I did search other threads but still have some questions…
I am a 30+ year Las Vegas native who, along with her SO, is considering a major scene change. My SO has been to San Antonio and its his suggestion.
I have been to Dallas, TX and HATED it- but I was only there for a few hours in route to Oklahoma and having to deal with some very stupid airport employees. I hope they do not represent the general culture of Texas. I did like the Oklahomans I met (largely extremely rural folks) though…
Hot doesn’t bother me as much, I imagine from what I have read so far that it would be better than here. I do currently live in a place relatively free from natural disasters- so tornados and major flooding? How often?
My boyfriend tells me there are trees and green grass there… true?
We would need to live fairly close to the majority of population as we both have occupations that depend on lots of people/good job market for me. He is a dog trainer who needs clients, I’m a veterinary hospital manager who needs a big enough vet hospital that it can pay me well enough to make a living. I know in some areas my job (I make about 30k a year) barely pays over min. wage :eek: .
On the other hand, we are dog people- stock dog folks in fact- and need to be fairly close to rural culture as well- in fact I’d like to find a place to either buy/rent that I can keep my sheep and our numerous dogs on. Is that possible within 30-45 minutes to town? How is the housing costs, cost of living, etc…
Any general idea of what its like to live there would be very well appreciated!
San Antonio is a great city that has pretty much what you’re looking for. There is still a lot of open land on the outskirts that is close to the city.
There are trees and green grass. There is also lousy weather; three years ago, the city flooded out. It also gets pretty muggy.
I think the cost of living is pretty reasonable, but I haven’t done a comparison. Of course, the wages are commensurate with that, so you might not be paid as much.
And most Texans are a lot friendlier than your average DFW employee. In fact, I think DFW breeds employees at a special Jerk Farm somewhere near Denton.
I grew up in San Antonio, but it’s been around 8 years since I’ve been back.
The weather is mild in the winter, hot and muggy in the summer. You get lots of thunderstorms, but I only remember one tornado from my childhood. Different areas in town are prone to flooding, especially where the streets don’t have proper drainage. The town is green, green, green - trees everywhere, rivers and creeks and parks, lots of live oak.
There are well over a million people, so you’d definitely have your customer base. The price of living, is IIRC, lower than Dallas, so that’s a plus. The north side is fairly built up, but if you go any other direction it’s not to bad. The culture is very strongly Hispanic, as better than half of the city is generations old Hispanic. Much of the remaining culture is military, since there’s four or five bases.
Again, I haven’t been there in a long time, so things may have changed, but I have very pleasant memories of San Antonio.
Well, the old cliche certainly applies here: It’s a big smalltown. Very friendly people, please don’t compare us to Dallas. Cost of living is low, flooding is actually not that common an occurrence, worst drivers around, great Mexican food!
We party a lot, there’s a night life, there’s an arts culture if you look for it but we certainly don’t compare to Chicago or NY. You can get just about anywhere in a half hour, Austin is only an hour away, day trip destinations abound. A great homebase.
Going the other direction from jimpatro, as an Austin native who visited SA quite a bit in my youth, it’s definitely a nice town. I like the fact that you can be in the country fairly quickly - places like Bandera, Gruene, Fredericksburg are pretty close. I happen to think there are better Tex-Mex and Mexican restaurants in SA than in Austin! One visit to Mi Tierra may convince you to relocate!
(Central and South Texans are really friendly. The Dallas metroplex always struck me as a little unusual. Of all the parts of Texas, I probably like that region the least.)
Yeah, that place is OK if you want the “mexican” food made American style, but everyone knows that the best mexican food comes from the dirty, run down places that look like they’re about to collapse. This is coming from the guy that goes to school in San Antonio, but has lived ON the border all his life. Those places are the ones that compare best to the food that you can only get across the river.
I love San Antonio. Being a Hispanic, I feel right at home, but there’s also much more diversity than where I’m originally from (59% Hispanic population as opposed to 97%). I go a private university that’s primarily white though (something like 89% I think) and love it. Alot of my family lives in SA too, so they know where all the hot spots are. Nightlife is alive and well, if you know where to go (and if you get bored, Austin is only an hour away). People are friendly and the scenery is great (I love going to Brackenridge when it’s just got done raining). Plenty of places to shop, a good place to raise a family, and cost of living is lower here than in most places.
However much I hate to line quote, I want to make sure I answer all of your questions.
True story - One Thursday in 1998, the corporation I work for had an entire senior class from Panama in the building on a tour. I was leading them through our data center, when one of them asked me about how we cope with disaster drills and such. I outlined our plans, and then made a joke about San Antonio being almost completely disaster free. That weekend, we had the first (of two) “100 year” floods that just messed up the entire city. That senior class was still in town for it, and must have thought I was insane.
Other than the two floods, and a tornado in the early 90’s, I can’t seem to remember any “disasters”. A the tornado was pretty tame.
The entire city is covered with green grass/native vegetation, beautiful oak trees, and 40 foot tall weeds (also called cedar trees). Take a look at google maps for a picture of the ground cover.
The current population of the county is well over a million people. Maybe 1.4ish. There is a large segment of rural and urban animal owners. I would not think there is any problem with fauna related occupations. The only limitation is jobs with large corporations - there are only a handful of 500’s in town.
That is possible within five minutes of “town”. The north side rapidly changes from urban sprawl into mini-ranches. Housing costs are utterly cheap - especially relative to other large cities. If you’re not particular about the builder or the location, you can get a decent 3500sqft starter castle in the 150-250 range (this varies all over the place).
I hope this helped. Feel free to ask any other questions - I love the city, even after 30 years of it.
I hate San Antonio with a passion. It will be a cold day in hell before I ever go there of my own free will. But I think that’s because Basic was there.
The Riverwalk wasn’t as nice as I expected it to be, and the Alamo was really small.
But I do have to say that the people that live there are one of the nicest I have ever met, always willing to be helpful.
Thanks for your responses… sounds like an interesting place. We have flooding here too, and have heard the “100 year flood” phrase used from time to time (usually when some trailer park manages to wash away ) so can deal with occasional flooding. Hot & muggy… how long during the summer? Does it get cooler at night? Right now we deal with 105+ temps during the day and 85-95 at night. Its monsoon season so its a bit muggy (like 50% the other day) but I much prefer that to the 116 record temps we had last week! :mad:
Winters mild? We get windy here but winters are the only reason I’ve managed to live here in Vegas for so long. That and my kick-ass job that I love but can’t take with me.
I’m especially interested in the fact there are so many places that could be visited that would be all new to me (the Gulf Coast, New Orleans, etc). I"m a bit tired of having either Disneyland or Grand Canyon as the most accessible places to visit.
Plus lots of dog folks in Texas, New Mexico, & OK.
Its going to be a long, long 18 months or so to get ready to move, wherever we end up but I’m really excited just to try something new :).
) so can deal with occasional flooding. Hot & muggy… how long during the summer? Does it get cooler at night? Right now we deal with 105+ temps during the day and 85-95 at night. Its monsoon season so its a bit muggy (like 50% the other day) but I much prefer that to the 116 record temps we had last week! :mad:
but can’t take with me.