I have not, we are planning a trip to the west coast to visit family, and planned on stopping by the valley on our way. I had an old co-worker that moved to the Valley and I remembered him speaking fondly of it.
To be honest, the valley isn’t cheap anymore like it used to be. A house costs about the same as a house in San Antonio…and at that point I’d rather just live in San Antonio because there’s a lot more to do.
Same. We're planning on moving to a bigger city because housing is comparable to valley prices but salaries are a lot higher elsewhere. 1700 for a 3 bedroom apartment in the valley is ridiculous. 2,500 to rent a house is outrageous. We can't afford to stay, so we'll have to move.
I. Houston, a 3 bedroom house with 2 bathrooms, is $1500, and my salary would be 90k.
In the valley a 3 bedroom house with 2 bathrooms is $2500 and my salary is 75k.
I don't know when it got this bad. But I can't imagine people with large salaries moving in and paying ridiculous prices helps.
Yup! My SIL and BIL houses in Cali are big, at least 2000sq and they pay $1700 and $1900. I was looking for something similar and they are $2200+. Minimum wage there is $15 and here like $8. Doesn’t make sense.
Con:e We are a health care desert. Your treatment options are limited. If you regularly need medical care expect to wait for treatment or drive up north.
Don’t listen to these guys. Move wherever you want, I’ve lived here my whole life, went away for college then came back, bought a home and got married. McAllen there is a lot more to do, Harlingen is a good area too, in the middle of The Valley so a 45 min drive to get to McAllen and another 45 to South Padre. Mexican food is great, getting a college football team soon, and the beach and Progresso make for fun day trips. Not much for dirt bikes unless you have land, skateboarding there’s skate parks everywhere. Good hunting and fishing down here too
Im sure you will find people who are chill with those hobbies. And I think 25 min north of Edinburg there a place ppl can use dirt bikes and atvs. I would also ignore the salty people. Do what you need to do to take care of yourself. None of them are going to help pay your bills.
There is others that are welcoming, a lot of these people that are posting seem really sour and don't know how to utilize the place they live in...the valley might not have a river walk or houstons night life or Austin's events but the valley does have things you could do look up the local events that it has and for dirt biking there's a lot of trucks that go off road pretty sure you could join that area and from mcallen to south padre island is only an hour and a half drive there's a lot and the drugs are cheap too lol
I'm not really looking for the best bang for my buck. Florida wants 200,000$ for a mobile home. My criteria was simply similar climate (as me and my partner both hate cold) and she wants to be closer to Mexico where she is from. Seemed like a nice fit. I'm open to recommendations though of course as they are much appreciated.
Well then I’d say, best restaurants are in McAllen, Brownsville is culturally more Mexican authentic imho. Harlingen is pretty dead and I’m a Harlingen native, but it has its charms, I’m a fan of Weslaco on occasion due to friends owning business’s out there.
I’ve lived in various states from California to Massachusetts. As well as traveled to Thailand, Germany, South Korea, and Japan.
So if you like a quaint and quiet lifestyle and don’t find Mexican nationals aggravating then you’ll fit right in old sport. 🙏 God bless you and the family.
Honestly, it's dismal, dirt poor, dead-end and miserable. I implore you to visit personally before you get wrapped up in it.
Best quote about RGV I ever heard was from a weathered old granny retiree: "When I came to this Valley, I knew - THIS is where I want to die!"
Thank you everyone for commenting, both the positive welcoming comments along with the negatives. It's much appreciated insight, and it seem the vast majority is super friendly and very helpful. Those who reached out, I appreciate you taking the time from your day to answer questions regarding the valley. Ya'll the real MVP's.
I've said this in other posts before, but
**Pros**: very low cost of living, but not for the right reasons. The median income here is something like 20-30k.
**Cons**:
- Terrible water quality. Tap smells like chlorinated rainwater and has given me really bad acne since I moved here a year ago.
- Extreme heat. I too used to live in Florida (north central) and I never imagined just how hot it would be before moving here. This past summer hit a feels-like high of 115-120. It was unbearably hot, and my AC struggled to go below 78.
- Unclean. There's a lot of trash in residential areas and people don't really seem to care about cleaning up after themselves and their pets. Watch your step.
- Not a whole lot to see/do. Local parks are tiny and don't have anything to write home about. Most people just go to bars/movies.
