Planning a trip to check out the area (Houston, Dallas: real estate, houses)

[DesertDog]

My daughter has decided to attend college in CC next year and I will be coming soon to look for nice areas to live within commuting distance to the college. I have a son who will be starting high school so that will also be a factor. I've never been there before but have been lurking around this site for over a year and have read the good and bad so I feel we pretty much know what we're getting into as far as crime, gangs, drugs, etc. What I'm interested in hearing is honest opinions about your neighborhoods and schools. I'm retired so work issues don't exist but fishing issues are high on my list. So in a nutshell I'm looking for affordable housing, easy commute for my daughter, good school for my son, and close shore or pier fishing for me. Any feedback from newer residents would also be appreciated. Was it a good choice, any regrets, etc. I'm really looking forward to this trip and hope some of you have time to give me a bit of advice on where to look. Thanks in advance for any replies.

[jbtx]

DD,

Flour Bluff High School (Corpus Christi, TX) - contact info, student demographics, map, class sizes

Flour Bluff might interest you. From what I hear and read Flour Bluff HS has a decent academic reputation among the schools here, your daughter's commute to TA&MCC would not be too bad and you could almost walk to the bay's edge.

Good luck and welcome to CC.

[Marlow]

Like jbtx said, Flour Bluff would be great. You might also look at the area from Airline to Ocean Drive/Ennis Joslin on both sides of Alameda. There are houses there in the $150k to $200k range (cheaper if you buy one that needs TLC) and your son would go to King High School. Not sure how it's rated, but children of friends have gone there and if the kid is motivated, he'll do fine.

Also, if you're looking for cheaper housing in the same area, head away from Ocean Dr. and toward downtown on Alameda. You'll still be in a good area with an easy commute, but as a general rule the houses are smaller and older.

Feel free to ask on here or DM if you have specific questions about particular streets, real estate agents, etc.

Welcome to CC!

[DesertDog]

jbtx & Marlow
Thanks for the info. How far inland can we go before losing the ocean breeze?

[jbtx]

Just about all of CC proper benefits from the ocean breezes, that's why CC stays approximately 10-15 degrees cooler than San Antonio. If it's 90 in CC,,, it's a whopping 105 in Dallas. I had occasion to speak with my telephone service provider's technical department the other day, for whatever reason the tech desk is located in St. Louis, Missouri, the poor lady was complaining that the temp was 100+ with a heat index of 115,,, she was not a happy camper when I told her it was a balmy 85 on my patio.

[ohmanon]

I'm glad you pointed that out about the ocean breezes since others post about the unbearable heat which I seldom experienced while living there (and that was without a/c back in the 70's). Feels more comfortable to me than Houston in the summer, that's for sure. I will say that one particularly hot summer I was driving in Corpus with a girlfriend who saw a boy she had a crush on and got so excited she hit her fist against the windshield - it immediately shattered from the heat...boy oh boy did I get in trouble. DesertDog, I hope you love it down there, I know I do.

[jbtx]

To be honest, July and August can be killer hot. I have a digital weather transmitter out on the patio and yesterday it registered 99 degrees at 3:00PM, which is typically the hottest hour of the day. Surprisingly the humidity was only 60%. Not too bad for the Gulf Coast.

I came back into the house and bowed down to the A/C.

[DesertDog]

Speaking of A/C what's a electric bill run during the summer? Also does the ocean breeze keep the mosquitoes at bay?

[jbtx]

DD, electric costs will depend on the house, R-factor insulation, thermostat setting, square footage, how often the kids are in and out and forget to close doors or turn off lights as they leave a room, etc. I'm cooling a bit over 2,100 sq ft, thermostat set at 75 degrees, cooking with electric, clothes dryer runs maybe twice a week,,, and my bill last month was about $250.

I hope that helps.

I haven't seen a mosquito in ages.

[Marlow]

Where do you live jbtx that you haven't seen a mosquito? We were being eaten up a couple of weeks ago after the bit of rain we had earlier in the summer. Now it's dried out and they're not so bad. But I wouldn't say the breeze is strong enough to keep them away unless it's a windy day and you're on the beach itself.