Let’s talk about living in San Antonio

[Neonmoon 38130]

I used to have a lady friend in SA. It was actually more fun than I thought it would be. We went to some cool whiskey bars and beer gardens that we’re popping up near downtown. If you look, there are some cool spots to eat and drink. 

That being said, the summer was miserable and the river walk is a walking tourist doused in sugar drinks next to a sewer. 

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

1 hour ago, Neonmoon said:

That being said, the summer was miserable and the river walk is a walking tourist doused in sugar drinks next to a sewer. 

Well yea, once you move there you don't go to the river walk anymore.

[NoRagrets 1125]

I've lived all over Texas and SA is by far my favorite stop. I wouldn't want to live here in my 20's though. It's a little too chill.

Fiesta

Pearle

spurs

culture

civic pride

hills and trees

mission reach

museum reach

proximity to hill country like Fredericksburg, garner, enchanted rock, wimberley, horseshoe bay, new braunfels river floating, etc 

also closest bi city to south padre, marfa, big bend, tons of state parks.

easy drive to Austin or Houston.

cheap cost of living

Traffic is really light except in the burbs

tex mex is best in the world

great restaurant scene without the  hipsters

And anyone that says it's hot is an idiot.

houston hotter bc it's a swamp

dallas hotter bc of concrete and no trees

SA is heavily on trees, hills, and swimming spots.  summer is great here.

Winter is amazing here

 

 

[Aqua Buddha 14621]

3 hours ago, Mitch Cumsteen said:

Oh, hai!

You know, there are just as many douchebags in Stone Oak. Hell, there are probably more of them. We definitely have more old money types in AH and OP, but I find that people in my peer group (mid 40s with kids) to be pretty decent down to earth folks. Most of them do well financially, but that doesn't mean they are assholes. Personally, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. I'm so close to everything (I work close to downtown) and the schools are great. Granted, if I moved out to loop land I could get twice the house for the same price, but no thanks.

And while the traffic isn't anything like Dallas, Austin or Houston, let's not pretend that 281 north of 1604 (where a lot of folks on this thread are saying they'd like to live) isn't a horrific cluster fuck. How they managed to build a freeway with stoplights and without exit ramps is just beyond comprehension. I'm pretty sure that I-10 from close to Boerne on in is no day at the beach either. Both of those areas have grown like crazy population-wise and the city has done next to nothing to build infrastructure. Then again, what would you expect from a city that took 20 years to build a 281/1604 interchange and 30 years to build a 410/281 interchange.

That said, San Antonio has changed for the better so much in the last 10 years. So much more shit to do here. So many more restaurants and bars. The city is still very affordable comparatively and it is easy to get around. The Pearl has completely transformed that area of the city and you see it spreading even to the east side, which to someone who grew up here is borderline unfathomable.  Plus we still have killer mexican food on every corner.

Totally agree.  Stone Oak was always a cluster fuck and it's mostly a bunch of chains and what not.  Highly overrated and not nearly as high end as they think.  If I'm living in the burbs, I'll take north of I-10/1604.  Much better infrastructure.

As for the 09 crowd, what always got me about them is they think they're Master of the Universe of some shit.  They put themselves on par with the Park Cities and River Oaks.  Not hardly.  You can't get into those places for under $1M at the very minimum.  Meanwhile, you could buy a house in AH for $300K in some cases.

[NoRagrets 1125]

8 hours ago, midtown said:

It's a nice area but then there are the people who live there.   My living boundaries will always be 410 on the south, 281 on east, 10 on the west, and 1604 north.   You can find almost any price point for homes.  School wise might be an issue if you want one of the newer high schools.  My kids are going the magnet route in NEISD so our location is perfect.   The 3 best high schools in SA are Health Careers (NISD, med ctr) Alamo Heights, and ISA (NEISD) which is on the Lee campus and inside the loop.

You're forgetting BASIS, which will be one of the best high schools in the United States in a few years.

[NoRagrets 1125]

Also, to keep it real, Austin is an amazing city. But the nice thing about living in SA is that it's a 1hr drive away, so you want to go to a UT game, the schmuck in Round Eock has to drive 30 minutes and I have to drive 65 minutes. He lives in a flat prairie suburb, I live in gorgeous northern SA.

[NoRagrets 1125]

I don't know why people are saying it's dry/drought stricken. This place gets tons of rain and has the live oaks to prove it.

