posted 09-06-2006 05:14 PM
Here is some information from prior posts on the City of Corpus Christi. When I saw your post, I had to share this information from the site:I have been perusing the comments here for the last 15 minutes or so and I have never laughed so hard in my life. I have been living in Texas for about 4 years now as a 'Yankee' transplant. I am married to a man from Texas and he is not at all like the stereo-typical Texan. (thank God!) I would like to be able to say that I don't regret moving here, but I do. If I could move, I would. Right now, I am Corpus Christi, the supposedly "Sparkling City by the Sea." Whoever came up with that is seriously stupid in their head. Corpus sucks! It is the worst city I have ever lived in, and I have lived in a lot of places. The crime rate here is pathetic. Every day I turn on the news someone has gotten shot or stabbed. There are homeless people that are allowed to roam around, entire areas of the city devoted to prostitution and other illegal activities, the streets are uneven and full of holes. Water pipes here are breaking all of the time and the city does nothing to fix anything. People here park on their front lawns, put 3 families in a one-family home, and let their dogs and children run freely in the streets at all hours of the day.
I am glad that I don't have children because the school system sucks. The principal at my nephew's school is a complete idiot. She can't even speak English properly. Not that I am perfect either, but "youses" is not a word. I have even heard the teachers here speak to the students in Tex-Mex. Hello people, we aren't in Mexico! I honestly feel myself getting stupider the longer I live here.
I know a ton of people that fit the stereotypes that you have written about. It is almost comical in a way, yet hideously sad at the same time. I see myself as a fairly open-minded person, yet there are so many things about this state (specifically this city) that I can't stand. I really believe that Texas is as close to hell as you can get while you are still on earth. Then again, it is better than living in Iraq (or is it?)
Posted by: Christi Corpus at December 8, 2004 09:28 PM
Sorry your experiences in Corpus haven't been better. But that's what happens to what used to be nice places (disclaimer: nice by Texas standards) when they've been over-run by Mexicans. Yeah, I know how politically uncorrect it is to say that, but it's the honest to god truth. And all because these so called tough, independent, hard-working, conservative Texans just couldn't build their own fences and homes because it was just too darn hot and humid outside for 'em. When the going gets tough, the Texans bring in the Mexicans, I guess. How impressive.
Fist of all I really enjoyed your posting on Texas and the comments that followed. I really needed a good laugh tonight!
I'm an American and I was raised overseas and I also spent most of my adult life on overseas assignments living and working in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, so I might have a different perspective of the situation here in Texas.
I currently live in Corpus Christi, Texas and, as a prior poster said, it is no "Shining City by the Sea". On the other hand, it is not as bad as others have made it out - something that should be handed back to Mexico or next in line to be attacked after Iraq and before Iran.
I must admit Corpus Christi is a hard city to take. As the prior poster stated, and all of it true, there is high crime here, water pipes break and water gushes in the streets for days, potholes - nice word for holes that could swallow-up a mid-sized car and poor schools are everywhere.
Some of what I have observed in Corpus Christi is really a public health concern. The streets are absolutely filthy, parking lots (including the parking lots of hospitals like Driscoll Children's Hospital and the one next door - Doctors' Regional Hospital) often have litter and dirty Pampers rolled up and thrown in the parking lots. The Luby's establishment on Alameda, about a block away, looks like the sidewalk in the front has been used as a combination bar and urinal. Emmm... I want to eat there! Yet people do.
Obesity? I don't know if this city was large enough (no pun intended) to be rated, but I would vote this place number one over Houston any day. I think they must build special suspension systems for vehicles here to corner with five obese people inside. I've often thought: Man those tires are going to blow!
Crime in Corpus Christi: Are there really police here? Do they enforce traffic laws? Do they enforce anything? Just to give you an idea... One day we watched police coming out of the main police station in Corpus Christi - 95% of them did not come to a complete stop at a stop sign. So... They are going to enforce traffic laws? I've seen them run red lights and then go to lunch after watching another vehicle commit a serious moving violation.
Here is the other side of this, and I think the first post on Corpus Christi Texas pointed this out to some extent. It all comes down to EDUCATION. It is true for Corpus Christi, Texas, just as it is true for other cities in Texas, throughout the United States and throughout the world. It creates a chain of events that creates cities like Corpus Christi and Houston.
