Tell me about... Hot summers, diverse neighborhoods, public transportation and townhome communities! (Houston: condos)

[raeofsunshine]

I am looking to relocate to a warmer climate. In my travels, San Antonio is one of the places I absolutely LOVED. I plan to go back next month and take a closer look at the area, instead of just admiring the touristy things. I would love to hear from people what they love and hate about San Antonio - things I might be overlooking or just didn't see because I was on vacation.

Some of the things I didn't know from just vacationing:

• how hot are the summers? how humid?
• is there any reliable public transportation? (I know SA requires a car but it is nice to have reliable public transportation when family comes to visit so they are not stuck in the house while I am at work, for a sitter who might not have a car, to know that I can get from point A to point B for a day or two if my car is not working, etc.)
• what are some diverse neighborhoods (by this, I mean culturally diverse as well as diverse in terms of family structure)
• are there townhome communities in SA? any ones in particular I should look at?

[L210]

This year is unusually hot for this time of year because we're in the middle of the drought, but we can easily have heat indices of 105 and even up to 110 in July and August. We're not as humid as Houston, but it does get humid. VIA is okay depending on where you live. Some neighborhoods are miles away from a bus stop. The most diverse parts of town are the far northeast and east sides. There are some small, diverse pockets on the west and northwest sides. Someone else can probably recommend townhomes for you.

http://www.sanantonio.gov/planning/p...s/0304GQ07.pdf

[austindoxie1972]

Summers are very hot. And summer can last five months. If you like the heat, you'll be fine.

Public transportation....pretty much non-existent.

Townhome communities...most people move to SA to buy a home, have a yard, two car garage. I'm not familiar with too many townhome communities. I'm sure they're out there. Just not a whole lot.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

It is pretty hot here in the summers...if you get up early you can still get outdoors to exercise.

Public transportation here is pretty limited. It takes hours to get anywhere on the bus.

There are little neighborhoods of townhomes scattered throughout the city...a realtor will be able to help with which ones are desirable to live in.

[Chaka]

Hot. Yes.

Public transport - leaves a lot to be desired but if you live around a hub (like near downtown), you can survive w/o a car, esp. if you're just thinking of visitors wanting to get to touristy stuff. If you live deep in the suburbs (e.g. in a large new subdivision), public transport will be much less accessible. I live a couple hundred feet from 2 main bus lines, and not much longer of a walk to more bus lines.

Townhome living - there are more condos than townhomes, but some exist. Southtown has a number of such dwellings now. There are some lovely townhomes on the corner of Guenther/S. Alamo, and St Benedicts across the road is a new development (more condos than townhome style). Check out downtown living/Centro properties. There are other townhome communities scattered around town, but they tend not to be in dense population centers with easy access to public transport.

Southtown would also work if you're looking for a diverse community. Near north (Alta Vista, Tobin Hill, Mahnke Park ) all nice too, however I'm not sure how common the townhome situation is in those neighborhoods.