Relocating to San Antonio

C

Candiarie_sl

shitlord
43
0
Maybe this should be moved to Travel? Uncertain.

I'm a twenty something who'll (hopefully) have a job offer in San Antonio soon, but I've never even driven through Texas. I could use advice on where to live or resources to find places to live/rent. The SA craigslist is the spammiest one I've seen for any city. Zillow looks alright. In town I've always known what neighborhoods I wanted to live in, so was able to tailor my search and also just drive around search out For Rent signs. If anyone has advice on what neighborhoods to look at I'd be really appreciative.

Ideally the place would be located such that it's easy to get to other parts of town. Don't mind living in old houses and actually prefer it. Ideally close enough to walk/bike to restaurants/bars/coffee shops (right now I'm less than a block from two bars, two restaurants, and a brewery with dozens more within a mile and 5 minutes from two highways). My interests include small concerts, road biking, motorcycles, bourbon, volunteering for equal rights groups, and weightlifting if that helps narrow down where I should live at all. I've usually lived in neighborhoods with older buildings that were still decent, usually mixed income and race.

The job is located by I-10 and Wurzbach.

This was the most relevant info I could find, but I'm not sure how accurate it is:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/san-a...n-antonio.html
I chose to decide between Southtown/King William (directly south of downtown) and Monte Vista (directly north of downtown, including its surrounding areas bordered by Blanco on the west, Hildebrand on the north, and Broadway or 281 on the east). I opted for the latter. Both are beautiful historical neighborhoods that are completely different from many of the suburban subdivisions and strip malls that exist farther out in the city. Both are also extremely ?diverse.? If you are looking for tolerant, pro-gay, vegetarian-friendly, artsy, and indie/punk rock areas, these are your best bets. They are also a good ethnic mix. (Monte Vista is probably the most gay-friendly neighborhood in the city, with a visible strip of bars and businesses close by and a generally open atmosphere.)
Click to expand...
I'll also probably put up a post soon about negotiating offers like we had on FOH. Paying for relo, paying for phone/computer, vacation time....damn. It seems like a lot to negotiate. Thanks in advance
 
C

checkyeah_sl

shitlord
70
0
Other than going there a few times a year, I don't know much about the up and coming areas. Downtown can be nice during certain times of the year, but it's hard to compare it to other downtown areas like Austin. I'd say roughly where you are working and anything in that area between 410, 1604, i10, and 281 is a decent place to be. I've gone to a comedy club there and it seemed like a nice area. Good luck with San Antonio, I'd mostly be worried about being allergic to the cedar (juniper tree)
 
N

Nostrovia_sl

shitlord
442
0
San Antonio is a shit hole other than the River walk, which isn't really that great either. I don't mean to sound discouraging but really that place is fucking terrible.
Good luck with that.
 
V

Vatoreus Malfost_sl

shitlord
228
1
I just moved here a few months ago. The downtown area is actually starting to pick up a lot of steam and improving every day. Southtown/King Williams is definitely the district to go to for ease of access to the rest of the city imo. I'm going to moving down there, as I work at a restaurant in the King Williams district, right on the south side of the Riverwalk. Hit me up in a PM, my gf lived here her whole life and I know plenty of people I can get additional info from.
 
A

Antarius

Lord Nagafen Raider
1,828
15
Definitely try to get a place relatively near where you'll be working. Trying to get across town during rush our is an exercise in futility. The inner Loop can be stop+go traffic for miles and miles often times even worse than just driving directly across downtown (especially on the west side as of only a couple years ago), the outer loop isn't as congested mostly, but it's so far out of the way that you won't save any time.

New Braunfels is nicer than San Antonio, generally speaking, but wouldn't be worth the commute to where you'll be working, Really anywhere between Bandera and 281, outside of 410 would be fine. But just be careful because like I said, 410 can become completely unusable at times, so if you depend on it for your commute, that would suck.

North side of town, in general is a nicer area.

Be prepared for shitty texas drivers that think the YIELD means the same thing as STOP.
 
