I was born and raised in Corpus and after leaving in 03 lived in College Station, and now Dallas. My wife and I are considering moving to Corpus next year, but if we did it would be a long term deal.

What do you guys think of Corpus these days and what the future holds as far as economy and being a decent place to raise kids and all that.

I'm from Corpus, left for college, moved far far away, and have no desire to go back.

You go back to Corpus and you are reminded why it is a good place to be from, because that means you don't live there anymore. I remember a few years ago going back to visit family and seeing graffiti painted on just about everything through out town. I'm not kidding!

All the issues you remember the town dealing with when you left are still not resolved. About the only good thing that has happened since you left is that the beaches were saved from developers who were going to close them to vehicles.

The city wasn't even willing to do anything to get Whataburger to keep their headquarters in town. Whataburger! There is one on every corner, they were founded here, and the city doesn't even try to keep them here.

Spend some time reading caller.com. That will help you see the issues going on. Like last week, in the editorial pages, they are talking about plans for the Bayfront. This has been going on since I was a kid! The only thing that has happened on the Bayfront since then is the building of those covered things on the seawall and the Selena Memorial!

No sir, I wouldn't want to live in Corpitos.

me neither.

Like they said it is nice to be from but even nicer not to be living there anymore...

So where do you guys live now and why is it so much better than Corpus?

What issues do you mean when saying they are not resolved? I never really paid too much attention to the politics then as I was just a teenager.

I was there in August and didn't see any graffiti anywhere, maybe I just don't hangout in those areas?

I did however, notice a lot of obese people and my only negative experience was when I went to a movie theatre like 3 or 4 different babies were crying throughout and the parents did not take them outside.

It seems to me there has been a decent amount of development on the southside of Corpus and with the addition of several more trendy restaurants and re-make of Padre Staples, the economy looks like it is on the upswing?

What about living on the island? Is that still under jurisdiction of corpus christi or do the have their own community out there?

I moved to Corpus from Dallas back in December and I am counting down the days when I can go back. You can tell a lot about a city by the people who were born there and what they have to say about it. All I hear is griping about the city leaders and their lack of ability to make Corpus prosperous. The people that live here do not really sound hopeful of an upswing. An Aggie friend of mine is a Realtor here and she says the housing market is horrible. There don't seam to be a lot of jobs. The city is economically depressed. If you are from here and dieing to get back, then I can understand that. There are a lot of people that want to come "home" to settle down. However, as an outsider, I don't see anything in Corpus that would keep me. In fact, I have considered changing jobs just so I could leave. I mean no disrespect to the people that love it here. To each his own. It's just not the place for me.

I'm from Corpus...and will never live there again. The city leaders seem to have an aversion to prosperity.

Not from here but have lived here for thirty years. The downsides: schools are pretty bad, taxes not good, public services mediocre, economic prospects not encouraging.

Upsides: good hunting and fishing less than an hour away, no traffic and most everything is pretty cheap. Lots of lazy people so if you like to work you have a leg up on the competition in almost any field.

AS for the economy, most of the cities in Texas are prospering because they are on the border and are getting NAFTA business, have big universities, or are at the intersection of major interstates with resultant commerce. Or some combination of those factors. Corpus has none of those. The only major driver for the economy here is the port and related refineries. Hard to see how that changes and it has nothing to do with the quality of the local leadership.

The reason the leadership looks bad is because there are no answers to most problems the city faces.

If you can afford private schools for your kids, that is a surmountable problem. If you are in a business that is a necessity, such as law or medicine or the like, you are insulated from the overall drift.

As for Whataburger, there was nothing the city could do about the fact that as Whataburger grew it needed to hire management people who did not want to live in a town but would rather live in a city. The lack of airline connections was also a factor, just as it was for Omni when it was owned by a local. He took his hotel management people to Dallas for similar reasons. Nothing the city could do could get around the fact that it is small and doesn't have major sports teams and other amenities.

An acquaintance who moved here to work for Whataburger told me they had no choice because of the need to hire management people who would not move here.

Huisache, that is the first answer i've heard anywhere that's worth anything.

I feel like even though over all the school system may not be great, there are a few schools that are pretty decent and a lot of your education is also what the kids and the parents put into it not JUST the schools.

My wife and I are both actually in health care. I basically have a job lined up there if I want it then my wife would have to search for one. So I guess we have a lot of consideration on our hands.

Pro Sandy...

Your information presented above is one sided...and misguided. You must be kidding about...paraphrasing, "all the buildings have grafitti"? Really? And...regarding the development? Really? Have you visited the revamped mall, southside, Saratoga, crosstown expressway, etc.?