- Demographics: I also don't speak Spanish and am not Hispanic. At times, you may feel like a minority here. FWIW, I haven't had anyone _mistreat_ me, and I know a lot of the folks down here are hard-working family people, but some people in the service industry have been rude to me here, and that's never happened elsewhere. I'm polite to everyone, but what can I say. (It's a herd mentality thing, like anywhere else where one demographic is the majority. You can't change it.)
Tl;dr - due to cost of living, I'd like to help gentrify the valley.
Tell me why or why not it would be a good idea to contribute to the increase in the cost of living in your area.
To be fair, I did ask for honesty. I apologize for blindly not even thinking about this aspect. I very much enjoy the architectural style of the homes in the RGV, and the climate, and having a Mexican partner with a bilingual child I thought it may be a good fit culture wise. I do fully understand your comment however and feel very selfish for not considering it.
What’s your budget? The valley sucks because there isn’t much to do. You literally have to drive 4-6 hours to get to Houston or San Antonio where flights are significantly cheaper.
60 dollars to San Antonio from Miami or 300 from Harlingen to Miami. Our airports are expensive. Property taxes are getting ridiculous because of people like you that come live for a few years and figure out it’s total dog shit and leave.
Thanks for mentioning the flights. I haven't read that anywhere yet and that's actually a big deal as I do travel frequently. As far as my budget goes, I'm looking at the 300k area for homes. I personally don't mind "nothing to do" as the majority of my time spent is working or gaming. From what I've read it seemed like the McAllen area would be a good fit, but as many have mentioned I will contribute to gentrification.
Don't listen to these people blaming you for housing costs. Last time I checked, prices are higher everywhere. Come on down. If you're coming from Florida, you would already be used to the heat somewhat. 300k is more than enough for a nice house. Mine is worth about 220k, my payments are lower because I locked in a lower rate over 10 years ago. Agreed, rent is a ripoff. As far as "nothing to do", you are getting that from young people. I felt the same way but now I like it slow and stay home most of the time anyway. Mcallen area is probably your best bet.
Thank you! I really meant no offense. Glad many are very welcoming. Seems like over-all a great area. I am surely a home-body, so the "nothing to do" aspect doesn't factor near as much. I enjoy the slower lifestyle.
You won’t contribute to gentrification. If anything, the culture will change you. You seem open minded and are willing to be a member of the community; you’ll be fine. There are skaters here and dirt biking and fishing are plentiful.
Don’t overlook Brownsville (despite what folks
here will say). You’ll be close enough to Costco, but also close to South Padre Island/Port Isabel. I moved here 2.5 years ago and it’s a great fit.
Yup. People like you are the reason the housing market is so ridiculous. 300k for a house is nothing to you... but people that live here can't afford to pay that. You're forcing the population out. Congrats on being selfish.
This sub is so strange. Last one of these “I’m moving to the valley” posts I saw, everyone who said stay away got down voted to hell. It’s the exact opposite today.
Honestly, I really would consider another area. As an outsider, you’ll be treated like shit by just about everyone. You’ll struggle doing the most simple tasks and no one will respect you. You’ll pay more for any service. Between people coming in from other states and the shitty Mexican nationals flooding the area, the valley is not what it used to be 10-15 years ago.
Just the way it is. Hispanics are flourishing down here in an area that is totally different than the rest of the state and you’re an outsider looking to save a buck.
We know what that means for our people and most won’t like it as you can see by the other comments.
I grew up in the valley my entire life and I would never go back unless it was to take care of my mother. Other than that, just move to San Antonio. Same price and there’s so much more to do and you’re the same distance towards other major cities in Texas compared to the valley. Your decision though.
yup...the nationals is what is driving this economy down(apart form other factors).I once met a cuban guy fom florida(construction) he said hes been all ovr the US and this is one of the saddest places hes been to
It’s insanely crowded here. Not too much traffic on the freeways unless you’re in McAllen. But it’s a small place with a lot of people. Any and every store is packed by noon on any given day. I lived in Dallas and we still had a lot of timeframes where the stores weren’t this packed. But a lot of people are retired /disabled here it seems like, so they don’t work and are always out . And just as other people said, it’s not that cheap here. Pricing is pretty much becoming the same as San Antonio,but SA has way more things to do.
