Winter Texan numbers dropping in the Valley

[pawatt]

From the McAllen Monitor newspaper:
Click the link below.

http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/winter-texan-numbers-dropping-in-the-valley/article_17c72758-22...

[John___Angela]

her&I wrote:

John & Angela wrote:
I'm not sure costs have gone up much. Fuel hasn't changed in 8 years, maintenance probably up a bit along with food etc. Are campgrounds up much??

I don't know where you live but if fuel has not changed in "8 YEARS" I want to move there.

Well, we mostly RV in the USA so fuel is roughy what it was 8 or 9 years ago except for a few months around the meltdown in 2008. But even in BC and Alberta where we are in Canada it is marginally more. Maybe it's a regional thing.

[her_I]

John & Angela wrote:
I'm not sure costs have gone up much. Fuel hasn't changed in 8 years, maintenance probably up a bit along with food etc. Are campgrounds up much??

I don't know where you live but if fuel has not changed in "8 YEARS" I want to move there.

[Gr8life]

Lots of good points here. We are losing some our Singles to Yuma this winter for many of the reasons mentioned, mostly the availability of outdoor activities like four wheeling. For those of us who have spent many winters in the Valley, it is hard to leave. It may simply be a case of not knowing any different as many of my friends have only been to the RGV for retirement. Anyone up for a good potluck or happy hour?

[pawatt]

John & Angela wrote:


Very true re outmoded facilities etc. We were surprised at some of the outmoded facilities at the RGV campgrounds. Shuffleboard, seriously. Our RV community in Palm Springs replaced their shuffleboard with a world class gym and continues to improve it every year. Facilities related to hiking, climbing, biking and other sports are what attracts snowbirds in California. But to each his own.

Re the Mexican border thing, I don't think that would affect much. ......

This is very true, many of the parks are old with small close sites and activities are bingo, shuffleboard, pot lucks and music jams. Many older parks resist updating and many of the older long time residents are very resistant to change.

[2gypsies1]

I guess our take on the OP "Winter Texas Numbers Dropping" is this:

We tried south Texas about a half dozen times - from Rockport down. We first started because of Bentsen State Park when you could camp there. We loved the birding and the natural surroundings.

Then they closed the park to camping and we had to stay in an RV park. While there we toured a lot of parks. They just seemed so outdated and old and RVs all in a row. You looked out your window and saw nothing but RVs. Activities were centered around food or shuffleboard. We also found the weather iffy. It could rain and be cold and windy for days on end.

We tried Florida from top to bottom and loved the state parks but not the crowded RV parks. The crowds and highways were awful as were the ants and no see-ums.

Finally, we kept returning to Arizona. Again, the state parks are awesome as we prefer public parks. There is so much to do in terms of gorgeous hiking, 4-wheeling and scenic drives. You can see for long distances and mountains are always in the horizon. There are no bugs and the sun shines almost daily. The winter can have some windy days but for the most part, the weather is perfect. It doesn't include cold, damp rain and cloudy days.

Personally, I think the younger retirees are used to being very active - jogging, hiking, biking, tennis and now pickleball and all done in beautiful settings. They don't want shuffleboard, clubhouse activities, food-based activities. They want a more active outdoorsy atmosphere and south Texas is not the 'in' place to go, and not, in our opinion, is Florida. I get this impression with other RVers with whom we've talked. Younger RVers are just more active. (We're not young - in our 70's)

But..this is only another opinion and only our opinion.

