An advisory for future residents.

[jmack227]

I agree, seems like if any development goes in in Corpus, It is south side, this could leviate all the traffic that might come with the development, all though years away, With Schillterbaun being built I am sure many businesses want to build in south side.

[Austen02]

Originally Posted by MisanthropicJerk

As someone that has now lived here for two years, facilitated by work, I'd like to give some insight into what to expect and what not to expect. I have lived all across the western United States so I have quite a bit to compare it to. This post should not be read by the easily offended, but rather by the people that want to hear a no bull**** perspective on the city.

To begin with, I am someone that values free thought, intelligence, and progress in a city. You will find none of which here. Now, I understand that this is a relatively small city, however I still expect to see a relative level of progress. "But, MisanthropicJerk," you say, "you've only lived there for two years. How could you possibly observe and judge progress?" To which I'd respond, "You'll just have to trust my intuition. I do not see progress ever happening--degradation, maybe."

From what I've observed, there is a common low level of intellect and high level of obesity around here (it's very possible that these two things go hand in hand). This is a blanket statement, however true nonetheless. Don't expect people to know how to drive, either. People here are comfortable with their rinky-dink setup and lack of progress. If you expect a thriving small city with progression in mind, you will not find it. There is a single grocery store chain (H.E.B.) with a heavy monopoly on the town. DirecTV hasn't rolled out HD local channels until most likely later this year. Few parts of town outside the grossly overpriced Padre Island are nice, and still have very poor zoning regardless. As I type this, there is graffiti all over the fence outside of my upper-middle-class neighborhood in South Side which, while upper-middle-class, is about as nice as it gets in town. Schools here are a joke, consisting of poor education and very little diversity. By that I mean that the nearest one consists of 80% Mexican ethnicity. This serves some utility, however, as it's easy to spot my blonde haired kid when picking him up from school. The weather is pretty nasty too. I've lived in very hot climates, but it's the humidity here that kills you--so unbelievably pasty. I don't even feel like going outside during the summer. The city also has extremely high property tax for God knows what reason.

Furthermore, don't be surprised if you don't find things here that you once expected as common necessity, like Panda Express, a good bagel joint (My Favorite Muffin is horrible), or Krispy Kreeme Donuts. The city is very underdeveloped considering its population. There are, however, a few placeholder stores for which I am humbly thankful for, like Altex Electronics (in contrast to Fry's) and Sam's Club (In contrast to the vastly superior Costco. Sam's Club isn't much cheaper than Walmart, from what I've observed). There are two malls in town. One of which is extremely run down and hasn't much other than a few shops and the other is rather nice. There is also very little to do here other than fish or go to one of the two movie theaters in town.

The good? It's cheap. As what some may find to be a Northern extension of Mexico, the housing is extremely inexpensive, with some of the most expensive houses in the mainland costing no more than $400,000, and your average upper-middle-class home costing $150,000-$250,000. This of course, is offset by the high property tax.

Now, who should live here? I don't advise anyone to. If, however, you have a particular tolerance of dullness and sheepish follower personalities, this city may be for you. Myself? I'd like to get out of here as soon as possible.

I just have to say that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE what you have written here! I had the horrible experience of living in Corpus for 5 years and I 100% agree with everything you have said. You pretty much took the words right out of my mouth!! Thankfully I finally escaped that place in 2010 and will NEVER EVER be back!

[MisanthropicJerk]

Originally Posted by jmack227

I agree, seems like if any development goes in in Corpus, It is south side, this could leviate all the traffic that might come with the development, all though years away, With Schillterbaun being built I am sure many businesses want to build in south side.

Whichever clown decided to do road work on Staples all at once pretty much put a hault to any commercial progress on Staples over the course of 2012. Bad move. I'm sure people are going out of business directly as result of that road work.

Originally Posted by Austen02

I just have to say that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE what you have written here! I had the horrible experience of living in Corpus for 5 years and I 100% agree with everything you have said. You pretty much took the words right out of my mouth!! Thankfully I finally escaped that place in 2010 and will NEVER EVER be back!

Jesus. Finally some support of this post. I actually am finally, just now, relocating to the Dallas area. I couldn't be happier. Will be gone within two weeks. The best I can do is to think of it as a mere 2 year speedbump.

[JasonAndJulie]

Dallas is great. Get in a nice suburb and you'll be golden. Congrats on your move.