McAllen, Texas

McAllen is located at the very southern tip of Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. Its southern boundary is about five miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, the Rio Grande River. The city's warm climate may account for its nickname, City of Palms. It is also hot in terms of population growth, with one of the fastest growth rates in the country. It went from a tiny town of just 150 people in 1910 to 137,463 residents as of 2005.

Much of the explosive growth that has recently characterized McAllen can be attributed to the establishment of NAFTA in 1994. Since then economic activity in the city has been inextricably linked to Mexico. After the ratification of the trade agreement numerous multinationals have moved into the region to assemble products made in Mexican maquiladoras. In addition, many upper- and middle-class Mexicans from Monterrey and Tampico come to McAllen to shop at malls and outlet stores. According to Cynthia Brown, Center for Border Economic Studies, $1.4 billion dollars spent by Mexicans was added to the area's economy and paid for 41,000 jobs. In order to accommodate the increased traffic of visitors and goods the city has built three large-scale bridges (the last of which is to be completed in 2009).

Despite the areas importance as a shopping and manufacturing mecca it straddles two of the poorest counties (Starr and Hidalgo) in the nation (based on a per capita income of $7,069 and $9,899 respectively). The region's poverty is exasperated by the educational attainment levels of the community, in which half the adults over 25 have less than a ninth grade education. In order to help develop economic opportunities the city is working to expand access to quality education.

In demographic terms McAllen is one of the most heavily Latino/Hispanic cities in the country with over 80% of the population identifying as such in the 2000 census. Within this group there are many different levels and stratifications including both new immigrants and old Texas families. Nonetheless, many of the mutual aid and fraternal groups based in the city specifically target Hispanic residents.