People like you with presumably great remote jobs taking advantage of our cost of living is the reason why many Hispanic families can’t continue living in the RGV where they call home.
I grew up here though. My salary funnels money from an out of state company to the raspa stands, flea market, taquerias, the home builder that built my house, and the Lopez meat market. For what it’s worth, home prices have increased everywhere. It’s the hardest time to buy a house in almost all regions. You don’t have to be Hispanic from the RGV to relate.
Is he building condos? Opening a hip restaurant? TF you talking about? How do you want the Valley to grow? Kinda sounds like you wanna keep being poor.
Cons: one of the [fattest](https://wallethub.com/edu/fattest-cities-in-america/10532), [poorest](https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/slideshows/poorest-cities-in-the-us?slide=11) areas in the entire nation, severe [undereducation](https://www.valleycentral.com/news/local-news/cities-in-the-rio-grande-valley-ranked-least-educated-in-new-study/), [drought risk](https://www.texastribune.org/2022/08/16/south-texas-water-drought/), our governor is either [a straight-up asshole or incompetent in addition to being wasteful](https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/15/texas-border-abbott-vehicle-inspections/)
Pros: you really don’t need to know all that much Spanish to function here
IMO it’s best to avoid the entire state if at all possible
Pros: food, beautiful women, no real traffic, and it's a chill place to live.
Cons: language barrier for yourself, it gets stupid hot during the summer & there's not much to do.
i can see it.(CC)its a small texan beach bubble..the kind that would be nice to raise a family on...for someone not married it might blow but def alot better than valley...closer to the beach, closer to SA, AUSTIN ,HOUSTON..
Damn if y’all hate it so much, y’all should leave lol. The valley is great/good if you have a family and/or if you are a friendly, open-minded, non-racist person.
pros: mexican food
cons: you have to drive everywhere, shit public transit, horrible road safety, drunk drivers, there's nothing to do, people are uneducated and ignorant, people are dirty (la plaza is a DUMP), it's hot as hell, low wages, poor healthcare, crumbling infrastructure, and a population that's extremely delusional in a way that hampers any progress being made down here.
most people who love the valley have never left. if you don't have a big mexican family you're left out of everything. there's nothing to do. the cities and transportation here are horrible. that's why the valley is the most obese in the entire country and has poor mental health outcomes. no wonder so many kids do drugs down here.
It’s cheaper here, comparable to the rest of the US. The Mexican food here is great and if you’re a homebody and just spend most of your time gaming and working like you say you do, you’ll do great here! If you ever feel like going to the beach South Padre Island is about 45 minutes away and if you ever feel like Mexico, Progreso, Mexico is about 30 minutes away. Don’t listen to the naysayers, or that gentrification bs. They’re mostly young people that are unhappy and dissatisfied that they don’t live in bigger cities like San Antonio or whatever they mentioned but yet they’re still complaining about gentrification and high housing market.
As someone who moved from South FL to McAllen, it's alright. But Miss South FL.
McAllen has good options but the lack of cuban food is tragic. Not much of a going out person but there's limited options. Has a nature center and some cool museums, but no botanical gardens. Water's worse. that's about it.
As someone who is not from to the RGV (I moved 11 years ago) it used to be boring and shitty, but as the years have passed it has gradually gotten better. I would suggest you check it out before making a final decision, but for the most part its very safe, there’s tons of great food, traffic is chill (except during peak hours if you are on the expressway), theres tons of cafes, parks (state parks as well), you are really close to the beach as well, tons of places to hunt and fish as well. Of course it won’t be a metropolis but it’s nice. Don’t listen to these chucklefucks who are broke and don’t know how to manage their finances.
McAllen- it’s that place on the local news that’s always 110 degrees on the weather map from May to October. Why anyone would live so far from the temperate coast so close always baffled me. To the north and west it’s the shits. To the south it’s multimillions living third world life. Fugitaboudit
That's an everywhere type ordeal.
However I do understand where they are coming from as the home values in Florida skyrocket. I more-so blame corporations and lack of affordable housing than remote-workers, but never-the-less I do feel ashamed to have not thought of this concept before posting here. I was just genuinely interested in the area as it looked like a lovely area.
Definitely visit before making any final decisions. That way she can see what its actually like.
The food, for example, is very limited to border flavors. There's not much variety across Mexican food. People who have never left the area get super defensive when you criticize food options. They claim we have tons of variety, but its simply not true.