Dis

Dis

Confirmed Male
748
45
Nostrovia_sl said:
San Antonio is a shit hole other than the River walk, which isn't really that great either. I don't mean to sound discouraging but really that place is fucking terrible.
Good luck with that.
Click to expand...
So wrong, guy from fucking Utah calling a place shitty. Irony.

Anyways you are close to Austin, New Braunsfels (largest waterpark in the world), hill country, camping, rivers/lakes of all kinds for tubing, water sports, Sea World, Fiesta, list goes on. To top things off you have an extremely low cost of living and great food. Only negative is the place is hot and drought ridden at times.
 
Zodiac

Zodiac

Lord Nagafen Raider
1,200
14
Good biking country near you (or a short drive) if you can stand the heat. Make sure you carry uninsured motorist insurance. Had a friend get fucked pretty bad down there.
mad.png


mad.png
 
dechire

dechire

Bronze Knight of the Realm
323
74
I have lived all over Texas. I am a tattoo'ed freak in my early 40s who is an IT professional to give you an idea of who I am and what I might like. In order of preference for Texas is as follows Austin, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston after that move somewhere else. I spent several years in my 20s & 30s living in S.A. I had a lot of fun and met some nice people. I loved the food. It is the BEST place in Texas to see a heavy metal show as the crowd there is really into metal. It has a few hidden places that are pretty cool and the Hispanic culture is pretty pervasive.
 
Springbok

Springbok

Karen
<Gold Donor>
9,020
12,579
Outside of El Paso, SA is my most hated "city" in Texas (Born in Dallas, raised in Ft Worth). You are pretty close to Austin though, which is a terrific city. SA DOES have the best Mexican food in Texas though by a pretty good margin. Prepare to sweat your dick off in the summer.
 
S

supertouch_sl

shitlord
1,858
3
aside from some tourist spots (river walk, zoo, alamo, sea world) it doesn't have a lot going for it. downtown is pretty pathetic for such a large city. however, my biggest issue with san antonio is that it's so fucking expansive that getting anywhere feels like a chore.
 
AladainAF

AladainAF

Best Rabbit
<Gold Donor>
12,861
30,811
I don't like SA all that much. You're better off living in the NW SA I-10 Corridor in the Boerne area but you're way way way out in the burbs at that point. It's not too terribly far from 10 and Wurzbach if I remember though.
 
C

Candiarie_sl

shitlord
43
0
Zodiac_sl said:
Good biking country near you (or a short drive) if you can stand the heat. Make sure you carry uninsured motorist insurance. Had a friend get fucked pretty bad down there.
mad.png
Click to expand...
That's pretty sweet. It's humid as all hell where I'm at now and is above 90F even at night for weeks at a time. So I'm used to the heat, just not for it taking up most of the year. On a motorcycle I don't have too big of a problem with the heat as long as I'm not stopped.

Everyone mentions the traffic -- is commuting by bicycle inside the city feasible or just kind of a joke?

I loved the food. It is the BEST place in Texas to see a heavy metal show as the crowd there is really into metal. It has a few hidden places that are pretty cool and the Hispanic culture is pretty pervasive.
Click to expand...
Good to know. The biggest Louisville music export (besides fucking my morning jacket) is hardcore so it's pretty much what I grew up on.
 
N

Nostrovia_sl

shitlord
442
0
Dis_sl said:
So wrong, guy from fucking Utah calling a place shitty. Irony.

Anyways you are close to Austin, New Braunsfels (largest waterpark in the world), hill country, camping, rivers/lakes of all kinds for tubing, water sports, Sea World, Fiesta, list goes on. To top things off you have an extremely low cost of living and great food. Only negative is the place is hot and drought ridden at times.
Click to expand...
I lived in San Antonio... Went to Basic in San Antonio and was sent to Utah by the Air force, so eat a bag of cocks.
 
A

Antarius

Lord Nagafen Raider
1,828
15
Bicycling seriously is not feasible in San Antonio, shit is too spread out. I dont remember a single bikepath existing in the entire city, and the street layout basically forces you onto the freeways unless you enjoy traffic lights every 1/4 mile for a 20 mile journey just to get to say... A good restaurant or movie theater (wheel and spoke highways with access roads to get on/off that everything is built up around). On the plus side, the majority of good restaurants and bars are all on the Northwest side. The west side contains the alamo drafthouse, which is one of the best movie theater chains in the nation, Rudys BBQ is also out on the west side, totally worth living in San Antonio if you can sneak away to eat there every day.
 
