Austin vs. San Antonio? (Houston, Dallas: subdivisions, income tax, living)

[sxrckr]

Originally Posted by LookingtoLeave

It also seems so behind the times in terms of growth, which to me is sad, because that city has potential.

I agree with this assessment of San Antonio. Could really use some progressiveness or energy. But on the flip side I'm concerned Austin has taken this too far; I still wonder how the Austontacioustonian will possibly be able to attract that many people paying that ridiculous price for.... what? This isn't Manhattan.... not even close. Also seems like San Antonio has something of an industry identity crisis; in Texas, Austin's cornered tech and government, Houston's cornered energy and medicine, and DFW's cornered finance and IT. Finally, I don't see much passion out of San Antonio; while the Houstonians will vehemently defend their city and even give good examples demonstrating that they indeed do have something special despite the bad PR and bashing the city gets from other Texans, I don't see the same with San Antonio. Maybe they don't feel the same way, at least not in the same numbers.

[datacity]

If you check out the San Antonio threads here on City-Data, you will find that they very much love their city, but have a mostly live and let live attitude.

Or maybe they just don't defend as vehemently in order to give the impression, false IMHO, that the city is not for everyone... so stay away. That is one way to keep the growth in check... although it isn't working there either.

As for industres, San Antonio's primary have been tourism and military. Beyond that, they have or have had a company or two in everything (so yes, a bit of an identity crisis):

at&t (now in Dallas) -- telecom
Valero/Tetco -- energy
USAA/Frost Bank -- financial
South Texas Medical Center and surrounding biomed -- health
HEB/Whataburger -- retail/restaurant
Rackspace/Maxim/Microsoft -- IT

and so on...

[CAtoTX09]

Ok, we just spend a day and a half in Austin exploring. This is my 3rd time up there and the 1st time where I looked around with a mind to moving there. Here are my observations thus far:

1. Driving in Austin: I felt a lot safer since most people have cars, not lifted pickups with pushbars like they do down here. In fact as soon as we got near SA on I-35 South we started to notice the maniacs in big trucks weaving all over the place and driving like crazed maniacs. Sure there are bad drivers anywhere but I don't feel like my life is in danger due to a moron in a Prius driving slow. That's a far cry from lifted trucks barreling down Loop 1604 at 100 mph.

2. Freeways: This is really a non-issue for us since we don't commute but I have to wonder if the people who think SA has superior freeways have been smoking crack. The road conditions in Austin were much better and not completely covered in giant potholes. And little things like exiting from 183 onto Loop 1 were SOOO nice... real interchanges!!! In northside SA, to exit from 281 onto 1604 or vice versa, you exit onto a service road, sit at the red like for 3 or 4 cycles, turn, then sit through 2 or 3 more lights before getting onto the other highway. It's a joke.

3. Traffic: Again this is irrelevant to us but it's pretty much a wash. Anyone who thinks Austin traffic is worse has not driven during rush hour anywhere in northside SA. 281N is worse than Los Angeles freeways during rush hour.

4. Housing: This is the biggie for us. We are both libertarian-minded and left CA for TX to enjoy more freedom from government. As such we intend to buy land and build a home on it since we didn't move to a Free State to have some nazi HOA board dictating what we can do with our property. Here in SA we've been searching for suitable lots and have found very, very few. Most multi-acre lots here are in grossly overpriced HOAs like Anaqua Springs with SoCal prices. Looking at listings in Austin, 5-10 acre lots are far more plentiful. And, most surprisingly, they're cheaper in Austin, presumably because there is less demand for huge properties.

5. People: SA may be an extremely friendly city, but from bar & restaurant hopping in Austin, overall we encountered far more young professionals and entrepreneurial-minded people like ourselves. And many transplants too. The reason we made friends so quickly in SoCal is because we were in an area full of 30-something professionals and entrepreneurs. SA is very friendly but it's definitely older and more blue collar. I'm sure someone will object to that comment, but it's only human nature to want to be around similar people.

6. Fitness: Again, someone will object and call this "shallow" but we work hard to stay in shape and appreciate the company of others who do the same. It's just another thing in common that makes it easy to make friends. In SoCal we made friends fast through activities like the gym and tennis. That hasn't happened in SA. One of my very good friends is a triathlete and moved to Austin specifically for that reason - more like-minded people around. (And we both noticed all of the very attractive women in Austin. That may be subjective but we never see any in SA. Sorry but we just don't. Maybe 2 or 3 at the gym and that's it.)

7. Restaurants: There just seems to be more of what we like in Austin. Sure, Bonahan's in downtown SA had the best steak I've eaten in my life, but really, how often will I go there when just the steak ALONE cost $80? That's more expensive than Los Angeles restaurants! We're into more "casual elegant" type of places and we see more of that in Austin.

Anyway, that's my .02 ... both cities certainly have their good and bad points and overall I'm fine living in San Antonio but it seems like a no-brainer to me that Austin is the more appropriate city for us.

