What Do You Like Or Dislike About San Antonio? (Houston: employment, contractors)

[pobre]

I actually hear less Spanish in San Antonio than I did when I lived in Boston. Then again, I lived in a much lower SES area than I do now. Most people spoke their native language amongst family and friends, and English for communication otherwise. Before moving here, I NEVER thought about whether or not I would hear Spanish.

Just the other day, my daughter and I were in Ross. While waiting in their infernal/eternal line, we counted 5 different languages (that we could actually discern).

The NISD counts at least 65 home languages (self-reported upon school registration) among its students. So Spanish is not likely to be the only LOTE you hear in SA. In any given year, my classroom has about 4-5 LOTE spoken at home.

[ranchodrive]

When I ride my bicycle around the neighborhood, I hear lively Spanish music coming
from the radio on the roof tops in the N.E. part of town where workers are remodeling.
Their conversation among themselves is very animated and although I don’t understand
all the words, it is very pleasant to the ear.

They always greet me with a smile and a cheerful hello.
At times the accordion and horns from a Spanish polka sounds German in some
respects. Unique sounds that I enjoy whether German or Spanish.

[malcorub16]

It is true, as an English only speaker, even if you stay strictly on the South Side of SA you will be just fine.

[huckster]

When asked during an interview, the legendary songwriter-composer Willie Nelson was suddenly queried if Mexican music had any influence on his music, the musician answered , " Definitely yes".
"The Villareal's lived in three houses across the street from us where I was raised by my instrument playing grandparents in Abbot Texas ( raises a hand motioning from left to the right) when I was a little kid and Mexican music always flowed out of the houses."

I cannot comprehend Mexican speech occasionally also Rancho , however, due to the rapidity of their speech. Once I tell them that they are talking to rapidly for me to be able to understand them , they slow down and I understand every word. I never knew that speech could be uttered so fast. It all blurs together , it is astonishing. Spanish is spoken with the tip of the tongue and lips, moreso than English so these folks can really get wound up sometimes.
English is more of a guttural type language, Germanic. Produced more from the back of the mouth.

Originally Posted by ranchodrive

When I ride my bicycle around the neighborhood, I hear lively Spanish music coming
from the radio on the roof tops in the N.E. part of town where workers are remodeling.
Their conversation among themselves is very animated and although I don’t understand
all the words, it is very pleasant to the ear.

They always greet me with a smile and a cheerful hello.
At times the accordion and horns from a Spanish polka sounds German in some
respects. Unique sounds that I enjoy whether German or Spanish.

[ranchodrive]

Originally Posted by huckster

I cannot comprehend Mexican speech occasionally also Rancho , however, due to the rapidity of their speech. Once I tell them that they are talking to rapidly for me to be able to understand them , they slow down and I understand every word. I never knew that speech could be uttered so fast. It all blurs together , it is astonishing. Spanish is spoken with the tip of the tongue and lips, moreso than English so these folks can really get wound up sometimes.
English is more of a guttural type language, Germanic. Produced more from the back of the mouth.

Depends.
When I have to conduct an interview (in English) for the TV news camera.
In certain parts of the city, for example, the East side.
At times, I ask politely if they can slow down so that the camera can pick
up what they are trying to convey to me. Also some of the words or
expressions used are foreign to my ears. But I’m sure that my speech is
just as foreign to them as well.

[resonator]

idioms, is that what they are called ? some expressions are difficult for non-Eng speakers

I won't put up with that

We are down with that

[dallasgoldrush]

I lived in San Antonio for five years. This is my comprehensive review of the experience.

San Antonio Likes:
- Pretty city. Attractive, flavorful architecture downtown. The northern outskirts of the city abut the southern end of Texas Hill Country.
- Very culturally unique, a strong Tejano influence.
- Breakfast Tacos!
- Day-trip distance from Austin.
- Day-trip distance from Fredricksburg, Texas and other charming areas throughout Texas Hill Country.
- SeaWorld. It's a wonder of an amusement park. I can't praise it enough.
- Only about 4 hours from some very nice beaches.
- Some decent barbecue and soul food.
- Government Canyon nature preserve.