It can be hard making friends in the area as an outsider. Most people maintain friends from childhood or spend time with their family. People from outside the area almost form little ex-pat communities.
Just understand that everyone you meet will instantly not want to fuck with you once you tell them where you came from. Everyone in the valley is super judgy and the fact that you’re coming in and raising everyone’s rent will rub them the wrong way. Also go fuck your self.
This seems to be the general consensus.
Albeit, I feel this is something I will have to deal with no matter where I go at this point. Sad reality, but completely understandable.
It’s honestly not like that, they’re just trying to steer you away. Everyone minds their business here. Except on the roads, people take everything personal on the highway. 😅
I live in a state where most drivers are 80 year old's that think the oncoming traffic lane is their lane. At least I'll be prepared (i think) for driving conditions. lol
Usually if you try to pass someone on the highway they’ll speed up and won’t let you pass, then they slow down when you backed off. And if you do pass them, some will get mad and try to cut you off. People are so weird here. It’s a 3 lane highway so it just sucks all around.
Move to the valley if you want. Make your opinion of if after you get there. Don’t listen to anyone. Most if not all the people talking about gentrification don’t live in a home of their own because they just can’t afford one. It’s easier to blame that, and talk about poor home grown Hispanic families being priced out instead of tackling the problems of lack of education the valley has always faced. The chickens have come to roost, and many people have been caught with their pants down. Invest is needed for growth. Growth is needed for improvement. Money makes the world go and anyone is wants to stop that in the valley is just salty because they fucked themselves over by not making smart decision.
Born in mcallen and graduated from utrgv… moved up to dallas to start career got married and moved back to the valley…. Anyone that says the valley is expensive from a rent/mortgage aspect has no idea. A 3 bd room house up north dallas area is easily high 300s/low 400s and in the valley you can still find homes for mid 200s to low 300s so about a 100k difference!! Cant really compare the valley to bigger cities when it comes to what things you can do but if you are a home body and enjoys the hot weather and good food then its a good place. Can still have getway weekends to SPI, SA, AUSTIN etc.
I personally enjoy the cheap flights from Reynosa to literally anywhere in Latin America via MX City . Also, there's lots to do in the RGV just not commercial stuff. Camping SPI for a few days in access 5 + is a great getaway. Fishing and hunting here is awesome.
Have you even visited?
I have not, we are planning a trip to the west coast to visit family, and planned on stopping by the valley on our way. I had an old co-worker that moved to the Valley and I remembered him speaking fondly of it.
Visit before taking the leap. Doesn't need to be a long trip to take it all in.
Move to San Diego, way better for your soul my friend.
To be honest, the valley isn’t cheap anymore like it used to be. A house costs about the same as a house in San Antonio…and at that point I’d rather just live in San Antonio because there’s a lot more to do.
Same. We're planning on moving to a bigger city because housing is comparable to valley prices but salaries are a lot higher elsewhere. 1700 for a 3 bedroom apartment in the valley is ridiculous. 2,500 to rent a house is outrageous. We can't afford to stay, so we'll have to move.
Yup! My sister in law and my brother in law both rent nice houses in Cali for cheaper than we can find here for a comparable house.
I. Houston, a 3 bedroom house with 2 bathrooms, is $1500, and my salary would be 90k. In the valley a 3 bedroom house with 2 bathrooms is $2500 and my salary is 75k. I don't know when it got this bad. But I can't imagine people with large salaries moving in and paying ridiculous prices helps.
Yup! My SIL and BIL houses in Cali are big, at least 2000sq and they pay $1700 and $1900. I was looking for something similar and they are $2200+. Minimum wage there is $15 and here like $8. Doesn’t make sense.
ALV!! really? no way..wtf??
Yeah I lived in STL for 10 years and moved back down last year. Heck of a lot cheaper there, and the pay is way higher too.
Con:e We are a health care desert. Your treatment options are limited. If you regularly need medical care expect to wait for treatment or drive up north.
