Whether you’re looking to move to a city long-term, or just planning to visit, the first question asked is often, “What’s there to do there?”
Aside from our obvious advantage of living near the beach, there are several other factors that determine quality of life. For instance – education, sports, arts and culture and recreational activities.
Directors at the Convention and Visitors Bureau believe Corpus Christi is an ideal place to settle down.
“We know that for many years we’ve had the winter Texans and people coming to stay for a few months. These are people that are looking for different places and adventure and we have it all,” Teresa Rodriguez said.
However, local economic experts say companies frequently hit a wall when trying to recruit professionals to South Texas.
“One of the challenges we have as any mid-sized community, is when you recruit another company and they’ve got a job for a spouse, their spouse may not be able to find an appropriate job as well,” Iain Vasey said. “It’s just the nature of any market of our size.”
Rodriguez and her team at the CVB have even gone to the lengths of traveling out of the country in hopes of convincing people to plant roots in Corpus Christi. Last year, the group flew to Canada.
“The reason why we want to go there, is last year they had over half a million people visiting Texas, and we want them to come to Corpus Christi,” Rodriguez said.
When out-of-towners do decide to move here, they typically have questions about the lack of large franchises and few places to shop.
“You know, we get asked by folks all the time, is there a Costco there? Is there a Trader Joe’s?” Vasey said. “Those are the things that may not be economic development things, but they go into our overall quality of life.”
With limited shopping available, La Palmera Mall is one of few places that stays current with up-and-coming chain businesses. A Dave and Buster’s location is scheduled to open there in December.
Vasey and his colleagues are working to make the job search for potential residents easier and our city more marketable.
They have launched a website called jobsincorpuschristi.com, which has a specialist search engine for local availability. Currently, there are more than 700 jobs listed on the site.
Convention and Visitors Bureau officials say despite all these efforts, ultimately the best way to attract people to the Coastal Bend is by word-of-mouth.
“So when people come and visit us and see all the great things we have, the hospitality of our people, the great hotels we have, then they go back home and tell their family and friends. Then they come here,” Rodriguez said.
