Portland Texas??? (Austin, San Marcos, Rockport: public transportation, food, car)

[ocean2026]

The Texas Education Agency studies each district for a year. The look at dropout rates, attendance, scores on tests in 4 areas,improvments - teacher student ratios-- can either of you discuss these factors in detail? Sure anyone can have an opinion, but is it an informed opinion that can be adequately defended? If I asked you to discuss each of the above categories as to GP or any other district could you do so?

[Marlow]

Everyone can read the ratings, but not everyone has experience in the district, or in a particular school. My daughter attends a school in CCISD that has been rated exemplary ever since she's been there. Even though the district as a whole has issues, which are to be expected in an area with as much poverty as S.Texas, her school experience has been wonderful. I have friends whose kids are in private school and I have no problem saying my daughter's education equals theirs in every way.

[ocean2026]

Fine but what happens when she goes to high school? Many of Corpus Christi high schools are horrible and there is not one that is better than "Acceptable" - You say everyone can read the ratings- did YOU read them for CC's high schools?

Many of the area's primary schools are exemplary -its not hard for them to achieve that- in other words NO BIG DEAL what will you do for middle school? Baker, Brown, Cullen, Cunningham, Driscol, Haas, Hamlin,martin,South Park,Grant, all have the low "Acceptable "Rating too Once again did you read those ratings ?

How nice - your little girl will go to a good elementary school and then for grades 6-12 she will get a lower than average education for a state which itself is way lower than average.

[Marlow]

Originally Posted by ocean2026

Fine but what happens when she goes to high school? Many of Corpus Christi high schools are horrible and there is not one that is better than "Acceptable" - You say everyone can read the ratings- did YOU read them for CC's high schools?

Many of the area's primary schools are exemplary -its not hard for them to achieve that- in other words NO BIG DEAL what will you do for middle school? Baker, Brown, Cullen, Cunningham, Driscol, Haas, Hamlin,martin,South Park,Grant, all have the low "Acceptable "Rating too Once again did you read those ratings ?

How nice - your little girl will go to a good elementary school and then for grades 6-12 she will get a lower than average education for a state which itself is way lower than average.

Actually, my daughter will most likely go through the International Baccalaureate program at Baker, which was fully approved this year, and at Ray, which is in the process of getting approval. You're familiar with the IB program, aren't you? But thanks for your concern.

[missWendyS]

Originally Posted by mcphee25

we (husband and i) are from a suburb of san antonio originally but we are moving from washington state. and the kids are all elementary aged or younger so i don't think they really "know" what they like yet. lol.

thanks though post was helpfull.

How funny, I too am considering a move from Washington State to Texas and am having some trouble figuring out the best place in Texas to live. I was considering Houston at first but am starting to seriously debate that as a choice and consider Corpus Christi and the surrounding areas. I want beachy, clean, warm, safe, diversity is important too as my family is diverse, I also want good schools a good cost of living and a safe neighborhood. So far, in the first 2 or 3 threads in this forum, Im starting to think I should consider moving Corpus Christi up to my 1st choice, San Antonio, my 2nd and Houston a far third

[missWendyS]

Originally Posted by mcphee25

PORT ANGELES... that's from the twilight books. lol. (my dorky self says while i am currently wearing my twilight tshirt)

we live in spokane or just outside really. eastern washington

WOW, We live slightly West of Spokane too and are considering a move to exactly the same area, how weird is that. Myself and my 2 children prob ably will not move until next summer as I dont want to uproot my eldest in the middle of a school year, but its just interesting to see that Im not the only Washingtonian looking to fly south because of the winters (25 ft of snow last year = NOT FUN!!!!) good luck with your move and when you get down there maybe you can let me know what you think coming from the same area as me!

[mcphee25]

Originally Posted by missWendyS

So far, in the first 2 or 3 threads in this forum, Im starting to think I should consider moving Corpus Christi up to my 1st choice, San Antonio, my 2nd and Houston a far third

San Antonio, is amazing. We grew up in a small town just north east of San Antonio and love it our family is still there. We'd be going back there but hubby's job has no openings, in fact corpus is the first opening in texas we've seen in 3 years so... anything to get closer to home. I have never lived in Houston, but i hear the cost of living there is crazy. Property taxes are HIGH!!! We are hoping to hear If we are moving by november... and then plan to move in the late spring preferbly summer... no way we're driving out of here in the dead of winter!!!

[ocean2026]

Marlow- Nope I'm not familiar with that program. I am familiar with Ray and its one of the worst high schools in the area,just look it up yourself. Once again a good education begins at home, and it will have to be replenished at home too - check out the English and Math scores at Ray, you won't be happy.

Ah as for my concern-- perhaps a sarcastic remark on your part- you might know that I was so concerned, I ran against the President of our school board who had previously set a record for victory margin. My kids and I walked thousands of doors and now I spent about 5-10 hrs a week researching ideas for improvement. I've put more items on our board agenda than all the other board members combined - times 10 - literally.