V

Vatoreus Malfost_sl

shitlord
228
1
Antarius_sl said:
Bicycling seriously is not feasible in San Antonio, shit is too spread out. I dont remember a single bikepath existing in the entire city, and the street layout basically forces you onto the freeways unless you enjoy traffic lights every 1/4 mile for a 20 mile journey just to get to say... A good restaurant or movie theater (wheel and spoke highways with access roads to get on/off that everything is built up around). On the plus side, the majority of good restaurants and bars are all on the Northwest side. The west side contains the alamo drafthouse, which is one of the best movie theater chains in the nation, Rudys BBQ is also out on the west side, totally worth living in San Antonio if you can sneak away to eat there every day.
Click to expand...
I'll call BS on this one these days. I know a girl who lives 20 minutes outside of the downtown area, doesn't own a car, and bikes everywhere she goes (works on the south side of Downtown). In fact, pretty much everyone I work with rides a bike every where and I'm planning on picking one up this week or next. Biking has seriously started to blow up down here as of recent.

But yeah, if you're going to be living up on 1604, you'll need a car, because you're pretty much not even in San Antonio anymore. It's like living in Pflugerville and saying you live in Austin. Fuck you, no you don't.
 
S

supertouch_sl

shitlord
1,858
3
unless you like spending inordinate amounts of time traveling to your destination, biking everywhere isn't realistic. the layout of san antonio (shit, most texas cities) isn't conducive to that type of transportation.
 
A

Antarius

Lord Nagafen Raider
1,828
15
Vatoreus Malfost_sl said:
Personally, I'd rather spend 40 minutes biking somewhere than 20-40 minutes in a car, using gas getting anywhere
Click to expand...
Getting from one far side of San Antonio to the far side opposite isn't a 20-40 minute ride... it's more like a 90-120 minute drive or a 4+ hour bike ride. Right, if you're living/working downtown, maybe thing have changed in the past 6 years since I lived there to make it more conducive to riding... but when I lived there, you do pretty much need to own a car.

But if you're talking about living and working on the northwest side of town (around 10 and 410)... good luck getting anywhere on a bike when there is often literally nothing but highway access roads and freeway connecting one location to another.
 
V

Vatoreus Malfost_sl

shitlord
228
1
It's about an hour ride from the Medical District (off Babcock, near Wurzbach/I-10) to get downtown to Commerce/St. Mary's. A lot of construction has been going on in the past 3 years and things are slowly improving for getting around this town. I agree, it seems to have been pretty shitty once upon a time (I went to basic there back in 03 and my gf says it used to be attrocious), but you can't beat the COL and the distance it puts you from Austin. I spent the last 3 years in San Angelo, TX though, so I could just be really easy to please at this point lol.
 
Dis

Dis

Confirmed Male
748
45
Nostrovia_sl said:
I lived in San Antonio... Went to Basic in San Antonio and was sent to Utah by the Air force, so eat a bag of cocks.
Click to expand...
So you lived in San Antonio or you went to basic in San Antonio? I mean hell bro, I went to basic at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO, but I dont know jack and shit about the town that was attached to it. People who have lived in San Antonio will tell you there is more to the city than the downtown area. It is more of the outdoor scene, camping, river tubing, watersports, Schlitterbahn, hill country etc. Aladain is correct, living close to the Beorne area would be ideal. You have the original Rudy's close by, great BBQ, lots of retail areas, and living off of 10, you can access all the major highways relatively quickly. Plus Lake Medina is close by, I used to go jet skiing regulary there. Also, someone mentioned the metal scene, it is big there, and if you want to go to the best music scene in Texas (Austin), it is an hour's drive barring heavy traffic.

Basically at this point Austin-San Antonio have almost merged together in the same way Oakland and San Fran are merged together.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.