People would not be obese if they knew the health risks and were educated on exercise and proper diet. In Corpus Christi people could exercise if there was a quality police force that enforced and protected citizens walking, running and biking. (You'll notice that the City of Corpus Christi is almost void of people exercising except in one area near the shoreline.) The City of Corpus Christi, in turn, could hire quality police officers to enforce laws if this place had a better quality of life. (This is just a side note but things are so bad in this department that the Legal Counsel for the City of Corpus Christi Police Department, Steve Zastrow, was actually busted with a controlled substance trying to get on the CC Naval Air Station - real bright.) The drivers, of course, would be educated in the basics of pedestrian right of way laws, what a red light means, etc. People would know enough to throw dirty Pampers in a trashcan and not eat at establishments that looked like every drunk relieved himself on the sidewalk in front. The city of Corpus Christi would spend some of those tax dollars to spray for mosquitoes.
Things look bad for Corpus Christi, but that doesn't mean that things can't or won't change for the better. There have been cities in worse shape that have gotten off their rear ends and improved the education system and quality of life for its residents. When, and ONLY when, the quality of life improves can the City of Corpus Christi draw quality people to this city to bring about even greater improvements.
From a USA and worldwide perspective, however, the problems with the City of Corpus Christi are not unique. Since I've lived around the United States and the world, let's take a look at some of the "wonder locations" noted by prior posters. Maine: "The Way Life Should Be". If this were true that state wouldn't have the largest brain drain of college educated residents in the Eastern United States. Visit Bangor and you'll know how Steven King gets the materials for his books. Michigan: Isn't this the home of Michael Moore who lets us know what a slum Detroit is? California: There are great places there like San Francisco and Santa Barbara, but there are also places like Calexico and Barstow.
In many ways Corpus Christi, Houston and other cities in Texas are like the Developing World (Third World). When you noted that Houston had no zoning laws and the odd mix of commercial, residential and industrial property scattered throughout, you could be talking about Lagos, Nigeria or Luanda, Angola. But there are nice places near Houston where many people live and commute to work in Houston - Sugarland comes to mind. I know many people may not like him, but if a former US President made Houston home it can't ALL be bad.
As for food... Where did you people eat? Not Luby's on Alameda I hope! LOL! I may think some of Corpus Christi is hard to take but there is some GREAT Tex-Mex food here and you could spend years trying all of the salsas. Meet some people and they may invite you to a real Bar-B-Q.
There's a lot of bad in Texas, but there is a lot of good too! Visit Kingsville and the King Ranch. That is a must see. If it is bad TRY not to give up and move away as places like this need people like you to stay and make things better for everyone.
I have a t-shirt that that has a quote on it by Theodore Roosevelt. It is a quote that seems harder to follow than any of the Ten Commandments. It says: "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
Posted by: S.D. at February 20, 2005 10:18 PM
When you refer to taxes, what really burns me in a place like Corpus Christi Texas is how they raise property taxes and then raise the price of all services to the citizens here and then give you less service than you had before. Just to give you an idea... Sometimes I can travel around the City of Corpus Christi for DAYS and never see a single Corpus Christi Police Department patrol car. (When you do see them they are running stop signs, red lights or are parked at a location to eat.) Sometimes I feel like saying to Corpus Christi Police Department Chief Pete Alverez, "Where are you police officers? Where are they hiding? Are they a little scared?" No kidding, the Corpus Christi Police Department is an absolute joke. People drive through the streets doing 20 miles plus over the speed limit - red light runners and stop sign runners are frequent. People who walk, jog or ride bikes have to dodge cars to stay alive. Corpus Christi Police Department Chief Pete Alvarez must not believe in preventative action by his officers. What ticks me off is that the City of Corpus Christi charges more money to live here, increase taxes, yet provides little or no services. Well, I guess the police do arrive to "scrape up" what is left after a traffic accident or some poor pedestrian is hit by a speeding car.
Here is something else about Corpus Christi. The Corpus Christi City Council has meeting because they "can't figure out" why tourism is down in this city and people just don't want to come here. Don't these people look around, smell the air or listen to the sounds around them? SURE Corpus Christi City Council - everyone is going to want to visit a city with dirty beaches, dirty Pampers in the parking lots, sewer smells in the streets and where it is dangerous to walk around to visit the sites.
