More Windcrest Questions (San Antonio, West, Mart: apartment complex, rental, crime rate)

[shenane]

Hello again
Thanks so much for all your great advice about living in Windcrest. Can y'all please tell me what you are paying for utilities out there (gas and electric) - Winter and Summer.
Also, besides the fact that some of the surrounding neighborhoods aren't so great, can anyone tell me any other reason I would NOT want to live there?

Thanks!

[CelesteDF]

I'm quoting from other CDers regarding utilities for you. Windcrest utilities are the same as the rest of SA... CPS for gas and electric (CPS rates are lower than many other utilities in TX). No personal knowledge of the neighborhood in NE SA so can't help you on that, but consider where you'll be working (rush hour traffic on 35 between 410 & downtown can be awful and will likely only get worse as the workforce at Ft. Sam/BAMC increases).

Originally Posted by hello13685

I live in a 1990s apartment complex near I-10 and Huebner. I pay 750.00 a month for a one-bedroom, 725 sqaure foot apartment, no frills. So what wCat said about $1 per square foot is about right. My electric bill in the summer is no higher than 75.00, and in winter it's about 35.00. I do not run the A/C all the time, though.

Originally Posted by Steel Man

There are many threads about San Antonio here, so I will not go into detail. It is a big city, but spread out, and getting bigger. It is not as hot as Phoenix or Las Vegas (I think 111 is the record for here), but there is some humidity. Is it unbearable? Not to me, and having A/C is nice. Property tax is 2.9%, but should go down slightly during the next two years. Of course, property values keep going up as house prices go up. As for utilities, they are pretty reasonable, the local electric company is City Public Service (CPS) which boasts it has the lowest average residential bill of any major city in Texas. My bill was $155 last month (not bad for a 2 story)...of course, I keep it at 78-80 degrees...you'll pay more if you want it colder. Anyway, here is there link: http://www.citypublicservice.com/

Originally Posted by wCat

If you have a specific property in mind, you can call CPS and ask for the yearly average for that particular unit. Keep in mind, they will advise you that they cannot be responsible if your useage is greater. The previous tenant may have traveled a lot, or liked to keep it warm.....if CPS balks about giving you the information, just tell them you understand it's not a guarantee, but you would like a ball park idea of what you might expect to pay. Also, they can provide you with the information for the "highest" months use...but generally the "average" is what you get. That would be an entire year added together and then divided by 12 months. The highest electric bill months would be June through August...and part of September. Then it drops dramatically. There are few rental apartments that use natural gas these days.

Another thing to seriously consider is choosing an apartment that has the majority of the window on the North and East side of a building. This will make a HUGE difference in your utility bills. I lived in a 1100 sq ft unit that faced due West. My utilities were outrageous....close to $200 a month. I changed units in the same complex and had a little morning sun, and almost no afternoon or Western exposure. My utilities in the same unit at a different location were almost 1/2 of the amount I was paying.

[Hibby]

I've heard there is a lot of gang activity in the surrounding area. Lots of stores have closed in the surrounding area. Walmart left several years ago and the local mall has shut down totally.

[CelesteDF]

Originally Posted by Hibby

I've heard there is a lot of gang activity in the surrounding area. Lots of stores have closed in the surrounding area. Walmart left several years ago and the local mall has shut down totally.

Hibby, you may be new to SA so you may not realize that one of the top economic development stories of the last year has been the growth of Rackspace and their purchase of Windsor Park Mall to redevelop as their corporate headquarters and mixed-use residential community. There have been a number of Express-News stories on this very topic in the last few days, plus a number of threads in this forum with photos, background, etc. Northeast San Antonio is about to experience a huge influx of investment that will completely change the area and that many hope will be a catalyst for growth and change all along the East Side.

[Hibby]

Nope, not new. I have personal knowledge about the operations of one of the major pharmacies in that area though and they have one of the highest number of forged prescriptions submitted in the city. Personally, I wouldn't live in the area.

[smuboy86]

Then don't live there, problem solved, but don't give inaccurate information.
There are not alot of gangs, the surrounding neighborhoods are mostly middle class working areas, besides windcrest which is upper middle class all the way. Their is plenty of shopping, (circuit city, office depot, Michael's, petsmart, ect.) Tons of restaurants. The old mall is being turned in to Rackspace, San Antonio's leading hi-tech IT firm that is bringing 6,000 new jobs to the area, along with investing 100 million dollars in to the old mall. The wal-mart was replaced with two new supercenters, the old one couldn't be expanded into one.

[Hibby]

I don't see it as inaccurate. Obviously, we have a different perspective. The Wal-Mart may have expanded but it didn’t do so in that area. The building is now occupied by a large flea market.

[The Man in SATX]

Currently I have seen a downfall of business in that area. But as smu said, Rackspace has purchased the Mall and is going to redevelop it. Hopefully this will revitalize the area with the new jobs and an increase in demand for restaurants to accomadate the new workers in that area. Windcrest is a nice area in itself as it is tightly controlled. God knows the Windcrest Police have nothing better to do then hand out speeding tickets as the crime rate in that city is probably pretty low.

[firstclassflyer]

One man's shack...is another man's castle.

[smis]

The same 'people' that shutdown Windsor Park Mall and trashed Roosevelt so badly they had to turn it into a 'specialized' school are the GANG problem in the NE San Antonio. They have been migrating up from the lower east side since the mid 80's and are now infesting what was a great neighborhood in San Antonio. Windcrest was/is a wonderful community. They need to go ahead and put up walls/fences like Israel to keep out the surrounding buggy areas.

The elementary school is top notch.., but then your kids are going to get thrown into ED White for middle and they will be torn to shreads.., just move out before Middle School and you will be fine!

Christmas lights, firemans's picnic, little league baseball, swimming pool and golf course are the best!!!!!!!!!!