How safe is 1604/Culebra area? (San Antonio, Alamo: low crime, home, buyers)

[mrstxcop]

My husband has been a police officer for 11 years... 9 years on the Riverwalk and 2 years out in the districts, meaning he was assigned to a different side of town every night...

When we were looking to move from the Babcock/Prue area he refused to look at anything west of Bandera Rd... We bought outside 1604, towards Boerne... Now, if you are looking for stores/restaurants right outside your door, this area is definately not for you... Not that we are secluded by any means, but we do not have the large strip centers with shopping and eating close by... The closest would be The Rim/La Cantera which is about 8-10 minutes away or we drive into Boerne (small town feel with 1 Main road) which is also 8-10 minutes away in the opposite direction...

I am not saying Alamo Ranch is not nice, it is, DH just knew where he got more calls from when he was assigned to certain parts of town... He knew if he was on West patrol it was going to be a busy night, if he was on North patrol his night was not as hectic...

We chose the Boerne area over Stone Oak or 281/1604 because it was our preference... If Alamo Ranch is your preference, then just go into it with an open mind... Just know that if you travel inside 1604, down Culebra road, you will likely see graffiti... Things that may seem ghetto to some people may be diversity for another person... It seems like your heart is set on Alamo Ranch, and it if is, then just be open minded and go into the area on a positive note...

I would strongly suggest driving your desired neighborhood and park and walk the neighborhood, talk to people you see outside walking or watering their lawns, ask them how they like the area, tell them what you have heard, that the area is ghetto or is there alot of graffiti or vandalism or break in's? Your realtor is just going to sell the area to sell a house, but if get out and talk to the people that live in the area you will get a much better "true" feel for the area...

Good Luck in your decision, I know it's a difficult one, especially if you are a big second guesser like I am...

[SimpleTruthNOW]

Here ya' folks go.

Another weekend on the "NORTH" WEST side just inside the 1604 Loop and another headline news making crime.

Alamo Ranch is just 3 miles away from this?

Would you want to live in this area???

1 of 2 suspects nabbed in home invasion | News - Home

1 of 2 suspects nabbed in home invasion

[Steel Man]

Originally Posted by SA5

If you like middle class neighborhoods, Alamo Ranch is fine. If you like upper middle class then Stone Oak is good. We've lived in Westcreek 16 years and no break-ins...and yes, we've accidentally left the garage door up more than once :-)

We have lived in West Creek for 11 years. No house break-ins, but some cars have been broken into. I also don't consider WC as "ghetto".

As long as Alamo Ranch has strong HOA's then that should keep the area relatively safe by keeping house values up.

BTW (not related to quote above): Last time I checked, Bandera road ran East to West. So any directions from that road would be either North or South, not East or West.

[mrstxcop]

Originally Posted by Steel Man

BTW (not related to quote above): Last time I checked, Bandera road ran East to West. So any directions from that road would be either North or South, not East or West.

Thanks for the correction Steel Man... I readily admit I am horrible at N,E,W,S directions... So if Bandera runs E to W then I guess hubs didn't want to look at houses anywhere North? of Bandera???

LoL, I told you I was horrible...

[heimerswt]

2 Things:

1. I am an English speaking white dude, and am pretty sure I am in the minority at Lifetime Fitness @ 281.
2. The area east of 281 and west of Wetmore/Bulverde is not always fancy, but is not so bad at all.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by Steel Man

BTW (not related to quote above): Last time I checked, Bandera road ran East to West. So any directions from that road would be either North or South, not East or West.

Originally Posted by mrstxcop

Thanks for the correction Steel Man... I readily admit I am horrible at N,E,W,S directions... So if Bandera runs E to W then I guess hubs didn't want to look at houses anywhere North? of Bandera???

LoL, I told you I was horrible...

I never considered Bandera north south road... I would have to disagree and be as confused as mrstxcop...

Texas State Highway 16 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[mrstxcop]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

I never considered Bandera north south road... I would have to disagree and be as confused as mrstxcop...

Texas State Highway 16 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That was kind of my thinking as Bandera and I-10 are parallel... and I-10 runs E/W... But again, I am not good with N,E,W,S directions... Whenever I give people directions anywhere I always use landmarks as opposed to telling people what direction to travel

[ItsTheTruth]

Originally Posted by SimpleTruthNOW

The areas you mentioned are old and outdated and just dirty in general. If that is what you like, then so be it.