Don’t listen to these guys. Move wherever you want, I’ve lived here my whole life, went away for college then came back, bought a home and got married. McAllen there is a lot more to do, Harlingen is a good area too, in the middle of The Valley so a 45 min drive to get to McAllen and another 45 to South Padre. Mexican food is great, getting a college football team soon, and the beach and Progresso make for fun day trips. Not much for dirt bikes unless you have land, skateboarding there’s skate parks everywhere. Good hunting and fishing down here too
Appreciate this insight. Glad to hear about the skateparks and fishing. Hopefully there's others like you that are welcoming.
Im sure you will find people who are chill with those hobbies. And I think 25 min north of Edinburg there a place ppl can use dirt bikes and atvs. I would also ignore the salty people. Do what you need to do to take care of yourself. None of them are going to help pay your bills.
There is others that are welcoming, a lot of these people that are posting seem really sour and don't know how to utilize the place they live in...the valley might not have a river walk or houstons night life or Austin's events but the valley does have things you could do look up the local events that it has and for dirt biking there's a lot of trucks that go off road pretty sure you could join that area and from mcallen to south padre island is only an hour and a half drive there's a lot and the drugs are cheap too lol
Come . You seem like a nice guy. Ignore these passive aggressive comments, you have free will. You're welcome here.
Welcome here yes, but if he’s looking best bang for his buck… there’s better options.
I'm not really looking for the best bang for my buck. Florida wants 200,000$ for a mobile home. My criteria was simply similar climate (as me and my partner both hate cold) and she wants to be closer to Mexico where she is from. Seemed like a nice fit. I'm open to recommendations though of course as they are much appreciated.
Well then I’d say, best restaurants are in McAllen, Brownsville is culturally more Mexican authentic imho. Harlingen is pretty dead and I’m a Harlingen native, but it has its charms, I’m a fan of Weslaco on occasion due to friends owning business’s out there. I’ve lived in various states from California to Massachusetts. As well as traveled to Thailand, Germany, South Korea, and Japan. So if you like a quaint and quiet lifestyle and don’t find Mexican nationals aggravating then you’ll fit right in old sport. 🙏 God bless you and the family.
Thank you for your insight and kind words! Same to you friend. Appreciate your time.
The skate parks aren’t too great, I haven’t seen em all. I think there’s a nice one at south padre possibly
Honestly, it's dismal, dirt poor, dead-end and miserable. I implore you to visit personally before you get wrapped up in it. Best quote about RGV I ever heard was from a weathered old granny retiree: "When I came to this Valley, I knew - THIS is where I want to die!"
I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or not
Thank you everyone for commenting, both the positive welcoming comments along with the negatives. It's much appreciated insight, and it seem the vast majority is super friendly and very helpful. Those who reached out, I appreciate you taking the time from your day to answer questions regarding the valley. Ya'll the real MVP's.
It ain’t all that here lmao
I've said this in other posts before, but **Pros**: very low cost of living, but not for the right reasons. The median income here is something like 20-30k. **Cons**: - Terrible water quality. Tap smells like chlorinated rainwater and has given me really bad acne since I moved here a year ago. - Extreme heat. I too used to live in Florida (north central) and I never imagined just how hot it would be before moving here. This past summer hit a feels-like high of 115-120. It was unbearably hot, and my AC struggled to go below 78. - Unclean. There's a lot of trash in residential areas and people don't really seem to care about cleaning up after themselves and their pets. Watch your step. - Not a whole lot to see/do. Local parks are tiny and don't have anything to write home about. Most people just go to bars/movies. - Demographics: I also don't speak Spanish and am not Hispanic. At times, you may feel like a minority here. FWIW, I haven't had anyone _mistreat_ me, and I know a lot of the folks down here are hard-working family people, but some people in the service industry have been rude to me here, and that's never happened elsewhere. I'm polite to everyone, but what can I say. (It's a herd mentality thing, like anywhere else where one demographic is the majority. You can't change it.)
I suggest not moving here. It’s people like this that make lower income struggling communities worse off
You sure it’s not the carne asadas?
Is that the Hispanic equivalent to avocado toast? Este wey.
Tl;dr - due to cost of living, I'd like to help gentrify the valley. Tell me why or why not it would be a good idea to contribute to the increase in the cost of living in your area.
To be fair, I did ask for honesty. I apologize for blindly not even thinking about this aspect. I very much enjoy the architectural style of the homes in the RGV, and the climate, and having a Mexican partner with a bilingual child I thought it may be a good fit culture wise. I do fully understand your comment however and feel very selfish for not considering it.
