Editorial: Retirees continue to find Valley a great place to be: Let’s hope that continues

The Rio Grande Valley once again has been rated as one of the nation’s bop spots for retirees. We hope the growing federal and state impositions on local autonomy don’t hurt our ability to keep them coming.

Retirement Living, a publisher of news, buyers’ guides and other information geared toward seniors, recently issued a report listing the Valley, specifically the Brownsville area, as one of the best locations for “snowbirds.” The report noted that the region ranks high among U.S. sites in affordability, climate, low crime rate and community.

This isn’t news to most Valley officials and residents. We have long welcomed thousands of Winter Texans, as we call them, who spend the winter months here to escape the frigid, often paralyzing, conditions at their northern places of residence.

A group of winter Texans gather in the main hall to run their weekly pickleball drills Thursday, Feb. 9, 2023, at Eastgate RV and Mobile Home Park in Harlingen. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)

And welcome they are — not only for the obvious economic benefits their presence brings to the Valley, but the social and cultural enrichment they add to their Valley neighborhoods and the region as a whole.

Retirees’ contributions aren’t limited to these traditional measurements of community development, but in other, perhaps less obvious ways. Winter Texans’ generosity and involvement is seen in other important ways through their volunteerism and engagement in community programs and events.

Local officials certainly know how much our retired residents improve the region, and create or support endeavors that Winter Texans enjoy, from nature, heritage and recreational sites to community gardens, wellness programs and other enrichment activities retirees and other Valley residents will enjoy.

Of course, we can’t merely focus on what our senior population brings to the region. As the Retirement Living and other reports make clear, retirees have a choice of where they can spend — and invest — their time. They are drawn to the Valley by several features that set us apart from other areas where they could go.

Climate, as the report shows, is only part of the equation. Affordability also is a key factor, and local officials need to maintain policies that don’t overburden taxpayers and that utilize their revenues for infrastructure and other features that benefit all residents — both seasonal and full-time.

A mix of Spring Breakers and Winter Texans relaxing at Clayton’s Beach Bar and Grill on Tuesday afternoon, March 10, 2020, in South Padre Island. (Alana Hernandez/Valley Morning Star)

Another metric cited in the report is the fact, backed up by the federal government’s own data, showing the area’s low crime rate. Veteran Winter Texans know this is one of the nation’s safest places to be — that’s likely one of the reasons they keep coming back. The current national and state administrations, however, continue to portray the Valley and other border areas as regions “invaded” by hostile, violent foreign criminals who are escaping prisons and insane asylums. They have dispatched armed military troops to patrol our streets in search of these violent invaders — who don’t actually exist.

Surely our current Winter Texans know better. We can only hope that other retirees, current and future, use the benefits of their experience to employ health skepticism about what our governments are trying to feed them, and continue to recognize that the Rio Grande Valley is a great place to be.

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