San Antonio ?? or Mcallen ???

[burbu]

Hi ,
I am writting here because i am considering moving to texas in august. I have a lot of questions about Texas though.... i have never been to texas and i wonder how it is weather wise ... ex: how are the winters ? how cold does it get? does it snow? i have always heard that in the summer it is quite hot but thats ok as i have lived in hot humid places before (Florida,) are there huricanes , tornadoes??
I read on a post something about the san antonio small towns what would be the small towns not too far away from the border (maybe like 45 min. away). Would love to visit Mexico someday..I have read in the forum people mentioning "the valley" how is the valley? is there any towns there that are country like ?? ( i love animals) please someone out there post me ....
also how is the Swine Influenza?? has that calmed down a little ?? was it really that serious s the news stated ?? will appreciate all the 411
thanx, la burbu

[j96g]

San Antonio and Mcallen are very different as far as size and population go. They both offer very different things. It just all depends on what you want. McAllen isn't as small a town as people make it seem, but compared to San Antonio, yes. The population is about 150, 000. It is 45 sq. miles. It has 3 cities surrounding it with a population of about 60, 000 each city, Edinburg, to the north, Pharr to the east, Mission to the west. It is only about 15-20 minutes away from Mexico and an hour and a half from the beach of South Padre Island. It is very flat, hotter and gets less rain than San Antonio. It snows here about every 100 years. It last snowed in 2004 3½ inches. It flurried in 1998 and before that again in 1967? I'm not sure on San Antonios record on that. I do know the cost of living down here is very cheap, you would get more bang for your buck. The only bad thing which I've complained about constantly is Mcallen is about 3½-4 hours from anything. Whereas, San Antonio is very centrally located to many major cities.

[joejitsu]

McAllen is a city, but in a very loose sense of the term. Its not very urban, but land is probably cheaper there than San Antonio. Culturally they are both Latino, but McAllen has a bigger Mexican cultural influence than San Antonio.

San Antonio on the other hand is very urban, but not dense. It sprawls out forever. Its the 7th largest city in the USA. You can drive along the interstate for an hour and never see an end to strip malls, banks, restaurants, etc. San Antonio has a nice downtown, but its kinda touristy.

The question is what kind of life do you want? Big city in an urban environment, or small city in a more rural environment.

[elvalle_mayne]

Mcallen is not an hour and a half away from S. Padre - its an hour max. Alton and other places like that have a country feel to it and some other places on the outskirts of Mcallen or between the the clutter of cities.

[texan55]

Originally Posted by elvalle_mayne

Mcallen is not an hour and a half away from S. Padre - its an hour max. Alton and other places like that have a country feel to it and some other places on the outskirts of Mcallen or between the the clutter of cities.

no.

it's definately at least an hour and a half.

[hellpaso]

Originally Posted by texan55

no.

it's definately at least an hour and a half.

Depends on how you drive--

[Mr. Solis]

Hi everyone,

I live in Mission, just west of McAllen.
As the original poster stated, The Rio Grande Valley would offer you a way better chance of acquiring a sprawling little ranch. There is a lot of land for sale, 5 acres, 10, 20, 50, 200acres, many to choose from and very cheap compared to probably anywhere else in Texas, anywhere close to civilization. We are about 95% Mexican down here though, and knowing Spanish would almost be a requirement to live and work down here. You might feel out of place if you dont understand any Spanish thats all I'm sayin.

San Antonio, I lived there a few times, as well as Austin, Bastrop, Houston, Dallas, Brady, Weslaco, so I've been to most parts of Texas. San Antonio is a very big city, with little to no ranch atmosphere as you requested. There are small towns way outside of the city, that would offer ranch lives, but at a higher cost than down here close to the border. I live 1 mile from the border. I hardly ever go over there though, really Mexico comes over here, so it is very much like Mexico here, from the corruption to the taco stands, to the no speaky english.

There are many nursing oppurtunities for your daughters. There is a nursing shortage and I'm sure your young ones could find good paying work almost anywhere in Texas. There are several ranch towns in Texas.

Living directly inside McAllen is not very ranch like, it is a small town. There are many small small small towns spread out all over the Rio Grande Valley, and all of them are a short drive away from the small bigger towns like McAllen, Harlingen, and Brownsville. Our Expressway 83 is never crowded, and you can drive from 1 end to the other on cruise control. In stark contrast, San Antonio rush hour, is like a race of turtles, except more crowded.