Tell me about the communities around Corpus please. (Houston, San Antonio: to rent, low crime)

[Lucidus]

I posted a while back about considering a move to the coastal area of Texas. My situation is a little unique. My family owns a business, more a small corporation that owns a couple of businesses, and my brother is really getting burned out. He wants to move his family away from Midland/Odessa, but we will not be able to replace him as far the business is concerned. Also we have a couple of long time employees who are going to retire soon that we will also not be able to replace and government regulations are changing to the point that we will probably not be able to run the business as we have in the past anyway. So we are looking at consolidating the business and making some changes so that my brother can leave and he, my mother, and me will have some steady, yet smaller, income.

I do have experience in the petrochemical industry in research and development. I don't want to return to it, but if I had to I could probably find a decent job based on my education and experience.

My brother has already chosen where he wants to move. For me, this is an opportunity but I am still not sure what I want to do.

If I move, I want to make it worth my while. I am very interested in the CC area but I would like to know more from the locals.

I have a wife and a three month old son, so family concerns will be important but nightlife will not be.

My wife and I are both small city people, we are most comfortable in a community with about 100,000 or so people, but being near a larger city wouldn't be a problem.

I like warm climates. I know that CC is warm but were the locals could help is if there is a particularly good microclimate in the area. I love palms and I would like to be able to grow a variety of interesting types beyond just the California fan palms that grow almost everywhere in Texas except the panhandle.

I like rain. I know that most parts of Texas are subject to occasional drought, but anywhere with 30 inches of rain a year or so would be nice. Ironically, my brother just got back from visiting family in San Antonio and he said it is bone dry there right now, while Midland/Odessa is actually kinda wet.

I like lakes. But what bothers me about lakes in Texas is that most of them are subject to great variations in the water level. I was at lake Brownwood recently and it was just depressing to see docks sitting on dry ground. The ocean would be better in that regard. So my question for the locals is is there an area of the bay that is treated basically like a lake as far as recreation is concerned. I don't really want a big boat that a lot of people that live near the ocean have, but maybe just a little ski boat.

Now that I have done my impersonation of Wordy McWorderson and considering my information above what can you locals tell me about some of the communities in the CC area. Specifically:

Flour Bluff
Mustang Island
Port Aransas
Aransas Pass
Ingleside
Portland
Rockport
Copano Village

Thanks in advance.

[gabetx]

Originally Posted by Lucidus

I posted a while back about considering a move to the coastal area of Texas. My situation is a little unique. My family owns a business, more a small corporation that owns a couple of businesses, and my brother is really getting burned out. He wants to move his family away from Midland/Odessa, but we will not be able to replace him as far the business is concerned. Also we have a couple of long time employees who are going to retire soon that we will also not be able to replace and government regulations are changing to the point that we will probably not be able to run the business as we have in the past anyway. So we are looking at consolidating the business and making some changes so that my brother can leave and he, my mother, and me will have some steady, yet smaller, income.

I do have experience in the petrochemical industry in research and development. I don't want to return to it, but if I had to I could probably find a decent job based on my education and experience.

My brother has already chosen where he wants to move. For me, this is an opportunity but I am still not sure what I want to do.

If I move, I want to make it worth my while. I am very interested in the CC area but I would like to know more from the locals.

I have a wife and a three month old son, so family concerns will be important but nightlife will not be.

My wife and I are both small city people, we are most comfortable in a community with about 100,000 or so people, but being near a larger city wouldn't be a problem.

I like warm climates. I know that CC is warm but were the locals could help is if there is a particularly good microclimate in the area. I love palms and I would like to be able to grow a variety of interesting types beyond just the California fan palms that grow almost everywhere in Texas except the panhandle.

I like rain. I know that most parts of Texas are subject to occasional drought, but anywhere with 30 inches of rain a year or so would be nice. Ironically, my brother just got back from visiting family in San Antonio and he said it is bone dry there right now, while Midland/Odessa is actually kinda wet.

I like lakes. But what bothers me about lakes in Texas is that most of them are subject to great variations in the water level. I was at lake Brownwood recently and it was just depressing to see docks sitting on dry ground. The ocean would be better in that regard. So my question for the locals is is there an area of the bay that is treated basically like a lake as far as recreation is concerned. I don't really want a big boat that a lot of people that live near the ocean have, but maybe just a little ski boat.

Now that I have done my impersonation of Wordy McWorderson and considering my information above what can you locals tell me about some of the communities in the CC area. Specifically:

Flour Bluff
Mustang Island
Port Aransas
Aransas Pass
Ingleside
Portland
Rockport
Copano Village

Thanks in advance.

