long term rentals (not looking for a vacation rental) in South Padre Island? (Port Isabel: RV park, low income)

[subanots]

Hello all,

Im new here. I have been reading a bunch of threads about the Texas coast (and Texas in general) on this site.

My girlfriend and I are considering a moved to the Texas coast, preferably the southern end. Its still 6 months away, but Im already doing some research on areas that I feel drawn to.

My girlfriend is from Arizona and I am Alaska born and Montana raised. We are currently living in the high desert of Central Oregon. We are tired of cold weather and miss the water. I lived on an island in AK during high school, and she lived in a small town on the California coast when she was young.

We like the idea of never having to drive in snow, and not having to wear long johns ever again.... lol.

The Oregon coast is nice, but too cold. California isnt an option, for a number of reasons. I think the furthest east we want to go is Texas, so that gives us the whole Texas coast to choose from. We dont want to live in Florida or anywhere else on the east coast for that matter. (no offense meant)

I have been looking around the net for information, and I cant seem to find any property management sources for South Padre Island. All I can find is places that have furnished, vacation type rentals with weekly rates.

Does the island have any normal rentals? Ya know, for people who want to work for a living and live in one place for 6 months to a year?

I would appreciate any info from you all.

Thanks in advance!

[ChristieP]

Most people don't live permanently on SPI. They usually live in Port Isabel and drive over the causeway to the island. Remember that the causeway DOES get closed when there is a hurricane approaching, and it has also been hit by boats a few times. IIRC, SPI does not have a grocery store.

[TexasNick]

Yea, there are places you can rent for a month or so. I'm sure you can get something longer. A long time ago my family and I stayed in a big condo for a month. There's a grocery store, although it's not a large name brand. I think it was Super S...I just can't recall the name. Been so long.

[texan55]

Originally Posted by ChristieP

Most people don't live permanently on SPI. They usually live in Port Isabel and drive over the causeway to the island. Remember that the causeway DOES get closed when there is a hurricane approaching, and it has also been hit by boats a few times. IIRC, SPI does not have a grocery store.

there is a decent number of people that live on south padre island permanently

they have the blue marlin grocery store as well as a CVS pharmacy.

it's been hit by a barge once, and it was a very tragic accident.


and yes... of course they close the causeway if a hurricane is approaching, they also order mandatory evacuation of the island if a hurricane is going to hit it. there's nothing wrong with that.

[subanots]

thanks for the info so far.....


bump.

[thrillobyte]

Being right next to Mexico's border, does the illegal immigration problem affect this particular area negatively like it does in California, where we are facing bankruptcy due in no small part to the heavy expenditure on health, education, & welfare for illegals? Are the drug cartel wars going on at the border affecting the safety of Americans in Port Isabel and surrounding cities?

[subanots]

good question, as we (my lady and I) are both concerned with those issues.

[svesper]

Hi everyone, I am also thinking about moving to South Padre island for a job. I would love to hear more about the island and the area surrounding it. I will be looking for a long term rental. thanx salot

[subanots]

bump!

[FarNorthDallas]

We were in South Padre last month. The majority of the people there were Spanish speaking. We rented a condo and our condo neighbor, a single white male, was a full time resident. I thought it would be a good place for someone to hide out if they needed to.

There is a grocery store, CVS, lots of big souvenir shops, restaurants (sit down and fast food - with the worst service you can imagine), bars, a small movie theatre, putt-putt place, property management companies, a post office, a water park, an RV park, a bungie jumping place, fishing boats for hire, a turtle santuary, a convention center, a very tall half built bankrupt condo complex, and then hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of condo's - highrise, midrise, low rise, two story. Plus there were some single family homes, some on stilts. And that's about it. We felt like we were in Mexico without the questionable water. Not complaining. We liked it. The beach and water were clean.

Over on the other side of the bridge - Port Isabel - there is a Walmart and public schools and other retail. It seemed like a very low income place - a lot of people living in poverty, maybe these are folks working in the service industry on South Padre??