Rockport Texas taxes (Houston: house, to live, law)

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by garxhap

I think crime stats for tourist towns can be very misleading. Lets say as an example that a town has 20 thousand residents and a hundred thousand tourists per year. When the crime stats are calculated, the number of crimes per resident is going to be way off because a large number of the victims are going to be the tourists.

How is that misleading? Crime is crime regardless of who does it or who the victim is.

I would expect rapes, burglary and theft to be higher in a town with lots of tourists and absentee landlords, yes.

[HopeToRetireSoon]

I was doing research on retiring to Rockport and yes, I did see the crime rate is high there. What type of crime is the most prevelant there?

[HopeToRetireSoon]

I sure hope you're right latetotheparty. I've only been there a few times but will keep doing my research on this nice town. I do see though that when we were looking at houses, the new ones all had alarm systems on them.

[HopeToRetireSoon]

I would like to know why there isn't more stilt houses in Rockport. I'm nervous about high water problems when storms come. Am I wrong to worry about this? Is this a concern for the locals or just me?

[ocean2026]

I've practiced criminal law here for years and the crimes are minor- dwis - mischief. Not a good murder in years lol. More importantly in the areas where people retire - one can leave the doors wide open when gone- we often do that and have never had a theft. I've walked every area of town when i was elected to the school board -even my kids went door-to-door alone. There are the usual fights between people who know each other but there is no appreciable crime that any visitor has to worry about.

As to the tourist town suggestion - yes tourists may drink while here- bad tourists may break things but overall - very quiet.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by HopeToRetireSoon

I would like to know why there isn't more stilt houses in Rockport. I'm nervous about high water problems when storms come. Am I wrong to worry about this? Is this a concern for the locals or just me?

There are a lot of stilt houses in Rockport. It is a big concern. One of the biggest hurricanes in Texas history hit this part of the coast years ago and wiped out most of the town. I would not consider buying any home that is not on stilts or on (very rare) high ground.

[ocean2026]

There are also barrier islands that protect different parts of Rockport to different extents. I live on the ocean ( Ocean Drive) south of town and Ive been through 2 hurricanes. I could have sat on the deck and watched them but both times the electricity went out (it goes out whenever two or more birds sit too close together on the wire or when my 9 yr old blew out her birthday cake outside lol). Lots of water on the ground too. Most of the construction on the waterfront in this area is solid. Never seen any damage. We also are at much lower risk than say Houston or Galveston both of which are at much lower risk than Florida.

[HopeToRetireSoon]

Would you recommend anyone locally to build a good quality stilt home? Being higher up in a stilt home, do you experience wind damage in Rockport? I suppose you would need both hurricane and wind damage insurance. We haven't been down there during spring break. Is it a mad house?

[LibertysFate]

I grew up in Rockport but moved away years ago. I don't know about the crime rate since I no longer live there but when I was there I never worried about crime.
I did notice a lot of people dying due to car accidents though, tends to happen in a certain area.
As for the beach, who ever said Rockport is the worst beach they've ever seen obviously have never been to Galveston. At least Rockport beach is clean, there are eating areas and bathrooms. Galveston only has bathrooms available during their operational hours and the beach is littered with trash.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by ocean2026

There are also barrier islands that protect different parts of Rockport to different extents. I live on the ocean ( Ocean Drive) south of town and Ive been through 2 hurricanes. I could have sat on the deck and watched them but both times the electricity went out (it goes out whenever two or more birds sit too close together on the wire or when my 9 yr old blew out her birthday cake outside lol). Lots of water on the ground too. Most of the construction on the waterfront in this area is solid. Never seen any damage. We also are at much lower risk than say Houston or Galveston both of which are at much lower risk than Florida.

These images show the paths of major ( Catagory 3 and above) hurricanes. Florida is more often in the path then any part of Texas yes. And Galveston is at higher risk then Rockport only because it is out on the barrier island. Rockport is at a higher risk then Houston because it is much closer to the barrier islands and not nearly as far inland as Houston.

100 years of hurricanes