Corpus Christi-Good place to move to? (Houston, Dallas: high crime, credit, house prices)

[changeofpace]

We love Flour Bluff. There is a small section of Flour Bluff that is older and primarily rental housing that is in bad shape but the rest of Flour Bluff has new homes, some ranches and a new shopping area. As with any area and city, areas go down hill due to unkept property and areas improve dramatically due to new homes and developments coming in. Flour Bluff is improving big time. Even the temperatures change from the north side of Corpus to the southside (Flour Bluff and Padre Island) as much as 10 degrees many days. The temperature of Corpus is officially recorded at the airport which is on the north side and basically in the middle of open farm land.

[DutchessCottonPuff]

Originally Posted by corpusrat
I have lived in corpus for a very long time. It will be a huge culture shock for you. For one we have very high crime. People just visiting corpus have absolutely no say in how good of a city it is. They probably stayed on the island the whole time

The ghetto is every where. CHeap housing, but you'll live right int he middle of crime the entire time. Better get your conceal carry.

Good bars open up but the ghetto finds them before long.. then if you look at someone the wrong way expect to get beaten.. Corpus has a very high agrevated assault crime rate. YOu can look this information up if you dont believe me. Corpus crime is very high considering how small it is. Also has very many sex offenders. for every 400 or so people in corpus at least 1 is a registered sex offender.

the economy is very depressed.. THis is partly because of the city government. They try to make it a tourist city, but fail to offer incentives for good jobs to come in and to keep good people in the city.

I'd keep looking if I was you. Austin texas is a much nicer place. Similar rents. Renting in corpus is expensive because there are literally thousands of home foreclosures thanks to crazy lending practices by banks. subprime hit corpus like a rock.

Austin has a lot of high paying jobs, lots of colleges, highly educated people are the majority. Also there is tons of culture there where as corpus has nothing.

Corpus has lots of potential, but it has always had just that.. potential.. the city government does nothing to bring high class to the city.. that is why it's poor and you can get "cheap rent" which is what you are after.. Even though rents are high right now..

I'm sorry but you really can't find a great place by the ocean and expect it to be cheap. Everyone loves the coast.. so nice cities with things to do and low crime will only attract high paying jobs and big houses and big rents."





This is all true ,,, I rarely leave the island now unless I have too and in a few more years I will have to leave even if I dont want , one of the reasons we are looking to move now ..... as far as the high rents keeping the riff raff out of Port Aransas ,,, I grew up there and came from a very nice family , but was finally driven out 2 years ago because I could no longer afford 1500 a month for a closet , i grew up in a beautiful older home there.

There is a BIG issue in the Port a south jetty with the city council complaining that most all the PAISD graduates will not be able to move back home after they have been away to school ...HUGE property taxes= Huge rents

[texbeach]

Yes,I believe the coast would be great for anyone who enjoys water sports, good weather, hot weather, mild winter, and small town life with large city amenities. We are thinking about moving there in next 3-5 years. Looking for property to invest in and possibly start a bbq business there

[KerryB]

Originally Posted by KerryB

No offense to anyone, but Corpus is a hole & the people in charge are VERY ass-backwards.

Someone mentioned above that CC was geared towards tourists. I do not agree at all. They simply don't have anything. No shopping, no restaurants worth mentioning, no attractions, nothing. They once wanted to build a Sea World in Corpus, the people turned it down. Recently, businesses wanted to put in an upscale shopping/restaurant district downtown, the people instead voted for some lame boardwalk with carnival rides. And most recently, they wanted to put in a high end hotel resort on the beach, but the people voted against because they simply didnt wanna give up a bit of their beach that couldn't be driven on. CC is in DESPERATE need of these things, but it seems the people dont want it & want CC to stay the way it is. Thats great, but it gets old having to drive to San Antonio to do any kind of real shopping or eat out at a decent restaurant.

Corpus is good for retirees & people who enjoy fishing, boating & other activities like that who just wanna relax & get away from it all. And the weather is beautiful, there is hardly no humidity & it never rains. But, those looking for even a hint of culture, educated people & just general things to do are gonna be disappointed. There's one single grocery chain (HEB), a Whataburger on every corner & the beaches generally suck unless you go to one of the parks where cars aren't allowed & they take better care of it.

Not trying to sound so negative, but its the truth.

I still feel that way, even after visiting again recently. If you notice, most the people singing Corpus' praises are the ones who have probably lived there most of (if not all) their lives. Which is fine, there is nothing wrong with that. But almost every person I knew that lived there coming from outta town (especially those who travel a lot) hated it & couldn't wait to move.

[NOTAM]

exactly. i know everyone has had enough of people bashing south texas and corpus etc, but the fact is, after i was misplaced from Texas, i was SO excited to come back. when i got that job offer with lots of money attached to it, i wanted NOTHING MORE than to come back to my home state, and ALSO have a "coastal backyard"................i was so disappointed. couldn't wait to move to just about any other part of Texas but there. now i am in Central Texas, far from any shoreline, and sure i would love to be near the Gulf Coast but the difference between my quality of life down there and up here is night and day.

