Traffic Question (San Antonio, Austin, Alamo: houses, theatres, elementary school)

[little_thirsty]

I know people think we are crazy living off of 281. My question is, IS the traffic so much better in other areas? When I watch the news it seems like there are slow downs all across San Antonio.

[dendox]

I think it is equally bad on I-10. I used to work off of it.

I know it is as bad on 410 west of I-10.

I-35 is also brutal on the way in from the north.

The kicker - none of those have red lights slowing people down. All we need are express lanes - or toll lanes - and we will be in heaven (or at least I will).

I agree with you - living anywhere in SA right now is living in traffic hell. (not to be confused with LA traffic hell though)

[smuboy86]

Yes, traffic is so much better. From our house downtown is 10 minutes away if that on 281, HEB is about a minute away, wal-mart about 10 seconds. The elementary school is about a half mile. You can get to all these with out waiting in bumper to bumper traffic. In fact most of the places are reached driving on small residential streets.

[little_thirsty]

Hey Smuboy86,
You have probably answered this before, but what part of town do you live in? We looked inside the loop but for what we could afford it was better for us to go outside. San Antonio certainly has growing pains, but I still don't think the traffic is to bad. I mean we are a top 10 largest cities in the nation. I just was wondering because people look at me like I am insane that we live up 281. It just seemed that traffic seemed heavy in all directions at the normal times...just curious what others thought.
Dendox, I am with you....toll roads would be fine with me!

[winst0n]

i agree, there's bad traffic to almost all areas in SA during rush hours... that's why i don't feel as bad when they say traffic is horrible in stone oak - which is not far from your area..

what i like about stone oak, it has a lot of access to it, i mean i can take 1604/stoneoak, or blanco, or sonterra, or huebner, evans, or 281/stoneoak.. i have alternatives on roads to take to get out... and unless going to work, everything is all in the area anyways - from restaurant to shopping to hospitals to theatres, all are in less than a mile or so...
im happy in stone oak area, so i don't know why others aren't..

I live in Olmos Park, and there is very little traffic. It's really nice. I have an HEB about two minutes away, plus Whole Foods, the Lincoln Heights HEB, and Central Market all less than 8 minutes away. For shopping, there is the Quarry and North Star Mall at hand, plus the big shopping center at San Pedro and 410. Everything I need is within the Alamo Heights/Olmos Park area, and on the weekends I never have to get on a freeway unless I am going to La Cantera (that's pretty rare, though). To get downtown, you can hop on 281, or you can do it old school and drive down McCullough or Broadway. It's really wonderful to live in this part of town. It's so easy when everything is at your fingertips and you don't have to fight a traffic jam or a freeway to do every little thing.

I do work in Stone Oak, which I hate more than anything (but I only to have work at this location another month! woo hoo!) Luckily, I commute in reverse, so 281 northbound in the AM and soutbound in the PM is quite quick and easy comparatively.

I can't ever imagine living outside 1604. It's inconceivable to have to fight that much traffic just to go pick up some milk. I don't even leave the office at lunchtime anymore - I seem to spend most of my lunch break fighting traffic on Stone Oak. Ugh, I cannot wait to start having work and life inside 410 again!

I want to say SMUBoy lives in Alamo Heights as well, or at least in the AH area, based on some of his posts I've read.

[firstclassflyer]

Living outside 1604 is great, if you work from home. No fights to get milk etc...can go anytime without traffic.

[smuboy86]

Originally Posted by little_thirsty

Hey Smuboy86,
You have probably answered this before, but what part of town do you live in? We looked inside the loop but for what we could afford it was better for us to go outside. San Antonio certainly has growing pains, but I still don't think the traffic is to bad. I mean we are a top 10 largest cities in the nation. I just was wondering because people look at me like I am insane that we live up 281. It just seemed that traffic seemed heavy in all directions at the normal times...just curious what others thought.
Dendox, I am with you....toll roads would be fine with me!

Rockin' got it right. I'm an 09er, but our house is in the City of San Antonio, in the Northwood subdivsion. I have the Wal-mart on Austin Highway literally on the end of my street. Northwood Elementary School is on my street in the other direction. Austin Highway HEB (only 3 years old) is 3 minutes away. Central Market is close, as is Oak Park HEB/ Starbucks. I hardly ever have to go outside 410. Houses in Northwood start in the upper 100's and go beyond to as much as a million if you are in the AHISD side. My friend and I have a saying..." if you can't get it in the 09 you probably don't need it"

I like Northwood quite a bit. That's a nice area. I also like the Oak Park area a lot - I think that's another one with an 09 area code and AHISD but not in the City of AH.

In the past few weeks the only time I've gone outside the loop for something other than work was to go see Harry Potter in 3D at the Palladium. Which was totally worth the hassle and the gas.

[Guerilla]

Originally Posted by little_thirsty

Hey Smuboy86,
You have probably answered this before, but what part of town do you live in? We looked inside the loop but for what we could afford it was better for us to go outside. San Antonio certainly has growing pains, but I still don't think the traffic is to bad. I mean we are a top 10 largest cities in the nation. I just was wondering because people look at me like I am insane that we live up 281. It just seemed that traffic seemed heavy in all directions at the normal times...just curious what others thought.
Dendox, I am with you....toll roads would be fine with me!

Well, SA traffic isn't bad for the city its size because the metro area is still under two million. You may be in top ten for city, but metro area drops you to about thirty.

I was in SA, and the traffic there is a breeze. You all have a nicely laid out freeway system. In Austin, traffic was a pain. The freeway setup is horrible there.

Also, how far north does 281 go before it stops being a freeway. I looked at a map, and was surprised that it stops not too far north of 1604.