Tell me about Houston vs. San Antonio

Coopers ST

Coopers ST

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Tell me about living working in Houston vs. San Antonio. I would go with a job but my wife would not. I have been to Houston a couple times before and liked it. I have never been to San Antonio before. If we went to Houston we are looking to live in Katy. We have two kids one is now in a second the other fifth grade so school is the number one determining factor of where we go. Thanks for any input.
 
Katy is very nice and everything you need and want is there. Growth has been explosive there. Homes are cheap and you get a lot for your money. I enjoy it here and or me the only thing is the heat, but hey rarely rarely snows here

I can't comment on SA as I never lived there but it's a tourist town so I think it's a tad more expensive to live there
 
San Antonio is a great place to live. I attended Univ. of Houston in late 70's, and it basically hasn't changed much: high humidity, whole lotta traffic, interesting smells coming out of the southeast petrochemical area. Houston is a very large city, unregulated growth, and has the amenities of a large city: museums, sports franchises (currently, somewhat unsuccessful), restaurants. Admittedly, Katy is on the far west side of Houston and a great place, their high school football teams are monsters! But I10 in to Houston...take a sack lunch. San Antonio is much more than a tourist town; in the '70's yes, but not now. The cost of living is comparable to Houston, has an exceptionally strong military presence, fantastic Tex-Mex food, SA (very much unlike Houston) has maintained its historical heritage, the Toyota truck plant has significantly increased San Antonio's manufacturing base; there's traffic but not as bad as Houston, the humidity isn't as bad, the air pollution isn't anyway near Houston. When Hurricane Ike went through Galveston, Houston felt it; San Antonio is relatively immune to hurricanes- but Houston is closer to the Gulf- if you want to go salt water fishing. Both are great places to live. Having spent time in both, I have chosen San Antonio. If I want to see professional sports, I'll drive to Houston or Dallas. From downtown to downtown, Houston and San Antonio are 199 miles apart, straight shot down a very well maintained I10. Last, Houston feels like a big city; San Antonio feels like a small city.
 
SATracker I see you live in SA. What has the oil boom done? If you are not part of that industry did you see a change at all? Has that affected housing demand and price at all?
 
Subscribed.

We are looking to go north west of San Antonio. My brother-in-law lives in Pearland, right below Houston, but recently bought property half an hour south.
 
SA blows

Austin is Great

Houston is OK if you don't actually live in the city limits
 
I would choose San Antonio over Houston. It is just a nicer, more comfortable living city, in my opinion.
 
San Antonio over Huston Definatly. SA has its run down parts like all big cities, you have a great downtown/Riverwalk, follow Broadway to teh very nice zoo and you have in one area ZOO, Brekenridge Park, the teh Whitte Museum, and the TX Ranger museum, Sunken Gardens, and the Botanicale gardens, and thats all within a 2mile radious. A massive array of retraunts to satisfy all cravings. Traffic can be clogged some, but you also have teh outlying areas right in the Hill country. Bulverde, Boerne, Gruene (dance hall), Casterville,,just pick a town outside the loops. Hondo is great, and of course you have Lukenbach just outside of Fredricksburge and then you have the Shlitterban real colse!
All the hill country areas are very pretty. But I think in 20 yrs Austin and SanAntonio with be side by side.(well it seems that way LOLOL)

As you can tell I really like it there! LOLOL Love to visit as much as possible.
 
It depends on what you want to do with your weekends and time off. If the ocean, boating, fishing is your thing then Houston is the logical choice for your recreation. If hunting/camping and wilderness/outdoor adventures is important, SA is near some of the best deer hunting in the world. The Hill Country is fantastic and right next to SA and provides great outdoor recreation.

Spanish/Latino influence is in every Texas city but none more so than SA. Houston is very American and at first glance you can't tell it from any other big American city. SA is very mixed culturally and I consider it unique among our big cities. Both have typical big city problems but more so in Houston. I never lived in either but visited both quite often from my home in Dallas. When I decided to retire I went to the Piney Woods of East Texas - and have never regretted it for a moment. Which would I choose? San Antonio for sure.
 
The oil boom is southeast of San Antonio and the oil related businesses are on the south and east side of SA. Lot of money to be made there. School districts were losing the CDA bus drivers because there's more money to be made in the Eagle Ford shale oil area; Eagle Ford is pronounced, Eagleferd- it's a south Texas thing. Housing prices really haven't been affected because SA is historically a cheaper place to live. The above posts are very correct. There are a lot of great little Texas towns that are a day trip from SA: Castroville, New Braunfels, Fredericksburg, geez- so many. In spring time all these little towns have their special harvest days and it's good stuff.
I also went to UTexas and my son lives in Austin. Austin is a great place to live but VERY pricey. It has a younger feel because of the university, and it's very tech savvy (although Rackspace is in SA and the military has some huge tech intel place here.) Austin is more trendy and tries to pattern itself after San Francisco, Portland, etc. Did I mention it's VERY expensive (in Texas dollars)? Just north of the University a 1200 sq ft home was selling for $600,000; dollars not pesos! $600,000 in San Antonio will virtually buy you a mansion. What Austin working people are doing is moving to smaller towns and driving the 30 miles to work.
But, Houston is a great place to live- very big city. Austin is also great-very pricey. I've chosen to live in SA, my dad was USAF, retired here-it's my home, so I'm a little biased; But on any given day I'll drive to Austin and Houston. The coast is about 3 hours southeast, straight shot down I37, four lanes & well kept highway.
 
Sorry to HiJack...

When we visited S.A. we really enjoyed the RiverWalk, The Alamo, and Mi Tierra's.

We are looking at the Kerrville area and surrounding region. New Braunfels and Wemeberley area was nice also.

Now with the Houston area it is close to the water and I enjoy fishing. We stopped at a water front town that had a cool area that had shops and places to eat including Bubba Gump Shrimp. The only thing that concerns me are the hurricanes coming off the gulf.

I'm told that the Kerrville area usually will get the rain but the winds are not bad since the land erodes the storms...
 
Hurricanes are a hit and miss. Ike hit & it was pretty nasty. The winds blew the waters up into parts of Houston. That's why SA is pretty safe, we're far enough inland; but we're far enough south that tornadoes are exceptionally unlikely. For us to get hit badly by a hurricane, Corpus Christi will be destroyed first.
Kerrville has become a nice retirement area, about an hour northwest of SA. New Braunfels-Wimberly, nice hill country. A person might be able to make some $$$ detailing in Kerrville; not so much in New Braunfels or Wimberly.
I wouldn't let the threat of hurricanes scare me away from Houston. The traffic and pollution will do that.
 
SATracker said:
Kerrville has become a nice retirement area, about an hour northwest of SA. New Braunfels-Wimberly, nice hill country. A person might be able to make some $$$ detailing in Kerrville; not so much in New Braunfels or Wimberly.
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Click to expand...

You don't say...:detailer:
 
Born and raised in Houston but have lived in San Antonio since 1989. I have lived in the Northeast, MidSouth and Southeast US and San Antonio is by far the nicest place I have ever lived.
 
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