Oh yes! There are the wonderful sounds of the boom-box cars that rattle dishes miles away. You may ask, Don't they have sound pollution laws? To tell you the truth, I don't know, but if they did you could just add it to the one of a million laws that the Corpus Christi Police Department doesn't enforce. We had a visitor to the house that asked us, "What is wrong with this place? Do they like a ghetto environment here?" It is funny and it drives me a bit nuts, but every time one of these cars goes by (almost every fourth car) my husband sings:" Da Gangsta Food Stamp Boom-Boom-Boom, Da Gangsta Welfare Boom-Boom-Boom, Da Gangsta Lone Star Card Boom-Boom-Boom" Then he starts laughing. It drives me a bit nuts, but it is a really low class environment here and the Corpus Christi City Council will not improve things any time soon. Of course the City of Corpus Christi Police Department will not enforce any laws even if they had them. We are not sure if the police here hide at donut shops, under their beds or if they are all related to the trashy people that live here.
I don't mean to go on and on about the City of Corpus Christi, but I do think it is an example of what goes on in places outside of Austin.
BOTTOM LINE: Unless cities like Corpus Christi raise the bar, improve conditions and enforce the law things will just get worse and worse and nobody will come here except for those who enjoy sound pollution, dirty Pampers in parking lots and the wonderful smell of the sewer system. Low class no class people.
Posted by: S.D. at February 22, 2005 08:25 AM
People from Texas talk about Corpus Christi like it is the American Riveria. So sad, the lost redneck fools.....Try to remember, S.D., that copared to the rest of Texas Corpus Christi is the Riveria. Which speaks volumes as to what the rest of the state is like. I. E., a stinking cesspool.
Posted by: david at February 22, 2005 09:29 AM
I myself have been to Corpus Christi twice. Both times I found the beaches appallingly dirty.
Posted by: Sara at February 22, 2005 10:23 AM
David and Sara, I almost forgot this point on Texas and both of you might know of this situation since the guy was from Houston, Texas. Did you hear about the bacteria that is in the Gulf of Mexico waters in Texas? It is called Vibrio Vulnificus and you can get it by getting in the Gulf of Mexico water in places like Texas and you can loose your arms or legs within hours to a day. This dentist from Houston got it from a small cut he had and within days he lost his legs, then arms, then his life. By the way, the Corpus Christi had the reaction: "No problem, jump in the water, its safe." Ya! Right! If you haven't heard about these bacteria that is in the water, do a search on it. The bacteria level is high during the spring and summer in Texas.
Corpus Christi Police Department... Come out, come out wherever you are!
Posted by: S.D. at February 23, 2005 08:09 PM
City of Corpus Christi Police Department - CCPD - I watched a total of 12 cars run redlights at an intersection on Staples street during one complete light change. Come on Police Chief Pete Alvarez, being a police officer is public service not public welfare! Do something you lazy loosers!
One other thing... All of the Texans with "handicapped" license plates that weigh 300 lbs. Give them a special license plate with an "O" (obese) or FA (fat ass) and give them special parking places in "north 40" of the parking lot. At least they'll get some exercise before they hit the Wal-Mart snack bar!
Posted by: S.D. at February 24, 2005 09:02 PM
Well... Another joke week in Corpus Christi Texas and the absolute stupidity in the Texas State Legislature in Austin... I just read in the Austin American Statesman (newspaper) that the legislature is going to defeat a proposal to put cameras at intersections in cities like Houston and Corpus Christi to try to put an end to the stupid ass Texans who can't tell the difference between GREEN, YELLOW and RED. Now get this, here is the reason on of the legislators gave on TV for defeating the proposal: "We are afraid that this will cause more accidents since people will rear-end cars that are stopping for the red lights." NO KIDDING!
The City of Corpus Christi, the Corpus Christi Police Department - CCPD - and the Texas State Legislature has their heads up their you know what! I guess the next time I'm driving in the City of Corpus Christi and a car is tailgating me as I approach an intersection I think I'll just run the yellow/red light so I don't get rear ended. STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!