[midtown 3348]

1 hour ago, NoRagrets said:

You're forgetting BASIS, which will be one of the best high schools in the United States in a few years.

Being built 5 mins from my house.   It's on the radar for my kids but I like the STEM program at Nimitz and Lee because its diverse and for my daughter they have soccer or she could opt for Churchill if swimming takes hold or ISA.  You couldn't pay me to have my kids to go Reagan, AH or Johnson. 

Edited May 4, 2018 by midtown

[South Austin 52619]

8 hours ago, NoRagrets said:

also closest bi city to south padre, marfa, big bend, tons of state parks.

I didn't know San Antonio had such a reputation as a bisexual community.  Good for you.

[Aqua Buddha 14621]

2 hours ago, South Austin said:

I didn't know San Antonio had such a reputation as a bisexual community.  Good for you.

It's like Tex-Mex.  Both sides.

[miguelito 11312]

Both tacos.

[relapse98 634]

11 hours ago, midtown said:

You couldn't pay me to have my kids to go Reagan, AH or Johnson. 

AH being Alamo Heights? Por que?

[TankedBevo 2485]

3 hours ago, relapse98 said:

AH being Alamo Heights? Por que?

He's talking about the types of people that go to those schools. I graduated from SV in '03 and knew/hung out with kids from all those schools (Johnson wasn't built yet but it was Reagan's area before that) and they were fine so I'm not sure what his reasoning is. Sure there's douches but no matter where you go there's tons, that's just being in high school.

[PenelopeWitherspoon 19146]

Personally, I think Houston is the cream of the crop in Texas.  Yeah, the weather sucks.  So does the traffic, but it is the only city in Texas that can compete with New York, Chicago, and LA in terms of diversity, culture (think Museums and Performing Arts), restaurants and bars. 

Signed someone who lived in LA and NYC and now is proud to call Houston home.

 

[midtown 3348]

5 hours ago, relapse98 said:

AH being Alamo Heights? Por que?

I've assume there a ton of snowflakes and I've heard many a story about helicopter parents.  Just my personal preference. 

[SimonBolivar 10960]

25 minutes ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

Personally, I think Houston is the cream of the crop in Texas.  Yeah, the weather sucks.  So does the traffic, but it is the only city in Texas that can compete with New York, Chicago, and LA in terms of diversity, culture (think Museums and Performing Arts), restaurants and bars. 

Signed someone who lived in LA and NYC and now is proud to call Houston home.

 

Houston's culture is a new international mix which is great for food, but the culture of San Antonio is much older and more impressive, imo. I think Mission Concepcion is a perfect example of something that Houston can't compete with culturally. 

Edited May 4, 2018 by SimonBolivar

[Mitch Cumsteen 18583]

1 hour ago, PenelopeWitherspoon said:

Personally, I think Houston is the cream of the crop in Texas.  Yeah, the weather sucks.  So does the traffic, but it is the only city in Texas that can compete with New York, Chicago, and LA in terms of diversity, culture (think Museums and Performing Arts), restaurants and bars. 

Signed someone who lived in LA and NYC and now is proud to call Houston home.

 

All of those things go along with the territory of being one of the top 5 or 10 metro areas in the country. If those are your metrics, then of course San Antonio can't compete with Houston or Dallas or the Bay Area or Chicago or LA or NY. The issue is where your trade-offs are. Do you want to spend half your life at the 59/610 interchange or on the 405 and pay 2-3X in housing costs? And I love Houston. Or at least I love visiting there. Same goes for Dallas and all of those cities. Tons and tons of restaurants and a million things to do but the juice isn't worth the squeeze to me. 

1 hour ago, midtown said:

I've assume there a ton of snowflakes and I've heard many a story about helicopter parents.  Just my personal preference. 

Seriously? As if AH has some monopoly on snowflakes and helicopter parents? Also, the demographics of the students are a lot different (i.e., not just a bunch of white kids) from what you would think. There are plenty of folks who move into the district and live in San Antonio proper (i.e, not the city of AH, or OP or Terrell Hills) but on the outskirts of the school district at a lower price point on their house or in an apartment. The things I worry about with my kids have to do with it being a tough place socially or because of the affluence having access to drugs, etc. But too many helicopter parents or snowflakes? Those are the ones your kids get to learn from.