Education is our future,our school district, Aransas County ISD is one of the best, but it wasn't a few years ago. People can make a difference.

[tamukmom]

As a college counselor for 18 years, I have seen that the college ACT/SAT score and college prep. of the GP students has always been higher then the Calallen grads.

[txsizzler]

I presently live in Portland. I moved here back in mid June, from Calallen... lol. I had lived in Calallen for 3 months, and prior to that, I lived in Wichita Falls, TX. (north Texas, near the Oklahoma border). I work in the Calallen area, near the 5 points location (approximately where I-37 and Hwy 77 meet).

There are pros and cons to both locations. The pros with Calallen.. more Texas feel, SLIGHTLY less humid, alot of developement, generally low crime and decent schools, easy access to I-37 (northwest to SA) and Hwy 77 (south to Robstown, Kingsville, and the RGV). The cons... Calallen is a long ways away from downtown, and a pretty good distance from your main shopping areas along SPID. Calallen tends to get hotter in the summer, due to its more inland locale... and as GabeTX mentioned earlier, it gets a few degrees cooler, mainly at night during the winter. Yes, Calallen has a Super Walmart, and yes, they have an HEB. There is also a Sutherlands, Home Depot, and alot of smaller businesses that dot the areas along 624 and Leopard. Personally speaking, the HEB in Calallen is the worst HEB I have ever been to. Very disorganized store, always extremely crowded. There are alot of fast food joints and smaller restaurants in Calallen... you have your BK, McDonalds (2 of them if you include the one in Walmart), KFC, Sonic (2 of them), Little Caesars, Chilis, Nolans, a few Chinese restaurants, to name a few.

From March through mid June, we lived at The Rafters Apartments, along the I-37 corridor between Violet and Hart in the Calallen area. We were itching to get into a house, and looked at some rental properties in the Calallen area. We looked at 4 homes, and then decided to take a crap shoot, and look at Portland, just to see the differences. Needless to say, we fell in love with Portland while looking at homes here.

Portland pros... Small town atmosphere, more tolerable summer temps (yes, the humidity is higher here, but the sea breeze mitigates that quite well), decent amount of shopping given its size, close to everything (downton CC is just a 7 minute drive, SPID is about 13-15 minutes, Ingleside is 5-6 minutes, Aransas Pass in about 10 minutes), decent school district (despite what others have said, I really like the cirriculium here), alot of seaside activities, fishing, great community development (skate park, community pool, workout center for residents, etc), VERY friendly people (always waving, smiling, willing to help when needed). Portland also has a good recycling program available. For shopping, we have a very nice HEB store... far, FAR nicer than the one in Calallen. The Super Walmart here doesn't have near the crowds the one in Calallen has, and we also have one store that you won't find at all anywhere in CC... K-Mart! We also have some smaller businesses, largely located along Wildcat Dr, although there is alot of developement occuring along the northbound access road adjacent to Hwy 181 between Wildcat and Buddy Ganem. There are also some businesses along the southbound access of 181 between Wildcat and Moore. For restaurants, we have some fast food, and some smaller restaurants including McDonalds (2 of them, if you count the one in WalMart), Dairy Queen, Sonic, Popeyes, Chilis, Bad Brads BBQ, Ricksters, etc.

As for cons... since the base in Ingleside is closing, it has put a damper on business growth here. Alot of homes for sale now. Some people don't like the higher humidity here, or the more salty air. No hospitals here (although you can get to the hospital along Ocean Dr in CC in about 10-12 min). I don't like the fact the City doesn't supply residental trash cans for trash pickup... and speaking of that, they contract out to a local service company (Allied) to do their work. Very retro way of picking up trash (2 guys ride on the back of the truck, sling your trash into the back, won't pick up your can if its too heavy.. lol).

If you are worried about hurricanes, Corpus Christi, Portland, Aransas Pass, Ingleside, Flour Bluff, Calallen, are all fairly well sheltered, especially against storm surges. Remember, Padre Island (Mustang Island on the north side) acts as a "barrier" to the towns mentioned above, and the bay waters inside this barrier are quite shallow. Calallen is far enough away from the coast that hurricanes begin to lose quite abit of their punch before hitting them. Portland, with an elevation above 40ft sea level, is very protected against any sea-faring weather event. The biggest problem you will have anywhere in the above mentioned towns, is the wind damage, and trees/poles crashing down on you. You won't have a Katrina/New Orleans situation here though, thankfully. Great evacuation routes are in place, as well as a top notch weather center here and good community preparedness.

To sum up... I personally like Portland better, but Calallen has alot going for it as well. I also like Flour Bluff alot. It has a neat ocean feel to it, without living in The Island. Good school system in Flour Bluff as well. And while FB still has a few rough around the edges areas, it isn't ANYTHING like it used to be! Flour Bluff has greatly improved, and most of the crime that was there has moved inner city of CC. I would definately consider the Bluff for a place to move as well... and it is sooooo easy to get to great shopping from there.


Ian