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I'm brand-new to this forum and am not starting this thread to create an argument; instead I'm honestly looking for valid input on the pros and cons of Austin vs. San Antonio.
Here's my story: I moved to San Antonio 6 months ago for business reasons (joint venture with a company here) but won't need to be here any longer than another 6 months. I lived most of my adult life in Arizona where I met my wife but we eventually got tired of the desert ugliness and moved on. We last lived in CA but left after only 2 years because of this business opportunity, and quite honestly the overcrowded lifestyle of everyone living right on top of each other with no backyards wasn't for us. Not to mention 10% state income tax.
San Antonio isn't bad but we're not entirely happy here and have decided to explore Austin - we went up there a few weeks ago to eat at North restaurant (which was one of our favorites in Phoenix) and Austin seemed to have a more inviting "vibe" than S.A.... specifically, here's what we don't love about S.A. so far:
1. Too redneck for us. We're politically libertarian, and gun owners, but not redneck.
2. Churches everywhere. Nothing wrong with that but we're not religious and would like more like-minded people around.
3. We're fitness oriented and everyone here seems to be fat.
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.
5. Lack of higher-end restaurants and wine bars.
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 (!)
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.
Input on how Austin compared on these points? These are the biggest gripes we have with San Antonio so far and I'd love to hear your honest thoughts on whether Austin is any better.
I'm brand-new to this forum and am not starting this thread to create an argument; instead I'm honestly looking for valid input on the pros and cons of Austin vs. San Antonio.
Here's my story: I moved to San Antonio 6 months ago for business reasons (joint venture with a company here) but won't need to be here any longer than another 6 months. I lived most of my adult life in Arizona where I met my wife but we eventually got tired of the desert ugliness and moved on. We last lived in CA but left after only 2 years because of this business opportunity, and quite honestly the overcrowded lifestyle of everyone living right on top of each other with no backyards wasn't for us. Not to mention 10% state income tax.
San Antonio isn't bad but we're not entirely happy here and have decided to explore Austin - we went up there a few weeks ago to eat at North restaurant (which was one of our favorites in Phoenix) and Austin seemed to have a more inviting "vibe" than S.A.... specifically, here's what we don't love about S.A. so far:
1. Too redneck for us. We're politically libertarian, and gun owners, but not redneck.
2. Churches everywhere. Nothing wrong with that but we're not religious and would like more like-minded people around.
3. We're fitness oriented and everyone here seems to be fat.
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.
5. Lack of higher-end restaurants and wine bars.
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 (!)
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.
Input on how Austin compared on these points? These are the biggest gripes we have with San Antonio so far and I'd love to hear your honest thoughts on whether Austin is any better.
Thanks!
You realize that you will start World War 3 with this post. The Austin vs. San Antonio battle has been fought countless times on this forum, and it never ends well (usually gets locked).
Before that happens, though, I would say that the problems you listed about San Antonio would be solved by living in Austin (except the part about idiot drivers). They are only an hour apart, but they are very, very different cities.
Having grown up in San Antonio my entire life before moving to Austin in 2002, I agree with a lot of what you have observed in SA thus far. Austin is much more attractive for young professionals. Austin has a great sense of community and offers a lot more for it's citizens than SA, which is a much more white & blue collar town than just a fun laid back place to live. Live music capitol of the world, Barton Springs, ACL, numerous free festivals and outings for families and friends... what else is there to say? Keep Austin Awesome!
You realize that you will start World War 3 with this post. The Austin vs. San Antonio battle has been fought countless times on this forum, and it never ends well (usually gets locked).
I was afraid of that but unfortunately there aren't many places online to find this info. My apologies in advance if that happens, but for now, PLEASE don't turn this into a pissing match, people!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jread
Before that happens, though, I would say that the problems you listed about San Antonio would be solved by living in Austin (except the part about idiot drivers). They are only an hour apart, but they are very, very different cities.
That's what I was hoping to hear. At least that's the impression I got from my short one-day visit to Austin.
