BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Brownsville might not have much glitz but has tacos, suggests a recent ranking of the nation’s most-glamourous cities.
The Rio Grande Valley’s largest city ranked 196 out of 200 U.S. cities based on glamour, qualifying Brownsville as one of the least glamourous cities for 2023, according to Lawnstarter.com.
McAllen fared only slightly better, sitting at 157 out of 200 for most-glamourous cities on the list. In what might not surprise anyone familiar with the two communities, McAllen scored higher than Brownsville for both clubs and entertainment.
What might spark debate is the fact that McAllen scored slightly lower than Brownsville for dining.
“Unlike Houston, Dallas, and Austin — Texas’ most well-heeled cities — Laredo, Brownsville, and Waco make up three of our 10 least glamorous cities, the most from any state,” the ranking’s authors explained. “None of the other seven bottom cities are from the same state.”
The ranking considered six factors: status and wealth, clubs, fine dining, beauty, fashion, and entertainment. Brownsville ranked at 45th in the nation for dining options, but trended to the bottom of the other rankings. For status and wealth, the city hit second to last.
Arguably, some of that lack of glamour is a positive. Brownsville held the third spot for cities with the lowest share of million-dollar homes, indicative of one of it’s charms: relative affordability.
“That’s not to say there’s zero sparkle here,” the report concedes.
“Brownsville has a burgeoning fine-dining scene, thanks to nationally acclaimed Sylvia’s,” the report stated, noting good press from The New York Times. “This taqueria technically isn’t a ‘fine-dining’ restaurant, but its superior quality proves you don’t have to spend like a king to dine like one in Brownsville.”