I'm not saying I'm for "Big Brother" cameras everywhere and if Texas drivers were normal like in California or Massachusetts I don't think there would be this problem. But in places like the City of Corpus Christi where 10 to 15 people run red lights during a complete light change and the Corpus Christi Police Department doing nothing about it (and I can be sure the situation is the same in Houston, El Paso, San Antonio) it is a major safety issue.
To me the people who allow this sort of thing to continue and those who fail to enforce the law are nothing more or less than murderers. I have seen the effects of collisions at these intersections caused by red light runners. Of course, then the Corpus Christi Police Department shows up to scrape what's left off the street.
Maybe there is no hope for the City of Corpus Christi or the State of Texas. It seems to be run by a bunch of ignorant hicks in Austin.
Remember: In Texas don't stop for a red light as somebody my rear-end you! Stupid hicks!
Well... Another joke week in Corpus Christi Texas and the absolute stupidity in the Texas State Legislature in Austin... I just read in the Austin American Statesman (newspaper) that the legislature is going to defeat a proposal to put cameras at intersections in cities like Houston and Corpus Christi to try to put an end to the stupid ass Texans who can't tell the difference between GREEN, YELLOW and RED. Now get this, here is the reason on of the legislators gave on TV for defeating the proposal: "We are afraid that this will cause more accidents since people will rear-end cars that are stopping for the red lights." NO KIDDING!
The City of Corpus Christi, the Corpus Christi Police Department - CCPD - and the Texas State Legislature has their heads up their you know what! I guess the next time I'm driving in the City of Corpus Christi and a car is tailgating me as I approach an intersection I think I'll just run the yellow/red light so I don't get rear ended. STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!
I'm not saying I'm for "Big Brother" cameras everywhere and if Texas drivers were normal like in California or Massachusetts I don't think there would be this problem. But in places like the City of Corpus Christi where 10 to 15 people run red lights during a complete light change and the Corpus Christi Police Department doing nothing about it (and I can be sure the situation is the same in Houston, El Paso, San Antonio) it is a major safety issue.
To me the people who allow this sort of thing to continue and those who fail to enforce the law are nothing more or less than murderers. I have seen the effects of collisions at these intersections caused by red light runners. Of course, then the Corpus Christi Police Department shows up to scrape what's left off the street.
Maybe there is no hope for the City of Corpus Christi or the State of Texas. It seems to be run by a bunch of ignorant hicks in Austin.
Remember: In Texas don't stop for a red light as somebody my rear-end you! Stupid hicks!
Posted by: S.D. at February 28, 2005 08:37 AM
And the Texas State Legislature now wants to put a ban on "barking dogs" - to make that a statewide offense. Dear Texas State Legislature, It is not making laws that will help, you need to have ENFORCEMENT. We can just add barking dogs to the long list of laws that the Corpus Christi Police Department doesn't enforce. I still can't figure out what you need to do to have a police officer pull you over here. Run somebody over? Well that doesn't seem to work as most of the time when drivers do that in the City of Corpus Christi it is a "hit-and-run".
Dear City of Corpus Christi Police Chief Alvarez, Get those police officers out from under their beds and get them to ENFORCE SOMETHING!
I don't know what it was like in other areas of Texas, but here in Corpus Christi the trash really came out last night. I guess March 1st was some payment day for WIC, welfare, AFDC or some other handout.
Posted by: S.D. at March 2, 2005 09:51 AM
Dear Bill, Response to Bill, Horns, Et Al
BILL: Just think, Dallas is one of the "better" places in Texas! Crime is crazy all over Texas. Here, as is true in most of Texas, the local police - Corpus Christi Police Department - doesn't enforce much of anything. Maybe if you rob a bank or murder someone they may bother to get out of the donut shop or Mexican restraunt to do something, but other then that, forget it.
Bill, it is important to have your kids educated in a private school. Here are a couple of things that they do in Texas... Several years ago the Texas Education Agency decided to come up with their own achievement tests for their public schools (you can already see how this is going to turn out) and it was called the TAAS. Suddendly almost every school in Texas was great and every child a genius and scores went up, up, up every year. After several years of this (and they had to do something since the scores started to stall) they changed the name to TAKS. (We are unsure if the TEA changed the name due to the nickname students had in the State of Texas: TAASholes.)The test was different so they could start the kids on another exam and say the scores were not as good since they changed the exam. Of course the scores then went up, up, up and every school is great and every student is a genius again. When you look at these students' performance on exams that are not in the control of the TEA, they suck. Next the TEA will come up with a name like TURDS - this would be the most accurate perfomance exam from students in Texas.
