Corpus Christi and surrounding communities for future retirement (Vega: home, neighborhood)

[artemis432]

Originally Posted by bellestaroftexas

for all of yall who are negative about the area, all i can say is....you have to live AWAY from Texas to appreciate Texas-and I mean ANY part of Texas. I am a West Texas girl all the way, and definitely out of place here, and it is a culture shock, but I am here in South Texas for a contract, and big money is the only reason i am here. It aint my cup of tea but let me tell ya, i am VERY thankful i am back in Texas, no matter where I am.
once i am done with the contract, and have a nice bank account, i will find my piece of paradise in the barren flatlands of the Panhandle, love it-tumbleweeds and all.
and for those who say there are only two seasons here-hot and hotter...yeah right....so why have I spent the last month bundled up in my warmest hunting gear from Cabela's? and my tall UGG Australian boots?
it's freakin freezing here

"for all you all who are negative about the area...Any part of Texas..." "No matter where I am..." Doesn't sound like the same (very helpful) girl who talked about Kingsville - is this the exception - or does it really not matter where you are in Texas - even Kingsville?

[jmco]

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to add a twist for our situation. We're a gay retired couple of guys, we've been together for over 10 years, and are considering taking a look at the Corpus Christi area for a second home to get away from the cold, dry Denver winters. What's the general attitude towards gays in Corpus? It was suggested to me by a CC native that it's a very 'live and let live' atmosphere in general, and that while there's not a large gay community presence there, that it's friendly and diverse. Opinions?

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by loose cannon

Corpus Christi looks nice. I just saw a very controversial film that was made there. It was Elvis the King. Nothing to do with the singer. A very disturbing film. I doubt if you'd like it. But, anyway it looked fairly scenic minus the oil factories.

What was it about????

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by jmco

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to add a twist for our situation. We're a gay retired couple of guys, we've been together for over 10 years, and are considering taking a look at the Corpus Christi area for a second home to get away from the cold, dry Denver winters. What's the general attitude towards gays in Corpus? It was suggested to me by a CC native that it's a very 'live and let live' atmosphere in general, and that while there's not a large gay community presence there, that it's friendly and diverse. Opinions?

I am a gay man who was born and raised in corpus, 49 years old. If you're looking for other similarly situated gay couples to go out with, I'm not so sure that you'd find it there. Judging from what I've seen, there are no gay ppl displaying PDAs either. You have each other to keep each other occupied, so maybe those things are not too important to you anyway. If you'd like something that's not too far from a more accepting metropolis, you might try Galveston. It's close to Houston, where you can "blend in" more and get your fill of the amenities of artsy movies, variety of restaurants and cultures and a significantly larger popul of gays and gay establishments. When I lived there recently, I tried in vain to find good movies to watch. Since they only have 2 theaters, it's hard to find something other than the usual mindless stuff that Hollywood puts out.

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by wehotex

I am a gay man who was born and raised in corpus, 49 years old. If you're looking for other similarly situated gay couples to go out with, I'm not so sure that you'd find it there. Judging from what I've seen, there are no gay ppl displaying PDAs either. You have each other to keep each other occupied, so maybe those things are not too important to you anyway. If you'd like something that's not too far from a more accepting metropolis, you might try Galveston. It's close to Houston, where you can "blend in" more and get your fill of the amenities of artsy movies, variety of restaurants and cultures and a significantly larger popul of gays and gay establishments. When I lived there in CC recently, I tried in vain to find good movies to watch. Since they only have 2 theaters, it's hard to find something other than the usual mindless stuff that Hollywood puts out.

Others might have a different opinion of the city. Please seek different opinions, but be open about other places too.

[Marlow]

Originally Posted by jmco

I know this is an old thread, but I wanted to add a twist for our situation. We're a gay retired couple of guys, we've been together for over 10 years, and are considering taking a look at the Corpus Christi area for a second home to get away from the cold, dry Denver winters. What's the general attitude towards gays in Corpus? It was suggested to me by a CC native that it's a very 'live and let live' atmosphere in general, and that while there's not a large gay community presence there, that it's friendly and diverse. Opinions?