And, have you even been to the north end of the seawall? The new coliseum? The water features? Etc.

With that said, we have a VERY long way to go. We need a lot more and we have a lot of work to do! It is refreshing to have more professionals considering coming to Corpus!

And, we would love to have you join us on the island.

[This message has been edited by Salty Aggie 93 (edited 10/22/2010 7:49p).]

What is island living like? What is the Cost of housing for a decent quality 3 bdrm home average?
Ive heard the biggest draw back is that the only large grocery store is in Flour Bluff. Any other drawbacks you can think of (other than the occasional hurricane and ridiculous spring break environment)?

I live on the south side; yes, there is a lot of new development down here. If you are from the area, then I'm sure you'll like it here. I don't have stats, but my impression is that there are very few opportunities for people with advanced degrees here. TAMU-CC and the military... other than that, there just doesn't seem to be much for the highly educated.

I think the reason people hate on Corpus so much is that it SHOULD be great. The location is actually nice, and the downtown area and bayfront area are untapped. I am not involved in city politics as I see myself as a visitor and don't care, but it seems that the leaders are bogged down in their own business interests rather than making the city attractive to the moneymakers. It's true, there are a lot of poor, overweight people here, and several of my friends have had damage done to their car by hit and runs.

The baseball field is VERY nice, and the aquarium is a good draw for families. I can see this being a fine place to come with a young family, but I would not recommend it to young married professionals without children and CERTAINLY NOT for young single professionals. There's not really a social scene for that age group. If I had children, I would absolutely not put them in CCISD high schools. We'd be in Calallen, Flour Bluff, or GP.

The mall has definitely classed itself up (valet parking?), but I wonder how long it will stay nice, given the population of the city. I have shopped online since coming to this city, but I am biased because I used to live across from North Park Mall in Dallas.

The roads are terrible. Potholes every other street, even on newly paved ones.

I am not from Corpus, and don't plan on moving there.

That said, I always thought it was a cool town and would be a decent place to live. Nice beaches, restaurants, fishing, hunting, warm winters, shopping, not terribly far from Houston, San Antonio, and south padre. If you could still cross into Mexico without reasonable fear of being killed, that would be a fun excursion a couple of hours away. ( but alas).

As for "city leaders", do not EVEN be foolish to believe shortsightedness and ineptitude are unique to any one city.

If you're hitched and have a job, what's not to like about it?



[This message has been edited by Captain Pablo (edited 10/28/2010 7:04a).]

I live on the island and laugh at people who live on the island and complain about having to go "OTB" or "over the bridge" as if it's a major disruption in life. So the closest grocery store is "OTB?" Oh, my...what is the world coming to??? Whatever. I'm sure there will not be a grocerty store built on the island because of the cost of insurance, not to mention the cost of real property. It is a buyer's market if you are interested in buying on the island. Flood and wind insurance is mandatory for financing. There are a number of Ags on the island. By the way, I was born and reared in Houston, so I love being on "island time" daily.

Gig 'em!




Soli Deo Gloria

If it wasn't for the fact that I manage a facility out here, I'd be gone. In fact, I'm looking...so if anyone needs a PM in Houston... ;-)

What are y'alls thoughts about the new pipe mill that is slated to be built by TPOC, with construction hopefully starting next Spring?

I live in Corpus and I like it. I think it has a pretty decent nightlife and good restaurants. I also live walking distance from the bay and do a lot of water stuff.

Besides some of the aforementioned developments such as the new mall and southside side, there are some reasons to be excited about growth in CC. This new Destination Bayfront really has somer legs, unlike the projects in the past. I have seen the drawings for the proposed layout, and it looks pretty awesome. And unlike other projects, people are pretty united in getting this done and there is some legit heavy hitters involved. Also, both a 3 billion dollar refinery and a 1 billion dollar steel mill are in the works to be built in the CC area. There is also a multi million dollar development at the Ingleside port where the old navy base was that is in the works that is supposed to be light industrial and residential area.

I agree that there are some pretty lame things about Corpus and a there is a lot of negativity in the air here. But I enjoy living here. I also think a lot of the negativity is a bit unfounded.

Born and raised there. Left after high school and only go beck to visit my father. I should say born in CC, raised in Portland. Late 1970's to early 1980's it was a great place to live. The economy was good, oil and gas. The bust hit and so did the city and has never recovered. Unless there is another boom in so. Texas or offshore CC, it will not change. The only thing going for it now is the port. CC could be more, but the leaders are freaking morons. I still think Portland is a good place to live. Great school and no crime and a short drive into CC. CC has potential, but there has to be guys my age and younger to take the lead and kick out the old and start over.

