Corpus Christi neighborhoods (Houston, West, St. Paul: high crime, home, to buy)

[changeofpace]

Chioppa, the first trip to Corpus we stayed at the Holiday Inn, Emerald Beach and this time we stayed at the Best Western on the bay right downtown. We spent a week in March in Corpus and 3 days in Corpus last week. Corpus was busier along the ocen this time but still very laid back. Everyone is Corpus has been so friendly. Lamar Park, Andrews Park and the few blocks around Del Mar Blvd are so appealing, we just couldnt find a home we like and could afford in those neighborhoods. A second look at a new development called Cornerstone in Flour Bluff was still our first choice from our first trip but this time we checked out Portland and Calallen and found a home in each neighborhood at the same price, same square footage and same quality of construction. Thinking hurricane and flooding issues we just felt Calallen was a better location and was the same distance from where I will be working in Corpus as the home in the North Shore country club area of Portland was. It seems as though Calallen is not on very many peoples radar yet but once we we went up that way we were sold on that area of Corpus.

[chioppa]

Hi all,

Thanks again to all of you for your advice and suggestions. Congrats, Changeofpace on your settling on Calallen - it seems like a great place to be! Hope your move goes smoothly. My husband and I found a great duplex in the Del Mar neighborhood that we are going to rent for a year or so while we look around and get to know Corpus better. We're getting very excited to come! Thanks again for everything, y'all!

[changeofpace]

We loved the Lamar and Del Mar neighborhoods but just couldnt find what we were looking for so found a house in Calallen (which the sellers later decided they did not want to sell), but have found another in the River Hills Country Club neighborhood. Its a little further out than we had originally hoped for but its a very nice neighborhood and all shopping wants and needs are convenient. If all goes as planned, we will moving down to Corpus in Oct. Once we get down to Corpus all the corpus posters on here should get together and meet one another for a cup of coffee, start our own Corpus Club for newcomers.

[Marlow]

Welcome, Chioppa! And I'm all for getting together in October, or any other time.

[scubashawn]

me too !

Good Luck !

[Honest & Blunt]

changeofpace :

I hate to break the news to ya.
There are no, Nada, Zero & None CoffeeHouses in Corpus. The Closest they have is the Tango Tea Room on Water Street. Don't bother asking anyone in Corpus. They don't know what a Coffeehouse is !! They will send you to Starbucks or Stingers Coffeeshop.
As for a walking neighborhood / village. NONE, ZIP !! Again, bless their heart. They don't have a clue !

Texans are all about Drive up windows ! They never walk anywhere, thats why they are so fat !

Sorry, why beat around the bush !

[changeofpace]

New flash! Why would there be an abundance of coffeehouses in a place that is in the 80's and 90's 8 months of the year? How much coffee would you sell? Unlike the northern cities where you can sell coffee from 5AM to midnight 8 months of the year, in south TX you would be lucky to be able to sell coffee more than 4 hours a day and not every day at that. What impresses me about new developments in Corpus, is all of them have sidewalks to the neighborhoods are walkable. The city can hardly make residence use them however. Maybe I will open up a lemonade house right downtown close to the hotels and ocean walk. Hell, when I get settled in our house in Corpus we can have coffee on our patio. If the demand is there the chain coffee shops will be there I assure you. Drive along the Padre Island expressway and look at all the chain and big box retailers located there. Now the malls want to expand and get updated. Pretty tough to do much with downtown when the developers want to be where the people are, i.e., south Corpus and the expressway.

[NOTAM]

well, i can tell you that us nurses make a daily and sometimes twice daily trip to Starbucks even on days when it is 95 degrees and sunny. our ER and Surgery Dept's are very chilly. plus we dont just get coffee, sometimes we get frozen drinks like frappucinos or orange sherbert blasts etc from Starbucks. i guarantee the Starbucks does quite well.

[scubashawn]

Coffee is a good business no matter where you live .

[chioppa]

Hey all,

Congrats on getting a house ChangeOfPace - sorry your first choice backed out. Hope your move goes smoothly and that you arrive safely in Corpus.

I think we did see a few locally owned places that sell coffee (true coffeehouses? who knows. but they looked like places where you could sit and enjoy a cup or two), and I'd be happy to meet you all for a coffee, lemonade, coke or whatever sometime!

Thanks again for all the help and advice.
Corpus, here we come!