[John___Angela]

kcmoedoe wrote:
What makes everyone assume the drop in visitation is due only to cost? We tried each of the normal snowbird locations for a year before deciding on our annual location. We ranked them as followed 1. Southern California desert 2. Lower Florida Gulf Coast Distant 3rd Arizona and a couple of laps down, South Texas. There is just so much more to do in our top two choices than there is in South Texas. From the California Desert it is less than 2 hours to the Coast, to all the shows and sporting events of San Diego and LA, there are casinos, fine dining, world class golfing, and a host of cultural events. We are less than two hours from about 5 major airports, so we can get anywhere on a moments notice. Maybe people's wants and desires have shifted and pot luck dinners, card games and just gathering with others is not on the top of the list for the next generation of snowbirds.
That isn't a criticism of the people who do snowbird to south Texas but there is always constant change in our recreational habits. In the 30s and 40s Baseball was our national sport, now it's football. The movie Dirty Dancing lamented the shift from a month in the Catskills to two weeks and 10 cities in Europe. In my opinion, South Texas rightfully earns the title of most economical snowbird destination, but that isn't what I make my decision on.

And that is on top of the fact that being close to the Mexican border really isn't the attraction it used to be. I would be a few pesos that proximity to the Border keeps more people away than it draws.

Very true re outmoded facilities etc. We were surprised at some of the outmoded facilities at the RGV campgrounds. Shuffleboard, seriously. Our RV community in Palm Springs replaced their shuffleboard with a world class gym and continues to improve it every year. Facilities related to hiking, climbing, biking and other sports are what attracts snowbirds in California. But to each his own.

Re the Mexican border thing, I don't think that would affect much. I know we wouldn't even consider staying in a community long term unless it has a strong Latino culture. Kinda makes what going south is all about for us. In Palm Springs once I step outside the gate of our community I can pretty much pass my whole day without speaking a word of English. Kinda cool. :).

[kcmoedoe]

What makes everyone assume the drop in visitation is due only to cost? We tried each of the normal snowbird locations for a year before deciding on our annual location. We ranked them as followed 1. Southern California desert 2. Lower Florida Gulf Coast Distant 3rd Arizona and a couple of laps down, South Texas. There is just so much more to do in our top two choices than there is in South Texas. From the California Desert it is less than 2 hours to the Coast, to all the shows and sporting events of San Diego and LA, there are casinos, fine dining, world class golfing, and a host of cultural events. We are less than two hours from about 5 major airports, so we can get anywhere on a moments notice. Maybe people's wants and desires have shifted and pot luck dinners, card games and just gathering with others is not on the top of the list for the next generation of snowbirds.
That isn't a criticism of the people who do snowbird to south Texas but there is always constant change in our recreational habits. In the 30s and 40s Baseball was our national sport, now it's football. The movie Dirty Dancing lamented the shift from a month in the Catskills to two weeks and 10 cities in Europe. In my opinion, South Texas rightfully earns the title of most economical snowbird destination, but that isn't what I make my decision on.

And that is on top of the fact that being close to the Mexican border really isn't the attraction it used to be. I would be a few pesos that proximity to the Border keeps more people away than it draws.

[John_Joey]

John & Angela wrote:
...snip...but US travel insurance is still cheap for us in our early fifties.

That might explain why in our park we seem to have a younger Canadian snowbird population. I always contributed it to the location we stay at, but maybe there is more to it then meets the eye.

[pawatt]

John&Joey wrote:

A US couple can easily pay $1,200 us per month for health care. It's too much of a risk to go without.

We paid $1680.00 a month until we got $5000.00 deductible policies
Now it is nearly $1200.

[John___Angela]

John&Joey wrote:

quartzster wrote:

John & Angela wrote:
I'm not sure costs have gone up much. Fuel hasn't changed in 8 years, maintenance probably up a bit along with food etc. Are campgrounds up much??

In our park, the pad fees are up, and the City just did a reassessment so that my taxes for example, went from $500 to $800 with no improvements. Gas has been up and down over the past few years....mostly up in my experience.

I don't know about campgrounds.

I would be very interested in seeing the US vs Canada snowbird numbers. US health care costs have gone up way past US yearly inflation. Hard for a US citizen to retire prior to 65 when health care is "mostly" covered. This is not the case for our neighbors to the north.

A US couple can easily pay $1,200us per month for health care. It's too much of a risk to go without.