Born and raised in CC (South Park Jr. High and Carroll HS grad). Left there in '89 for A&M and never went back, except to visit relatives every once in a while. Took a short trip there a couple weeks ago and stayed for four days.

Positive impressions:
-Seemed like there had been a lot of growth around the Padre Staples Mall / Sunrise Mall area. Benjamin's rocks.
-Southside area looked like it expanded.
-Some nice things going on in the bayfront area.
-The island was like I remembered -- beautiful.

Negative:
-Not much had changed, even in 20 years.
-The area I grew up in looked markedly rougher than it looked when my fam lived there
-Very little sign that any "serious" growth will be moving in (more than restaurants, Dollar General stores, etc.).

What I kept thinking to myself during our visit there was Corpus manages to do so little with so much. I loved growing up in Corpus, but after living in College Station, Houston and Toronto, Ontario - I'm not sure I could move back. I realize that comparisons between Houston/Toronto and CC aren't appropriate, but CC just felt so small, like it was stuck back in '89.

Great people, beautiful places, just not much else.

What do the other cities like BCS have that show that it has been having "serious growth"? I feel like BCS is expanding much the same way as Corpus has -- big influx of restaurants, upper middle class neighborhoods, etc. ?

If you think BCS is anything like Corpus, you haven't been to CC in the last 10 years. CC looks worse and worse everything we go back. Seemed alot nicer when we grew up down there. There is so much potential but until good high paying jobs come in, good people will keep moving out.

Really? Because everytime I go back there are new restaurants opening, etc. It doesn't seem horrible. Sure there are rough parts of town, and sometimes public areas are pretty crappy -- it has always been like that but there has definitely been growth in Corpus.

What I'm saying is... in BCS there are tons of new restuarants popping up and things like that.

Of course BCS I think is cleaner and generally a better place to live. I am not necessarily comparing both saying they are the same.

But what is it about BCS that makes it economically better off because the growth I am seeing is through the University and it's a bunch of a new restaurants, etc. Are there really much higher paying jobs in BCS that are becoming available that are not in Corpus?

Corpus doesn't have a major research university and in fact did not have a university at all until recently.

Eventually the school here will grow and be an engine for growth for the community, particularly now that it has cleared the hurdle of getting an engineering department, which had been prohibited before last session.

Mayor Adame seems to understand this and has taken several steps to boost the university, most recently in getting it some of the money set aside for business promotion.

We should have used the $30 million we spent on the baseball field on endowed professorships. Though the ballfield is awfully nice.

I'm curious, has the folding of CCSU and Texas A&I into the A&M system resulted in significant change/growth for the schools and to the area in general?

Having grown up in CC, I always thought that it would be great if growth could be: Major companies or industry locating there, influx of high skill and high wage workers, major infrastructure changes, etc.

But what I saw last time was just more restaurants, grocery stores, retail shops (low skill low wage jobs).

I currently work for TAMU-CC and we have seen a 6% increase in enrollment exceeding 10,100 students this past Fall. In 2015 the forecast is calling for close to 11,500 students. And with the added programs including the Engineering program along with the Doctoral program this University is growing. They are working towards building across Ward Island over off of Nile and Ennis Joslin. Athletic venues that will include a Tennis Complex (should be done in May), a Track/Soccer Stadium, and the relocation of the Baseball/Softball fields will move over on that piece of land.

With our brand new Business Administration building almost complete (O'Connor Building I believe) the Island will be at almost full capacity for growth once the Parking Garage is done in August, hence the growth over on the other piece of land. I have seen plans where they hope to add more student housing along with other educational buildings as well.

This University will do nothing but grow and I think will have a huge impact on the Corpus Christi community, I sit on a strategic planning committee within a department here and they are hoping to one day be in comparison of other schools like Memphis, Sam Houston, Louisiana Tech, UTEP, UTSA etc. Not saying this University will be the only reason for economic growth but it will play a big part in it with the next decade upon us.

exactly, and the fact that the mayor is on board with giving land and money to the school tells me at least somebody in a leadership position finally gets it.

AS for room, when the school was first expanded into a full university I propsed relocating it to downtown; an art museum already there, lots of vacant and near vacant office buildings to convert to classrooms, a basketball facility, etc. It would have been the coolest campus outside of the University of Minnesota, which rests on the banks of the Mississippi up where it is still clean.

Oh well.