Moving to San Antonio
 

Hello Fodorites!

Just found out that we will be moving to San Antonio. We're very excited about the move since we have lived in the Midwest for so long. A change of scenery will be much appreciated!

I have several San Antonio questions:

1. Where to live? We have heard that the northwestern suburbs have bad traffic. Where should we focus our search? (We are definitely going to rent for the time being.)

2. We have a toddler, so I'm interested to know about outdoor parks and playgrounds and/or walkable neighborhoods.

3. Anything else you think I should know before we move to Texas?

4. Since I'm a travel nut, I'm already plotting day and/or weekend trips from SA. Which Hill Country destinations would be most suitable for two 20-somethings and a toddler?

I know some of these questions are rather vague, but I'm just looking for any advice that you think might be helpful.

Thank you!

When your toddler is a little older, you guys will love the Schlitterbahn water park; my friend who lives in New Braunfels has season passes for her family. Gruene is another cute little town to visit - eat at the Grist Mill overlooking the river and stroll through the town, get ice cream, etc. Lots of cute little shops.

I'll leave the serious S.A. questions to folks who actually live there, but it's a great town; we love eating on the River Walk. The King William district is gorgeous and historic.

I forgot to mention Sea World - great for kids; they have dolphins that you can feed, whale shows, etc.

Besides the things vg mentioned, I'd include the towns of Winberley, Fredericksburg, Kerrville, Bandera, Johnson City and places around there for the Hill Country.

Fredericksburg is also known for its peaches, so plan a trip in late spring, very early summer.

And of course the flowers and bluebonnets in Mar/April.

As well as we know SA, I'll also leave issues on neighboods and schools to those living there.

Don't know where is the Midwest you currently live, but leave your coats.

Think you'll really like SA.

You may find this site helpful for re-locating purposes,

http://www.city-data.com/forum/

Where will your job be?

Thanks for all of the info!

I'm a stay-at-home mom. My husband will be working west of downtown.

We've heard good things about Alamo Heights. Any thoughts? Would that be a long commute with traffic?

One of my best friends used to live in Alamo Heights; she loved it.

Any other suggestions? Thoughts?

Prepare for hot humid summers. Schlitterbahn is awesome!!!!!!!! get a season pass.

My brother and sister-in-law have lived in Alamo Heights for years. Their now grown children have bought houses there, too. It's a very attractive part of town.

Alamo Heights is nice.
I lived across from UTSA in University Heights in 1975-77, and in the Shenandoah are the year before. I think I would find some place close to work. The interstate pretty much makes a big loop around the city.

Bienvenidos, siena1! Where are you coming from?

Yes, Alamo Heights would be great. It is probably the most desirable part of town (and that is reflected in real estate prices.) The northwest and north central areas have gotten way too cookie cutter suburbanized - development after development, freeways that clog up regularly and strip center after strip center. Don't be seduced by what seems like "lots of square footage and features for the price" in the new areas. Especially avoid many of the 7825x ZIP codes, aka subdivision hell. The overall quality of life is much better in the AH area. AH is an independent incorporated city wholly surrounded by San Antonio. Some pretty desirable areas are technically beyond the AH borders, you can tell realtors that you are interested in the 78209 ZIP code.

zelphiacat - you would not recognize the area around UTSA these days! We were there for graduation Friday night and traffic on IH10 was a mess.

Thanks! It's helpful to have the zip codes so that we can really narrow our search.

We found a few houses we like online...now I have to go look at the zip codes! :)

4. Since I'm a travel nut, I'm already plotting day and/or weekend trips from SA. Which Hill Country destinations would be most suitable for two 20-somethings and a toddler?


Sea World comes to mind. Since you'll be living there, I would get a season pass there.

There's an Africa Safari, Texas Style, slightly north of the city and there are some caverns right nearby. These would be great ideas as well.

When the kid gets older, Schlitterbaun is right there.

Make sure you either get a pool or your community has a pool - you can use it from April to October here, and you'll really want one in the summer.

My brother lives there and so do some of my cast mates from long ago.

Check out the Village of Castroville. That would be neat. Check out the art gallery in the city center.

My brother loves the fact that the city has 2 highways that encircle the city, as opposed to Denver, CO, where there isn't an easy way around it.

Definitely find a hobby there. Check out the Quary Shopping area. Its pretty neat.

I will tell ya, the coolest Starbucks I've ever been to is downtown. They have the place to listen and buy music in the store. I really enjoyed it.

I had a chance to move there once. I was so against it, because of the circumstances. Now I could live there.

If you go to church, get involved. There are some great churches there.

Really, Seamus?!
I'll bet it is! When I was there, there was pretty much nothing out there and UTSA itself was quite new. Actually, I think the subdivision I lived in was called University Hills, not Heights... I went to John Marshall H.S. for 2 yrs. :)

zelphiacat - development has taken over the area like you would not believe. Remember when we used to call it "UT at Boerne" and joke that anything outside 1604 required a passport? These days traffic jams on 1604 are routine, and the previously bucolic drive up IH10 to Boerne is a string of stoplights.

Hi siena1, if you do move to Alamo Heights, there is a pool that you can buy a membership to:

http://www.heightspool.com/

Castle Hills is a nice area, too.

There is a neighborhood off of N.W. Military that I am blanking on right now, but it has nice established homes.

All of these I mention are INSIDE Loop 1604. They all have nicer, high quality homes, usually with established yards with trees (as opposed to Mcmansions with a few twig trees planted in the yard.)

The wildlife drive mentioned above is Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch, and the caverns are Natural Bridge Caverns.

Post back if you narrow it down, or if you want to provide more about your search parameters, such as price, age or size of home you are interested in.

fyb, I think you maybe referring to Hunter's Creek off NW Military. Funny how we now point out that places are "inside 1604." Wen i moved to SA and lived in the Castle Hills area outside 410 it was considered "way out there."

Siena, if you need a referral to a good realtor drop me a line to [email protected]