My wife and I although still in CS are having this debate now and I want the little h-town and she wants the city.

what say you texags?

personally i think harlingen firmly out ranks mcallen..


cleaner, less mexicans, more white people, cleaner, more land for expansion, flunkie known as san benito, and NO BORDER ACCESS WITH THOUSANDS OF ILLEGAL PERSONS TRAVELING THROUGH IT.

like my mother parents.

the title is suppose to say OR

I have lived in several towns in the valley and would never move back to Harlingen. If you are from Harlingen and have a life's worth of family connections it might be OK but to just move there, no way. The best place I have lived in Texas is, BY FAR. San Antonio, but McAllen is OK. I live in Edinburg but spend most of my time in McAllen.

The coolest place I ever lived in the Valley was Rancho Viejo. I didn't realize I had it so good.

I personally would rather live in McAllen or Edinburg since it's much more coordinated and there's so many other things to do, albeit it is usually infested with travelers and has a higher risk rate of living than Harlingen. Then again if it were up to me, I would say screw it and live in San Antonio.

where will you be working? that would pretty much narrow it down for me, but there are a few other things to look at.

i personally like living in harlingen because it's right in the middle, it has the only worthwhile airport in the valley, and the beach is 35 minutes from my house. i like what mcallen offers, but the whole area is one big cluster**** when it comes to traffic and crowds. the infrastructure hasn't kept up with the explosion in growth. mcallen has a lot more to offer, but i don't really go out to eat that often and i try to avoid that mall if at all possible.

Harlingen is still pretty slow paced....If I had my druthers it would be outskirts of McAllen though Pharr/Sharyland/Mission).

If it's Harlingen OR McAllen I would choose NE McAllen every time.

I live in North McAllen now and work in Edinburg and would rather live/work there over Harlingen ANY day. I grew up in the North Harlingen area and it has NOTHING on McAllen.

I live in Harlingen and work mainly in Brownsville, but I do a lot of work also in the McAllen area. I love Harlingen because it is right the middle. I also do quite a bit of travelling for work so the airport is convenient. I would love to see Harglinen grow some more, but for some reason it is afraid to grow.

i know mcallen has more things to do, but how often are those things utilized? do you mcallen people eat out like 4 times a week?

More like 7 times a week.

Thumbs up for North McAllen

hey scottimus, do you have an e-mail address I can reach you at? I got a question about one of your old posts.

or you can e-mail me (andynguyen at neo dot tamu dot edu)

If the demographics of the valley have any weight in your decision to move there, forget the valley. The change in CS over the past five years (the time I've been here), makes it look like it may be headed towards a valley-like lifestyle - as far as having stuff to do. Plus you'd be closer to bigger towns with way more to do while staying in a pretty safe town. If your heart is set on the valley I'd recommend North McAllen, or Sharyland (close to McAllen). I think those places stay pretty clear from the bad stuff going on in the rest of the valley.

Pharr, San Juan, Alamo, and McAllen all suck ass. Harlingen FTMFW.

I lived in the valley for 23 years trust me you want to live as close to mcallen as you can. Do not move to harlingen. There isnt **** to do in harlingen. Everything in mcallen is nicer the shopping, dining, and night life.Your wife will enjoy McAllen more and if the wife aint happy nobody is happy.

Easy. If you're young and want nightlife, then McAllen is for you. Same if you shop a crapload and go out to eat all the time and love going to Mexico. McAllen has certainly passed Harlingen in that respect no question about it. About twice the population as well.

Harlingen is slower-paced, has all the essentials and isn't bumping heads with Pharr, Mission and Edinburg. Plus no bridge so the international scene is waaaay less than McA. Airport is great, beach isn't far and neither is hunting or fishing. After a stagnant period, Harlingen is showing signs of life with new restaurants and shopping areas. There's a reason why the pop. jumped from 65k to 75k.

harlingen has a better zoo

quote:

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Illegal immigrants and drugs continue to make their way to the United States.

As security along the border gets tighter, after violence in Mexico becomes more of a threat, cartels will find new ways to get their loads across.

"Cartels looked at other avenues to get their money,” said Jorge Cisneros with the McAllen FBI.

To get their money, cartels will send people over to kidnap those that owe.

“We want to make sure the public knows that the 2009 kidnappings were mostly drug related," said Cisneros.

Numbers show that between October 2008 and September 2009 there were 42 reported kidnappings in McAllen.

The year before there were only 11 reported kidnappings.

"These are kidnappings that had to do with people that were involved with drug trafficking, human smuggling and currency trafficking," said Cisneros.

Cisneros said at the time of the increased kidnappings there was also a different cartel leader in Reynosa.

"That's another factor that played into the large number of kidnappings for that year," said Cisneros.

To help control these rising numbers the FBI has a safe streets task force that is strictly targeted to this type of activity.

"It's comprised of local, state, and federal officials,” said Cisneros. “They go after these kidnapping cells and I think that they've made a big difference."

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http://www.valleycentral.com/news/story.aspx?id=451285

^^^^^^^^^^