Moving from the UK to Beaumont area (Houston, Dallas: high crime, how much)

[kadams1965]

Hi there, we are relocating to the Beaumont area in the next 5/6 months from England. I'm originally from Massachusetts, but my Dad and stepmother live in Beaumont. My Dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's early last summer, and my stepmother has pleaded with us to come down to them. (We originally were going to go to South Carolina) Until we get settled, we are actually going to stay in my stepmother's beach cabin in Gilchrist. We would like to settle in a small town atmosphere, not too bad of a drive to Beaumont, and I would like somewhere oldy worldy iykwim. Some place with history to it, but no over the top expensive. Both my husband (he's british) and I will have to work, so also need to be near to where we can find decent employment. We are both Administrative types, although I'm happy to do anything and have done all sorts in my life. I'm a Qualified Holistic therapist over here, but will have to retrain in order to work as one in Texas. If anyone out there is in the industry, I sure would appreciate some help with courses and how I would get licensed.

The other thing is that my Mom is also moving with us from Massachusetts. She would love to live where there is plenty of things for seniors to do.

Oh yes, got two small boys too, so schools are important.

Any help greatly appreciated,

Karen x

[destin04]

Wow! That's going to be move! I would pull all the threads for that area...which would be Port Arthur, Nederland, SE Texas. Over the last 6 months I've seen a lot about that area. I know you want to stay away from the Port Arthor area ...as from what I've read it is a high crime area and littered with gangs. I would specifically pull anything you can find about Nederland. I've heard good things happen there.

[aggie2005]

Lumberton or Mid-County

[Trainwreck20]

Personally, I would locate somewhere north of B-PA proper (such as Lumberton, mentioned above). There are some rural areas up there that are very nice, too, and you are a little further inland in case of 'seasonal weather' .

[uglyblackjohn]

Like everywhere..Beaumont is what you make of it. The area has a tremendous amount of natural resources (somewhat under-utilized) and is really affordable. Depending on which part of town you live, it's pretty nice. I'd also recommend stayong north of PA itself. There is an (almost) antebellum mentality here but maybe you could import some true culture to the area. If you move to BMT stay west of I-10

[msallen]

If you're still looking, there is a lovely place called Highpoint on the N/W side of Beaumont. It's a new private gated subdivision on RFD Road. You would have to get ahold of the builder to check out a floor plan and the lots are zero property lot lines. The reason it's called HighPoint is that it's the highest elevation in Beaumont. Also this side of town is growing at a pretty good pace.

[doctorjef]

Oh yes, Lumberton has such a lovely aroma! The paper mills there are surprisingly stinky. It's equivlaent to stockyards type odor. What a freakin' pit -- I can't believe people are suggesting it as a place to move. Maybe if you're some kind of trailer trash you'd feel right at home. Beaumont is hardly the big city! There are some nice old neighborhoods within the city proper - wooded, quiet, solid older construction. Everything else around the area is a PIT!

[achickenchaser]

I'd have to personally agree about places like Lumberton. I don't know why everyone who moves to the area feels the need to run off to 95 percent white towns. But, hey, if that's you thing, I guess you should go right ahead.

It's more of an upper middle class suburban town these days (Lumberton). Although you can clearly see that wasn't always the case.

Beaumont, while it'll likely never make any 'Best Places to Live' list has some areas that are nice and low on crime. The west end is your best bet. Traffic can be a pain, but it's not as bad as a real big city like Dallas or Houston.

Really things aren't that bad overall for the place. Port Arther on the other hand...well....never mind

[doctorjef]

I lived in Beaumont for thirteen months and actually felt the place was sort of a best kept secret in Texas -- I mean few people have been there but it's really interesting and quite different to other places in the state. There is a very strong cajun influence from Louisiana, with many French surnames in the local population. I thought the older neighborhoods in the west end were very pretty. I had an extremely absorbing, challenging job when I lived there, so I didn't get bored. However, without that I think I would find the place pretty boring. It didn't have exactly brilliant restaurants, though there were some good places of more the home cooking variety. I thought there were a lot of people there with very racist attitudes and I wonder how much that has changed over the last twenty years. The humidity there is pretty awful, though not any worse than Houston. I think it's an interesting place to visit; I wouldn't wish to live there.

[orbius]

Live North of the treeline in Beaumont or on or near a large body of water. The area is one of the most polluted in the country and having a buffer against that is adviseable for ones health. If you're think I'm exagerrating this was the advice I got from a chemical plant manager who worked in Port Neches.