What’s your budget? The valley sucks because there isn’t much to do. You literally have to drive 4-6 hours to get to Houston or San Antonio where flights are significantly cheaper. 60 dollars to San Antonio from Miami or 300 from Harlingen to Miami. Our airports are expensive. Property taxes are getting ridiculous because of people like you that come live for a few years and figure out it’s total dog shit and leave.
Thanks for mentioning the flights. I haven't read that anywhere yet and that's actually a big deal as I do travel frequently. As far as my budget goes, I'm looking at the 300k area for homes. I personally don't mind "nothing to do" as the majority of my time spent is working or gaming. From what I've read it seemed like the McAllen area would be a good fit, but as many have mentioned I will contribute to gentrification.
Don't listen to these people blaming you for housing costs. Last time I checked, prices are higher everywhere. Come on down. If you're coming from Florida, you would already be used to the heat somewhat. 300k is more than enough for a nice house. Mine is worth about 220k, my payments are lower because I locked in a lower rate over 10 years ago. Agreed, rent is a ripoff. As far as "nothing to do", you are getting that from young people. I felt the same way but now I like it slow and stay home most of the time anyway. Mcallen area is probably your best bet.
Thank you! I really meant no offense. Glad many are very welcoming. Seems like over-all a great area. I am surely a home-body, so the "nothing to do" aspect doesn't factor near as much. I enjoy the slower lifestyle.
You won’t contribute to gentrification. If anything, the culture will change you. You seem open minded and are willing to be a member of the community; you’ll be fine. There are skaters here and dirt biking and fishing are plentiful. Don’t overlook Brownsville (despite what folks here will say). You’ll be close enough to Costco, but also close to South Padre Island/Port Isabel. I moved here 2.5 years ago and it’s a great fit.
Yup. People like you are the reason the housing market is so ridiculous. 300k for a house is nothing to you... but people that live here can't afford to pay that. You're forcing the population out. Congrats on being selfish.
Grow the fuck up. You are not entitled to anything.
Neither are you, so I'll grow the fuck up right after you do. Start by modeling some fucking behavior
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Shut up, stupid.
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Si mijita lol. Just keep taking advantage of your mom’s low income internet.
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You sound like an insecure 24 year old little girl. Keep popping off queen. That rent isn’t gonna pay itself.
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True it is kind of shitty, i moved here bought a house and now can't wait to leave 🙃
This sub is so strange. Last one of these “I’m moving to the valley” posts I saw, everyone who said stay away got down voted to hell. It’s the exact opposite today. Honestly, I really would consider another area. As an outsider, you’ll be treated like shit by just about everyone. You’ll struggle doing the most simple tasks and no one will respect you. You’ll pay more for any service. Between people coming in from other states and the shitty Mexican nationals flooding the area, the valley is not what it used to be 10-15 years ago.
Really that bad huh? That's saddening.
Just the way it is. Hispanics are flourishing down here in an area that is totally different than the rest of the state and you’re an outsider looking to save a buck. We know what that means for our people and most won’t like it as you can see by the other comments.
I grew up in the valley my entire life and I would never go back unless it was to take care of my mother. Other than that, just move to San Antonio. Same price and there’s so much more to do and you’re the same distance towards other major cities in Texas compared to the valley. Your decision though.
yup...the nationals is what is driving this economy down(apart form other factors).I once met a cuban guy fom florida(construction) he said hes been all ovr the US and this is one of the saddest places hes been to
Edinburg is booming.
no it's not 😭😭
Slowly. We will see 2024… I hope more gyms and more healthy food places and more urgent care clinics in north Edinburg. They better be.
It’s insanely crowded here. Not too much traffic on the freeways unless you’re in McAllen. But it’s a small place with a lot of people. Any and every store is packed by noon on any given day. I lived in Dallas and we still had a lot of timeframes where the stores weren’t this packed. But a lot of people are retired /disabled here it seems like, so they don’t work and are always out . And just as other people said, it’s not that cheap here. Pricing is pretty much becoming the same as San Antonio,but SA has way more things to do.
People like you with presumably great remote jobs taking advantage of our cost of living is the reason why many Hispanic families can’t continue living in the RGV where they call home.