I tried to find the article I read on the age bubble passing through the Canadian system that showed the next bubble in about 9 years but can't find it. I think RV prices are fairly stable up here. I don't know much about American health care costs so can't comment but would imagine higher health care costs there affect the price of insurance policies for Canadians travelling there. I know friends in their early 70's are paying close to 8000 dollars for 6 months in the US. Think there are some pre-existing conditions in their case. I know of others who have stopped going to the US and are now flying to Spain and renting for three months on the south coast of Spain as they don't need travellers insurance there. The one couple still gets repatriation insurance, not sure of the details on that. I suspect we may do the same one day but US travel insurance is still cheap for us in our early fiftys.

[alfredmay]

I have a leased lot with a mobile home on it. It is a 5 year lease with built in increases every year that cover increases the land lord must bear such as property taxes, water, sewer, etc. However, the last lease renewal increased my rent 40% plus the yearly increases. I pay property taxes on my mobile (not the land) and they just went up around 25%. The reason for the tax increase was a reassessment of mobile homes in the county I am in.

So for people like me, prices have gone up quite a bit. Some can afford it while some cannot.

[John_Joey]

quartzster wrote:

John & Angela wrote:
I'm not sure costs have gone up much. Fuel hasn't changed in 8 years, maintenance probably up a bit along with food etc. Are campgrounds up much??

In our park, the pad fees are up, and the City just did a reassessment so that my taxes for example, went from $500 to $800 with no improvements. Gas has been up and down over the past few years....mostly up in my experience.

I don't know about campgrounds.

I would be very interested in seeing the US vs Canada snowbird numbers. US health care costs have gone up way past US yearly inflation. Hard for a US citizen to retire prior to 65 when health care is "mostly" covered. This is not the case for our neighbors to the north.

A US couple can easily pay $1,200us per month for health care. It's too much of a risk to go without.

[quartzster]

John & Angela wrote:
I'm not sure costs have gone up much. Fuel hasn't changed in 8 years, maintenance probably up a bit along with food etc. Are campgrounds up much??

In our park, the pad fees are up, and the City just did a reassessment so that my taxes for example, went from $500 to $800 with no improvements. Gas has been up and down over the past few years....mostly up in my experience.

I don't know about campgrounds.

[John___Angela]

I'm not sure costs have gone up much. Fuel hasn't changed in 8 years, maintenance probably up a bit along with food etc. Are campgrounds up much??

[quartzster]

bob_nestor wrote:

quartzster wrote:

bob_nestor wrote:

quartzster wrote:
It's not off topic...it is simply one of the reasons for the drop in Winter Texans in the Valley. Some folks are getting older, and as a result the cost of health care for Canadians is prohibitive.

There are other reasons as well, this is simply one of them.

I'm scratching my head on this one! Doesn't everyone in Canada basically age at the same rate? If so, aren't there people who used to be younger and not in the Winter Texan crowd now older and thus potentially new Winter Texans? Aging would explain why those individuals who used to winter in Texas no longer do so, but I don't think it explains a statistical drop in the number of Winter Texans coming from Canada (or anyplace up north).

And I'm scratching my head at your response. Clear as mud. The point I am trying to make is that the older one gets in Canada means more $$ for travel Insurance to go south. That price seems to be increasing all the time. Therefore many are not prepared to pay that price. Seems we really get hit around the age of 70, and especially so if there are pre-existing medical conditions.

I don't think there is a one for one exchange on younger Canadians taking the place of older Canadians who no longer go. There are all sorts of factors as to why not...increased pad fees, cost of gas, etc. etc.

I don't know what is so hard to understand about the cost of Health Insurance being a factor in less people going to the RGV.

I keyed on your phrase "some folks are getting older". That must mean not everyone is getting older but only the ones who are aging are affecting the winter migration. Now had you said "everyone is getting older" I wouldn't have had a problem with your logic.

Hmmm...not really into nitpicking...think that my intent should have been clear enough!