Safety in the RGV

[Dog_Trainer]

Please forgive me for stirring the pot here. We are new snowbirds having spent a part of last year in central Fl. and presently in Fl. until late march.
We were talking about what we might do next year and the RGV is a possibility. We mentioned this to some folks that had recently left Brownsville TX. and they stated that we had better be careful down there because there is a lot of crime. I know a lot of you spend your winters there and we are not even a little bit wimpy or afraid of things. I am prudent a do research where we will be going so I wonder how much weight to give to the safety issue in the RGV. One comment this person made was that the Walmart in Brownsville now had armed guards. Thanks for your input.

[TomG2]

I have been over one thousand miles from the US/Mexican border and the headlines are still the same. Do I need to try three thousand?

[Chuck_thehammer]

John&Joey wrote:

Chuck_thehammer wrote:
lets see, McAllen / Mission.. never been here before.

local Police
local Sheriff
Border Patrol, Many
State Police, Many

what is there to fear.? you would think the King was staying here 🙂

With that logic then Mayberry must be a true he11 hole with only Andy and Barney watching the place.

I never knew Mayberry was so near the USA/Mexico border.

[John_Joey]

Chuck_thehammer wrote:
lets see, McAllen / Mission.. never been here before.

local Police
local Sheriff
Border Patrol, Many
State Police, Many

what is there to fear.? you would think the King was staying here 🙂

With that logic then Mayberry must be a true he11 hole with only Andy and Barney watching the place.

[Chuck_thehammer]

lets see, McAllen / Mission.. never been here before.

local Police
local Sheriff
Border Patrol, Many
State Police, Many

what is there to fear.? you would think the King was staying here 🙂

[bighatnohorse]

Minimum wage is $10 per day. You can hire your own guard.

[gray_squirrel]

Cloud Dancer wrote:
What? You think I like it down there? The reason I'm there is because it's all I can afford. I've seen armed guards at Walmarts. Took me back to when I owned/operated a racetrack,.....with 10 armed guards. It made people feel safe I guess. They kept coming back.

I don''t feel safe in Walmarts that have armed guards. WM doesnt spend a penny on anything it absolutely does not need

[fanrgs]

TomG2 wrote:
Plenty of crime in the world and the RGV has its share. What does shock is the amount of white collar crime by elected officials, school boards, police departments, etc. There is a huge amount of money in the illegal drug business and the cash gets spread all over.

Heh, Heh, that was true in South Texas long before illegal drugs coming over the border was even a topic of discussion. Sometime when you have nothing better to do, look up "George Parr and Duval County" on-line and read about the election results from the county in the elections during the 1940's and 1950's. Parr had as much of a political machine as Mayor Daley in Chicago and was just as corrupt. The only difference was in scale, but then Texas had a much smaller population back then, so even a small county could influence a statewide election.

[Roy_Lynne]

Boy, if you can find a place to go anywhere with no crime, I would love for you to post it. My problem with the Rio Grande Valley is traffic on the freeways and the narrow roads in town, but folks are friendly and weather is fine.

[alfredmay]

I echo pawatt's comments. I am in Donna and have been for 11 seasons. My wife and I go everywhere from Rio Grande City to South Padre Island....... day or night.

[John_Joey]

Safety will always be based on ones personal experiences. You can feel safe in an unsafe area because you are naive, or because you know you can take care of yourself and those you love.

The big draw for the RGV is cost. I think that is what a person will find out if they venture there. From that a person can then decide if the savings is enough to overlook things, or should they pay more and move on to a place that those "things" aren't around.

For us we enjoy the Valley and the people in it. We do pay extra to be in an area that we perceive to be safe at all hours. We go out of our way not to go to areas that we perceive to be unsafe regardless how cheap they may be. Bottom line is it's an individual choice only you can make based on your life history.

[TomG2]

As long as you are shopping at WalMart, HEB, DQ, or any other business, you will find English speaking employees and decent service. As long as you are shopping.

[pawatt]

We have been in the Valley 14 seasons and regularly go out after dark, WalMart, HEB, DQ and even occasionally to the local bars and entertainment venue's. Really don't know why people would be fearful. Lots of places have far more crime than here. We are in the Mission, McAllen area.

[Geeze]

Geeze wrote:

Dog Trainer wrote:
Please forgive me for stirring the pot here. We are new snowbirds having spent a part of last year in central Fl. and presently in Fl. until late march.
We were talking about what we might do next year and the RGV is a possibility. We mentioned this to some folks that had recently left Brownsville TX. and they stated that we had better be careful down there because there is a lot of crime. I know a lot of you spend your winters there and we are not even a little bit wimpy or afraid of things. I am prudent a do research where we will be going so I wonder how much weight to give to the safety issue in the RGV. One comment this person made was that the Walmart in Brownsville now had armed guards. Thanks for your input.

I realize this is an older post but after spending a week in the RGV recently I can say we felt as safe there as we would have in any larger city. Coming from a predominately white midwest area it was definitely culture shock the first time we visited the valley. The population there is probably 95% Hispanic but we found the people to be friendly, courteous and for the most part very polite drivers.Spanish seems to be the primary language however most are bilingual. We plan to winter there when we retire in a few years.

We spent most of our time in the Donna area and no we didn't venture out after dark but we probably wouldn't have in any large metropolitan area. I'm sure one could become the victim of a crime in the area if they didn't use a little common sense. When I travel I look for areas with bars on the windows. That is usually a fairly good indication of the crime rate in that area. And yes somes areas there had bars on the windows.

[TomG2]

John&Joey wrote:
.....snip.....
Since you mentioned culture shock, if you were out after night and got into a fender bender can you see that as being an issue vs what you are accustomed too up north? Do you feel you could defend your rights with only knowing English?

Good question. While I do not think you would be denied your rights, the person not speaking Spanish would be treated differently and be at a disadvantage. That is true in the restaurants and stores as well. We, who love and live in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, say that it really is more like Northern Mexico than the Southern United States.