But for me, I would never want to live in a house older than 10 years old. New is always better.

If that's your thinking, then stick to newer developments on the west side. I'll take a unique mansion in King William from the 1940's over new west side construction any day of the week. I'll take the larger lot, the charm you can't buy, the tree lined street, and you can keep your hectic commute down 151 and daily road rage.

There is a HUGE difference in quality between a house in a historic neighborhood and the crap that gets thrown up these days. If you're really planning on spending $400K+ on a house, you'll be throwing your money away on the west side. Monte Vista, Alamo Heights, Shavano Park, et al. are a sound investment. Those areas will always be desirable for the architecture, school districts, quality construction, and size. While not every house is renovated or in perfect shape, those are definitely not areas on a downhill slide like many on the west side.

[Mom2Feebs]

Originally Posted by pkrn89

SimpleTruthNOW, I live in Highlands Ranch, and I'm really familiar with Arvada! I thought all I had to worry about was just safety around the 1604/Culebra area, but what My-3_M_Angels said about her car getting broken into in her Westover Hills gated home community really conerned me.

I really appreciate all the responses, good and bad. There's two reasons we want to move here: I hate the winter in Colorado, and I hate the way my husband and son are treated. My husband is Italian and has black hair with fairly dark skin. Since moving to our nearly all white suburb in Colorado, the men have been very rude and unfriendly, and we can only think it's beause they assume he's Hispanic. My son has dark brown hair and gets asked if he's Mexican and gets teased at school because his best friend is Mexican. That's just not okay with me.

Part of the reason we chose Alamo Ranch is because we liked the diversity of the people. We both grew up in a small CO town that was about 50% white and 50% hispanic and loved it. We've spent days in the Alamo Ranch area visiting stores, restaurants and neighborhoods. I have seen so many nice families and experienced a lot of friendliness. In fact, we went out to eat Sat night at 11:30 pm there, and it was very calm. The roads there are wide, the stores have large parking lots, and everything is green and well manicured.

What I'm most afraid of with Stone Oak is making a lateral move and putting my husband in the same position where he faces the same kind of treatment he does now. We did spend time in SO as well as the Lifetime Fitness and he wasn't treated as well. I felt that everything was really crowded there and not as accessible to the subdivisions further out. It's also not as green or maintained along the main streets, and I'm not understanding why. Money is not an issue. The homes we're looking at in AR are 350 to 400K, and we can afford more. I've seen many homes within that pricerange in SO. I've looked in Helotes and Sonoma Ranch, too,and there's just not stores/restaurants around.

What a bunch of outright HOOEY people are feeding you here. I live, currently, in Westover Hills--where the poster has been supposedly broken in...5 times...did I read that right?!?! Yeah, I call shenanigans. Sorry. Nothing has ever happened to us over here. It's quiet as quiet can be. No, it isn't PERFECT, but it's actually really nice, and I'm a downright snoot about things. I don't care for the Culebra/Grissom area, but that's outside the borders of WH. Alamo Ranch isn't going to ever have the problems that Westcreek has. Westcreek is totally, 100% responsible for its undoing.

Alamo Ranch and Westover Hills are actually lovely areas that are dictated by the boundaries of their MASTER PLANS. :-) People in SA bit*h and moan about CAs, HOAs, and the like, but I say thank the good Lord they are out there. Westover Hills especially is beautiful, the schools are FANTASTIC, and resale is actually doing quite nicely over here. We're about to have a new Los Barrios restaurant built right near us, and Sea World is right down the street. WH is growing, and in the RIGHT way, not the wrong way. Thank you, Marty Wender.

Stone Oak is beautiful on the surface, but I'd never live there. Never, never, never. I'd choose Shavano Park, Blanco Rd, The Rim area, Boerne, or Alamo Heights, if I couldn't live where I do now. I love my neighborhood, I love my neighbors, and that's just my little positive POV.

[Mom2Feebs]

Oh, and just for kicks, I'd love to see if some of these posters' IP addresses match up with other usernames. Some of the disgruntled parties sound like broken records...