Moving to Beaumont

[prabodh]

We are planning to move to Beaumont in early January as I got employment there, but concern about my kinds public school enrollment.

Our eldest son was born on December 23, 2000 and he is in Grade 3. Youngest son was born on September 11, 2003 and he is in kindergarten. When we move to Beaumont, will they be enrolled into the same grade levels? If not are there any other options? Could you kindly advise me on this issue? I appreciate your time and effort. Thank you

PI

[texdav]

Originally Posted by tstone

The Beaumont area almost stands apart from the rest of Texas. It's like the Louisiana of Texas. Some locals I've met here align with SW Louisiana the most and look at the Houston/Corpus/San Antonio mega-region as ''another world.'' The Beaumont area is what I consider the southwestern-most extension of the Deep South. In several ways, this area is easily a couple decades behind Houston. In other ways it's a bit more liberal. For single guys with loose morals, I'd say it's pretty good. But at least if you want to be in a huge city for the weekends, it's only 1.5 hours away (average, +/- 30 mins depending on which side). I don't think you'll have anything to worry about - most people are friendly and there are folks from all over the country here.

As for hurricane Ike, I'm pretty sure Beaumont stayed high & dry. Other places closer to the water like Bridge City and Sabine Pass didn't fare well at all, but that's what happens when you live near marshes & sloughs at near-sea level. Every place on Earth has some sort of natural disaster potential you have to prepare for.

If you're moving to the area from the outside, you're probably here to jump on the gravy train. The work over the next 2 years is the only reason I'm here. After looking around, I decided to just keep my home in Houston and drive the 180 mile round trip M-F, if that means anything.

Actually Houston area is much like beaumont and only like 89 miles away.The land is exactly like beaumont that surounds it. The industry much the same too. Once you get north of Beaumont you are into the piney woods that is different than Houston.Houston is just a big city on the same type of area as Beaumont. Ther are baoyus and areas of Houston that really flood badly even in a tropical storm. Luckliy IKe was a strom surge even and noit a real wind or rain event iIfor some areas.But I was shpocked at the wind damage in many parts of Houston.But then they haven'y has a hurricane for along time and were not as prepared as many areas that have.

[orbius]

Live 30 minutes north of Beaumont beyond the treeline, less pollution. I knew a guy who was high up in a chemical plant in Port Neches and he commuted over an hour each way to work because of the health risks if you didnt live beyond the tree line.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by texdav

Actually Houston area is much like beaumont and only like 89 miles away.The land is exactly like beaumont that surounds it. The industry much the same too. Once you get north of Beaumont you are into the piney woods that is different than Houston.Houston is just a big city on the same type of area as Beaumont. Ther are baoyus and areas of Houston that really flood badly even in a tropical storm. Luckliy IKe was a strom surge even and noit a real wind or rain event iIfor some areas.But I was shpocked at the wind damage in many parts of Houston.But then they haven'y has a hurricane for along time and were not as prepared as many areas that have.

A lot of the the wind damage in my area was due to small tornados, at least that's what it looked like in my back yard. Straight lines of trees & fences were down, my basil garden was uprooted, and one of my fence 4x4's was snapped in half. But aside from some weathered paint, the house was unscathed. A few homes in our area sustained missing shingles, but no worse. The storm surge only damaged the immediate coast on the west side of Galveston bay, but it rushed in 10+ miles to Hwy 73 & farther north, bringing those barges with it. The surge damage on the east half of 73 looks unreal, cleanup is still going on, and it still smells like all kinds of death out there.

I recently looked at some detailed topo maps, and noticed there is a larger elevation increase in the Houston 'bay area' vs. farther east. I'm about 7 miles from the bay but 25' above sea level. Farther inland, Sugar Land is about 40ish miles from the Gulf and 85' above sea level. The elevation is undetectable to the eye, but it means everything when it comes to storm surges. For instance, look at what happened in Orange (and Hwy 73).

But I agree that terrain/environment of Beaumont & Houston is nearly identical. I'm in both areas every day and only see a few small differences. In the summer it seems to rain a bit more in the Golden Triangle, it's not quite as hot, but it's noticably more foggy & humid. When you get to the western stretches of Houston, you're entering S Central TX. The other is when you get way south of Beaumont you're in the marsh/wetlands which is much more dramatic than the wetland area around, say, Tiki Island. Otherwise there's no difference as you said.

So the look is very similar, but when I said "another world" I meant in terms of culture. Sorry I wasn't clear. It's quite a bit different. The point I was making is that the Golden Triangle is still heavily Cajun and hasn't turned into Northeast Mexico (yet).

[lovelytexasleo]

Myself and my entire family are relocating to Beaumont next month. We are not ready to purchase a home just yet, so can anyone tell me who to talk to when looking for rental property?