Corpus Christi neighborhoods (Austin, McAllen, Harlingen: real estate, new home, buy)

[chioppa]

Hi!

My husband and I are moving to Corpus soon and are in the process of looking for a nieghborhood in which to settle. We are interested in finding someplace with a real "neighborhood" feel (ie., some restaurants, coffee shops, etc that are within walking distance and not located on a huge street in a stripmall). We love walking through the neighborhood in the evenings to grab a bite to eat or a cup o' joe. Is there a neighborhood like this in CC? (We drove around for awhile in a recent visit and couldn't scare one up). Any help finding a cozy neighborhood to start our new life in Corpus would be greatly appreciated!!

[scubashawn]

Maybe close to downtown if you like older homes . Off of Lousiana , near Ocean Blvd.
I live on the southside....very nice neighborhood, has its own park with a full court basketbal and baseball diamond. It's called Brighton Village. Cross streets would be Airline and Saratoga. The homes were built in the 80's.
Hope that helps ?

[changeofpace]

Looked for the same type walking and browsing small shops when we visited Corpus for the first time in March. Heading back down on Thursday to take another look and check out Harlingen. The closest we found to a walking and browsing neighborhood was Lamar Park area near Doddridge. Also found a nice area in Portland just over the harbor bridge. If we choose Corpus we will be purchasing a new home either in Portland or the Cornerstone area of Flour Bluff. We walked and looked over the entire city of Corpus for a week from 7AM to 9PM including Padre Island, Portland and Port Aranasas. My future employer in Corpus, a local reat estate agent and the locals we chatted with were most helpful in every way. Will let you know what we find this trip when we return in 2 weeks.

[ruggedindividual]

I would definitely recommend Portland to you. It's a nice community just over the harbor bridge, not far from Corpus Christi. There's plenty of room for the city to grow. It has that neighborhood feeling you're looking for, I think. I live in Ingleside which is further north from Portland and closer to where I work, but if I was staying in the area longer I would definitely buy a home in Portland. The country club there is outstanding. The Navy base in Ingleside is closing down which should affect mostly Ingleside, Aransas Pass and possibly some of Portland. Home prices in those areas may see a dip in the next few years. Something to think about...

[Marlow]

I recommend that you look in an area bounded by Ocean Drive on the East, Ayers on the North, Alameda on the West and Airline on the south. Actually, there are some very nice neighborhoods south of Airline to where Ocean Drive curves around as well. If you look at a map I think it will make sense.

I love our neighborhood. We are two blocks from a muffin shop, 4 restaurants, an icecream shop, and a quarter-mile track and about 4 blocks from the bay. People walk, run and walk dogs all evening long. If you PM me, I'll give you more specifics about the actual location.

[chioppa]

Thanks to all of you for your responses! We definitely have to check out Portland and Flour Bluff next time we are in Corpus. Changeofpace, I can't wait to hear how your next trip down there was.

I'm sure we'll find a great place to live and will love Corpus (if the people down there are generally as nice and helpful as all of you we are going to love it there!) Marlow, I will take you up on your offer, as I think that area is one that we had identified as one that might be a great fit for us.

Thanks again, y'all!

[scubashawn]

GOOD LUCK TO YOU ! Hope you like it as much as ourfamily does...By the way , we have only been here 2 months.
I'm pretty good at checking out areas if you need any help.
I also still hold a Real Estate License in the state of GA....if you ever need that type of advice.

[changeofpace]

Well we are back from McAllen, Harlingen, Corpus and San Marcos. We made an offer for a home in the northern tip of Corpus in the Calallen neighborhood. After comparing cost of living, property taxes, cost of homes and talking to locals of each neighborhood where we found a home, we settled on Calallen. We looked at homes in the same price range (325,000 to 350,000) and property taxes were within in a few hundred dollars in all these cities and neighborhoods. We compared the same square footage, each home was on a 1/2 acre lot and the had the same quality of construction and amenities. We loved each home we were considering in each city but when it came down to neighborhoods and surroundings Corpus was the best feel for us. Now all we have to do is sell our home in MN and we are Corpus bound. We were not impressed with McAllen or Harlingen, San Marcos was very nice but we would be comuting to Austin several days a week and the traffic to and from Austin at rush hour was very congested. We felt Corpus just has so much more to offer and has a small town feel and traffic but with more to offer as a city.

[NOTAM]

good choice-Calallen

[Marlow]

Congratulations and welcome!!!! Hope you sell your house quickly and come to love Corpus Christi!