It sounds like CC would be a good city for you. As long as you don't live in the ghetto or partake in criminal activity you are safe. Corpus Christ has about 300,000 people so it is a little larger than what you are comfortable with. If you want to look at school districts, I would recommend Calallen, Portland, Tuloso, or Flour Bluff, in that order.

Right now, CC is in an extreme drought and heat wave. We usually average 24 inches of rain a year. But since last September, I think we have only had 3 inches of rain. But usually we get a lot of spring thunderstorms and mid to late fall cold fronts that bring a lot of rain. If you like it less humid and more warmer, I would recommend an inland area of the area. If you like warm weather and humidity, I would recommend a more coastal area.

Corpus has two lakes within an hour drive of the city limits. Lake Corpus Christi in Mathis, TX, and Lake Choke Canyon in Three Rivers, TX. Choke Canyon is full of alligators and I wouldn't advise you swim in the water. Lake Corpus Christi is beautiful with small hills and cliffs surrounding the shore and no alligators to worry about. Usually the lake is around 85% full, but right now I think it is very very dry. Also, within the city limits of CC is Labonte Park. It is a park along the river where it is fun to spend the day with family and go swimming and bbq. The only bad thing is that the highway is right next to it.

Now the areas you asked of.

Flour Bluff- On Oso Bay, humid and slightly cooler than inland areas of the city during the summer, and slightly warmer during the winter. Decent school district and low crime area. Interesting mix of lower wealth areas and brand new fancy looking developments. The area is urban along the city's busiest freeway. It is a quickly growing area as well. It is within the city limits of Corpus. It has about 45,000 people in the area considered "Flour Bluff".

Mustang Island- About 20 miles from CC. Very rural and nice beaches. Not much developed land out there. Right along the gulf.

Port Aransas- Small island community of about 4,000 people. Very friendly and quaint. Beaches are nice and weather is a a lot cooler during the summer than inland areas. It can be 105 degrees 30 miles away in Calallen and it would be 85 in Port A. with a nice sea breeze. Nice homes, good schools, quiet pretty area.

Aransas Pass- City of 8,100 people. Right along the Corpus Christi Bay. Temperatures similar to Port A. Growing at a quick rate and very touristy. Beautiful town with very nice and unique homes. Feels like an authentic water front town. Goods schools and nice people.

Ingleside- Town of nearly 10,000 people. A few miles away from Aransas Pass. Opposite side of the Corpus Christi Bay from Corpus Christi. It is a navy and industrial town. Nice area none the less. Quiet. Schools are decent.

Portland- Usually referred to as Gregory Portland which has about 22,000 residents. Very quickly growing area of the metro. Feels very suburban. Bedroom community. 5 minute drive from downtown CC. Great School district. Very nice neighborhoods. Pretty beaches. One of the top 2 places I'd recommend to have a family in CC. It has all you need. K-mart, Bealls, H-E-B, Hollywood video, Walmart, movie theater, plenty of fast food and sit down restaurants, and some other shopping choices. Nice area overall. Slightly warmer than Aransas Pass and Port Aransas by a degree or two. (During summer).

Rockport- Rockport and Fulton are combined school districts. Good schools. City of about 8,000 about 9,000 with Fulton area as well. Nice town with lots of greenery. Very big about green growth there. Pretty area. About 35 minutes from downtown CC. Nice neighborhoods. Lots of retired people. But very friendly area.

I can't really help you with Copano Village though. Sorry.

Another area I would recommend is Calallen-Annaville area. It is in the Northwest corner of the city, within the city limits, and has a couple of smaller hills. With Calallen-Annaville-Rand Morgan area-Clarkwood-Violet-Robstown, all within a few miles of eachother, the area has about 40,000 people. Everything is very spread out though. It is 18 miles to the main shopping area of CC, S.P.I.D. It is also about 12 miles from downtown CC. Has everything you need, Walmart, H-E-B, Hollywood video, Blockbuster, Hobby Lobby, Aarons, Radio Shack, Home Depot, many restaurants fast food and sit down alike. It is the part of town I live in. The 5 points area is growing a lot with a lot of traffic issues on Northwest Blvd. IH-37 and US-77 intersect here but there is very little traffic on either one. I would stay away from Robstown though. That is a GHETTO city. I would recommend anywhere between Rand Morgan Rd. west, down Leopard St. all the way until it turns into Northwest Blvd. Then keep going down FM 624. That whole stretch of area is nice. A lot of neighborhoods are popping up and US-77 is due to experience a lot of retail growth. The area feels very suburban. and around 5 points by the high school can feel kind of urban-ish. The Calallen and Tuloso school districts are both great. Calallen has arguably the best school district all the way from the border up to SA and Houston. This area is usually 5-10 degrees warmer in the summer and 5-10 degrees cooler in the winter. Especially on cold days and nights. Calallen is BIG about football and baseball. It has one of the top athletic programs in Texas.

