Moving to Portland or Corpus from Seattle... (Dallas, Fort Worth: apartment complexes, condo)

[PlumChampagne]

Hey we're moving in about 5 weeks from Seattle, Wash. to Portland or Corpus Christi, TX... we are very unfamiliar with the area and could use your help. We will probably want to get into an apartment for 6months to adapt to the area, what are some good apartment complexes? Gated, pools, washer/dryer in unit are preferred. Where are some good shopping malls, if any? What stores are there? Any good restaurants, grocery stores, etc? Thanks guys!

[awecelot]

I would recommend the North Shore Landing or Northshore Pavilions complexes in Portland.

I would definitely recommend Portland over Corpus Christi...less crime, better schools, etc.

Most grocery stores in the area are run by H-E-B...all of them are very good grocery stores (wish we had them in Dallas). The best shopping mall is Padre Staples Mall in Corpus Christi at the corner of Staples Street and South Padre Island Drive.

As far as restaurants, there is excellent Mexican food and seafood in the area.

[gabetx]

If you move to Corpus, I would recommend Flour Bluff or Calallen. And Portland has better schools than most of Corpus, but not than Calallen ISD. Most grocery stores as said above are H-E-B. Its a nice grocery store. There are a couple of H-E-B Pluses. Those are really nice! Better than Wal-Mart in my opinion. There is also a few Wal-Marts and a Sun Harvest for grocery stores here. Oh ya, and one Sam's Club.

For shopping, the only good mall is Padre Staples Mall. There is also Moore Plaza and Sunrise Mall. But I wouldn't recommend Sunrise Mall. A new outdoor lifestyles center is being built in Corpus. Kind of like an outdoor mall. The Calallen/Robstown area is also getting an outlet mall before too long. Oh ya, by the way, Padre Staples Mall is about to get a whole new make-over/expansion. Almost to unrecognizable porportions. So that is exciting.

The cost of living down here is considerably lower than in Seattle. So I am sure if you can make a living in Seattle, you can deffinently make it down here.

The downtown area for the city is very nice for its size. It has a few nice sky-scrapers as well. The city council is currently trying to revitalize it though. A couple of buildings are currently being renovated for condo's. And there is a strict abandon building ordinance being placed for the area. So hopefully businesses will once again get attracted to the area.

And the three fastest growing areas of Corpus are on the southside, Flour Bluff, and Calallen. All of the areas are urbanizing/suburbanizing. Portland is also growing very quickly. Its only about a five minute drive from the downtown area of Corpus and about a fifteen minute drive from the main shopping corridor in Corpus named S.P.I.D. South Padre Island Drive. That is where pretty much everything is around here.

As for recreation. There is plenty to do down here, especially if you like the outdoors. There is Arena football, Hockey, division one college basketall, professional baseball and semi professionall baseball. If you like the outdoors, there is wind surfing, hunting, surfing, and nice walks along the bayfront downtown. Its always windy down here. We should be the real "windy city".

There is also the art museum, the USS Lexington, the Texas State Aquarium, and more.

The weather down here is nothing like Seattle. The only time its cool down here is November-Feburary. During the summer its hot and very humid. As a matter of a fact, Corpus Christi is the hottest city in the U.S. with heat indicies included. During the summer, the months of July-September the heat indicies average up to 110 degrees during the day time and 90 degrees during the night. Not to say that it doesn't get cold down here, because sometimes, it does. We get sleet about once a year. Its very light though when we do get it. Nothing big to shut the city down. It will freeze about 3-10 times a year. Every once in a while it wont get about 32 degrees all day. When it snows, if you even wanna say it does, its just a flurry or two. No accumulation. About once every two-three decades we will get a snow storm. In christmas eve-christmas morning of 2004, the city itself got 4 1/3 inches of snow. Out here in Calallen we got 11 inches at my house. But its super rare that it would happen. Anyways, in the summer dont expect the tempature to drop below 73 degrees until October. In the winter it can be cold, but its nothing like up north.

Anyways, I hope I answered everything and gave you an idea of what its like down here. If you have anymore questions I would be happy to answer.

I hope I helped!

[awecelot]

I would definitely say that Calallen schools are as good as Gregory-Portland schools. gabetx gave some great info.

[wehotex]

Originally Posted by PlumChampagne

Hey we're moving in about 5 weeks from Seattle, Wash. to Portland or Corpus Christi, TX... we are very unfamiliar with the area and could use your help. We will probably want to get into an apartment for 6months to adapt to the area, what are some good apartment complexes? Gated, pools, washer/dryer in unit are preferred. Where are some good shopping malls, if any? What stores are there? Any good restaurants, grocery stores, etc? Thanks guys!

could i ask why you want to move to corpus christi?, espec if you are unfamiliar with the area? seattle vibe/environment, weather, ppl feels so much different than the corpus christi ones. it would seem to be a major change.

[gabetx]

Originally Posted by wehotex

could i ask why you want to move to corpus christi?, espec if you are unfamiliar with the area? seattle vibe/environment, weather, ppl feels so much different than the corpus christi ones. it would seem to be a major change.

Ya, that is true. You may get a culture shock moving down here. Especially if you aren't familliar with being around hispanics. about 55% of the city's population is hispanic. Only about 40% of the people is white. And about 5% of the population is black. So its very different from Seattle.

Originally Posted by awecelot

I would definitely say that Calallen schools are as good as Gregory-Portland schools. gabetx gave some great info.

Thanks! And I say Calallen is better than GP. Lol, I have to defend my old high school. Plus they have the best athletic program in the region.

[shellya46]

I've been to both Corpus and Seattle. That being said, you can not compare the two. Seattle is amazing! Corpus really isn't much to look at, although we do have some nice beach areas. You will adapt, but it will be totally different. Atleast we don't get AS much rain. I would reccomend Portland and Calallen residential areas and schools. The people in Corpus are friendly, and our city is growing rapidly.

[Grimacus]

Me and my wife moved from the Seattle area to get away from the cold and rain, we moved to Texas (Fort Worth) last August and almost moved to Corpus but the job market for what I do was non-existent. Its definitely different but im loving it, so far this summer heat been brutal for me and my wife, North Texas has been having 20+ days of 100+ degree days, step outside for two minutes and im soaked. People tell me that your first couple summers are brutal but you get used to it.

[El Bronco]

Having lived in Corpus for a while (late 90's) and moving away, all I can say is, that is one climate difference...! (Seattle to Corpus).

During the summer months, late Apr to end Sept the sun is super intense, little breeze (in the city), and lots of humidity...those with heart problems, heat stoke, etc... will be esp affected.

But other than that, it was/is fine... really depends on where you live though.

[changeofpace]

We chose Flour Bluff over Calallen and Portland for several reasons. Homes cost more in Portland. Flour Bluff schools excellent. Calallen seems a little to far out especially with rising gas prices. Contact the owners of Stingers coffee shops, they relocated to Corpus from Seattle about 3 years ago and love it as we do. We relocated from Minnesota to Corpus and the "culture shock" so far has been non-existent.