I live in the Austin area but my parents have lived in SA since 1975. So I visit regularly and considered SA my home from 1975-1980 (while I was in college). My take:
1. Too redneck for us. We're politically libertarian, and gun owners, but not redneck.
This is a slightly strange objection. People usually complain about a different demographic group in San Antonio.
2. Churches everywhere. Nothing wrong with that but we're not religious and would like more like-minded people around.
Somewhat true of most Texas cities but I'm curious where in San Antonio you live. This could also be true in Austin depending on where you live.
3. We're fitness oriented and everyone here seems to be fat.
Hard to argue about this. San Antonio regularly lands on the "fattest city" lists.
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.
Lots of these in Texas. In Austin though we have more maniac Prius drivers than San Antonio does.
5. Lack of higher-end restaurants and wine bars.
I don't go to high end restaurants very often but there are some very good restaurants in San Antonio. I hope someday to eat at Bohanans. Twenty years ago Austin dining was not very special. It is much better now.
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 (!)
San Antonio has an "older" feel than Austin in general. I think though you could find a younger tennis league. Again - where do you guys hang out?
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 don't understand this. I think people in San Antonio and Austin are outgoing and genuinely friendly.
The two cities have a very different feel and vibe. Both are fine places to live but one may be clearly better for certain people. I prefer Austin of course.
My husband and I will be living in San Antonio when we arrive in Texas but intend to settle in Austin. I'm definitely interested in the different perspectives of the two cities.
I'm just shocked that you could pick up the Austin "vibe" at a place like the Domain (that's where the North restaurant you are talking about is, right?)... that's not typically considered a place with much character or Austin-style vibe. Did you go anywhere else?
Next time you are in Austin, visit South Congress, Barton Springs Road, or downtown (go to the Whole Foods) and see what you think. You might be blown away!
The things you don't like are pretty much the standard list of drawbacks to San Antonio... Austin has it's own list of drawbacks, they are just different. Like you'll be trading in a decent road infrastructure for a crummy one, a bunch of big theme parks for no theme parks, a pro sports city for a college one, a military city for a non-military one, a large medical district to no medical district, etc.
Having said all that, I much prefer Austin. But it is definitely about what your preferences are.
From your description of your experience of San Antonio, Austin would be a better fit. Austin trends younger and fitter, more politically liberal. San Antonio is the only large city in Texas that voted for McCain in the last election. I like both cities. I think San Antonio has mostly much better residential architecture. There is nothing like Southtown/King William's District in Austin. San Antonio has a better art scene. Austin has a better music scene. For me, the high end restaurant scene is a wash. Austin has more of them, but with the exception of Uchi, the good ones in San Antonio are much better than than the good ones in Austin: eg. for Italian, Il Sogno ( a wonderful restaurant), Ciao Lavenderia and Tre ( very good restaurants) make the best Italian restaurant in Austin (Vespaio) look like Pizza Hut. San Antonio feels much more class-polarized - old money and then more working class. Austin is yuppier, hipper, smaller and since I hate the sewer running through downtown San Antonio - I mean the river walk- Austin has a more interesting and vibrant downtown. The Northwest suburbs of San Antonio and the Southwest and Northwest suburbs of Austin are indistinguishable - new tract houses in attractive terrain with live oaks and SUV's. Agree with the recommendation to check out SoCo, when next in Austin. Austin prides itself on a certain (often exaggerated) quirkiness. San Antonio really couldn't care, and that sounds like it bothers you. I have lived in Austin for 8 years and no-one has ever said the church word to me. Trust your instincts. They sound right to me.
1. Too redneck for us. We're politically libertarian, and gun owners, but not redneck.
2. Churches everywhere. Nothing wrong with that but we're not religious and would like more like-minded people around.
3. We're fitness oriented and everyone here seems to be fat.
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.
5. Lack of higher-end restaurants and wine bars.
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 (!)
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.
Oh gosh. Where to begin. I obviously prefer Austin. My job offered to move me to their offices in San Antonio and I had to go hide in a corner. I am sure San Antonio is a lovely town for some. But not me. But, to answer your specific questions, and I will be as fair and unbiased as possible so as not to anger those San Antonio Afficinados.....
