Moving down to NAS Corpus Christi

[Flugzeugburger]

Hey,

I'm currently an SNA and I'm moving down from NAS Pensacola to NAS Corpus Christi by July 15th. I'm currently browsing for houses/homes/apartments. I'm REALLY looking for a place with a garage - that would be just swell, but anything would probably work. I've been looking on Craigslist but I don't want to commit to anything quite yet. So, if you need a tenant with no criminal record and who will pay the bills on time, I'm your person!

Thanks for your time.

 

[81montedriver]

have you browsed militarybyowner.com or ahrn.com?

 

[Angels]

I strongly recommend living on Padre Island. We loved it. We had a canal in our back yard and the beach in our front yard. Our dogs loved it too! There are plenty of duplex and house rentals there as well as an apartment complex that is supposed to be great. A couple of good bars and a good little Italian restaurant too. A nice golf course if you golf and a 10 minute drive to the gate. There was never any traffic on the bridge. We hope to go back in 3 years.

 

[flyn4pride]

I've been looking at places in corpus on www.homes.com. There are a lot of nice places listed on there houses, townhouses and condos, so I'd definitely suggest checking that site out.

 

[Morgan81]

Alta Bayside and Baypoint both offer garages for $85-100 more a month and give you a much better bang for the buck in my opinion. Being a closer ride to downtown and being able to use the back gate doesn't suck either.
If you really care about your car, I'd avoid Beach Club on the island. No garages or covered parking that close to the ocean did a number on my paint job when I was there.

 

[MIDNJAC]

I was going to suggest a couple guys, but they are both just getting out of the clink so maybe you don't want them living with you.....

have you browsed militarybyowner.com or ahrn.com?

+1 on this, and also padre island. I lived there in primary and enjoyed it. There are some decent places on the mainland, but the crime rate is significantly higher there (or at least was in 2008 when I was there). My house had a nice 2 car garage, though it was split between 3 guys and we traded off who had to park their car outside during the hurricanes.

 

[81montedriver]

Crime was definately the biggest determining factor for us. Unless it's a holiday, you don't have to worry about traffic on the island, there are plenty of restaurants within 5 minutes to keep your tastebuds happy, the beach is literally a 2 minute drive whereever you are and plus it's an island. How often can you say that you lived on an island?

 

[FlyBoyd]

A couple of good bars and a good little Italian restaurant too. A nice golf course if you golf and a 10 minute drive to the gate. There was never any traffic on the bridge.

Island Italian is sub-par at best. More and better restaurants now.

Golf courses here are in trouble including the one you reference http://www.caller.com/news/2010/jul/03/rough-times-for-corpus-christi-golf/

There WILL be crazy traffic on Spring Break and holidays but you can work around it if you are smart.

I have been here a while and I recommend the island to the single dudes and mobile couples. As soon as you throw dogs/kids into the mix I recommend the South side. More bang for your buck on a rental/purchase, bigger yards with actual stickerless grass not rocks, more neighbor kids and less drive to the family/kid related stuff.

 

[Angels]

Island Italian is sub-par at best. More and better restaurants now.

Golf courses here are in trouble including the one you reference http://www.caller.com/news/2010/jul/03/rough-times-for-corpus-christi-golf/

There WILL be crazy traffic on Spring Break and holidays but you can work around it if you are smart.

I have been here a while and I recommend the island to the single dudes and mobile couples. As soon as you throw dogs/kids into the mix I recommend the South side. More bang for your buck on a rental/purchase, bigger yards with actual stickerless grass not rocks, more neighbor kids and less drive to the family/kid related stuff.

Second the kid thing. I never saw one on the island. We had one trick or treater at Halloween. Yeah okay, there was traffic on the bridge twice in the year we lived there. I was comparing it to traffic on WA bridges *shudder*. My husband could live off of Chef Boyardee so the Italian joint met his standards!

 

[MIDNJAC]

The only problem I noted driving on and off the island was that folks tend to drive at like 45-50 mph in the left lane and won't move over for faster traffic on the SPID. Such was my daily annoyance, and it's not like I was flying up on them and tailgating like some 17 yr old in a rice rocket.

 

[Angels]

The only problem I noted driving on and off the island was that folks tend to drive at like 45-50 mph in the left lane and won't move over for faster traffic on the SPID. Such was my daily annoyance, and it's not like I was flying up on them and tailgating like some 17 yr old in a rice rocket.

+1 Corpus Christi has the WORST drivers I have ever seen!

 

[Swanee]

Did anyone have issues with the weekly rentals (read, party houses) that seem to populate the island? Seems like it would be a pain in the ass to live next to a house that people are renting out and partying in every night...

 

[gotta_fly]

Only if you consider garbage strewn all over your lawn and street an issue... In all seriousness that only happened one time and other than that the month or so of spring break season is livable.

I don't want to post a name on here but if anyone is looking at a rental on the island through an island-based rental management company shoot me a PM for a horror story before you sign anything. And read your lease carefully - Texas property laws can be vague and leave many things up to the lease. If you're not careful you can get hosed.

 

[FlyBoyd]

And read your lease carefully - Texas property laws can be vague and leave many things up to the lease. If you're not careful you can get hosed.

+1

If you think something looks off go to the NLSO and get help reviewing it. I am not saying they are know-it-alls but they can research the Texas contract law if a clause is suspect.

 

[smittyrunr]

My best advice is simply to not sign anything sight unseen. There are plenty of places to live here, but lots of sh!tholes that look good in pictures. If you show up 15 July, you will have some (not a lot, but some) time to find a place and move in.