[Aqua Buddha 14621]

My knock against Houston is actually the reason I like SA.  It's the traffic.  We lived in AH and could be at the mall in 20 minutes.  (La Cantera not the ghetto mall off 410.)  That was pretty much the extent of where we'd need to drive.  In Houston (and Dallas to a degree), it seems like you're 45 minutes from anyway.  SA was a reasonably big city but still easy to get around.

Just my opinion, man.....

[hornian 5223]

On 5/3/2018 at 8:14 PM, Aqua Buddha said:

Totally agree.  Stone Oak was always a cluster fuck and it's mostly a bunch of chains and what not.  Highly overrated and not nearly as high end as they think.  If I'm living in the burbs, I'll take north of I-10/1604.  Much better infrastructure.

As for the 09 crowd, what always got me about them is they think they're Master of the Universe of some shit.  They put themselves on par with the Park Cities and River Oaks.  Not hardly.  You can't get into those places for under $1M at the very minimum.  Meanwhile, you could buy a house in AH for $300K in some cases.

Find me a cool house in AH for $300K please.

[Aqua Buddha 14621]

1 minute ago, hornian said:

Find me a cool house in AH for $300K please.

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Terrell-Heights-San-Antonio-TX/26252035_zpid/271601_rid/300000-500000_price/1195-1992_mp/29.502422,-98.435333,29.477917,-98.466232_rect/14_zm/0_mmm/

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Alamo-Heights-TX/26148295_zpid/42080_rid/300000-500000_price/1195-1992_mp/29.506736,-98.439775,29.457722,-98.501573_rect/13_zm/0_mmm/

[KaiserSoze 998]

Great, now Hornian is gonna have to become a helicopter parent.

[hornian 5223]

1 minute ago, Aqua Buddha said:

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Terrell-Heights-San-Antonio-TX/26252035_zpid/271601_rid/300000-500000_price/1195-1992_mp/29.502422,-98.435333,29.477917,-98.466232_rect/14_zm/0_mmm/

https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Alamo-Heights-TX/26148295_zpid/42080_rid/300000-500000_price/1195-1992_mp/29.506736,-98.439775,29.457722,-98.501573_rect/13_zm/0_mmm/

I'm impressed with your speed.

4 minutes ago, KaiserSoze said:

Great, now Hornian is gonna have to become a helicopter parent.

Or a helicopter rental high-class slum lord. 

[Aqua Buddha 14621]

14 minutes ago, hornian said:

I'm impressed with your speed.

Or a helicopter rental high-class slum lord. 

That's not what your mom said.....

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

I appreciate all the input y'all.  It is interesting to hear all the positive takes considering how much shit people talk about SA.  I was there yesterday, but it was pretty quick.  Funny about people talking about droughts or it never raining, then that big storm rolled through.  That story about the gal from Austin saying the weather there was so much better than SA made me do an epic eye roll.

I asked a photographer friend of mine how he liked living there (moved from Houston about 3 years ago).  He says he loves it and mentioned the cost of living being low.  Then he said it was really chill, which seems to be a adjective that popped up in this thread a bunch.  I am intrigued. 

Oh yeah, and about Houston being the best city in the state...well, it is a great city with great food and culture.  But the traffic is a beating and the people try way too hard to prove that Houston is awesome.  Why not just let it be.  Austin pushed that so hard for so many years, and look how the city has changed (not all for the worse, but the vibe of the city is way different than what it was even in the 90s). 

Edited May 5, 2018 by Patricio Swayze

[Hate 20146]

I won’t even entertain the thought of moving back to Austin. I’ll stay here in The Woodlands rather than moving to Austin, and I LOVED living in Austin.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

50 minutes ago, Hate said:

I won’t even entertain the thought of moving back to Austin. I’ll stay here in The Woodlands rather than moving to Austin, and I LOVED living in Austin.

I am not quite to this point, but just about. I think I could handle Dripping. It’s just too damn expensive, amongst other things. I tried in 2012-13 and it just didn’t work out. 

[relapse98 634]

I domt k nk ow. I'm at the gunther hotel right now and club l3lvel got my qss deann. Tha m God san antonio let uber back in because they are my copilot tonight.

 

 

 

[DaysOff 7975]

Looks like you relapsed.

[hornian 5223]

26 minutes ago, relapse98 said:

I domt k nk ow. I'm at the gunther hotel right now and club l3lvel got my qss deann. Tha m God san antonio let uber back in because they are my copilot tonight.

 

 

 

That’s some authentic frontier gibberish 

[midtown 3348]

Someone had too many bud/miller/coors lights. dos equis.