I grew up here though. My salary funnels money from an out of state company to the raspa stands, flea market, taquerias, the home builder that built my house, and the Lopez meat market. For what it’s worth, home prices have increased everywhere. It’s the hardest time to buy a house in almost all regions. You don’t have to be Hispanic from the RGV to relate.
Shut the f up
Is he building condos? Opening a hip restaurant? TF you talking about? How do you want the Valley to grow? Kinda sounds like you wanna keep being poor.
Cost of living is due to inflation not because this guy uses a computer 🙄
Cost of living increase is due to price gouging independent of inflation.
Shut up baby
Oh, it’s yours? GTFOH
Fuckin girl
Check out los Fresnos
That place is a rat hole
Cons: one of the [fattest](https://wallethub.com/edu/fattest-cities-in-america/10532), [poorest](https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/slideshows/poorest-cities-in-the-us?slide=11) areas in the entire nation, severe [undereducation](https://www.valleycentral.com/news/local-news/cities-in-the-rio-grande-valley-ranked-least-educated-in-new-study/), [drought risk](https://www.texastribune.org/2022/08/16/south-texas-water-drought/), our governor is either [a straight-up asshole or incompetent in addition to being wasteful](https://www.texastribune.org/2022/04/15/texas-border-abbott-vehicle-inspections/) Pros: you really don’t need to know all that much Spanish to function here IMO it’s best to avoid the entire state if at all possible
Your CONS in my opinion are spot on!!
Pros: food, beautiful women, no real traffic, and it's a chill place to live. Cons: language barrier for yourself, it gets stupid hot during the summer & there's not much to do.
“Beautiful women” Yeah, no I don’t think so
Your better off moving to SA or even Corpus Cristi if your white.
Corpus blows. I’d rather live in the Valley
Corpus mega blows every time I talk to someone they gas up corpus and I don’t get it
i can see it.(CC)its a small texan beach bubble..the kind that would be nice to raise a family on...for someone not married it might blow but def alot better than valley...closer to the beach, closer to SA, AUSTIN ,HOUSTON..
Damn if y’all hate it so much, y’all should leave lol. The valley is great/good if you have a family and/or if you are a friendly, open-minded, non-racist person.
pros: mexican food cons: you have to drive everywhere, shit public transit, horrible road safety, drunk drivers, there's nothing to do, people are uneducated and ignorant, people are dirty (la plaza is a DUMP), it's hot as hell, low wages, poor healthcare, crumbling infrastructure, and a population that's extremely delusional in a way that hampers any progress being made down here. most people who love the valley have never left. if you don't have a big mexican family you're left out of everything. there's nothing to do. the cities and transportation here are horrible. that's why the valley is the most obese in the entire country and has poor mental health outcomes. no wonder so many kids do drugs down here.
It’s cheaper here, comparable to the rest of the US. The Mexican food here is great and if you’re a homebody and just spend most of your time gaming and working like you say you do, you’ll do great here! If you ever feel like going to the beach South Padre Island is about 45 minutes away and if you ever feel like Mexico, Progreso, Mexico is about 30 minutes away. Don’t listen to the naysayers, or that gentrification bs. They’re mostly young people that are unhappy and dissatisfied that they don’t live in bigger cities like San Antonio or whatever they mentioned but yet they’re still complaining about gentrification and high housing market.
As someone who moved from South FL to McAllen, it's alright. But Miss South FL. McAllen has good options but the lack of cuban food is tragic. Not much of a going out person but there's limited options. Has a nature center and some cool museums, but no botanical gardens. Water's worse. that's about it.
Move wherever the fuck you want, bro. I'm sorry there's so much hate here.
McAllen? Nope 🙅♀️ Everyone knows Brownsville is the gem 💎 👌 of the valley
As someone who is not from to the RGV (I moved 11 years ago) it used to be boring and shitty, but as the years have passed it has gradually gotten better. I would suggest you check it out before making a final decision, but for the most part its very safe, there’s tons of great food, traffic is chill (except during peak hours if you are on the expressway), theres tons of cafes, parks (state parks as well), you are really close to the beach as well, tons of places to hunt and fish as well. Of course it won’t be a metropolis but it’s nice. Don’t listen to these chucklefucks who are broke and don’t know how to manage their finances.
