Might move to texas (Houston, Dallas: renting, HOA, house)

[Memo619]

Hello im wondering how many of you are originally from california and moved to san antonio. I am planning on moving to san antonio at the end of the year, i have no family there but i liked that part of texas when i was stationed there. What are some of your guys experiences from moving to texas. What are the pros and cons? I am from san diego, ca

[Bradford72]

I lived all my life in the Bay Area up until six months ago. My wife & I decided last summer we wanted to get out of California. We came to visit San Antonio in June and fell in love with the city. I ended up landing a job and moving here in August, and she and our daughter just got here after Christmas. We all love the decision we've made, and couldn't be happier.

The neighborhood we live in (Alamo Ranch) is clean and new and safe, we are three blocks for our daughter's school and less than four miles from work. We no longer have to shell out $600/month for private school tuition, because the public schools here are actually very good. We no longer spend 3 hours round-trip each day commuting 20 miles. We finally live in a neighborhood where we feel safe letting our daughter play outside, ride her bike, etc. The house we are renting is nearly three times the size of what we had in California, for less money. Gas is nearly a dollar less per gallon. Groceries seem to be about 15-20% cheaper. Gas/Electric in our 3000 s/f home is about the same as what our PG&E bill was for our 1100 s/f home in California. The people are incredibly friendly and welcoming. The traffic is not nearly as bad (relatively) as people here think it is, and it is nothing like what we had in California. All in all, we love our newly adopted home state and the city that has welcomed us so graciously. I have not doubted my decision a single time since I pulled into town six months ago.

Feel free to ask me any questions and I'll answer to the best of my ability. I picked a lot of local brains on this forum before we made our final decision, and the information was incredibly helpful.

Good luck!

[RJMorris82]

Me and my wife decided to move here in 2007 after being born and raised in Southern California and we love it. Originally I had a fear my wife wouldn't like the move since she was a true California Girl, but after about a year she too loved it and wouldn't move back. Don't get me wrong there is an adjustment period, but once you get through it, I bet you'll love it too. We moved here leaving all our family behind and knowing no one out here, but it's not really that big of an issue because everyone out here are really friendly and helpful.

My wife and I live over in Hill Country Village and love it. 30 year old homes, most of which have been updated, that don't have the cookie cutter look of most newer home developments, in combination with no HOA. No real need for HOA in this area because the people who live here take pride in where they live.

A few things to look out for when first arriving here: The pace of life here is slower, so you'll need to remember to slow down and relax or you will get annoyed. The concept of traffic is new to a lot of people here and they have no clue how to drive in traffic, however what people here consider traffic is what driving in LA at 2am is like. Stay away from Stone Oak if you don't want traffic, its god awful and actually reminds me of the 101 through downtown LA (not bashing Stone Oak people, but the traffic getting in their sucks!).

I agree with all of what Bradford says as well, but be prepared for people to laugh at you when you call the freeways "the 10", "the 35", apparently only us Californians add the "the" in front of the number.

[SnappyBob]

Originally Posted by RJMorris82

Me and my wife decided to move here in 2007 after being born and raised in Southern California and we love it. Originally I had a fear my wife wouldn't like the move since she was a true California Girl, but after about a year she too loved it and wouldn't move back. Don't get me wrong there is an adjustment period, but once you get through it, I bet you'll love it too. We moved here leaving all our family behind and knowing no one out here, but it's not really that big of an issue because everyone out here are really friendly and helpful.

My wife and I live over in Hill Country Village and love it. 30 year old homes, most of which have been updated, that don't have the cookie cutter look of most newer home developments, in combination with no HOA. No real need for HOA in this area because the people who live here take pride in where they live.

A few things to look out for when first arriving here: The pace of life here is slower, so you'll need to remember to slow down and relax or you will get annoyed. The concept of traffic is new to a lot of people here and they have no clue how to drive in traffic, however what people here consider traffic is what driving in LA at 2am is like. Stay away from Stone Oak if you don't want traffic, its god awful and actually reminds me of the 101 through downtown LA (not bashing Stone Oak people, but the traffic getting in their sucks!).

I agree with all of what Bradford says as well, but be prepared for people to laugh at you when you call the freeways "the 10", "the 35", apparently only us Californians add the "the" in front of the number.

So what skills do we need to learn in order to drive in traffic with the eloquence of a California driver?

[Bradford72]

Originally Posted by SnappyBob

So what skills do we need to learn in order to drive in traffic with the eloquence of a California driver?

Merge smoothly. Don't be afraid to utilize the dedicated merge lanes to get up to speed...that's why they are there. Don't stop at a Yield sign if it's not necessary. Take more initiative at a 4-way stop when it's your turn, Stay out of the left lane if you're driving slower than the flow of traffic.