Edited May 6, 2018 by midtown

[relapse98 634]

Beringer White Zinfandel and Dripping Sprongs 1876 Vodka.

[Mr.Hovis 71]

1 hour ago, relapse98 said:

Beringer White Zinfandel and Dripping Sprongs 1876 Vodka.

Hmmm, I can see how this combo would be a challenge to keyboard dexterity. 

[RD3 64]

On 5/2/2018 at 12:51 PM, South Austin said:

I'm down in San Antonio frequently for work as several of my clients are active down there.  There's a lot of generic sprawl, but still more charm than a place like Dallas, and a hell of a lot more scenic.  In terms of restaurant and entertainment, it seems like it's miles ahead of where it was 10 years ago.  And I love the access to so many cool small towns in the Hill Country.  So yeah, if you had to boot me from Austin to another big city in Texas, it would be San Antonio in a heartbeat.  But right now I happily see myself in Austin for the long haul.   

Yo tambien.  I grew up in San Antonio but I've lived in Austin since 1993 when I started at UT as a freshman.  I have been to Houston and Dallas a ton.  When I was in my 20s, I would have preferred Dallas over SA. Now in my 40s, no doubt I'd pick SA over Dallas or Houston.

I was in San Antonio earlier today visiting friends.  But...  I don't see myself leaving Austin any time soon...

[SuckitKevin 920]

I’ve worked in San Antonio for over 20 years and grew up in a rural area just outside the city limits. There are cool places to live everywhere that are great for families, but it depends on what’s important to you. If proximity to downtown is important, Alamo Heights, Hill Country Village, Terrell Hills can all be good options. If you’re comfortable in a more rural area with access to all San Antonio has to offer but the ability to get away from the city when you go home, places like Boerne, Garden Ridge, Spring Branch, and even La Vernia out east could all be great options. I love it in this area, always something to do.

[YChang 3462]

Watch... 6-12 months in Swayze will pine for how much he misses living in Houston. 😉

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

5 hours ago, YChang said:

Watch... 6-12 months in Swayze will pine for how much he misses living in Houston. 😉

Hahahaha. Always possible. But not moving just yet. There are certainly things to miss about Houston. 

[F250 28823]

On 5/2/2018 at 11:42 AM, Hate said:

I understand what you mean, but geography says otherwise.  The Woodlands has been a great place to live and raise my son for the last 10 years, but it doesn't really fit us culturally.  We are more "Hill Country" than cosmopolitan (Houston area).  Since they are finally focusing on fixing the 281 North corridor, living somewhere in Bulverde or Blanco wouldn't be terrible traffic wise.   By the time we move, I hope to be somewhat retired anyway...or at the very least not tied to being in the office at a certain time.  

It's getting crowded up here. I would discourage anyone else from moving into the area.

 

[Mac8111 2117]

San Antonio happy hour ?

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

On ‎5‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 11:59 AM, Aqua Buddha said:

Everything is better in Austin, right?

I actually found the weather in SA better than Dallas or Austin.  SA doesn't get 100+ temps day after day over the summer.  They'll get more humidity but it's not Houston, which has the worst weather in my opinion.  I'm not saying any of the markets has great weather but I'd actually take SA's over the others.  I actually thought Dallas was the hottest.  Not enough humidity to keep the temps down but still enough to give you a 115 degree heat index.

I remember Jud Ashmore saying one night in the mid-70s that that day was San Antonio's first 100 degree day in over 3 years.  It's funny what you remember.  Does anyone know if ol' Jud is still alive?  Last I heard a few years ago, he was still active in his 90s.

My dad always said the main thing he missed was the Gulf breeze that often made it to San Antonio, but never Austin.  He didn't like San Antonio as much as Austin, but he was one of those Austinites who loved the thought of being Texan, but didn't appreciate the rest of Texas.  As for me, I lived in Dallas for almost a decade, and there were stretches of weeks when if the overnight low broke 80, it was considered pleasant.  San Antonio can be damn hot, but not as hot as Dallas or as humid as Houston.  Austin seems to have a little bit more of both than San Antonio.

My first reaction when reading the OP was his comment about other Texans hating on San Antonio.  The fact that I've lived in San Antonio, Austin and Dallas comes up from time to time around people from other states.  I get the most positive comments about San Antonio, and it's not even close.  Austin is a very distant second, and Dallas and Houston don't even register.

I guess don't speak to many Californians.

