Lake Jackson or Texas City (Houston, Beaumont: neighborhoods, construction, high school)

[punagal]

Does the chemical plants put out any unhealthy stuff in the air?? The volcano here puts out sulpher dioxide. And I've lived in smoggy Calif for years too. I guess I shouldnt stress on it Ha! Its kind of late to worry about it now.

[punagal]

Great, I like it even better. Thanks to all for your info!

[jfre81]

Originally Posted by punagal

Does the chemical plants put out any unhealthy stuff in the air??

I suppose you'll get used to it. Lake Jackson is a lot better than Texas City in that regard. I grew up, for the most part, in Texas City; I lived in Brazoria County (Alvin) for several years and have spent a fair amount of time in the Brazosport area (Lake Jackson, Clute, Freeport/Velasco, Richwood, Oyster Creek). Most of the refineries are in Clute and Freeport, but during the late spring and summer your prevailing winds are blowing north and bringing it more in the direction of Lake Jackson which is in the northwest corner of the Brazosport "metro area" (for lack of a better descriptor; there isn't anything more "metropolitan" than a mall and a Wal-Mart there).

As for Texas City, well, the people who first laid out my hometown had the refineries and the port to the south of the part of town where people lived and continue to live. There was a chemical spill the day before Halloween in 1987 and an explosion in 2005. And even when nothing out of the ordinary is going on you'll hear the emergency siren being tested every Wednesday at noon.

Lake Jackson itself is the most white-collar area around there, and closer toward Clute it's typical Texas coastal refinery town. I'd say safer crime-wise than Texas City or Port Arthur or any comparable place. But Lake Jackson is still not very "upper crust" and you can probably find a nice house there for relatively little. For that matter, Texas City has several clusters of $150K+ houses just like in Lake Jackson that might command three or four times that in Houston (e.g. West U., Heights) Also, in the Brazosport area you can go down a road and hardly know when you're going out of one municipality and into the other. It just kind of flows together. I kind of think of Lake Jackson, Freeport, Clute and Richwood as just being one city.

Oh, and when someone in Lake Jackson tells you to make a turn onto "this way" or "that way" they are almost definitely meaning specifically the streets named "This Way" and "That Way." That and the layout of the roads (in Lake Jackson and in Clute as well) are confusing to just about everyone who isn't from there.

[Eastender67]

Surfing on the Texas Gulf Coast would only be comparable to your NORMAL Hawaii surfing during one of our infrequent hurricanes. So, you might as well move to the north side of town unless you can get that 3/2 on 17 acres near Lake Jackson for whatever. If your husband loves his surfing that much you best stay put.
P.S. Some times our air smells like volcanoes (or worse) and we don't even have them.

[punagal]

Ha! Thanks.That was great info!Will do my homework before making the move,(Dont want to end up divorced over it ha! Also contemplating North Carolina and the outer banks. Will see.Sure do like the folks in Texas though,God Bless!

[sunny57]

After Hawaii the beachs here in Texas will be a major let down... minimal wave action and muddy water. If possible, check out the Corpus Christi area, cleaner water a bit more action...wave that is. I have no idea of property costs, just prefer the area. Check out Official web site for City of Corpus Christi, Texas

I lived two years in Lake Jackson 1988-1990...it was just...ok. Best of luck...Sunny.

[punagal]

Mahalo Sunny! I'll check it out

[ouidamarie]

Hello-

I thought you might like to know what to expect from the beach. This is the live video from surfside beach (about 12 miles from Lake Jackson).

Surfhouse Surfcam

I live in Lake Jackson. My home is a lovely corner lot in a great neighborhood. We have 2800 sf, 4 bedroom and 2.5 baths. We paid 180,000. Smaller houses in my neighborhood sell from around 160,000.

Hope this helps.

V.

[Svensk08]

Anyone considering a move to areas near the Gulf should be aware that virtually all towns along the Texas Gulf Coast are in mandatory evacuation zones when a hurricane approaches.

[JoeAngelina]

Originally Posted by punagal

Thanks ! We are in our 40s, Kids are grown and out of the nest so and just want to cash out of the house over here. I was hoping to be up in the North Houston area but hubby is not going to turn in the surf board yet Ha! And I was happy to see you can actually surf down there.Galveston is a little too close for me (cause of Hurricane issues) -but I would settle for something more inland. We will have around 130,000 to 150,000 to buy a home and Lake Jackson sounds good ,Is this budget for a decent area in L.J?Mahalo for your inputs!! Pearland has a better shopping?

If you live anywhere in the Houston area, you will be in hurricane territory. Hurricane Ike knocked out power all over Houston (including north) as well as Beaumont. I am heading back to California! I'll take an earthquake over a hurricane any day. Good luck to you.