Austin/San Antonio Commute? (New Braunfels, Kyle: home, transferring to, construction)

[gulfpilot]

My wife and I are new residents of Texas and have chosen to settle in south Austin. I was just offered a great job based in San Antonio, that is really hard to pass up. My wife doesnt really wanna leave the South Austin area unfortunately. Is it theoretically possible to commute between SA and south Austin? I hear traffic is terrible on 35 between these two locations. Im trying to talk her into relocating halfway (New Braunfels?) to make my commute easier. Any suggestions?

[jread]

It will wear you out extremely quickly. I know a couple who moved to New Braunfels to do the exact same thing: he worked in San Antonio and she worked in Austin. They lasted a year before coming back to Austin. The money just wasn't worth the stress... that commute is killer. Also think about whether or not the new job will pay enough to makeup the difference (gas/car repair costs).

I wouldn't do it personally.

[b. frank]

Originally Posted by gulfpilot

Im trying to talk her into relocating halfway (New Braunfels?) to make my commute easier. Any suggestions?

I would suggest either staying in Austin or just moving all the way.
Living in-between SA and Austin would make your commute somewhat easier, but your wife still wouldn't live in Austin, so that's a lose/lose situation.

[noplacelikeWA]

In the past 18months I have made the roundtrip from SA to Austin more than 50 times. Now I usually commute from SW SA to North Austin twice a month on Friday afternoons and Sunday evenings and while the commute is long it really not that bad. Leaving SA takes atleast 40minutes but once I get on the 35 everything opens up and is smooth all the way to downtown Austin, then it takes another 45 minutes to get through downtown. It rarely takes more than 2hrs to travel 109miles. I have heard that the stretch of hwy from Austin to SA is considered the "deadliest hwy" in the US, however I can say that in my travels I have witnessed less than 5 accidents going both ways. While I personally would not choose such a long commute, how bad it is depends on what you measure it by... the distance or bumper to bumper. It really is nothing compared to commuting in the Seattle area, where I moved from.

[mimimomx3]

]In the past 18months I have made the roundtrip from SA to Austin more than 50 times. Now I usually commute from SW SA to North Austin twice a month on Friday afternoons and Sunday evenings and while the commute is long it really not that
Is the construction close to New Braunfels finally done? It's taken years....
35 is not that bad really unless there is an accident. 71 to 281 is an alternate, and a pretty one at that!

[noplacelikeWA]

Originally Posted by mimimomx3

Is the construction close to New Braunfels finally done? It's taken years....
35 is not that bad really unless there is an accident. 71 to 281 is an alternate, and a pretty one at that!

It's getting there, no more super narrow lanes to navigate now. We took 281 to 71 once and it was pretty, just not as quick as 35. Also the 281 coming out of SA is terrible and is only getting worse with the added construction.

[blackm3]

I am in the same boat as you are. Transferring to SA in the late fall. We used in to live in SW Austin and would like to be back there again. My wife work would be likely in SW Austin and my workplace is near the UTHSSA. Commuting would be about 80miles one way for me. I timed the route and it took me about 1 hour 15 minutes leaving S Austin on 35S at 9 AM to get to my work. Of course everyone is coming into Austin so traffic heading S bound is not bad.

Coming back from SA to Austin might be a different story. We're in Bellingham, WA currently and I commute to N Seattle to work..about the same distance but traffic is alot worse...on the bad day..probably 2.5 hours to get home. You might want to consider getting a room in SA and stay there 1-2 times a week to lessen the commute. I'm doing this right now but I don't think you'll last long doing it. There's nothing like coming from work to your own home instead of an apt. The best option for both of you would be somewhere in the middle...ie Kyle, Buda, New Braunfels to reduce the headache of commuting and also your chance of survival. 2 of my inlaws are ER physicians...more time spent on IH35 decrease your chance of survival!!

Hope this help!

[manbehindthecurtain]

I worked at a network operations center (in Austin) for almost a year and nearly half the staff lived in San Antonio. They made the commute every day. My best advice is to make sure the money is good.

[adtobias]

well the cost of living is cheaper and better in sa but they pay more in austin

[TheHarvester]

San Antonio is huge --- where in SA is the job? If it's NE near I-35 then the commute wouldn't be too horrible except for the final stretch from New Braunfels to SA.

My personal recommendation is to live in New Braunfels or SA if your job is secure and worth keeping. There are a lot of beautiful areas around there. But again, SA is HUGE, so it all depends on where your job is. You might want to move to the west side of SA or to the north (towards Blanco) depending on where the job is.

No matter what, if you're commuting INTO the city, it won't be fun. This is a basic qualify-of-life decision that many people have to make and I've known a lot of people who chose the long commute but regretted it. Seriously consider this, because long commutes can kill the intimacy of your family and they place enormous stress on the commuter. Plus, we don't know when oil prices will spike again. It's too much of a gamble to put the commute ahead of your family.