Some really good info on this thread. Lots of generalizations, and I am probably very guilty of some of this. I would like to point out some things:
-Mexican Nationals: Folks, for the most part Anglo's (more on that in a minute) will beetch about them big time. But truly their only interaction with them is stuck in line at a Walmart or at a crowded mall. If you actually get to know some you will find that there is a large percentage in the Valley that are extremely well mannered, well educated and a pleasure to be with. Your truly is kinda one.
-The mix of poor and disadvantaged folks in the Valley is probably no different than most places in the Texas when costs of living and other factors are truly figured in, but due to the populations and how the cities have developed there is more interaction with those folks in the Valley than in other places in the state. Just my opinion.
-There are some excellent teachers in the Valley schools, really good ones. There are some that are not so good. As in most schools the teachers make the difference. On a personal level I found that the public educated kids did better in school. Probably one of the reasons is that the private schools down here, St. Joe in Browntown included, don't pay very well. Thus, most teachers with any drive and need will teach in a public school if given the choice. Many of the teachers in the private schools, not all but many, are not accredited. Some folks that I grew up with that I would not let watch my popsicles freeze are now teachers in the private schools down here. No thanks.
-An exception might be the Pharr Oratory Academy, a very good school, where they are no cokes, no smokes and no jokes about a functioning dual bilingual immersion program that actually works. Very high academic standards. Their system is how the private schools, including the American Schools, do it abroad. I would send my daughter there but I would not be around to help her with the Spanish as I am out of town a lot (she starts kindergarten this year). My lovely Latina bride would teach her words like "Watcha, Troka, asina," and Lord knows what else. Plus, I plan on taking her abroad to go to school for a few years very soon.
-I know folks from Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, Bogota, Mexico City, Wiscaansin, Minesooota, and other places that just love the Valley, I mean love it more than if they had been born with a nopal under one arm and raspa under the other. It is just what you make it.
-Lest I remind folks that Senators, Ambassadors, Generals, Movie Stars, NFL Coaches, and many other notables have all had their starts in the Valley. The Valley may not be Manhattan, but it ain't Yuma or East Kentucky/Tennessee, or Detroit, or Patterson, NJ, or a host of other places that make the Valley look like the land of leche y miel.
-There is lots of discrimination in the Valley, but most of it is not racial by any means(contrary to what many will say), it is socioeconomic and it is ever present. If you are at or near the top your golden, if you are not it is a little rough. Making good coin in the Valley entitles you to a really decent lifestyle.
-There are Anglos, and even some old Hispanic families, in the Valley that want to fight the continuing tide of Mexicanization. They want the Valley to remain as it was from the 60's through the 80's, well eleventybillion Mexican births have taken care of that. They Valley ain't going back to what it was, period. I for one wish it would, but it ain't. Period. You have to get with the program some and just figure out some of the benefits, and there are some, of the change that is happening.
-At the end of the day I think my "dis-preference" for the Valley has little to do with anything that is wrong with it, and there are things wrong with it, and more to do with my preferences for other things. I like mountains, rain, jungle and vegetation. I always have and I always will. I like temperate climates, the Pacific and the Caribbean. I can take the heat, I prefer it over the cold, but I prefer a temperate climate. GD Dallas or Waco or even BCS was too hot and too cold for me. I like things closer to the equator up in the mountains, but that is just me. Plus, there are too many GD Gringo's in the Valley for me.
-Honestly, the people in the Valley are actually pretty friendly, the crime outside of the rough nasty areas is minimal. I did not have a lock or key to my property in Port Isabel for 8 years, seriously, and I traveled extensively and never had a problem one. I have not know many people in McAllen or other places that have had many break ins and or other problems. Car thefts non-withstanding. There is lots of interesting salacious crime in the Valley, like a prominent Judge being shot or a police chief killing themselves(supposedly) or a prominent businessman getting popped for money laundering. But there are not many car jackings and or things like that compared to the major metropolitan areas of the state.
-The hospitals are basically Manila, so you have some really good nurses. There are some serious quack sawbones down here, but there are some good decent physicians also. Pick wisely and if it is real serious, go to Houston, like many others world wide do too.
-The Mexican food is very good and that counts for a lot.
-You can play golf probably 340 days a year at a minimum.
In closing, I am jaded to a degree. The only places I would rather live in Texas than the Valley are probably BCS and some of the true other Central Texas areas like Belton, Temple, Killen, Waco, etc. Maybe Corpus/Rockport as I have always liked it up there also. You can keep Asstin with its multitudes of self appointed intellectuals and traffic, not to mention the plethora of pissants. Houston, I am fond of but it is a big mother now. Dallas, too many Yankees. I might could handle east Texas to a degree, but the tortillas ain't worth a sheet.
All in all the Valley can be summed up very much like a third world country "It is better to lead a first world lifestyle in the third world, than lead a third world lifestyle in the first world".
Sorry this was so long.
