Moving to Beaumont TX

[CRBoyd91]

Originally Posted by testmo

from what i've read that was basically just the 50s and 60s in America

Find me a place that doesn't have a prescription drug problem. I think the larger health concerns there are respiratory problems and a high occurrence of autism spectrum disorders in the area. I think this also applies more to PA.

[ddekerl]

My husband and I live in what is technically Port Arthur. I grew up in Orange, originally, a (25 minutes to most of Beaumont via I-10, 40 in bad traffic or to the farthest reaches) attending Little Cypress-Mauriceville ISD schools. LC-M at the time was predominantly white but with a probably 15% black attendance. The neighboring community in Orange was West Orange and their West Orange Stark School District was the "ghetto area." Settling in Little Cypress was very family friendly, easy commute to Houston. Mauriceville-still keeping you in the 'good' school district- is a little more rural. Many people had a cow or two on their property or at least on their road. Big spread out properties, not so much the brick home communities of Little Cypress.
My family then moved to Port Neches and I attended the Port Neches-Groves School District's schools. Again a very white community, bordering on Port Arthurs mostly black community. There was absolutely ZERO animosity towards those black students who did attend the mostly white schools. There is the strangest phenomenon of the black students SELF-segregating. They would constantly roam the halls in large groups, spending lunch and hallway time only with other black students. I didn't understand it as my parents seriously raised us ultimately colour blind. But I guess that's just the way it was. I'm sure they felt excluded being the minority at school, but much of it was self-imposed.
PN-G and Nederland ISD (where I substitute teach and my dad is now a teacher at the middle school level) are also great school districts and in areas about 10-20 minutes from most of Beaumont for work or more restaurants and shopping.

Now on to Port Arthur. The area has its sour spots. It's notorious and it's reputation precedes it, almost unecessarily sometimes. That being said-I've moved over 23 times before turning 22. My husband, 25, has ALWAYS lived here. Either in Orange or Nederland. I'm DESPERATELY trying to get out. I have many friends who are quite content in the area and never care to move. The majority of my friends with similar tastes-alternative lifestyles, much into the arts and theatre, self-expression, diversity, body modifications, etc are also trying to flee to Austin, Houston, or out of state. I just enjoy moving and want to raise our kids in an area with more diversity. We live in an apartment in Port Arthur (because apartments in PNG and Nederland were out of our budget) but a few hundred feet down the road from our complex is a community of several homes that are what I call the cookie cutter floor plans. The communities where you can buy the land and build as long as you choose from the approved floor plans that are all similar? In any case. These VERY pricy, very new homes are just down the road from the "ghetto" memorial high school. So there's no real definition of what is bad and what isn't.

Just know that Nederland, Port Neches, Groves, Little Cypress, and Mauriceville are all perfectly nice places to stay within arms reach of Beaumont. Safe, family-friendly communities with good schools.

As far as racism. The south still lives. I see much less descrimination and negativity towards black citizens than LGBT, or those with body modifications or styles that aren't Abercrombie and Fitch. If your daughter isn't thin, blonde, big-boobed, covered in bedazzled caps and purses, with fleur-de-lis on EVERYTHING, and baby-making you haven't done your duty as a parent. There are black people everywhere now. It's fairly integrated. This area is just afraid of whatever is new and unfamiliar. Now that the black community is no longer new they're scared/against the next item.

We're moving to SC in Dec/Jan though. :-)

[slfountain]

We moved to the Little Cypress area 3 years ago for my husband's work, and I have to say that I'm thrilled to be leaving soon. Schools are decent, people are nice, just NOTHING TO DO except drive to Lake Charles or brave the death corridor that is I-10 from Orange to Beaumont.
If I had it to do over again (other than turning down that job and moving elsewhere), I would have moved to the Nederland - Port Neches - Groves area. LCM schools may be decent, but the mid-county area has decent schools PLUS parks, community pools, spray parks, playgrounds, restaurants, Target, a decent grocery store, etc. I ended up working in Mid-County and feel my family would have been so much happier living there. Not a bad drive from the chemical plants in Orange either (which are actually about halfway between Orange and Bridge City).
And that area is quite racially diverse (in a happy way) due to the Vietnamese and Hispanic population. Keeps the black-white divide from getting too intense.
Hope this helps someone else who has to serve their time in the "Golden triangle". Hope you like fishing or duck hunting (it wouldn't be a bad idea to buy a boat) because those are the only forms of recreation around here. But beware of the alligators.

