana and the rest of Baja California creating a skyscraper boom in the area. This is not happening on either side of the Texas border towns any time soon, except for maybe Juarez/El Paso.

[malcorub16]

Side note, as an 17-19 year old in 1999 from San Antonio, Piedras Negras was my go to party spot when I was under 21.

Since I would visit other parts of Mexico with my family, I was the only one of my friends from San Antonio that wasn't afraid to travel to and go South of the border. I introduced many of my gringo friends to Mexico thru that town who would've otherwise never went to Mexico, this was back when it was relatively a safe area. Their board of tourism should thank me as I took several different groups down many times

[gguerra]

Originally Posted by orl.avila

Exactly, it seems to be difficult in Eagle Pass and that's because Piedras Negras is far from any major city in Mexico, Saltillo and Monterrey are up to 5 hours away. Laredo and McAllen are closer to Monterrey so it's just a matter of time to see growth in Laredo area.

Is that true that Laredo houses are increasing? A month ago I went to Laredo and I've got a magazine called Laredo Real Estate and houses are starting at 200k.

By growth, I assume you mean housing and people moving there. Laredo is isolated. Not much to attract the average person wanting to relocate. Not the climate or scenery for sure. I'm sure housing prices are going up just like they are going up in most other areas of the US. Look for that market to drop as interest rates go up and demand goes down.

For actual trade of goods and services, Laredo is the largest inland US port. Not a typo here, up to 13,000 trucks cross at Laredo per day. By comparison, on the Reynosa-Pharr bridge, about 1100 per day cross. The highway that starts in Laredo (I-35) is part of the Pan American Highway. El Paso has Juarez, a major city but again, it's isolated. What's north of El Paso? Albuquerque or Denver maybe but that's about it. South of Juarez, again, there is nothing to speak of that is not already covered by the Laredo route. The Pan American highway IS the route for the Americas. From the tip of South America to Canada. That's just the highway, the bulk of trade comes from Mexico, Monterrey and Mexico City to the US and Canada. It's been renamed but the agreement between the countries was called NAFTA, now it's USMCA. You may have heard of one or the other.

[malcorub16]

Originally Posted by gguerra

For actual trade of goods and services, Laredo is the largest inland US port. Not a typo here, up to 13,000 trucks cross at Laredo per day. By comparison, on the Reynosa-Pharr bridge, about 1100 per day cross. The highway that starts in Laredo (I-35) is part of the Pan American Highway..

Yup, my dad was a long hauler in the 90s. One of his regular routes was traveling from SA to Laredo to pick up a load and take said load up IH35 towards Minnesota and the Canadian border. If Reynosa-Pharr bridge had more trade traffic, the interstate connecting RGV to the rest of Texas would have been finished 20 years ago. Trade traffic doesn't get any bigger than Laredo, but that still doesn't spawn alot of individual investment and growth in the area.

[supfromthesite]

Originally Posted by malcorub16

My take is that unlike McAllen and El Paso, if there is going to be any real individual investment in the area, its not coming from Americans North of San Antonio but rather Mexican nationals.

I believe Mexican nationals are a huge part of the investment coming into McAllen.

[supfromthesite]

I had a quick look and it does seem housing in Laredo is going up.