Thanks to everyone's input here. Unfortunately a lot of heated opinions came out instead of objective facts but I expected that. One thing that baffles me though is why people keep bringing up the Latino/Hispanic culture in SA. I don't see how it's relevant or why it would affect my decision either way. I don't consider it either a good or bad thing. It just is.

[hound 109]

Good post.

But the "morons in their Prius's" typically don't drive slow. They drive fast & are usually pre-occupied texting.....or wondering why their GPS doesn't work....or busy putting in a different Coldplay CD.....thus they never use their turn signal indicator.....& are quick to flip the bird because they've been cluelessly cut off.

& it's been my observation that the Junior Tennis programs for SA & Austin are similar...don't know about Adults though.

[triwing]

I lived in San Antonio for a few years and while it's a nice town to visit on the weekend, I don't have any desire to move back there.

1. Too redneck for us. We're politically libertarian, and gun owners, but not redneck.

I'm also a libertarian gun owner who isn't into the redneck scene. That said, I'm not sure I would call San Antonio redneck. Maybe you're thinking San Angelo?

2. Churches everywhere. Nothing wrong with that but we're not religious and would like more like-minded people around.

I'm religious but don't go to church on a regular basis. But I don't think how many churches are in San Antonio ever bothered me.

3. We're fitness oriented and everyone here seems to be fat.

I quite agree. That tends to happen in a working-class town in which everyone's trying to make ends meet.

4. Maniac pickup truck drivers who have no courtesy and run everyone else off the road. My wife has already been rear-ended once and I've had my share of close calls.

I've had so many problems at 1604 and 281 that I avoid the area entirely.

5. Lack of higher-end restaurants and wine bars.

Agreed except for the tourist restaurants.

6. Been hard to meet friends our age - we're in our mid 30s and the city seems much older. My wife joined a tennis league and is the only player under 60 (!)

Everyone is too busy working!

7. People are friendly but not outgoing. Making friends in SoCal was easy because everyone was very outgoing. Texans are definitely more polite than Californians but harder to engage.

I'm on the fence with this one. I did go to A&M and I probably feel that the "more polite and harder to engage" would describe most of the student body I came into contact with.

As far as San Antonio is concerned, I can see this being the case. Everyone has their own family units (if you will) that they are "engaged" to the most so yes, they probably won't be as open as people in Southern California. In SoCal you do have 20 and 30 somethings from all over the country out and about.

What part of Southern California were you in?

Sounds to me like you'd like Austin. I might be moving to Austin later this year, but I haven't decided yet. Not sure that I want to stay in Austin for very long, though.

[imaterry78259]

I have lived in both cities and still maintain properties in both cities.

Residential area-nod San Antonio
Health and recreational> Austin
Nightlife-Tie believe it or not
Downtown- Austin
Freeways-San Antonio
Restaurants-Tie/slight edge to San Antonio
Shopping-San Antonio
LA looking-San Antonio
LA culture-Austin

[Quattro72]

Residential area-nod San Antonio
Like a few people stated in this forum, many parts of SA look old, dirty, and run-down. Austin is definitely nicer-looking in most parts.


Nightlife-Tie believe it or not
Austin has a more vibrant nightlife.


Freeways-San Antonio
Are you kidding me? The highway infrastructure in SA sucks! They don’t know how to do city planning. Just look at 1604 and 281. Complete mess.


Restaurants-Tie/slight edge to San Antonio
Slight edge? Again, Austin has so much more variety of restaurants than

SA does. If you like Mexican or Tex Mex, then SA is the town for you. LOL.


Shopping-San Antonio
Depends what you are shopping for and there is really no support from this argument here why shopping is better in SA.


LA looking-San Antonio
You have got to be kidding me?? There is nothing LA about San Antonio.

[chad.roper]

I used to live in San Antonio just outside loop 1604 and worked in Austin. I could not live in Austin is way to packed everywhere you go its just full of people. At least San Antonio is spread out enough you can get away from people not just bouncing off them all the time. To me Austin seems like a Texas version of a northeast city.

[triwing]

imaterry78259, I disagree about the freeways being better in San Antonio. I had too many problems with the freeways there, even had a lady who was ON THE SIDE of me wanting to get into my lane and honked when I wouldn't yet her (I promptly flipped her off). In Austin, I didn't have anywhere near that many experiences.

I could ride a motorcycle in Austin without being too terribly scared. In San Antonio, no way.

1604 and 281 is a great place to go if you want someone else's insurance to pay for a new car.

Plus the new toll ways in Austin really spread out traffic.

At least San Antonio is spread out enough you can get away from people not just bouncing off them all the time.

Actually, the nicest parts of San Antonio in the northwest are very congested.

[jread]

While I think Austin is better than San Antonio in almost every way possible, I disagree about the freeways. I think San Antonio has their act together way better than Austin in this aspect.