[NewBi10]

The op should have let us know their race and financial standing. That would have really helped us determine whether or not they would like Beaumont. It would also be beneficial to know where they are moving from.
As everyone mentioned Beaumont is late-with everything!! They have been upgrading, with new stores and restaurants, however, it seems that Beaumont can't get anything right. Their Saltgrass and Pappadeaux's is blah. (And if I'm not mistaken, their Pappas menu is slightly higher than the norm) While the stores are reputable, whoever is doing the merchandising is waaay behind the times. When it comes to shopping, whatever you find in Bmt will be on sale in Houston. There are a lot of rich people in Bmt and the surrounding areas-Nederland. While there is a large population of black people, they do not run anything. Beaumont caters to the white and wealthy. If you have money and aren't into the 'latest' of anything, you may enjoy retiring there. It can be very peaceful, but that's because there's nothing to do besides eat. The town is primarily-or rather is-republican.
Just because your husband works in Bmt don't think you have to live there. As other posters mentioned, Nederland and other areas are very nice. A lot of people, students and employees, commute.
As far as doctors go, if you have a serious medical condition, please do not count on Bmt's medical facilities and staff to offer any great assistance. A lot of people travel to Houston for serious conditions or for medical care period, Bmt is very basic and behind in the medical field as well.
You have many options to choose from as far as schools go. It just depends on the environment you prefer for your children. I was born and raised in Bmt.
Also, I agree that there's some Louisiana in Beaumont, and a little-or a lot- of Mexico lol. You could call Bmt tex-mex-iana ;-)
p.s Bmt is short for Beaumont.

[NewBi10]

Originally Posted by CRBoyd91

I try to be helpful when I can and I just want them to know that it has issues but is a very livable area. Hell I wish Houston still had Time Warner Cable like they do...

I agree. Heck, I've lived there my whole life...even though the whole time I was there I was wishing I lived somewhere else .

And as far as the cable, people in Bmt are saying they wish they had fiber optic cable like Houston does...well those that know about it

[vintagestrat08]

Let me begin by saying that I by no means like this area but I've lived here and SWLA basically my entire life.

I don't like seeing people bashing Vidor for being racist. This simply is not true. Perhaps some of the older folks are but the new generations are just as accepting as anyone else. In my experience, Lumberton has a much worse attitude forward minorities than Vidor does.

If the OP hasn't moved yet, they should consider Vidor. Low crime, decent schools (better than bmt at least) and is growing. They just passed the alcohol propositions so Vidor will no longer be dry.

Oh and the weather here absolutely blows. Nobody has mentioned that so far.. I'm posting on New Year's Eve and it is 77* with 70% humidity. wow.

[vengefulangel]

U know people may be poor over there bt those "colonias" are waaaay better than beaumont and port arthur and the people are nicer too

[300]

Originally Posted by v2four

I dont know what city you are currently living in, but Beaumont, which is the largest city in the golden triangle (Beaumont, Port Arthur, Orange) is a still a lil sleepy country town that lacks big time city amenities.....if you have kids in school, good luck..the school district in Beaumont, Beaumont ISD, is one of the worst in southeast texas......the city is split along racial lines, with most of the middle and upper class living on the west side of town, and the working class living on the east and south sides..

downtown Beaumont, if you call it that, is about five or six blocks.......people who were born and raised there dont know any better...Beaumont is their dream city....but I wish you luck while you are there, and hopefully, the next job will be the exit out of there.

born and raised in beaumont left to houston 3 days after i finished high school, i must say most of what u said is true but i cannot agree with the school district being bad because i happen to think its very good. Now i say this and i hope no one is offended the whites in beaumont really hate the supertident because he is black and one of the highest paid in the country, he doesn't do a bad job i would say above average. One of the programs helped teach kids like myself who suffer from add and other leaning disabilities function in academic areas 3 college degrees later i would say it worked. As far as night life thee is none. Food there sucks, shopping sucks STD rates are through the roof for all races. My advice move to the country hampshire fannett or something good area great people