Corpus Christi (the inner city)- The inner parts of the city has its good areas and its bad. Definently stay away from the north side, and the west side. Also stay away from Moody, Miller, West Oso, and not as much Ray school districts. The southside, east side, (Ennis Jonsallin area) and areas around downtown and Ocean Drive are really really nice. The south side is experiencing a lot of growth. But the area is very sprawly and has horrible traffic. S.P.I.D., Everheart, Saratoga, and S. Staples. are the worst. Good school districts within the city are King, Carrol, and Flour Bluff. London ISD is elementary only, but is a good school district for when your child gets a little older. the inner city is densely populated, Especially along S.P.I.D., compared to the rest of the areas surrounding the city. Temperatures are usually in the mid to upper 90's during the day and low 80's at night during the summer with high humidity. During winter temps. are usually in the mid 60's during the day and mid to high 40's at night. Fall and Spring average 70's during the day and 50's at night. But strong cold fronts can drop temps drastically. It can be 80 during the day and then be down to 35 with a freeze advisory at night.

Downtown is nice with various activities available to you and your family. It has a mix of old and modern architecture. Right now supposedly the city leaders are trying to revitalize downtown and are trying to bring in more people to downtown to live, work and play. CC has a good sized downtown area for 300,000 people.

Overall CC is a nice city but is growing very slowly. There are a lot of stabbings in this city and almost occur daily, but usually happen during illegal activities or at ghetto night clubs and bars. Other than that crime is not much of an issue.

Anyways, I hope I helped you out a bit. If you have anymore questions then ask and I would be happy to answer.

[Lucidus]

Thanks for the reply GabeTX.

It sounds like Port Aransas and Aransas Pass have the nicest climates with maybe Flour Bluff third. Does that sound accurate?

I had never heard of Calallen before but it sounds like it is worth looking into because of the schools.

The info on Portland was helpful. Just looking around on googlemaps, I didn't think it had much in the way of retail so that's good to know.

As far as lakes go, what I was really asking about is if it is possible to enjoy lake type activities on the ocean. That may sound dumb but I really I don't know. Every time that I have ever been to the beach I didn't see anyone water skiing. It could be that the water is just too rough.

One more question. If I did have to get a job at one of petrochemical facilities, how long would my commute be realistically to the various areas of CC? I know that I can just look on googlemaps but I don't think would take things into consideration like shift-change traffic.

Overall, I think Portland is looking fairly promising. The thing that I don't like about your suggestion of Calallen is that seems like it has the worst temperatures. Colder in winter, hotter in summer.

[CalallenMom]

The teeny temp difference in Calallen is an extrememly small downfall compared to the benefits. Personally, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else in Corpus, but of course, everyone has their own opinions. Our family is planning on trying to relocate to San Antonio and because I think so highly of Calallen area, it was hard to find a part of town that would "match up". Good luck ony our search no matter what you decide.

[CptnRn]

You might want to look further up the coast as well. Port Lavaca is a nice place on Matagorda Bay. Someone I worked with grew up there, its a very nice community. There are large petrochemical plants across the bay at Port Comfort. Port Lavaca has a really nice city run marina, Nautical Landings, we often visited friends who had a sailboat there. The community was very hospitable.

http://www.city-data.com/city/Port-Lavaca-Texas.html

Port Lavaca Chamber of Commerce

http://calhounedc.org/county_profile.php

Major Employers
Company Name Category
Alcoa Chemical
INEOS Nitriles Formerly BP Chemical
Calhoun County Independent School District Education
Calhoun County Government
Formosa Plastics Chemical
Harmony Industrial Contract Employees
HEB Grocery
International Bank of Commerce Business
King Fisher Marine Service
SSI Management Group Contract Employees
Dow Chemical Chemical
Seadrift Coke LP Chemical
Inteplast Group Chemical

[gabetx]

Originally Posted by Lucidus

Thanks for the reply GabeTX.

It sounds like Port Aransas and Aransas Pass have the nicest climates with maybe Flour Bluff third. Does that sound accurate?

I had never heard of Calallen before but it sounds like it is worth looking into because of the schools.

The info on Portland was helpful. Just looking around on googlemaps, I didn't think it had much in the way of retail so that's good to know.

As far as lakes go, what I was really asking about is if it is possible to enjoy lake type activities on the ocean. That may sound dumb but I really I don't know. Every time that I have ever been to the beach I didn't see anyone water skiing. It could be that the water is just too rough.

One more question. If I did have to get a job at one of petrochemical facilities, how long would my commute be realistically to the various areas of CC? I know that I can just look on googlemaps but I don't think would take things into consideration like shift-change traffic.

Overall, I think Portland is looking fairly promising. The thing that I don't like about your suggestion of Calallen is that seems like it has the worst temperatures. Colder in winter, hotter in summer.

