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I just moved here from Manhattan about a month ago. When I got to San Antonio I was excited to live in a new city. As time is going by, I'm feeling very much out of place here. I long for New York, I never thought it was going to be like this. Everything is so different,the people, the buildings, the transportation. I still haven't gotten used to not been able to walk everywhere I want, as I please. I hate the fact that you need a car here for pretty much everything. I have tried using public transportation, but it is nowhere comparable to NY public transportation. The people are so different.. the buses are always packed and they take forever to get to your location. I miss the subway system, it was packed as well too, but at least you got to your destination faster. One last thing..is there anything else besides a car that I can use to get around? Is a bus the only option?
Your post somewhat resonates with me.
I moved to San Antonio a year ago from Ottawa Canada. I live 2 miles from the office out in Schertz... which I'm thankful for as the commute is easy.
As I quickly discovered a car is very necessary here. Even to get around just in suburbia like Schertz. For example, there is a HEB and other shopping just up the street from where I live. Why there is no sidewalk going up there puzzles me... but that is the way it is... and I'm not taking my chances walking with the cars.
If I want to get downtown San Antonio from Schertz I must drive and then find parking -or- I can take the car out to Rolling Oaks Mall, catch a bus from there, transfer 3 times... the trip takes 90 minutes as per VIA site plus my driving time to the mall which is about 15 minutes or less for a total of 105 minutes one-way. 210 minutes coming & going... 3.5 hours.
Someday when I'm feeling adventurous I just may take that bus trip, not worry about getting lost and see parts of San Antonio I have yet to see.
Yes, a car here is very necessary... I arrived here with a relatively old car and one of the first things I did was purchase a new vehicle with a reputation for reliability and put full insurance coverage on it.
I also live 2 miles from the office so I don't have a bad commute. I pretty much live my day-to-day life within a 2-3 mile radius of the office and home. I will venture out of that as I feel comfortable. Been downtown with others drive a coupla times... been out to Gruene on my own a coupla times.
Moving ranks right up there with one of life's most stressful events. When I first moved here I was ok but lately I find myself missing the old ways and old haunts of where I used to live something awful. To combat that I'm keeping myself busier with new things and working on developing new ways and new haunts. It just takes time and patience.
BTW, while I agree the GPS is a wonderful tool... on the way down here I had the GPS guide me straight to a field full of longhorns rather than the hotel address I had punched in... this was on the outskirts of Dallas. The address was correct... the GPS was incorrect even with an updated map. Had I relied instead on the directions the hotel provided I would have been fine and arrived 1 hour sooner with less stress. Not the first time the GPS send me to the wrong location.
I've been to Manhattan so I have some idea of what you are going through... give it some time for yourself to adapt.
I just moved here from Manhattan about a month ago. When I got to San Antonio I was excited to live in a new city. As time is going by, I'm feeling very much out of place here. I long for New York, I never thought it was going to be like this. Everything is so different,the people, the buildings, the transportation. I still haven't gotten used to not been able to walk everywhere I want, as I please. I hate the fact that you need a car here for pretty much everything. I have tried using public transportation, but it is nowhere comparable to NY public transportation. The people are so different.. the buses are always packed and they take forever to get to your location. I miss the subway system, it was packed as well too, but at least you got to your destination faster. One last thing..is there anything else besides a car that I can use to get around? Is a bus the only option?
Wish you would've posted before you moved to SA. I would've given you honest, non sugar-coated information. Then, if you still made the move, well...be careful what you wish for.
I just moved here from Manhattan about a month ago. When I got to San Antonio I was excited to live in a new city. As time is going by, I'm feeling very much out of place here. I long for New York, I never thought it was going to be like this. Everything is so different,the people, the buildings, the transportation. I still haven't gotten used to not been able to walk everywhere I want, as I please. I hate the fact that you need a car here for pretty much everything. I have tried using public transportation, but it is nowhere comparable to NY public transportation. The people are so different.. the buses are always packed and they take forever to get to your location. I miss the subway system, it was packed as well too, but at least you got to your destination faster. One last thing..is there anything else besides a car that I can use to get around? Is a bus the only option?
I am so sorry. It must be hard on you right now. The difference and perhaps being homesick. Not a good feeling. Hugs to you!