Wehotex has good insight because he's gay, but I just wanted to add that I know a few gay couples who have lived here for years as well as single gay people and my sense is that if you want to march in a gay pride parade you'll be disappointed. And if you engage in PDA's you'll get funny looks--it's not NYC or the Castro. But if you want to live and hang out with gay and straight people and just go about your business you'll be fine. I'm thinking about an out gay man I know who works for the school district and has really fun parties. There's always a mixture of gay/straight people there from many professions and his sexuality is simply not an issue. When he and a former partner of his went through a terribly difficult time several years ago they had a huge outpouring of help from the community--from coworkers to mainstream clergy people, to parents of children he's worked with.

Another woman I know also works with children and has been in a relationship with her partner for as long as I've known her. She's a private person and refers to her partner as her "roommate" when she's at work, but they wear matching rings and do everything together all around town so it's not like they're working at keeping their relationship big secret.

Having said all that, CC is not very cosmopolitan so if you're moving from a big city you'll miss some of that. But if it's otherwise what you want, I wouldn't let worries about being accepted because you're gay stand in your way.

[jmco]

Thanks for the responses. We're not looking for wild parties or crazy gay-oriented night life, nor PDA's...rather I was wanting some feedback about the community's general attitude and acceptance (or not) of gay couples. We're pretty average home-body types, and I was just concerned that we may be looking to live part of the year in an area that's not accepting of our lifestyle at all. The comments you all have provided is what I was looking for....it sounds like Corpus Christi is pretty laid-back and live-and-let-live, which is what I had heard and was trying to confirm. We're the type that loves to just get together with neighbors for cookouts and cocktail parties, gay and/or straight, go out to dinner occasionally, hang out at neighborhood bars (gay, straight, whatever) and not worry that we won't be accepted. Again, thanks for all the responses and I'd welcome any other further comments locals may have.

[jbtx]

Having been married to the same woman for all these years, and having raised two grown sons, I'm pretty sure I'm straight. I do know that I am uncomfortable in the company of openly gay people. I have lived in cities where the gays were almost militant, LA, (Hollywood, my baby sister was in the movies back then), San Francisco, New Orleans, and Key West. I understand Seattle is getting just as bad. I hated living there, (although being one of the few straight twenty-something males in San Francisco was an interesting experience), but I hated living there. I hated not being able to go out for an evening and not being propositioned by people who had more hair on their face than I did. Gays in full bloom make my skin crawl.

Corpus Christi is a different story, as long as people don't flaunt it, we don't care. I have a neighbor whose sexual orientation I question. I say this because he is very girl-like, absolutely the most unhandy fellow I've ever met. When he moved in next door he came to my house almost crying, asking if I knew how to light up a hot water heater. Looking around his garage I didn't see any of the usual tools one would expect. Real men make the garage their own space, we keep our "man stuff" there,,, no women allowed. A garage missing a cluttered tool bench is the sign of a sick mind. As a matter of fact, I think 'garage' is a French word meaning "big mess".

[jmco]

Thanks for your comments, JBTX. I asked for feed-back, and you definitely delivered. I'm as handy in the kitchen as I am in the garage, so I'm not sure where that would place me in your book of stereotypes. But perhaps I can better determine how welcome my partner and I would be in your neighborhood by asking you this: what if we moved in to the house next door to you and asked you and your family over for dinner?

[jbtx]

I don't know where you are living now but this is south TX in July, daily temps run in the high 90's and I'm pretty sure we've had at least one day where it went over 100 degrees. We see our neighbors only seldom as we mow the grass and trim the shrubs. We generally just smile and wave to each other. We don't do parties at this time of the year and by the time the weather has cooled we have forgotten the neighbor's names. Sorry, 'sway it is.

If you and your partner moved into this neighborhood you would be treated in the same cordial manner as everyone else.