Originally Posted by KerryB

I still feel that way, even after visiting again recently. If you notice, most the people singing Corpus' praises are the ones who have probably lived there most of (if not all) their lives. Which is fine, there is nothing wrong with that. But almost every person I knew that lived there coming from outta town (especially those who travel a lot) hated it & couldn't wait to move.

[changeofpace]

No restaurants or upscale shopping???? After 4 visits (2 weeks each time) and going on 4 months in Corpus there is nothing we have wanted or needed that we have not found in Corpus. Since we moved from Minnesota to Corpus we had an estate sale and sold almost all of our furniture. We built a new home so also needed all new window treatments, rugs, linens, etc. We found everything from upscale to Wal-Mart and everything in between in Corpus. Since we moved from Minnesota we also had to update some of our wardrobe and once again found everything from top end to Wal-Mart priced clothing. Seems some people think a city of 300,000 people should have or welcome everything that a city of a million plus population has. So far we have met dozens and dozens of transplants from all over the country (8 of the 10 homes in our development are from various parts of the country and so far they have the same opinion of Corpus we have, lovin it) and they chose Corpus over many other cities they had considered because of the way it is.
We looked at the pros and cons of Corpus and still look at the pros and cons, and so far pros FAR out number the cons.

[awecelot]

Some people need a Neiman-Marcus to be happy. If you want real shopping in Corpus, the Padre Staples mall should suffice...that is a very good mall (anchored by JCPenney, Dillard's, and Macy's) and it's only going to get better with their announced renovation.

[KerryB]

Just FYI, any mall with JCPenney in it that has a merry-go-round & sells guns out in the open isn't considered high end.

[gabetx]

Originally Posted by KerryB

Just FYI, any mall with JCPenney in it that has a merry-go-round & sells guns out in the open isn't considered high end.

There is a gun shop in the mall? Where at? And there is nothing wrong with JcPenny's.

I don't know if you are one of those high class snobby people, but there are several malls in Houston and San Antonio that have JcPenny's anchored in it. Does that mean that they suck too?

I think Padre Staples Mall is a pretty nice mall. Its kind of small though, but Corpus isn't a big city.

Not to mention the company that just bought the mall is going to make it bigger, add a new food court, put a skywalk over Staples to the Staples Center, (they are making that part of the mall now too), making an outdoor area to it.

And other things Corpus is getting are the Crosstown Commons Lifestyle Center, kind of like an outdoor mall, and an outlet mall by Robstown and Calallen. This doesn't even include all of the new neighborhoods popping up down FM 624 and on the southside. Developement has gone across Oso Creek now making the amount of land left for developement pretty much endless.

Corpus is a pretty nice city. Especially for its size. Its not much different from San Antonio or Houston other than the fact that they are bigger cities and have more of the same stuff over and over and over again. And just because I have lived here for most of my life is not the reason I am saying this, I have been to San Antonio and Houston a number of countless times.

Corpus Christi has a lot to offer as well. Sure we have missed out on an oppurtunity we shouldn't have passed up on, (Sea World), but the city still has a lot of stuff. Arena football, professional baseball, ivision I college basketball and baseball, professional hockey, the Lexington, Texas State Aquarium, a very nice art museum, the island, decent shopping to say the least, and numerous outdoor activities.

You can't say Corpus isn't anything like bigger cities, because it is. It just isn't based around rich people with the richest of the rich and rediculously highly overpriced stores. It has all of the shopping, but not 20 of the same thing in it. Like Circuit City and Best Buy, they are at every corner of the street in Houston and San Antonio. Who needs 30 of the same thing when there is one of them within 20 miles of home.

The only thing I can say about what Corpus needs to do is annex Robstown into the city and US 77 from Calallen to Robstown, make it a 6 lane highway and make another "SPID" out here. The population can support it. From Rand Morgan all the way to Robstown there is about 55,000 people.

Anyways, flame me and Corpus if you want, but theres my two sense on the topic!

[KerryB]

Originally Posted by gabetx

There is a gun shop in the mall? Where at? And there is nothing wrong with JcPenny's.

I don't know if you are one of those high class snobby people, but there are several malls in Houston and San Antonio that have JcPenny's anchored in it. Does that mean that they suck too?

Anyways, flame me and Corpus if you want, but theres my two sense on the topic!

Last time I went to that mall there was (summer of '07). It was on one of those side areas thats close to the side entrance doors. There was a little mini convenient store next to it. But yes, all that was inside the mall & they did sell guns (I think for hunting).

No, I'm not high class nor snobby, just stating the facts. No I dont think JCPenney's sucks (I buy slacks from there). Just saying its not considered high end, so no need to pretend like it is. If you've been to San Antonio, go to The Shops At La Cantera. Thats what people refer to when they think of more high end malls, not JCPenney's anchored malls. OK?? Its not an insult.

Not once did I flame anyone or Corpus for that matter. I spoke highly of it in some regards. I called the people in charge ass-backwards, but I think most residents who have lived there would agree with that.

I think you need to stop being so defensive. Just saying, don't BS people, Corpus is what it is. Some like it, some don't don't. Deal with it.