Eat chicken fried steak and BBQ. Learn to do outdoor TX stuff, like shoot, hike, hunt, etc.
Or you will be miserable. Like some of the university folks who pathetically try to deny they are in TX and just drive up and down Broadway and go to King William and pine for a job in the East or West Coast centers of true civilization with prune danish and chopped liver.
Just in case the OP takes this seriously.....
Need to note that this vegan pacifist (no guns, but I do love the outdoors - hiking/cycling/camping/backpacking) transplant is perfectly happy in San Antonio.
Yes, you'll have to adjust to life with a car. You can live without one, but it's a pain.
What kinds of things do you like to do? SA is an interesting, dynamic vibrant town. It just takes a little while to find your niche.
I know how it feels. I'm from Chicago, but have lived all over the world. San Antonio suits me swell, but it took a little cajoling, understanding and the truth that Texas functions totally different from the rest of the USA. It dances to a whole different tune... And that's not a bad thing. NYC is no longer the center of the universe- That's the first thing any New Yorker needs to deal with when moving somewhere like San Antonio. 'When in Rome' helps quite a bit and simply observing the way we lead life here will help you in adjusting to things.
Perhaps a change of neighborhood? Moving to Downtown/Southtown?
I spent too long with my nose in the air about SA when I first moved here. I was a Yankee, damned proud of it and felt so much of this city was beneath me. How wrong I was. I've ended up embracing it, the people, the culture, the food... Everything. Sure, the city isn't perfect, but no place is. Not even Manhattan. Not by a mile.
Embrace San Antonio. And we'll embrace you
BN
Tried to rep you, but can't. However, I agree wholeheartedly with this, especially about embracing San Antonio. SA isn't NYC, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, DC or anyplace else we've transplanted from. I would also say it isn't even comparable to Dallas, Houston, or Austin. SA has its own vibe, and its own idiocyncracies. Some love it, some learn to love it, and others hate it.
Me? I learned to love it on its own terms, bad public transportation and all. I hope you can make peace with our city too.
Are buses the only viable transportation, yes. You could car pool..... Saying San Antonio is a spread out city would be an understatement.
~Laughing~ Distance in Texas takes on a whole new meaning when you come here from NYC....
I too am from NYC (Brooklyn), yes it was a transition, first it was
~ what's an ice house?
~ then I was flabbergasted when the clerk at HEB actually counted out my change in my hand, in NYC they throw it down on the counter and it's up to you to make sure it's correct.
~ I went to a bar with a friend and my mouth dropped to the floor "kids are allowed in bars here?"
~ people complaining about the traffic, first off I drove a cab in Manhattan and had driven extensively around America. I felt like a wolf in sheep's clothing driving around here, people were driving so slow and timid...
~ traffic jams here compared to NYC, a joke
~ After purchasing my groceries at HEB someone actually pushed my kart out to the car and put the groceries in the truck AND REFUSED MY TIP....
~ You meet someone in an elevator or on the stairs here and it's normal to say some type of greeting and get one in return!
~ I went to the coast with my next door neighbor AND I DROVE ON THE BEACH! (big shock, you never drive on the beaches in Brooklyn...
~ The heat was oppressive
~ I learned my lesson the first week I was down here when I stepped in a fire ant nest....
~ My biggest surprise? How truly friendly everyone was (not the phoney kind back in NYC).
~ NO STATE INCOME TX
~ NO CITY INCOME TAX
~ Puffy beef tacos
~ Mexican Manhattan downtown, their cheese nachos are the best
I know where the OP is coming from, NYC has a vast transportation system and coming down here was like visiting a transportation wasteland, thank god I had a car......
To the OP, I'm sorry nothing beats the experience of being packed like a sardine in the A train when it's broken down between stops in the summer....
One of the biggest things I miss is Nathans at Coney Island
San Antonio is clueless as to what a chocolate egg cream is...... Real Italian pizza.... Lime Ricky... Alternate side of the street parking...
I am quite content living here, I use Google Street View and look around my old haunts back in Brooklyn and have no desire to move back there....
I moved to San Antonio a year ago from Ottawa Canada. I live 2 miles from the office out in Schertz... which I'm thankful for as the commute is easy.