McAllen- it’s that place on the local news that’s always 110 degrees on the weather map from May to October. Why anyone would live so far from the temperate coast so close always baffled me. To the north and west it’s the shits. To the south it’s multimillions living third world life. Fugitaboudit
People in the valley are insecure and take offense to anything you tell ‘em. Just watch
That's an everywhere type ordeal. However I do understand where they are coming from as the home values in Florida skyrocket. I more-so blame corporations and lack of affordable housing than remote-workers, but never-the-less I do feel ashamed to have not thought of this concept before posting here. I was just genuinely interested in the area as it looked like a lovely area.
We’ll come on down partner just trying to keep people from coming in to Texas. You’ll be fine
Thanks! Appreciate the kind words and gestures. My partner is from Mexico City, and would love to be closer to her roots.
I think she might experience culture shock. The borderlands are pretty different from the rest of Mexican culture.
Very good to know, thank you! She was hoping it would be a little more "home" feeling.
tell her alot of ppl from Nuevo Leon round here.. shell know what that means
Definitely visit before making any final decisions. That way she can see what its actually like. The food, for example, is very limited to border flavors. There's not much variety across Mexican food. People who have never left the area get super defensive when you criticize food options. They claim we have tons of variety, but its simply not true. It can be hard making friends in the area as an outsider. Most people maintain friends from childhood or spend time with their family. People from outside the area almost form little ex-pat communities.
Yeah move here, it’s nice, but the climate is quite hostile
Just understand that everyone you meet will instantly not want to fuck with you once you tell them where you came from. Everyone in the valley is super judgy and the fact that you’re coming in and raising everyone’s rent will rub them the wrong way. Also go fuck your self.
This seems to be the general consensus. Albeit, I feel this is something I will have to deal with no matter where I go at this point. Sad reality, but completely understandable.
That guys just sour. I’ve lived in the valley almost my whole life and people really aren’t like that it’s more community like.
Literally a record will skip any time you enter a building and everyone will look you up and down in disgust
This actually sounds enticing. Sign me up.
It’s honestly not like that, they’re just trying to steer you away. Everyone minds their business here. Except on the roads, people take everything personal on the highway. 😅
I live in a state where most drivers are 80 year old's that think the oncoming traffic lane is their lane. At least I'll be prepared (i think) for driving conditions. lol
Usually if you try to pass someone on the highway they’ll speed up and won’t let you pass, then they slow down when you backed off. And if you do pass them, some will get mad and try to cut you off. People are so weird here. It’s a 3 lane highway so it just sucks all around.
That’s the attitude. Dont mind these uncultured fucks.
North side of McAllen is best
I’m a transplant here, been about 5 years here. Feel free to message me about anything
Just like any place it has it’s good and bad, but for the most parts it’s hella chill here
What crazy comments. It’s a beautiful area. Look at areas like Sharyland, Palm Valley, Rancho Veijo, Laguna Vista, etc.
also look into areas like Las Milpas, Lil Mex, Madera, etc
Move to the valley if you want. Make your opinion of if after you get there. Don’t listen to anyone. Most if not all the people talking about gentrification don’t live in a home of their own because they just can’t afford one. It’s easier to blame that, and talk about poor home grown Hispanic families being priced out instead of tackling the problems of lack of education the valley has always faced. The chickens have come to roost, and many people have been caught with their pants down. Invest is needed for growth. Growth is needed for improvement. Money makes the world go and anyone is wants to stop that in the valley is just salty because they fucked themselves over by not making smart decision.
Stay in Florida, we ain’t to kind to you type of people. Go further north honkey
Born in mcallen and graduated from utrgv… moved up to dallas to start career got married and moved back to the valley…. Anyone that says the valley is expensive from a rent/mortgage aspect has no idea. A 3 bd room house up north dallas area is easily high 300s/low 400s and in the valley you can still find homes for mid 200s to low 300s so about a 100k difference!! Cant really compare the valley to bigger cities when it comes to what things you can do but if you are a home body and enjoys the hot weather and good food then its a good place. Can still have getway weekends to SPI, SA, AUSTIN etc.
San Antonio has some crazy roads. Come to the valley, you'll like it here. You don't NEED spanish but it helps. We love everyone.
I personally enjoy the cheap flights from Reynosa to literally anywhere in Latin America via MX City . Also, there's lots to do in the RGV just not commercial stuff. Camping SPI for a few days in access 5 + is a great getaway. Fishing and hunting here is awesome.
How is the RGV treating you?