Edited May 7, 2018 by ImissWallyPryor

[ImissWallyPryor 9046]

On ‎5‎/‎3‎/‎2018 at 3:12 PM, C-Man said:

The original Rudy's is in Leon Springs, which is between Boerne and SA (closer to the SA side).

We used to hit Rudy's on the way to golf in Kerrville.  I thought it was actually pretty damn good, but I'm a human garbage disposal.

[DaysOff 7975]

It's getting crowded up here. I would discourage anyone else from moving into the area.
 

That's why I'm okay with this Vulcan quarry. The other option is to shoehorn another 2000 single family homes on that land. Also, it's far enough away to not bother me.

[F250 28823]

33 minutes ago, DaysOff said:

13 hours ago, F250 said:

It's getting crowded up here. I would discourage anyone else from moving into the area.
 

That's why I'm okay with this Vulcan quarry. The other option is to shoehorn another 2000 single family homes on that land. Also, it's far enough away to not bother me.

I agree.

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

I guess we'll make this the defacto SA thread, plus the rudys talk got me wondering.  What's everyone's favorite bbq place here?  I'm not a big bbq guy but I checked out 2 bros the other day and I thought it was pretty good but it piqued my interest in trying out others.  I live pretty close to B daddys in helotes, anyone with with a opinion on that?

[dingleberryswitzer 2724]

1 hour ago, DaysOff said:

14 hours ago, F250 said:

It's getting crowded up here. I would discourage anyone else from moving into the area.
 

That's why I'm okay with this Vulcan quarry. The other option is to shoehorn another 2000 single family homes on that land. Also, it's far enough away to not bother me.

If camp bullis ever gets closed and sold off, well... It'd be a bad time.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

5 minutes ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

I guess we'll make this the defacto SA thread, plus the rudys talk got me wondering.  What's everyone's favorite bbq place here?  I'm not a big bbq guy but I checked out 2 bros the other day and I thought it was pretty good but it piqued my interest in trying out others.  I live pretty close to B daddys in helotes, anyone with with a opinion on that?

2M Smokehouse. 

[F250 28823]

3 minutes ago, dingleberryswitzer said:

If camp bullis ever gets closed and sold off, well... It'd be a bad time.

Yeah, that area is a prime location. I'm closer to Canyon Lake, so far enough away to not be impacted but the Old Blanco road area would be overrun pretty fast. The only possible issue for development might be the toxicity left over from some of the shit the Army has used out there over the years.

[Mitch Cumsteen 18583]

1 hour ago, Patricio Swayze said:

2M Smokehouse. 

It's 2M and it's not close. Smokeshack is pretty good in a pinch if you don't want to wait in line at 2M or the hours don't work for you. 

[Mac8111 2117]

2M - great

Big Bib isn't bad.

Everything else is average to below average. 

 

 

[yoladu 4098]

 

On 5/5/2018 at 11:32 PM, RD3 said:

Yo tambien.  I grew up in San Antonio but I've lived in Austin since 1993 when I started at UT as a freshman.  I have been to Houston and Dallas a ton.  When I was in my 20s, I would have preferred Dallas over SA. Now in my 40s, no doubt I'd pick SA over Dallas or Houston.

I was in San Antonio earlier today visiting friends.  But...  I don't see myself leaving Austin any time soon...

This is basically my experience. Grew up in SA, went and graduated from UT, lived in SA for 2 1/2 years after college ('93 to '95) and was absolutely miserable. It was literally the worst place to live for recent college grad, unmarried young professional. Moved back to Austin and have never left.

I do visit SA a lot and love the older downtownish neighborhoods - King William, Monte Vista, AH, and Olmos Park. I am in my late 40s with a family now and what was once unfathomable to me in my 20s, i now could imagine myself being relatively happy living there.

but all those neighborhoods north of 410? forget it. Bland suburban hellscape.

[midtown 3348]

2 hours ago, yoladu said:

but all those neighborhoods north of 410? forget it. Bland suburban hellscape.

I generally agree but lets not pretend as if every neighborhood inside the loop is a paradise sans the ones you mentioned.   And a lot of those homes are old and tiny and out of a lot peoples price range.   There are some pretty rough areas right outside all of those hoods you mentioned.  There is still some character around.  Drive through castle hills sans the nazi cops and you'd get every bit of feel of AH and its cheaper for non-school person because of the affiliated middle and high school but then you just go to a magnet school like ISA which is on the same campus.  Problem solved.