Movin to San Antonio

[Verio]

I may be taking a job in San Antonio, and I'm curious if anyone has any areas that I should avoid or great areas to raise a family.

I've never been to Texas, and I'm moving from Massachusetts, so it's definitely going to be a huge change.

Let me know anything else I should know. Thanks!

[jparnapy]

we moved to dallas 6 years ago from upstate ny huge culture shock some people still live in the civil war era best of luck to you be ready to never be cold again and never have to shovel another snowflake or see any fall leaves but you can drive the camaro year round here

[Verio]

How do you like it? People nicer or about the same? Cost of Living?

[CamaroSkooter]

Texas cost of living is generally significantly less than Massachusetts cost of living.

Depending on where you're working in San Antonio, there are lots of very nice neighborhoods to settle down in.

Let us know generally what area of town your potential new job is located, and several of us can suggest some great places to find a home.

[lee]

ive never lived in sa but ive visited and the people are cool down there

[Verio]

I'll have to get updated information on where I'll be working out of... right now it's all up in the air.

[RuffEL]

im from chicago, and live in schertz (northeast "suburb" if you'll call it that, it used to be country...too much expansion down here) but the folks are friendly, the doors stay unlocked on houses (not mine, like i said im from chicago lol) and the beer is cheap....ive seen nice 2 bedroom appartments in this part of town for 400/mo...just all depends on where u want to live....there are tons of military around town, so you'll see them alot no matter where u decide to live....and thats a plus, cause "generally" they are phenominal ppl. i hope you enjoy it when your here, and i hope to see you at our camaro meets

cheers

[AngelPharmD]

Ive been in San Antonio for about a year and a half. I live in NW San Antonio. It's a great area. You avoid all the traffic associated with downtown. I suggest NW SA or Stoneoak area which is also North SA but more NE.

[TAG UR IT]

There's lots of good places to live. My preferred area to live in is the North Central area. There are so many good spots to settle down in. I prefer to live outside of Loop 1604. We have two main loops that run a complete circle around SA....the inner being 410 and the outer being 1604. We live outside loop 1604 up towards Bulverde area (Stone Oak area). The only issue you will really find up here is a lot of traffic at rush hour. We are currently working on getting a major highway put in along 281 NB out of 1604. Take a stroll going NB on 281 at rush hour and you will see why....IT SUCKS.

There are a lot of good schools around. The better schools being Churchill, Clark, Alamo Heights, Reagan, and now Johnson HS. No matter which school your girls go to (and I'm being completely honest here), you are bound to find drugs will be present in one form or another. As long as they are brought up properly, it won't be an issue. Yes, I'm an officer...and yes, I've heard from all the kids how easy stuff is to get....no matter which school it is listed above. Just teach them properly and they will be fine.

Crime varies all over the city...types of crimes. Some areas are total Meth which leads to many burglaries of homes and of cars. KEEP YOUR VALUABLES OUT OF SITE IN YOUR CAR and you will NEVER have a problem getting your vehicle burglarized. So many hundreds of people leave their crap out in the open and they actually act surprised when their stuff is stolen from their car. I mean....would you leave $2,000 in CASH sitting on your passenger seat w/ a simple window between the cash and the outside world looking in? .....(if you say yes.....). Of course not. BUT...people leave their laptops sitting in the bags w/ tons of equipment on the seats, floor boards, "hidden" under a jacket and it MIGHT AS WELL be 2k in cash....don't matter to the burglar. Also take down your GPS units and take off the suction cup from the window. Common sense here.... If you have it and again, leave valuables out of site, your car will never be broken into. I bring this up because like most other cities, meth is poplular here and when you have people who use meth, your property crimes sky rocket....(IE: CAR BURGLARIES). A little common sense goes a long way here.

I suggest flying in BEFORE picking out a spot to live in. Fly in, check out the area, ASK US ABOUT IT, and we will comment on what's good/bad about the area. I'd be MORE than willing to help you out and answer questions as I'm sure there are plenty more of us who would like to help.

Will you be getting into a house? Or, will you be moving into an apartment?

House market is great here. You can get into so much more space for the dollar than most other places in the country. That's why SA is something like the #2 spot to retire in the country....I think....maybe #6?...I can't remember. But, it was on the list.

Again, ask some specific questions and we'll be happy to answer.

Oh yeah...no "winter storage" for your camaro down here! HA! It'll get cold for maybe a couple weeks out of the year.....like really cold (which for us might be upper 20's).

[Verio]

Thank you all for the quick responses. I'm not sure if I will have a lot of time to fly out and pick an area. I believe I'm only going to be given 5 days, with just my wife and I to fly out and look at some areas.

As for houses or apartments, we're really not sure on that either. We're moving from an apartment, but I'd hate to buy a house and be unhappy about the area. I'd rather rent a house or condo, and look to buy next year.

Crime is everywhere, and I'm moving from just outside of Boston, so I know what big city life is, but I also know where not to go, if I really don't want to get car jacked.

I'll definitely take you up on that offer, when we do fly out to look at areas to live in. I haven't officially gotten the offer yet, but they were conducting my background check last night, so I'm pretty sure it's imminent. They want the position filled within 4-6 weeks... I'm just hoping it's after the Christmas break.


First question -

I know some may be partial, since you've grown up in Texas/San Antonio... but for the folks that are transplanted... how does it compare to where you lived before? Cultural wise, are the people in the area more friendly, or do they keep to themselves?

This is a big one for me, since I moved from the Northwest, where if your car is broken down on the side of the road, someone immediately pulls over to help. In the Northeast here, I'm lucky if I don't get flipped off because I didn't pull my broken down car far enough off the shoulder.

Any great dealers in the area to get service at?

I'll try and think of a few more important questions, but it seems you guys mostly answered it.

[T/A Taz]

Hope everything goes well and the move goes smoothly!

I grew up outside of Chicago and couldn't wait to get out of the snow. We loved being outside of New Braunfels since we could easier go to SA or Austin within an hour. We hated being transferred up to the Dallas area 3 years ago and have been looking to move back for the past 1 1/2.

I'd gladly take the 3 hot months here in Texas over maybe 3 good months back north. And cooking outside for Thanksgiving and Christmas, then either going for a ride or drive, man you can't beat that.

I would rent close to where you might work and then take several months to learn the area. With the crappy economy, you should be able to find a house to rent rather than an apartment.

I doubt you would consider traffic here as bad as any rush hour you're use to, so living further out with land might be worth a look. Don't know anything about schools since we never had kids, but all seem to be proud of their football teams.

[TAG UR IT]

Oh helll yeah....we take high school football down here VERY seriously!!!

Ancira Winton Chevrolet off Bandera is the only place I like to take my Camaro. Bob Dishong is the best guy to work with. I've been dealing with him for ....10 years now? GREAT person. Anthony Jetter is the shop foreman and is also an awesome guy to work with. I drive from just about Bandera passing 4 shops to go to them.

[Verio]

Oooooh Football... definitely my favorite sport. I'll try not to mention too loudly that I'm a seahawks fan..... :-s

[CamaroSkooter]

Most of the folks in the SA area are Cowboys fans, but it's not a heated topic or anything. If you have a favorite team, people are cool with that.

Now, college football is a whole 'nother story. I'd say the city is split close to half-n-half between the Longhorns and the little pee-on school over in college station