They have even created their own college admission exam. Move over SAT and ACT! Texas has a better entry exam, that way they can take their s*** in and s*** out students and send them to s***-u in Texas, which brings me to...
HORNS: Now, did you attend the university where several students got killed at a "bonfire"? Is it true that this "bonfire" costs over $100,000 to build? Need I say more? TAASholes...
RESPONSE TO BILL: The crime rates may be on par with LA or Chicago, but the VIOLENT CRIME in Texas is something else! Who knows, maybe they are all just pissed-off at living here and go nuts. That would top my list of reasons for the violent crime rates in Texas.
NOW... People in Corpus Christi, fed up with a police force that is doing nothing to protect citizens who are out riding their bikes, jogging, walking - in short trying not to become another fat bit of Corpus Christi "CHUSMA" - are doing something to SHAME THE CORPUS CHRISTI POLICE DEPARTMENT into doing something... I think it's great what is going to be done and I hope others follow!
A group of about 12 people are conducting photo and video surveillance of the City of Corpus Christi and they are getting photos and video footage of things like, the City of Corpus Christi Police Department’s actions (or lack of them) on the highways, raw sewage bubbling from the streets, water leaks flooding streets, stupid people driving their cars (almost running people over, violating traffic laws, etc), dirty Pampers in the parking lots of medical centers and hospitals (even the Developing World is not as gross as this place), photos of “students” on the streets of Corpus Christi.
Large numbers of educated people are getting sick of the Corpus Christi Police Department and the City of Corpus Christi City Council turning the second dumbest city (or was that second stupidest city) into the number one dumbest city in the United States! These people are so pathetic, next year they’ll be patting themselves on the back saying, “See, the City of Corpus Christi in number one at something.”
Already they have video of Corpus Christi Police Department officers not enforcing traffic laws on numerous occasions not to mention violating a few themselves!
All of these photos and videos are going to be posted on the Internet via a server in a foreign country. You’ll get to see people out walking almost run over by traffic (while a police officer is in the field of vision in one case), a mother and her baby almost hit because a car didn’t stop at the stop sign. Of course stopping at a stop sign is almost never enforced in the City of Corpus Christi. The police here, in the “Second Stupidest City in the United States” must be dumb, totally unaware of what is going on around them, or just cowards. Too bad you can’t SMELL the City of Corpus Christi on the Internet.
Posted by: S.D. at March 13, 2005 07:32 PM
Places like Dallas and Corpus Christi are run by a bunch of locals who can't find their head out of their you know what. Recently Dallas was named the second higest in crime for a city over 1 million in the USA. Perhaps the Dallas Police Department can teach the Corpus CHristi Police Department the fine art of enforcing traffic laws.
These people who are making videos of the police and driving in Corpus Christi showed me some great material. In one tape two vehicles, one a blue sedan and the other a white pick-up truck are racing at about 50 MPH on a street next to this place called the Parkdale Mall and Parkdale Library. They fly around the curve in full view of a brown car marked Nueces County Constable - the official in the car does NOTHING. (It is interesting to note that nueces is NUT in Spanish.)
In another video they catch a car, running a red light, then speeding down Staples, passing two white Corpus Christi Police Department squad cars who are waiting to turn onto Staples from a parking lot. The police cars go after the red light running speeder - RIGHT? Wrong! They drive about two blocks and turn into a Jalisco Taqueria near Staples and Doddridge. They one guy is so fat it is lucky the Corpus Christi Police Department has radios because he wasn't going to run after anybody. The other was some lady who looked like she lost a fight with a Pit Bull.
It is just amazing what these people have on video. The Corpus Christi Police Department is a bunch of crap. Of course the crime rate here is "going down". Really easy when nobody reports crimes since they now the police department here is a waste.