I know none of us are perfect drivers, but these are a few of the frustrations I've had since I've been here.

Of course, as RJMorris82 mentioned, I am still trying to learn to adapt to the slower pace here. When I want to get somewhere, I'd like to get there relatively quickly. I have noticed nobody here seems to share my sense of urgency, and since it's their town, I realize I'm the one who needs to make adjustments. Still, it can be frustrating for someone who isn't used to it.

[SnappyBob]

I share your frustrations. In the last 10 to 15 years I have found myself frustrated by a driving public that is increasingly less tolerant and thoughtful of their fellow drivers. The things that I have found more prevalent are people tailgating me on the freeway when I am going the speed limit or even a little above but apparently not enough over the speed limit to allow them to satisfy their sense of urgency. Also the disregard for stop signs, traffic lights and yield signs. The latter demonstrated by cars flying off of the freeway onto the access road and careening across three lanes of traffic so that they can get into their shopping destination parking lot. Drivers not allowing me to merge smoothly onto the freeway by seemingly purposely staying right by my side no matter if I slow down or speed up all the while with my turn signal blinking. Lastly, and this is not really a safety issue, is the practice of when freeway traffic is at a near stand still and there is an empty merge lane on the left or right, instead of merging in a civilized manner vehicles will race all the way to the end of the merge lane and force their way in to the front of the line leaving everyone else in the line to wait. Effectively cutting in line. I have to wonder if these people do the same thing when they encounter a long line at the grocery store. I doubt it. I doubt they have the ill manners or bravado for that kind of behavior in a face to face situation. These are the things that I have seen on the increase since the big Texas migration. This kind of stuff has been more prevalent in places like Houston and Dallas for even longer. San Antonio has less history with such freeway bad manners. Of course there are many factors causing bad driving situations and they are not all the trademark of drivers from another region but also the driving atmosphere these days of cell phones, texting, too much data being displayed on dashboards that's so much more interesting than watching the road. Things may get better one day when we get driverless cars. At least 'someone' is driving, even if it IS a robot.

[Hedgehog_Mom]

Originally Posted by Bradford72

Don't stop at a Yield sign if it's not necessary.

One time you do need to stop at a yield sign is if you're on a 2-way access road, if anyone is coming from the opposite direction, even without their turn signal on.

My sister has gotten the bulk of her driving experience in California and she cannot grasp the concept of stopping at any yield sign, ever.

[Bradford72]

Originally Posted by Hedgehog_Mom

One time you do need to stop at a yield sign is if you're on a 2-way access road, if anyone is coming from the opposite direction, even without their turn signal on.

Absolutely...these ones scare the daylights out of me and of course you must stop if there are other cars approaching.

The two that seem to cause the most frustration for me are both at Culebra/1604. There are dedicated merge lanes in place, and everyone seems to be afraid to use them, preferring instead to come to a complete halt, even when no other cars are approaching. I've never seen anything like it, but I'm trying to get used to it.

[TexasDillo]

Lots of folks here complaining about people's use of the merge lane. Here's my two cents worth:

The merge lanes aren't standardized.

Some actually have a nice long lane within which to accelerate and merge with the traffic. Others have almost no acceleration lane and force you to accelerate and merge quickly or you'll end up driving on the shoulder (or coming to a sudden stop).

Where TxDOT has been working on the overpasses, they are also working to providing longer acceleration and merge lanes onto the major roads. That will not, however, address every merge lane near every overpass.

Drivers just have to be cautious and courteous and be prepared for whatever the road, and traffic, might dictate.

[RJMorris82]

Originally Posted by Bradford72

Take more initiative at a 4-way stop when it's your turn, Stay out of the left lane if you're driving slower than the flow of traffic.

What Bradford said above drives me insane. It's not that I'm a Californian in a rush, but I believe there are signs everywhere that says, slower traffic keep right. I like the 70 mph speed limits and keep to them, but when someone is doing 65 in the fast lane it drives me nuts.

As for the 4-way stop, I've just accepted the fact that no one here will ever handle a 4 way stop correctly and confidently. In fact, if I am making a left turn, I won't put my signal on until i start to enter the intersection, just so the person across from me won't sit there and panic, I'll just turn behind them. Cars going straight at a stop sign always have the right away (if they arrive at the same time) and do not yield to turning vehicles (unless a yield sign is present).

Like Bradford said, we need to adapt more to the San Antonio driving, I understand that, so I adapt, but it doesn't take away some frustrations. My original comment was just directed to someone moving to San Antonio that is probably used to a certain way people drive in traffic, it is drastically different here and I have found that driving in this traffic is more dangerous because there is a big mix of drivers from all over the country mixed with native San Antonians, so it's harder to predict how each car will act on the road.