San Antonio Dislikes:
- Horrible driving city. Absolutely horrible. The worst city for driving I've ever lived in. It gets an F.

There's no grid. They over-use those old-school Texas frontage roads that allow merging vehicles to virtually stop the flow of traffic on major highways and cause needless accidents. Lanes on major highways randomly shift or disappear altogether without warning. And the city always seems to construct one too few many roads to go in and out of new developments. Or put in one too few traffic signals.

There are way too many areas in town where there's only one road to take a person from point A to point B, causes traffic to be worse than it is in some cities two or three times larger. The entire city is like one big cul de sac exit. Plus it's impossible to drive downtown without getting lost, unless a person is either very familiar with the area or uses GPS. Highway splits without giving drivers warning about whether they should go above or below the overpass. Causes needless missed exits and random circling around.

- Excessive sprawl, some of the worst I've ever seen. A new development will get built 6 - 10 miles from the next closest developed area, and no infill projects will be constructed for 3 to 10 years.

- Culture of bad customer service. It's not rudeness so much as a general lack of consideration for other people. Multiple prominent local businesses and services don't care a bit about customer satisfaction, and they get away with it because of the monopolies they have on the market, plus because of the general lack of expectations from their customer base since many lifelong San Antonio residents don't know what good customer service looks like.

- Excessive military population. Don't get me wrong, I'm a patriot and I strongly support our service members and their families. But having several large military bases plus the headquarters of a Fortune 500 company that focuses on services for military personnel has made San Antonio a one-trick pony economically. The city is complacent in terms of attracting or building large scale, private sector businesses that provide ample employment opportunities for civilian residents. There are relatively few viable career paths for residents who are not either in the military, or have some type of military connection (former service member, spouse, etc.) they can leverage to get in the door with a government contractor or that particular Fortune 500 company I referenced above.

Additionally it's undesirable that the local middle-class is made up almost exclusively of military personnel. Again I love military service members and their families, but they are not traditionally known as the most independent or forward thinking bunch -- and that community's relative complacency does nothing to galvanize the city to make major improvements.

- Grossly inadequate park system. The number of parks is small relative to the population, and the parks that exist are limited in available amenities and size.

- Largest percentage of grossly obese residents I've seen anywhere. Frighteningly low percentage of health-conscious residents. Virtually non-exist health-conscious subgroup of residents.

- Overall non-progressive mentality of most residents. I felt like I lacked adequate mental stimulation when I lived there.

Overall:
- I hesitated to write this post because I didn't want to come across as a San Antonio hater or a troll. But without any malice I can truly say that living in San Antonio was more maddening and frustrating than were my experiences living in any other major city. It was clearly a bad fit for me, but I understand how it could be a phenomenal fit for many others. I also know for a fact there are many other major cities I would dislike much more; I just happen to not have ever lived in those places.

Overall I think the best thing about living in San Antonio was that it introduced me to Texas in general. I fell in love with the state overall and still live here, but in another part of it. And I very much value that Texas has so many major cities that combine to provide enough variety of lifestyles for almost anyone to feel like they have a place here, and can take part in or contribute to the economic, cultural, and population explosion occurring right now in our beautiful blessed state.

[ranchodrive]

^^^^^^
On the whole I agree with everything about San Antonio
with one exception in order of dislikes as far as traffic.

#1. Dallas.

#2. San Antonio.

[L210]

I would like to see some statistics on the percentage of the middle class who are military. I lived in San Antonio for nearly 30 years and never got the impression that the middle class was almost exclusively military.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by dallasgoldrush

Overall I think the best thing about living in San Antonio was that it introduced me to Texas in general. I fell in love with the state overall and still live here, but in another part of it. And I very much value that Texas has so many major cities that combine to provide enough variety of lifestyles for almost anyone to feel like they have a place here, and can take part in or contribute to the economic, cultural, and population explosion occurring right now in our beautiful blessed state.

heh. I agree with just about all that you posted but my outcome was different. Despite my dislikes, I decided to stay in SA and like it, and vastly prefer it over any other city in the state, even Austin.