I love taking my jet ski out to the lake and go tubing and perform some fun stunts. But I really wouldn't take it out to the beach. I am not saying you can't have water activities on the ocean, but it is more dangerous with rip tides and undertows. But the beach is good for wind surfing, surfing, skim boarding, boating, and fishing. Corpus is a very windy city, windier than Chicago, (known as the Windy City), so the waters are very choppy usually.

Even though the coastal areas do have slightly nicer tempuratures, they also have higher humidity and gustier winds. And, the temp differences are also very slight, 5-10 degrees max. Also, these areas are more prone to flooding and wind damage in hurricanes compared to inland areas. Calallen is 36 ft. above sea level and 20 miles inland. Flour Bluff, Port A, and Aransas Pass are all along the water. So you are looking at the possibility at more intense winds and flooding from the water surges. Although hurricanes are very very rare here, it is something to keep in mind. this area is due for a major hurricane based on the frequency average of major hurricanes.

Calallen and Portland are very comparable areas. Both are great and suburban. But both are growing quite a bit. Calallen is within the city limits of CC. Portland is just outside of them and is in San Patricio Co. Calallen is located right when you cross the river on IH-37. All of the exits including Redbird, Hwy 77, Callicoate, Violet, Mckenzie, and Rand Morgan are considered Calallen. If you work at the refineries and live in Portland or Calallen, both will be about a 10 minute drive, anytime of day. Both areas don't have any traffic jams, unless there is a car accident. Although, the I-37 and US 77 junction can slow down a bit around 5:30 on week days in Calallen.

But you should look into Calallen, it is a very nice area. It is A bit more furthur from main Corpus than Portland is though. Portland to DT is about 5 minutes. Calallen to DT is about 10. Portland to S.P.I.D is about 13 minutes. Calallen to S.P.I.D is about 20 minutes. S.P.I.D. is CC's main shopping district.

If you have anymore questions feel free to ask or pm me.

[Marlow]

You've gotten lots of good information, but one thing that troubles me on your behalf is that you said you like rain. I'm sure you know that we're in the middle of a terrible drought right now and it doesn't rain all that much even in a good year. I'm not sure of the stats, but I imagine it's rare for this area to get 30 inches of rain in a year unless we get a hurricane. If you were to visit right now, you'd be appalled at how brown and burned up everything looks.

Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer this morning, but if lots of rain is important, South Texas might not be the place for you.

[gabetx]

CC's average yearly rainfall is 24 inches.

[Lucidus]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

You might want to look further up the coast as well. Port Lavaca is a nice place on Matagorda Bay. Someone I worked with grew up there, its a very nice community. There are large petrochemical plants across the bay at Port Comfort. Port Lavaca has a really nice city run marina, Nautical Landings, we often visited friends who had a sailboat there. The community was very hospitable.

http://www.city-data.com/city/Port-Lavaca-Texas.html

Port Lavaca Chamber of Commerce

Calhoun County Economic Development Corporation - County Profile

Major Employers
Company Name Category
Alcoa Chemical
INEOS Nitriles Formerly BP Chemical
Calhoun County Independent School District Education
Calhoun County Government
Formosa Plastics Chemical
Harmony Industrial Contract Employees
HEB Grocery
International Bank of Commerce Business
King Fisher Marine Service
SSI Management Group Contract Employees
Dow Chemical Chemical
Seadrift Coke LP Chemical
Inteplast Group Chemical

Thanks for the suggestion. I have considered Port Lavaca as well but it seems that it may be a little too small. It appears to me that Port Lavaca doesn't have the basic retail amenities. For example, would I have to drive all the way to Victoria just to rent or see a movie? Also it seems that Port Lavaca's population is slowly decreasing, that is generally not a good sign.

I haven't completely ruled it out yet though.

[Lucidus]

Originally Posted by Marlow

You've gotten lots of good information, but one thing that troubles me on your behalf is that you said you like rain. I'm sure you know that we're in the middle of a terrible drought right now and it doesn't rain all that much even in a good year. I'm not sure of the stats, but I imagine it's rare for this area to get 30 inches of rain in a year unless we get a hurricane. If you were to visit right now, you'd be appalled at how brown and burned up everything looks.

Sorry to be such a Debbie Downer this morning, but if lots of rain is important, South Texas might not be the place for you.

I may have to compromise some here. I won't take the current conditions as representative of normal. As I stated above, my brother just got back from visiting family in San Antonio and he said that the area is so dry that it looks like winter there with brown grass and trees losing their leaves early.

But looking at rainfall average maps, it looks like the areas north of CC enjoy rainfall of 32 inches or so. Is that not accurate?



The website were I got this map lists CC average as 30.13 inches. I trust that the locals know, so I guess this is not good data.