South Padre Island? (San Antonio, Corpus Christi, Brownsville: real estate, oceanfront, condos)

[Roma]

Has anyone here lived in South Padre Island or visited? What's it like? Low crime? Enough shopping? Weather? Nice beaches? Out of all the beaches in Texas is this the best? Thanks!

[NOTAM]

embarrassed to say that even though i live pretty close, i havent been..but from what i have heard from friends and coworkers and neighbors, i hear alot of positive feedback about SPI...cant wait to take a short road trip on some days off to go check it out for myself..but it seems like everytime i take a "sunday drive" i end up in Mexico to do some shopping for cheap stuff, pharmaceuticals, liquor etc!

[bb5745]

I've been living in SPI for 5 years and will try to answer your questions...

What's it like? It's a tourist island (that's the only source of revenue for the island), so you'll find a handful of restaurants, souvenier shops, condos, hotels, and bars.

Low crime? check the crime data on this site, but personally, I can say I've never experienced any crime. Most people don't lock their homes or their cars and you always feel safe walking around any time of day.

Enough shopping? I guess it depends what kind of shopping you're looking for. There's more souvenier shops than anything, so you'll have an endless selection of 'South Padre Island' t-shirts, sunglasses and boogie boards, but that's about it for shopping. The nearest mall is 30 minutes away in Brownsville. Walmart and HEB are 5 minutes away in Port Isabel.

Weather? Typically, it's HOT from May through October (close to 100 degrees with 80 plus percent humidity) but it's always 10 degrees cooler on the island than on the surrounding mainland areas because of the cooling effects of the water from the gulf of mexico, so it's not as bad here. The rest of the year is very mild. A couple of times in the winter we'll get cold air from the north and it will drop down to 50 degrees for a couple days, but the rest of the time 70's and 80's are the norm.

Nice beaches? Out of all the beaches in Texas is this the best? Clearly the nicest beaches in Texas, as we have the cleanest water, whitest sand, and no visible oil rigs, as compared to other areas such as Galveston and Corpus Christi

The biggest downside to living here is that we're 300 miles from the nearest sizable city (San Antonio). So, things such as good live music/arts/food that a big city offers are not as easily found down here.

[Roma]

Thanks for the information.
We are here in Texas now up in Granbury on the lake but we are really ocean people and used to live oceanfront in California. We are retired and want to get back to the beach. We are looking back in Calif right now but my husband thought about maybe SPI and wants us to check it out as another option.
We thought the same thing last summer about Galveston. So I went there to check out the gulf front homes but I did not like Galveston. The prices were great though but the place was not for me. It was a hopping place though and I know real estate will keep going up in Galveston.
I always here people raving about South Padre Island. So any information will be great.
Is there a problem in SPI where the beach homes are on like what they call in Galveston (the GLO list)? Where the beach is eroding from the storms and homes have to be moved or destroyed because they now sit on the public beach?

[NOTAM]

Lake Granbury! love the area-used to live near there...navigated all those stumps in that lake with my boat! he he!
oh DEFINITELY choose SPI over Calif......lower cost of living, cheaper real estate, friendlier people, safe shopping in nearby Progreso MX
and from what i have seen, shopping on my days off in Progreso, the Winter Texans are a REALLY NICE FUN BUNCH OF FOLKS-they are so nice that it makes me re-evaluate that it wont be so bad getting old some day (i am 42 now and have been so afraid of aging)........Winter Texans are the BEST patients i have in the ER. so kind, appreciative, love life, full of community spirit and comraderie. luv em!

[Marlow]

I'm starting to sound like a broken record on here, but if you like the water, you should look at Corpus Christi. I'm not sure exactly what you're after, but it's nicer in many ways than Galveston and is a much bigger city than South Padre Island. If you're used to California prices you can easily buy a home within walking distance to Corpus Christi Bay. Or on North Padre Island if you don't mind a mandatory evacuation during a hurricane. Anyway, I'd be happy to try and answer any questions you have.

[Roma]

Thanks, Yes please tell me about Corpus Christi. Are the beaches nice? Is it a safe area? I just took a quick glance at it on a realtor site and prices are low there also compared to other places.

[Marlow]

Hi,

I wrote this in response to a question from someone who had already decided to move to Corpus Christi and was wondering whether he was going to like it. If you have any particular questions I'll try to answer them.

I do like living in CC for the most part. As I've gotten older the heat has started to bother me more, but if you loved Phoenix and have lived in Georgia, at least it won't be a surprise for you.

It's hard to know where to start. If you like water-related activities such as surfing, windsurfing, kiteboarding, sailing, kayaking, fishing, birding, etc., you'll be happy and stay busy all the time. Other things to do include minor league baseball and hockey, a symphony, two small ballet companies, community theatre, a very nice art museum, a science and history museum, Asian cultures museum and several seasonal festivals. Some relatively "big" names come to play music and do other entertainment stuff. For example Sheryl Crow, the Blue Man Group, Cher, Snoop Dogg, Shakira, the Cheetah Girls, Hilary Duff and Los Lonely Boys have all played here in the last couple of years. And of course there's all the Tejano music you could want.

CC is very relaxed and laid back, which can also be seen as having a "manana" attitude. City government is weird and so far incapable of deciding on a development direction for Corpus. As long as I've lived here there has been a discussion about how to develop downtown, but it's never happened. You can join in the discussion when you get here!

The area where you made the offer on the house is known as the Southside, which basically is anywhere south of South Padre Island Drive (S.P.I.D.). That area has boomed in the last 10-15 years. I go over there to shop and stuff, but live in the older, middle part of town. You'll have quick access to the beach from there. And there's a saying that you can get anywhere you want in Corpus in 15 minutes. (It used to be 10 ).

Some more random thoughts: There's lots of good Mexican food, and other good food, too. Oddly, there are only two sort of lame malls, but lots of strip malls out there on the Southside. And only two movie megaplexes and one dollar movie theatre. You can't get a good bagel or "real" pizza, according to my East Coast friends.

I can't really predict whether you'll like it here or not, but I'd be happy to answer any specific questions you have.

[Marlow]

Padre Island National Seashore is very nice if you're looking for unpopulated beach. Other entities, such as Nueces County and the State of Texas, own other stretches of beach with varying amenities. All of those beaches are on the Gulf of Mexico. There is also a small beach, McGee Beach, in town and also an area called Corpus Christi Beach which is on the north side of the harbor. Those beaches are on CC Bay. As a rule, I much prefer the Gulf beaches.

Like any city, there are safe areas and not-so-safe areas, so it would really depend on where you live. I think it's safe to say that most of the violent crime is drug and/or gang related and if you're not involved in drugs or gangs you don't have much to worry about. I routinely walk my dog late in the evening and am never afraid. But it's not so relaxed that we sleep with the doors unlocked.

Employment opportunities are somewhat limited depending on the kind of work that you do. The economy is based on the military, oil and gas, farming and tourism, for the most part. There's always a need for medical personnel and teachers.

[NOTAM]

i am not sure why everyone "downs" Padre Island, but I have been there a few times since moving here in October (even once during Red Tide-wow that was weird-achoo achoo cough cough!) and let me tell yall...it was SO SO NICE COMPARED to the beaches where i just came from spending 3 years at-Jeckyll Island GA, St Simons Island GA, Tybee Island GA...all the places nearby my home of Wilmington Island GA.
Padre is NICE..and if they say South Padre is even nicer, sheesh, it must be REAL NICE