As I quickly discovered a car is very necessary here. Even to get around just in suburbia like Schertz. For example, there is a HEB and other shopping just up the street from where I live. Why there is no sidewalk going up there puzzles me... but that is the way it is... and I'm not taking my chances walking with the cars.
If I want to get downtown San Antonio from Schertz I must drive and then find parking -or- I can take the car out to Rolling Oaks Mall, catch a bus from there, transfer 3 times... the trip takes 90 minutes as per VIA site plus my driving time to the mall which is about 15 minutes or less for a total of 105 minutes one-way. 210 minutes coming & going... 3.5 hours.
Someday when I'm feeling adventurous I just may take that bus trip, not worry about getting lost and see parts of San Antonio I have yet to see.
Yes, a car here is very necessary... I arrived here with a relatively old car and one of the first things I did was purchase a new vehicle with a reputation for reliability and put full insurance coverage on it.
I also live 2 miles from the office so I don't have a bad commute. I pretty much live my day-to-day life within a 2-3 mile radius of the office and home. I will venture out of that as I feel comfortable. Been downtown with others drive a coupla times... been out to Gruene on my own a coupla times.
Moving ranks right up there with one of life's most stressful events. When I first moved here I was ok but lately I find myself missing the old ways and old haunts of where I used to live something awful. To combat that I'm keeping myself busier with new things and working on developing new ways and new haunts. It just takes time and patience.
BTW, while I agree the GPS is a wonderful tool... on the way down here I had the GPS guide me straight to a field full of longhorns rather than the hotel address I had punched in... this was on the outskirts of Dallas. The address was correct... the GPS was incorrect even with an updated map. Had I relied instead on the directions the hotel provided I would have been fine and arrived 1 hour sooner with less stress. Not the first time the GPS send me to the wrong location.
I've been to Manhattan so I have some idea of what you are going through... give it some time for yourself to adapt.
You can park at Parkhills Baptist Church and catch the 6 express bus downtown or park at Randolph Park and Ride and catch the 17 express bus downtown. From Rolling Oaks Mall, I think it only takes two buses, but it's going to be a long ride. You take the bus from Rolling Oaks to Naco Perrin and transfer to the 10 or 14 if the bus routes haven't changed.
The problem with public transportation is a huge headache because there are so many reasons it's just bad. Demand, attitudes towards public transit, lack of vacant infrastructure, etc. I am not really a proponent of light rail anyway--it honestly feels like it's just superficial and for tourists. When I lived in New Orleans, I could do more with the bus than taking the street cars, and when I lived in Houston, the Metrorail was very limited. I've seen the DART trains, and I don't feel they're useful either. That said, I'm a bigger proponent of commuter rail and improved bus transit. That might just be because I'm from Poughkeepsie, and the Metro North is more familiar than the subway.
I have to be honest, when I moved here from Poughkeepsie, I didn't think it was lovely at all, and I moved away as soon as I could. It wasn't easy to adjust to the change, and I haven't been in NY in years and still have trouble adjusting to the differences. I managed to handle driving because I had delivery jobs, so I had to learn how to get around, and in the process I noted which bus lines go where and how to get around without a car. It's definitely much longer and not convenient, but I like to think somehow the knowledge will be beneficial.
That said, you might have some slight easing of anxiety when BRT is available to take you from downtown to UTSA via the Med Center in the next 2 years. That's a straight shot on Fredericksburg, so the only issue I think would be getting from home to Fredericksburg.
You see - that's the problem. In NYC, I lived two blocks from a subway station or bus line that dropped us by a block or two from work or school.
Here - if there was line on major routes, I would have to walk about 12 blocks in the Inferno to work. I would have to take a car to get to the route. Mass transit works if you have density and housing in apartments concentrated on the lines. It also grew organically in cities with such patterns.
That's not the case in San Antonio. Perhaps building lines would build a housing pattern on the line but that would be in addition to existing housing.
Walking 12 blocks in 110 degrees is not appealing.
Like as been said, it's a different life. One changes or complains. One can try to recreate a microuniverse of the old life - older immigrants do that sometimes. But then general culture overwhelms.
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