Possible relocate from IN (Houston, Dallas: insurance, crime, houses)

[brittney17]

Hello! My family of 5 may be moving to Corpus Christi next spring and I'm looking for more info about the area. The good and the bad.
We have never be been to Corpus Christi and hope to visit in the next month or so to check it out. Any info would be very helpful!
Thank you!

[jackalope48]

Could you narrow down what you want to know about a bit?

[brittney17]

Yes, school systems, health care, neighborhoods, etc.

[jackalope48]

Urban schools are good comparative to other cities. CCISD has a very good IB magnet program. Flour Bluff, Tuloso Midway, Calallen, Gregory Portland, and London are good single high school districts. CCISD non magnets are dependent on neighborhood socio economics more than anything.

Neighborhoods. Ocean drive corridor is the nicest part of town. Houses scale down in price the further you get from the water. Once you are past Staples it's pretty normal. The far Southside and Callallen(northwest) is the starter home part of town, lots of young families and good schools. There are lots of midwestern retirees on the Island and lots of military in Flour Bluff. Calallen and Tuloso are the more "country" parts of town. Most long term residents prefer their area. I'm partial to living near the water. Why live here otherwise?

If you can give an idea of price range that would be helpful. One thing to keep in mind is that windstorm insurance is bought separately from home owners here and is fairly expensive, we also don't have a state income tax but have high property taxes to compensate for that.

Healthcare is a bit hit or miss. We have the benefit of being a three hour drive or 40 minute flight from the most advanced medical center in the world. That also means it can be tough to find a specialist that's good around here. However, it's pretty common for local gp's to work with San Antonio and Houston specialists.

We do have a level 2 trauma center and the only children's hospital south of San Antonio so those are pluses. We also have a cadre of hunting/fishing/sailing docs who moved here because that's their hobby and they'd take the pay cut to not be in Houston or Dallas.

Traffic is good anywhere but the Southside. Weather is fantastic in the Winter and Fall.

[Slash345]

I’ve lived here for about 50 years and this town is the most laid back of anywhere besides Port Aransas. Shorts are acceptable anywhere. It’s very laid back, with an abundance of casual seafood restaurants, although they’re not all good. Same with steak joints. We have our favorites. Obviously the water is everywhere and we can drive on the beach. It’s a fun little town, but don’t expect a big club scene, this is a blue collar town. The traffic is horrible on the south side, but that’s where the nicer homes are.Its really best to come visit for a week or two to make up your own mind. Good luck!

[Dr.Mcninja]

Did you visit?
Did you have any questions that weren't answered while you were here?

Not a Texan, lived here nearly a decade.
Schools are ok, but no different from most cities in Texas. Traffic is nothing compared to San Antonio, Houston, Austin, or Dallas. Crime is weird, but basically boils down to "don't look for trouble and it won't find you".