Moving from NYC to San Antonio as a 23 yr old black woman (Houston: rent, neighborhoods)

[cutesammy01]

Hi i'm considering moving to San Antonio and I have a few questions.

1. Is there a lot of Racism in San Antonio? And what areas are the most racist?

2. Are there any upper class black neighborhoods with good schools?

3. Would I feel comfortable living in a wealthy white neighborhood?

4. What is the night life like in San Antonio?

5. What options do I have in terms of fun? Anything comparable to NYC?

6. Is San Antonio a good place to raise children?

7. How is the nursing field here? Are there a lot of jobs available for RN'S?

[Pancho-Villa]

[quote=cutesammy01;42256197]Hi i'm considering moving to San Antonio and I have a few questions.

1. Is there a lot of Racism in San Antonio? And what areas are the most racist?

Not a lot...but like any other city, there are racial undertones and a few examples of racism have been pointed out here on CD. It's majority Hispanic here.

2. Are there any upper class black neighborhoods with good schools?

No I don't think so. According to the link. Blacks represent about 7% of the population here. If you want more black people, you need Houston or Dallas

Demographics - San Antonio EDF

3. Would I feel comfortable living in a wealthy white neighborhood?

This is totally dependent on you. Also, would you comfortable living in a wealthy Hispanic area?

4. What is the night life like in San Antonio?

Nothing compared to NYC, but people seem to have fun. Come with an open mind. It's a totally different culture. Yes,I have lived in NYC.

5. What options do I have in terms of fun? Anything comparable to NYC?

Museums, Zoo, Water Parks, Hill Country (Wine Tour), Austin an hour away, Beach 2+ Hours, Spurs games, Missions, plenty to keep busy depending on what you like to do. Be prepared for a looooong hot summer compared to where you are from. It cools down sometime in October usually.


6. Is San Antonio a good place to raise children?

Yes.

7. How is the nursing field here? Are there a lot of jobs available for RN'S?

Plenty...lots of medical personnel here.

Big question for you is "Can you handle the heat". Some can't.

[CyVaquero]

Pancho covers it pretty well.

Forst and foremost, this is not NYC. Please don't hold onto hope that it even resembles NYC.

There is plenty to do but you have seek it out. If you are the type who expects things to come to you or just come upon things to do, you will probably be bored out of your mind. The SA Current calendar and the San Antonio Subreddit can help. Unfortunately I still haven't found a really good centralized place to discover activities and events and often find out about things that looked interesting to me only after they happened.

Public transit is horrible (not necessarily the experience itself, but the coverage and scheduling). However, commute times are comparatively negligible. 20-25 minutes from the Far West Side to Medical Center, ~15 miles leaving at 6am - leave 15 minutes later and you can double it, but still not bad in NYC terms.

Drivers are bad. Full stop. Personally I think worse than even Philly, and I hate driving in Philly. Plenty of threads on that subject here with plenty of finger pointing, doesn't change the fact.

Racism and diversity...Hispanics, gringos (as a gringo, I prefer gringo), and blacks make up the VAST majority of San Antonians. There is a small but quickly growing Indian sub-continent population here due to the tech and medical sectors. Coming from a Tier 1 university town a few hours west of NYC, there is really no discernible Asian/Pacific-Islander population - they're here just not in any real numbers...thinking about it though there are a lot asian restaurants, I think they may all be interconnected via tunnels to a central kitchen under the Alamo and there are really only like 50 people manning them all.

There are plenty of places in town where you will not see another black face. There are also plenty of places where you'll see a pretty good mix of black/white/brown (Far West Side being one). The East Side to Converse and a few other isolated pockets (ex. SW side near Lackland) would be considered black neighborhoods (the East Side south of the train tracks centered around New Braunfels Ave. is the historic black neighborhood of SA). There are wealthy mixed neighborhoods, wealthy white (older money) neighborhoods, and wealthy Hispanic neighborhoods. I hate to say it but there are no wealthy black neighborhoods. Of course this is all predicated on what you consider to be wealthy ($250k+ household income is where I draw the wealthy line).

The heavy military presence and history in San Antonio has pretty much set the standard for general race relations here. That's not to say racism and segregation wasn't a thing, just that things transitioned earlier and smoother here than they did in other southern states. Mixed couples (as my wife and I are) are probably more common than I've seen anywhere else. My wife jokes that mixed kids are the largest minority in the girls' elementary school. But we also live in one of those more statically more diverse areas of SA.

[Rustybolt]

The question about feeling comfortable in a white neighborhood. My perspective is this: I'm white and so are some of my neighbors, but I also have neighbors who are Hispanic, black, Asians. We are all working or retired professionals. When I think of my neighbors I don't think of their race or ethnicity. I think of "the airline pilot", the "eye doctor", the "architect", and sometimes "that damned Oklahoma Sooner fan". Yes I'm prejudiced but I work hard on being tolerant of Aggies and Sooners.

You will be fine here on terms of your race. I think lifestyle is the biggest adjustment. SAT is not NYC.

[Pancho-Villa]

You should rent here for a while to see if you can handle the change. I never like to tell anyone that they'll be fine here (regarding race), because they may not be. Most are, but some aren't. I hope she will be. Above poster is right...lifestyle in very different.
Come make a visit or two, then rent for a while. Get a feel for the city, because it's very spread out. You shouldn't have a problem finding work, but the pay might not be what you're used to. Keep in kind that your living expenses will make up for it. Pros and Cons here.
If you really prefer to be around more black people....then check out Houston and/or Dallas.

[RadiantBaby]

Moving from Manhattan, you're going to have a tough go at it for awhile.

If you wish to mellow out, San Antonio MIGHT work for you. It's just not nearly as fast, competitive, sharp or diverse as New York City.

[Paka]

The only thing I would disagree with is #3. There ARE few (if any) "wealthy white neighborhoods" in San Antonio...we are very diversified and you will find most ethnicities living in any neighborhood. We have lots of VERY wealthy folks from south of the border as well as other countries living here. Business owners, professionals and entrepreneurs of all races live and work in San Antonio.

[hobofromsa]

Check out the east side

[Pancho-Villa]

Coming from NYC (as this person is)- SA would not be considered diversified. Not even close. Several CD posters have lived there (including me)...I'm sure they would agree.

Anyway, I'm getting the feeling that this was a hit-n-run post and this person wont be back.

[Paka]

Those always seem to start with the 1st post, right????