The poorest place in the U.S.?

[Dover]

McAllen, Tx. - and here's why.

It's a top 10 list no one wants to be on: a new Census brief named the McAllen, Texas, metro area the poorest in the nation.
Roughly a third of the residents in this Mexican border area in the Rio Grande Valley live below the poverty line, in spite of a healthcare industry that continued to add jobs during the recession and a retail sector buoyed by Mexican shoppers who cross the border to buy American name-brand clothes...cont'd

http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/21/8432089-poorest-place-in-us-mcallen-texas-and-heres-why

[sonias]

1. I know about this first hand

I have family in this area. It's astonishing how much the RGV has changed in the past two decades. It's all become "malls" for those wealthy Mexicans they mention in the article. The American citizens who live in the RGV can't afford to shop or support the number of malls that now populate the main expressway.

So service industry jobs like working as sales clerks or other service jobs in these malls are the only employment opportunities this new batch of young American kids are getting.

:(

[Dover]

2. I had read some time back that one influence on the growth going on in that area

was due to the plans for the north/south corridor trade route with Mexico and Canada (NAFTA).
It seems many of the northwest corridors have received federal money for road and bridge upgrades as well.
For instance, highways like I35 and Hwy 281 (through San Antonio).
The plans were scrapped, but only temporararily, me thinks. And just recently the first truck from
Mexico was celebrated as a sign that NAFTA and the corridor plan was back on -

Trucks have crossed into the interior before but only as part of a short-lived pilot program that began in 2007 with a limited number of vehicles. President Barack Obama's administration canceled it in 2009, and Mexico retaliated by placing tariffs on a wide range of American goods.

http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Mexican-truck-is-first-in-delayed-NAFTA-program-2230437.php


I don't know how this might ultimately affect the wealth/growth potential in this area, but in a shakey world economy
I wonder if this 'plan' will maintain momentum.

[white cloud]

3. Has been for numerous years.

Maquiladora plants were a big part of the economy till they all left for cheaper over sea labor (Tom Delay)

Snowbirds lost all their money on wall street.
Fuel prices killed their trips.

[sonias]

4. Good points

I hadn't thought about the snowbirds losing their retirement money on Wall Street but I bet they did. Really sad state of the trickle down economy.

:kick: