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My fiance and I are going to be relocating to the Corpus Christi area from the Black Hills of South Dakota (By Mount Rushmore). We have been researching all the surrounding communities but looking for others' input.
We are looking to buy our first home, get married, start a family. We are 24 and 25 years old. So we dont want to be in any retirement community areas.
We want to be somewhere that has things going on most the time whether its music, sports, night life, etc. Also people that are in our age group 35 and under kind of area. Where we are from right now you stay home most the time because there is nothing else to do but go to the bar and you may be the only ones there. And we have no people to invite over because all our friends and ppl our age all live about an hour away.
He is an outdoors person, loves fishing, hiking, anything outdoors. Both of us have grown up on ranches and always had horses, which is something we hope to have someday once we have more money for acres.
I would really like to be somewhere that we have hills or some kind of scenery. But understand that may not be possible.
Looking for peoples thoughts and opinions of the area as well.
1. The southside of town is the busiest area with most things to do. Looking on a map, just about anywhere east of Weber is decent, from the water, all the way down to Oso Creek. Shopping, dining, bars and clubs are everywhere. Sports and events are held downtown. It should not be hard finding people in your age group, (my girlfriend and I are 23 and 22). CC is a young city.
2. Your fiancee will love this city. There is fishing/hunting galore. You have the beach, seawall downtown, deep sea fishing, and plenty of parks. Whenever yall are ready for land, there is plenty just outside of the city.
3. South TX does not have any hills. Aside from Calallen, (which is still pretty flat), it is flat. Our scenery is the bayfront and beaches.
I'd rent before buying to learn the city and see what area of town I'd like to live in the most. What is bringing yall to CC from South Dakota?
I would say there's more to do in Corpus Christi than South Dakota, but not by much. The young active seen is more like Austin. Corpus is pretty laid back. Bars are either Latin or Cowboy. Busy, but just a few. If there's activities for the younger crowd besides bonfires on the beach, I haven't found them in almost a year here. Music...think about singers you thought were dead, haven't found any open mike or local artist hangouts. Sports...baseball at Whataburger field. Nightlife...not sure what you're looking for there. I have found some good restaurants but nothing stellar and nothing that I can afford on a monthly basis. It appears the best option for meeting people here is through your church. There seems to be something going on almost every night if that's something you're interested in.
Hunting and fishing can't be beat. I have colleagues who fish every day before or after work as part of their commute. If you can afford it you may want to look at houses on Padre Island. On the other hand, since you will be working for State Farm, you know the cost of insurance to live on the coast so maybe not! Another insurance cost to look at is the cost of insuring your vehicles in TX. It will definitely take a jump.
The cost of a house down here appears to be fairly reasonable. However once you factor in the cost of insurance...yikes!
I would say there's more to do in Corpus Christi than South Dakota, but not by much. The young active seen is more like Austin. Corpus is pretty laid back. Bars are either Latin or Cowboy. Busy, but just a few. If there's activities for the younger crowd besides bonfires on the beach, I haven't found them in almost a year here. Music...think about singers you thought were dead, haven't found any open mike or local artist hangouts. Sports...baseball at Whataburger field. Nightlife...not sure what you're looking for there. I have found some good restaurants but nothing stellar and nothing that I can afford on a monthly basis. It appears the best option for meeting people here is through your church. There seems to be something going on almost every night if that's something you're interested in.
There are several clubs and bars aside from "cowboy" or "latin". For one, all of the latin clubs in CC are ghetto. The only "cowboy" clubs are Ropers and Whiskey River. At that, those are more like America's top music than they are country. If you can't find anything to do here "aside from bonfires on the beach", you haven't looked.
Concerts are plentiful with some of America's top artists in all genre's. There are clubs, bars, lounges, comedy clubs, and dining of all types and origins. For sports, there is baseball, hockey, arena football, and Div. I college basketball.
There are plenty of choices for nightlife. Clubs, bars, comedy clubs, lounges, hookah lounges, and multiple events.
If you can't meet people, aside from church, you really need to evaluate your social life and personality. Every time I have gone out, I always seem to meet new people.
My fiance and I are going to be relocating to the Corpus Christi area from the Black Hills of South Dakota (By Mount Rushmore). We have been researching all the surrounding communities but looking for others' input.
We are looking to buy our first home, get married, start a family. We are 24 and 25 years old. So we dont want to be in any retirement community areas.
We want to be somewhere that has things going on most the time whether its music, sports, night life, etc. Also people that are in our age group 35 and under kind of area. Where we are from right now you stay home most the time because there is nothing else to do but go to the bar and you may be the only ones there. And we have no people to invite over because all our friends and ppl our age all live about an hour away.
He is an outdoors person, loves fishing, hiking, anything outdoors. Both of us have grown up on ranches and always had horses, which is something we hope to have someday once we have more money for acres.
I would really like to be somewhere that we have hills or some kind of scenery. But understand that may not be possible.
Looking for peoples thoughts and opinions of the area as well.
Nicola, your post prompted me to consider the same question "Where would I look to live?."
Corpus has some beautiful old neighborhoods like Lamar Park and along Santa Fe St. up to and including the Six Points area. Those older homes were by and large well built. The video below shows the landmark feature of Corpus, "Ocean Dr." Bear in mind, according to tax records some 50% of those homes are owned by corporations. Over the years they have always appeared well manicured and well maintained by grounds keepers, gardeners and marine grade paint. Cheap labor has always been a given in Corpus but that marine grade paint cost a small fortune. Regardless of how appealing it appears at first blush one ought to always realize it's a very harsh environment. Air conditioning 24/7 is a given, particularly in July and August when Corpus seems to be some two blocks from the sweltering Sun. Corpus is humid and windy . . .women use "Extra super-strength industrial grade hair spray! For most of us "Ocean Dr' is just a pleasant drive without billboards, fast food joints and beige subdivisions.
A mile inland all that changes, big time. Note the drive down "South Padre Island Drive" (SPID) which is endearingly called "The Hustle" by a friend. She lives on Padre Island and works at the airport "doing the Hustle" twice a day, five days a week. This commute calculates out to two eight hour days in traffic per month.
One big draw for young people is wind surfing. I've known people who have moved across the country to live where they could wind surf in Corpus. There are some excellent restaurants in various price ranges and ethnic groups. In my subjective opinion Corpus may have the best Tex-Mex on the planet, OTOH, some of the more expensive restaurants are not all THAT and pretentious. I always take friends to this place: The Yardarm’s History | Yardarm Restaurant the Water St. Oyster Bar seems to attract the younger crowd . . .excellent food and drinks.
Food and groceries present more variety, quality, and less expensive than SD from what I recollect of your area. I don't know if Corpus has a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's yet I would think in our new Twitter world one ought not have any problems hooking up with what's happening around town.
This just occurred to me. There a somewhat rude restaurant guide I use when out of town. It's not something I'd offer to my old 90 year old mother or religious fundamentalist but it gives you the quick and dirty. Might be useful on the trip through the Wastelands on your way down. That is what you call a remote and isolated 1400 mile drive. I drove it going to Billings . . .like . . .where do you eat in Valentine, Nebraska?
Just plug in your Zip code . . .it brings up what's local with it's web site. Keep in mind it's rude and cute . . .those I've turned on to it, use it.
You may not be aware and most CCian's don't know, Gutzon Borglum, the Mount Rushmore sculptor, also designed the 1.5 mile (something) seawall in Corpus. See, you already have a Corpus connection.
It's smart to thoroughly research an area, city, or country before jumping off in it. Having spent most of my life as an expat in the South Pacific and South America, which I greatly enjoyed and found rewarding, but living in a foreign country can sometimes be a bit overwhelming. Having a network of friends with similar interest really helps. Being a musician made it easy to connect long before the internet. Being from a ranching background you might enjoy this place, down the road a bit from Corpus as a weekend jaunt: King Ranch I tried to attach a photo of my x-horse but it didn't work. What was/is called the "Wild Horse Dessert" begins a little south of Corpus.
