Romance In McAllen, The City Of Palms...

 

By EDUARDO PAZ-MARTINEZ

McALLEN, Texas | The reputation is deserved. This Rio Grande Valley city of some 140,000 residents does get up and get going. Things go south and McAllen responds. It could be work on its drainage system, always a problem for RGV cities and towns when it rains, or it could be garbage collection. The City of Palms responds.

That photo you see atop this posting is of work the grocer HEB is doing at its somewhat old store at the busy corner of North 10th Street and Fern Avenue. It symbolizes the city's performance ethics.

Try looking for a pothole in any of the better-travelled streets.

Something about appearances sells at City Hall.

Newly-elected Mayor Javier Villalobos (shown in photo below), is an unapologetic Republican in a community full of Democrats, may be behind it, although the manner in which McAllen carries itself is nothing new. The city has always been at the forefront of socio-economic progress in the valley. No one disputes that. It's public schools are widely recognized as the best in the region. Super-sized La Plaza Mall continues to be the sales tax revenue generator envied by neighboring communities.

There are problems, such as the failed "Entertainment District" mess that is South 17th Street. But even there, the city has maintained a semblance of growth. A new motel has risen on property once the home of the old, beloved La Estrella Bakery and enough non-alcoholic businesses do their best to exist, such as El Rex Cafe and El Rey Theater - both there for more than 65-70 years.

A renovation of McAllen High football stadium is underway and that paving of Pecan Street has been completed. New Metro city bus routes are on the way for a mass transportation system that is forever lauded (adults $1, seniors and the disabled 50 cents, nice bus stop shelters).

On Wednesday, McAllen christened its newest fire station. "Today we held the groundbreaking for the 8th City of McAllen Fire Station," the mayor said on his Facebook Page. "Public safety ranks at the top of our agenda. Our team will be  able to more rapidly respond to emergencies, and our insurance rates will hopefully see some relief."

Hiccups seem to be of the minor variety.

Business signage is one. It tends to border on the absurd sometimes, usually by Hispanic-owned enterprises. A Mexican restaurant on busy North 10t Street dared to name itself "La Chingada," but the city nipped that in the bud, although we seem to believe that some half-ass administrator approved the ridiculous name. A new bar went with Pecado Night Club and neighbors said, "No." It never got off the ground, its facade's lovely, bright paint job left to fast-fade in the summer heat.

Valley cities do not openly compete against each other on societal offerings, good or bad.

Harlingen 30 miles to the east is coming along with new, fresh-face construction, but it remains saddled with a failed shopping mall and a downtown so deteriorated in spots that it seems to have stayed in 1965. A new mayor has raised hopes for the 72,000 residents, however.

Brownsville, the largest of the RGV's Top Three communities some 60 miles east of here, also has a new mayor. Its reputation is not a very good one, with change being hard to find in the city of some 240,000 residents. Complaints may come to City Hall in Harlingen, but in Brownsville they are out in the open. Potholes, they scream! No Bus shelters! Wild and weird murals downtown! Street flooding with every wind-blown drop of rain! Laggard politicians at the school district, at City Hall, at large!

Hope springs eternal, however. That's the line in the Rio Grande Valley, home to some 1.3 million people, most of them woefully under-employed and underpaid. Yet, even with all the bad news, Valley residents are a surprisingly happy lot. McAllen has a sprinkling of eateries where all you have to do is walk in to see people smiling and laughing while putting away some great Tex-Mex grub. Ambra on far North 10th Street is the latest entry into the high-dollar restaurant market here. Its steak dinners are in the $85 range, its wine similarly priced.

The same positive energy can be found at restaurants in Harlingen (Las Cazuelas) and in Brownsville downriver (Cobbleheads, Capt. Bob's Seafood). Yet, what I hear from friends is that cleaner McAllen is the destination-of-choice when looking for a primo restaurant or when shopping for better clothing. Short of flying-off to Dallas or Austin or Houston, that is.  

There really is no reason for Valley cities and towns to compete. They each work the same ethnic formula (the Valley is 94% Hispanic, according to the latest U.S. Census figures) in slight variations.

Still, McAllen stands alone. In its own get-it-done way.

It just does.

Most everybody says it...

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