DOWNTOWN MCALLEN
"If McAllen had Brownsville's history, weather, downtown architecture, resacas, the port and access to both Matamoros and South Padre Island, we would be one the great cities of this grand nation of ours," Mayor Othal Brand used to muse in his most expansive moments.
In the race to be the RGV's number one city, the competition is over. McAllen has easily outdistanced Brownsville. McAllen's modern mentality propels the municipality to its top ranking over Brownsville's manana attitude.
The two communities' downtowns are perfect examples of local governments going in different directions. McAllen is a plain Jane compared to Brownsville, which can best be described as an aging beauty. But while the plain Jane has done everything to emphasize its hidden beauty, Brownsville has done little to halt its physical decline.
The Brownsville story has been told a million times. A living museum, the second most historical city in Texas, the New Orleans of the Rio Grande, the border's French Quarter, Brownsville refuses to explore its potential. It meanders like the dirty river than flows past its dirty downtown.
McAllen has none of Brownsville's ambience. There are few buildings that would cut a visitor's breath short. Sacred Heart Catholic Church, like the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, is in the heart of downtown. It is celebrating its 100th birthday. The old post office and the J.C. Penney building, constructed in the 1930s, are downtown's most advertised landmarks. Wow! Nevertheless, this plain Jane struts her stuff.
McAllen's downtown is significantly smaller and younger than its Brownsville counterpart. Platted in a generic grid, downtown runs 12th, Broadway, Main, 15th, 16th, 17th and Bicentennial east to west, and Business 83, Austin, Beaumont, Chicago, Dallas, Erie, Fresno, Galveston and Houston north to south.
The mini-skyscrapers Bentsen Tower and Chase Building serve as bookends. They stand tall and gleaming, stark contrasts to the gloomy El Jardin Hotel and the unimaginative Villa del Sol that hover over Brownsville's skyline link a pair of old men on shaky legs.
McAllen's downtown streets are wide and clean. There is ample parking. Even so, the city's progressive thinkers built a five-story parking lot in the middle of downtown with an art deco theme and restaurants surrounding the structure on the bottom floor. Ash trees rise on every corner.
Business is booming. There are few vacancies. Besides J.C Penney, Melrose and Boot Jack anchoring the constant activity that includes speciality shops selling flowers, medical uniforms, electronics, beauty supplies, clothes for baptisms, first communions, quinceaneras and weddings, perfumes, jewelry and multiple other items, there are several greasy spoons. Unlike Brownsville, taquerias and torta stands proliferate.
But McAllen desired more than a Mexican downtown appealing primarily to the barrios and Reynosa. The city leaders looked at the cantinas along 17th and Bicentennial and chose to put a fresh coat of makeup on this area's ugly face. From the ashes of a drunken past rose on steady feet 17th St., the RGV's version of Austin's 6th St.
"McAllen can certainly polish its apple," says Tony Gray who is a connoisseur of good times. "The Vintage Room, Misty's Rock-n-Blues, the Dirty Bottle, Thirsty Monkey, the Mezzanine on 17th, Ibiza Night Club, the Rio Hotel Bar, Chill, Brewski's Beer Bar, Chicago East and Le Rouge Luxury Club are outstanding. Don't get me started. Just like I can party all night, I could talk all night naming all the hot spots. Corpus and Laredo have nothing like this. South of San Antonio and Austin, the 17th St. scene has no peers."
Why doesn't Brownsville have a comparable night life. "Brownsville is a town full of cheapskates," says Mark Clark, the painter whose Galeria 409 is one of the lone beacons of light in the darkness that smothers downtown after the sun sets.
"The wealthy are investing in 17th St.," echoes a city planner.
Brownsville's leaders will offer numerous excuses for this city's failures and McAllen's successes, but the bottom line is that Brownsville is failing and McAllen is succeeding. The mayor and his commission ran on the platform that they were going to transform downtown.
The mayor has said nothing about his vision. Does he have a vision? Why doesn't he submit a column in The Brownsville Herald and articulate his strategy for downtown's revitalization? He said nothing running for office and has said nothing since assuming office.
"I have spent my life living downtown," said Don Pedro. "I love downtown. Besides its architecture and its history, it is unique. You could travel to the four corners of the world and you would never find another downtown Brownsville any where else on this globe.
"McAllen is kicking our ass because its leadership is kicking our leadership's ass. Spend the morning in McAllen and the afternoon in Brownsville weighing the pros and cons. It's a night-and-day difference. But the difference is that McAllen has turned its night into a day while our benighted leaders have condemned our day to an eternal night."
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