All things considered, and not being a family man, I'd look for an older home between Alameda and Santa Fe St. or maybe Alameda and Staples, maybe a fixer upper with character and charm . . .but that's me.
If a picture's worth a 1000 words . . . these Youtube videos ought to give you a good idea
of Corpus.
Lastly, and this could be important . . .note my screen name!
Rust Never Sleeps
P.S. I could be mercilessly pilloried for this misbegotten screed by some CCians!
It appears regardless of what you say or how you say it, some mother's son will find something in your post, no matter how pointless, to complain about. Who needs facts when you have conjecture?
I leave those folks to themselves.
I second the suggestion to rent for a while and explore areas to buy. My personal choice would also be the area along Alameda or Santa Fe for a home - most of these were built in the Mid 50's - to Mid 60's. A lot less traffic and closer to downtown if that is where you work - downside for me is that I don't think the grocery shopping is as good. It drives me nuts when I'm in Corpus that HEB stores don't all carry the same stuff.
I would also look a little closer to down town to see what available in the homes built in the 30's - 40's. I haven't been in that area for a while, but always liked it.
I do think renting is a good idea when first coming to CC. Rentals are a bit pricey compared to SD, but at least you can find housing here as long as you have a good credit history, no broken leases, and verifiable income.
There is not a Trader Joes or Whole Foods. However there is a Sprouts on Airline. I believe Sprouts is somehow related to Whole Foods. Sprouts has great sale prices though, not the typical "Whole Paycheck" prices. For what it's worth, I do take a trip to San Antonio every few months to go to Costco, Trader Joes, and some of the larger malls. For regular needs, CC has a couple of good malls, the usual Best Buy, Target, Walmart...plenty for daily needs. Groceries...HEB is about it except for Sprouts and some independent grocers. There's also a Sams Club in CC.
There are some nicer, newer areas out Cimarron. And I think Calellen and Robstown (Portland? too)tend to be more family / surburbia oriented with better schools. Don't take my word for it though as I do not have children. If I were looking to buy a home and start a family there I would not buy near downtown, Alameda, Santa Fe. There are some cool older homes there but lots of fixer uppers in the mix.
If I find CC a bit lacking in things to do It's probably because I came from a city slightly larger, also very tourist oriented with lots of outdoor activities (lakes, mountains) and four seasons. And previously I have lived in large cities with major league sports, many museums, and multiple concert venues. Maybe CC just doesn't advertise things very well. But I'll only be here for a few years (and I also find there are many of us transients in the military, oil companies, students) so maybe I'm just not looking hard enough as I am not invested here.
I have enjoyed many of the activities that are available here. The beaches are awesome (except for Spring Break), fishing, boating, birding/wildlife/turtle releases, just being outside when you can. But I don't find myself outside as often as I would have thought as the summers are ok if you are near the beach breezes but way too stifling to commute on my bike even a short distance. This winter has been cold, even icy, with some fog. So just when I thought I would be spending time outside with the cooler weather...not so much, been pretty wet this year. My job does take me outdoors on/near the water most days. And I would say that 50% of the winter days have gotten nice enough by afternoon that I'm really not complaining. I'm looking forward to Spring to see if that allows more time out and about for hiking, playing with the dog, exploring new venues. Most of my colleagues have mentioned this has been an unusual weather year...went from hot and humid to cold and humid, but with sunny afternoons on the water. Some of the other things I've enjoyed here are the Farmers Market and Cultural Festivals. The University does have a few big name guest speakers each year. Neil deGrasse Tyson is the next big speaker in March, I think. I know that my colleagues with families participate in all the typical activities such as sports and scouting.
Have fun and good luck on your new adventure!
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For most of us "Ocean Dr' is just a pleasant drive without billboards, fast food joints and beige subdivisions.