The average person in Corpus Christi may have a mental age of about four years old, so they are not going to follow simple traffic rules unless they are enforced. Jeez... I mean this isn't rocket science. They can just post a few police officers at, say any intersection on Staples, then just catch the thousands of red light runners a day. Since this is the second stupidest city in the USA, they'll be back doing the same thing tomorrow! Oh! But I guess employment on the Corpus Christi Police Department is just another form of welfare. Just like their roads department, just like the waste water deaprtment, etc., etc.
Dear poster from the Rio Grande Valley,
Yes! Your auto insurance rates will go up in Texas. One of the factors used by insurance companies is the enforcement of traffic laws. When the police enforce traffic laws, the streets are safer for drivers as well as people on bikes, out walking, etc.
Yes! It is "better" in Corpus Christi than Brownsville and these other places. What they say down there is, "Well... This is better than Mexico." So the standard, or "bar" that is put out there is Mexico. As long as the place is "better than Mexico" you are doing really well by the standards here in Texas. What a "standard" - Mexico.
That are down there is the major US drug route - illegals and drugs come into the USA via that area and the drug money goes out the same way.
You are right about the Third World point. Rather than other countries coming UP to our standards, the USA is actually lowering its standards to become more like the Third World instead of the other way around. Not too hard when the bar you hold up as a standard is Mexico!
Amazing, isn't it? There seems to be no shortage of WIC, AFDC, welfare, Lone Star Cards for all of the chusma and white trash here in Texas, so much so that you have to play tip toe through the dirty Pampers whenever you visit a hospital in Corpus Christi, Texas, yet when it comes to a national health care plan - NOTHING!
I want to make a couple more points... I do think that there are nice places in Texas. Two that come to mind are Kingsville and Rockport both near Corpus Christi. I think that Kingsville is so nice and clean because of the historical relationship with the King Ranch. When you visit Wal-Mart and other places out there they are CLEAN and well cared for, totally unlike Corpus Christi. Rockport, about 35 miles away, has a lot of people who have come from other states to settle there and it is highly educated. There are nice and educated people. There are many people who were in the military who have retired here. These people are the reason that they should get off their duffs and imporve the quality of life and enforce laws.
One BIG PROBLEM is the fact that you need to read the REALITY of what life is like in Corpus Chrisit and other locations in Texas on a BLOG! The print media and the television news are the biggest bunch of crap there is. They must live in fear that something will happen to them if they report the realities of living here. Raw sewage pouring in the streets, water pipes breaking daily, little to no traffic enforcement. These are things the news media in Corpus Christi COULD document, but they don't do anything - outside of covering the latest murder of a baby, etc.
It's not to hard... Get those cops out there and get their butts in gear! Don't become the DUMBEST CITY IN THE USA!
Posted by: S.D. at March 22, 2005 03:59 PM
Here in Corpus Christi the teams are continuing to document the failure of the Corpus Christi Police Department to enforce serious violations of the traffic laws. They had a record set for red light running at the intersection of Doddridge and Staples street. Get this... The video shows 32 cars running red lights during a complete traffic cycle (four turn arrow lights and four through lights - both directions).
Come on Corpus Christi Chief of Police Pete Alvarez! Would it be too much trouble for your police force to ENFORCE traffic laws here and there? Maybe the Mayor and City Council should do what Austin has recently done - ask the feds US Department of Justice - FBI - whoever - to investigate the Corpus Christi Police Department. It seems like that police department gets a lot of money and doesn't provide quality services.
Oh! I almost forgot... These people who are documenting the City of Corpus Christi work in teams. As one group makes video documentation another group is on the lookout in case the Corpus Christi Police Department attempts to harass the other two. The second team would document the police action on the first team and it would result in a Civil Rights violation lawsuit against the City of Corpus Christi and the Corpus Christi Police Department. When I asked them why that did this the told me that they have an attorney (in Austin) on retainer... I guess it is the second stupidest city in the United States so you can't count on any City of Corpus Christi official to do the right thing.
Here is another funny thing about Corpus Christi... People here drive around with bumper stickers that say may kid is a "3 Star Student" sponsored by a local TV station kiii We get the part about the three "i's" but the people are so stupid here they don't seem to get the fact that three stars is average. Of course, that may be the best you can aspire to in the second dumbest city: AVERAGE.
RAISE THE BAR CORPUS CHRISTI! RISE! GO FOR FIVE STARS!
Posted by: S.D. at March 27, 2005 07:27 AM
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