BigMove06

I would really like information on the best place to stay while in the San Antonio area. I will be in San Antonio for 10 days at the end of March 2006. Where should I go and explore? Best places for a meal. Entertainment? Nightlife?

By the way, I will be relocating (job move), and will be looking at new construction while there. I heard of kb homes and centex homes, but if you guys have more suggestions, I would welcome them. I really want new development (new job location, new city, new home). Any Suggestions? I will be working in the downtown area.

After living in Chicago most of my life, I am not really worried about a long commute (anything under 1 hr, is a whole lot better then my travel time now). If I could cut travel time down to about half hour or less would be excellent.

I will be moving Aug/Sept. 2006. Any information on the school system (middle) for my daughter would be helpful. Are there a lot of family activities?

Any information you guys can offer will be appreciated. Thanks

Scarlett

Topping and suggesting that while you wait for answers, try typing San Antonio into the search box and read other threads for info.
Good luck, we have friends who live in SA and they are very happy there.

follow_your_bliss

Could you give more information about what kind of place you'd like to stay at? Is money no object or do you just want a bed?

Also, you are going to find a wide variety of opinions on "best place for a meal." Do you want fancy, authentic tex-mex, cheap?

Let us know, and you will get more suggestions.

Seamus

That should be a great time to visit weatherwise.
FYI, KB does not have a particularly good reputation; though they mass produce tract houses, there are several lawsuits pending alleging shoddy workmanship. Centex has a somewhat better reputation, though I have no personal experience with the company. There are loads of newly developed areas, but most are on the fringes and you will face commuting along iwth nasty traffic congestion and crowded cookie cutter shopping centers if you go for those areas. Better constructed houses, more convenient locations, and much better resale value (though that may not be high on your list.) My strong recommendation would be to look at areas closer to town, such as Alamo Heights or Olmos Park. King William and Monte Vista have some great historical homes, but the neighborhood is a bit spotty in places.
In terms of restaurants, there's a bit of everything. Downtown, try Boudro's on the rierwalk, Biga on the Banks, Las Canarias in La Mansion hotel, or La Reve for an upscale french meal. For excellent Mexican and Tex Mex Paloma Blanca on Broadway or La Fonda on Main are terrific.
You can email me offline at [email protected] and I'll be glad to answer questions.
Bienvenido!

saiguanas

Being a local I am guilty of not visiting the tourist areas like I should. I mean you have the obvious. Go see the Alamo, take a ride to the top of the Tower of the Americas, Eat and stroll the riverwalk (note: the best Mexican food is not on the Riverwalk but Casa Rio is good), The Mission trail, Fiesta Texas, Sea World.

For true local meals try Piedras Negras (the restaurant not the town), Blanco Cafe (for the food not the atmosphere). If you want to stick with downtown, I already mentioned Casa Rio on the river, but Mi Terra, although it has gone down in recent years is still good and has alot of atmosphere and across the highway is Pico de Gallo.

So far as hotels, the nicer ones are Emily Morgan, The Gunther, Marriot Riverwalk and Rivercenter, St Anthony's, Paseo Del Rio, and the Hyatt Riverwalk. There are plenty of nice La Quintas, Holiday Inns, etc.

I agree with the previous poster. Under no circumstances buy a KB home. They put up their sub-divisions in a couple of weeks and cater to young couples and transplants like yourself, who don't know their history. They used to be known as Ray Ellison until they ruined that name and then were known as Kaufman and Braud, you guessed it, ruined that name, and are now known as KB homes. There was this poor home builder/remodeler that was known as KB Custom Homes and he had to change the name of his company because people were getting them confused.

Don't worry about your commute here. If a dump truck turns over in the center lane during rush hour, you might have an hour commute. I commute from the NE side to the SW side in 30-40 minutes. I-10 on the northwest side has horrible traffic as does loop 410 all along the northside. Bandera Rd also has horrible traffic. Remember that "horrible" to us is alot different than what it may meen to you coming from Chicago. You are almost never at a dead standstill on our highways...almost never.

You will usually have two camps as to which side of town to move to not counting the earlier mentioning of Alamo Heights, etc. Those are very affluent neighborhoods. Not knowing your status, I'll explain the 2 camps for us middle class folks. Most of the growth is in the NW. With growth comes bad traffic. The North Central to NE sides are generally more established but with enough growth to keep things afloat. I prefer the NE for the reason that the schools are better.

Again you will have someone come in shortly and tell you exactly opposite of what I have so while you are here, divede the northern half of the city, north of loop 410, into two sections using I-35 as your eastern edge, 281 as the dividing line and Hwy 90 as your western edge. Drive around the two sides and decide for yourself. As for the schools compare Northeast Independent School District, Northside Independent School District, and Alamo Heights ISD.

p.s. Alamo Heights is on the Northeast side just inside loop 410 around Broadway.

Seamus

Bang on advice from saiguanas - I agree with all except the Casa Rio recommendation. As anyone who has seen my previous posts knows, I think it's some of the worst Tex Mex in town, and at inflated tourist prices to boot. Guess that's why they make chocolate AND vanilla ice cream...;-)
One other thing to keep in mind when choosing where to live is taxes; though Texas doesn't have a state income tax there are all sorts of other taxing authorities (city, county, utility district, water district, library district, community college district, hospital district, school district...). There are a number of independent school districts in town that each set their own tax rates (Northeast is notoriously high).

Seamus

Almost forgot to add that when you are shopping for a place to live, be sure to ask about the airport takeoff and landing paths - especially in the 78216 and some of the 78213 zip code areas. It is great to have the airport so close in, but it does make for some problems with jet noise in adjacent neighborhoods. You can check out some houses on www.sabor.com

saiguanas

And remember, if you should decide to buy near the airport, that it was there before most of the houses and certainly before you came to town. Just a little something that residents close by often cry about. Unless they were their before 1941 they have no merit.

AnnMarie_C

I could not have said it better than Seamus and Saiguanas.

We have lived here going on 17 years, transplants from the east coast, on the NW side in suburban sprawl hell. What I once considered to be a pretty part of town is being decimated and turned into shopping centers, neighborhoods, storage facilities... the views of the hill country along 1604 are now obstructed and if my suv gets one more ding from a rock carrying truck I'm gonna scream! I suspect in 5-10 years 1604 is going to look like 410.

If I could live anywhere in the city it would be the Alamo Heights, Monte Vista, etc. area--a unique part of the city with soul.

We have three years left here but who's counting? ;-) Good luck to you!