What part of town should I live in? (Austin, Corpus Christi: for sale, rent)

[pjstroh]

I'm a single guy with no kids so I dont care about schools...and my career allows me to live wherever I want.

So....if I lived in CC my criteria would be:
- 3 Bedroom house with a pool for under 250K
- Safe area
- Within 5-10 mins of good shopping / restaurants / downtown

Also, How far inland should you live to be reasonably safe from a typical hurricane?

Thanks

[CptnRn]

How do you define reasonably safe? The worst hurricane damage is usually from storm surge in combination with the high winds, so avoiding the beach is the first step in choosing a safer location. Most of the barrier islands will be underwater in a hurricane. How far inland? For the most part I'd say 60 miles inland. Hurricanes die down pretty fast once they are over land. But I've seen the tropical storm remnants of a hurricane drop so much rain it caused flooding as far inland as 60 miles North of Austin, and the massive rains caused flooding all along the Colorado River from the highland lakes all the way down to the coast. You can avoid the flooding by staying away from the flood zones of all rivers. Tropical storms also tend to spin off lots of tornados.

[CptnRn]

//www.city-data.com/forum/corpu...s-christi.html

[txsizzler]

Originally Posted by pjstroh

I'm a single guy with no kids so I dont care about schools...and my career allows me to live wherever I want.

So....if I lived in CC my criteria would be:
- 3 Bedroom house with a pool for under 250K
- Safe area
- Within 5-10 mins of good shopping / restaurants / downtown

Also, How far inland should you live to be reasonably safe from a typical hurricane?

Thanks

There is alot of areas around Corpus and surrounding areas that could easily qualify for your $250k price tag. The best areas in Corpus tend to be on the Southside of SPID, along Ocean Drive (although those homes would likely be above the $250k), some areas of Calallen (west Corpus). I would broaden your search to include Portland and Ingleside as well (lots of homes for sale, due to the base closure at Ingleside).

As far as hurricane safety, no area along the coast will be completely safe. I would not buy a home anywhere on the Island, as CptRn said, they will be washed over during tidal surge. Portland, Flour Bluff are reasonably safe from tidal surge, due to the shallowness of the bays that surround them, and the Bluff zones by both areas that are above sea level. The further in you go, the lower the impact of a hurricane, as they lose alot of muscle once inland. Like CptRn said, tornadoes are another big issue with hurricanes, as they spin off of them. Your largest damage makers are tidal surge, followed by wind damage, which is why you MUST have wind insurance when buying a home.

Thankfully, Corpus Christi is in an area along the coast that the typical hurricane path isn't on (not to say it won't happen... as it HAS happened), so it is somewhat safer than say, Galveston, Palacios, Port Arthur, or S. Padre Island. If you do move here, be sure to have a hurricane preparedness kit ready, and know the routes used for travel in and out of the city. Have a plan in place should something present itself.


Ian

[jbtx]

I agree, the south side is probably the best bet,,, 250K will buy a very nice house in some very nice neighborhoods. The pool,,, I dunno. The better Ocean Drive homes prolly run well in excess of 250K, more likely closer to 500-750K and up.

There are very nice areas in Calallen where 250K will also work, and Calallen is a much higher elevation and 30+ miles from the gulf if you are worried about hurricanes, but also a long way from the upscale shopping and eateries. In other words, you can't be within 5-10 mins of good shopping, restaurants, and downtown Corpus Christi, and not be in a hurricane vulnerable area.

'Sway it is.

[Marlow]

Another area to look at is a few blocks on either side of Alameda from Ayers to Ocean Drive. There are some nice houses in there that fit your criteria.

[SOM]

Originally Posted by Marlow

Another area to look at is a few blocks on either side of Alameda from Ayers to Ocean Drive. There are some nice houses in there that fit your criteria.

I second this. My favorite part of town by far....mature neighborhoods, trees, houses with character, no traffic, close to the bay (but not in a flood zone), lots of shopping (relatively speaking.....it is CC), close to downtown.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by SOM

I second this. My favorite part of town by far....mature neighborhoods, trees, houses with character, no traffic, close to the bay (but not in a flood zone), lots of shopping (relatively speaking.....it is CC), close to downtown.

This map shows the 100 year flood plain for Corpus, most of that area is safe from flooding. I was not sure if that included storm surge, but it must. The barrier island is shown in the flood plain, which has to be storm surge since the ocean doesn't flood any other way.

http://www.cctexas.com/files/g33/100...oddplain%2Epdf

[SharonD38]

Hello, we are a military family moving to CC. Trying to decide on schools and areas to live. I will have a child in PreK, Elem, Middle & high so trying to find the best area to support all that. My husband will teaching at A&am so the drive would be great if it was under an hour. I would like to try to be somewhat closer to the water for boating and beaches and what not. We could rent or buy house price range of 250-325,000. TIA

[Marlow]

Originally Posted by SharonD38

Hello, we are a military family moving to CC. Trying to decide on schools and areas to live. I will have a child in PreK, Elem, Middle & high so trying to find the best area to support all that. My husband will teaching at A&am so the drive would be great if it was under an hour. I would like to try to be somewhat closer to the water for boating and beaches and what not. We could rent or buy house price range of 250-325,000. TIA

You'd have to work hard to live in CC and have an hour commute to TAMUCC.

In your budget you should be able to find a nice house just about anywhere. I like the area within a few blocks of Alameda from Ocean Drive to about Ayers. That encompasses King and Ray High Schools, but I'm not as sure about the others. There is an IB program (used to be called Athena program) for GT kids that all of your kids would be eligible to test into. Your high schooler might not even have to test--s/he may just be able to go. It's at Ray High School, but you can live anywhere in the city and go there. Most of the newer school buildings are on the Southside, which is roughly anything south of South Padre Island Dr. I'm not up on school ratings like I used to be so you'll need to check that out on other sites.

You could also look in Flour Bluff which has a good school district and is an easy commute to TAMUCC. Portland, Tuloso-Midway, London and Calallen also have pretty good school districts. Portland and Calallen would be the longest commutes, but still not an hour unless there's a wreck somewhere.

Welcome and I hope you enjoy it here.