THESE ARE ONLY MY OPINIONS
1) I am surprised you find San Antonio to be redneck. I would say Austin IS more liberal than San Antonio, but that doesn't push SA into hillbilly realm. There is a certain element of redneck in both towns, but to be frank, it is mostly concentrated in the suburbs and the neighboring communities. To sum it up, both cities have equal redneck concentrations (smallish), so you will not be avoiding them here.
2) San Antonio is a heavily religous, read catholic, town. There are many churches there. There are churches in Austin too, but I would say there is less of a "religous vibe" here. Of the churches in Austin, a lot are of other christian denominations, like baptist and lutheran. Now, while I am not commenting on the aspects of those religons, just architecture-wise, Catholic churches and instituitions seem to normally be larger and more...."opressive" looking then small baptist 300 seater churches. When you drive past a catholic church you are like "Damn, look at that cathedral". Whereas you might not even notice a small Lutheran church. Because the churches are more noticeable it seems like the community is more religous, whether that is truly the case or not. Other than noticing churches, I don't know how you could peg SA as "religious"? Unless you can tell from the way people walk that they are Christians? "See how he favors his left foot??? Definately Baptist."
3) Well, that may be true. A large portion of the population in San Antonio is hispanic, and Hispanic culture doesn't normally frown upon being overweight the way that other cultures might. That being said. San Antonio has gyms dude. You can be just as active as you want to be. I don't see how YOU being "fitness oriented" has any coorelation with "and the people here seem fat". The two seem mutually exclusive. Unless you just don't like looking at overweight people. And if that's the case I dont know where in America you could move.
4) That is true of Austin. There is no difference. To be fair, I would say traffic is WORSE in Austin. San Antonio at least has a few options and alternate routes to take if traffic is bad. Also, in San Antonio they have electronic signs on the highway indicating if there is a wreck ahead and giving guesstimates on how long a delay might be. My boss has an IPhone application that gives him constant updates on San Antonio traffic. I have not seen that for Austin.
5) You are not going to find much difference in Austin. San Antonio is a bigger city, and as such is going to offer a few more amenities. But if you are the type that likes to eat in a different restaurant every weekend, or are a "foodie" and likes to try different places out, then eventually you are going to run out of high end places in both Austin and San Antonio. Neither of these cities are NYC or LA. There are only so many fine dining restaurants because they don't really appeal to the "beer and BBQ" crowd. That's neither good nor bad, it just is. Texas is just laid back, and we like our food to reflect that.
6) Austin does have a younger population per capita, thanks to the university. However, by younger I mean people in their early 20s. I am not sure of the mid-30 scene in Austin, but I don't think Austin's younger vibe will apply to you. To be perfectly frank though, any city in America has couples in their mid-30s. If you can't find them, then you are looking in the wrong places. San Antonio has 936K people living in it. Some of those people MUST be in their mid-30s. Maybe switching up the clubs you belong too in San Antonio will help you avoid the sextagerian set? I don't see Austin offering you any advantage over San Antonio on this one.
7) I find people in both cities to be easy to engage. I have no problem striking up conversations in grocery stores are in line at the bank. I don't see a difference between the two cities.
In summary, both cities have their advantages. I would say that Austin is less religous than San Antonio, but other than that, none of your criteria is impossible to find in San Antonio. You may just have a case of "the grass is greener" syndrome because you are not satisfied with SA. Since San Antonio isn't satisfying you, you imagine Austin will. Now, Austin and SA are VASTLY different cities, but not in any of the points you bring up.
To be perfectly honest, it seems to me like you miss California. Most of the points you bring up are what I would associate with a "california" style of life. Lots of fit active people, not overly religous, don't drive huge pick up trucks, lots of high end dining and wine bars. Those things are well and good, but they aren't exactly traditionally "Texas" either. Texas is more live and let live, let's eat some good BBQ and watch the sunset, kind of place. If you are looking for California, then moving from San Antonio to Austin is not going to help with your home sickness.
I might be going out on a limb here, but that is just what jumped out at me when reading your post.
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