Poteet, Pleasanton or surrounding areas? (San Antonio, Austin: apartment, lease, HOA)

[littleduckaroo]

Can anyone tell me anything about living in the Poteet or Pleasanton areas or any suggestions south of SA? We are preparing for our relocation in May/June and these areas have come up as possible locations for a young family. I'm also wondering what the commute would be like to the medical center? Thanks!

[TrapperL]

It's all subject to opinion so here's mine. I have family at Poteet. Poteet, while a dandy and friendly country town,is like going to the ghettos. Pleasanton is like going to a small San Antonio with loads of new stores of most any kind you can imagine and lots of eateries. There's a centrally located new hospital between Pleasanton and Jourdanton. Pleasanton would be my pick between the two. Pleasanton is growing like a wildfire, Poteet is slowly dying. A tour thru eithers downtown area will tell the tale. Pleasantons will be loads of folks everywhere, Poteets downtown is boarded up. But you might also look around Floresville. Another is Lytle which is straight down IH35 about 10 minutes from Lp1604. You can go farther down 35 to Devine as well.
The commute from any of these is going to be long regardless with Pleasanton and Floresville the longest. Lytle is probably the shortest but still close to an hour in traffic.

[Paka]

If you want to work in any of those areas and work in the medical center, plan on spending 1/2 the work hours per day trying to get to/from home/work. Unfortunately, traffic will be a HUGE issue unless you are going against the mainstream traffic patterns (going into town/out of town during non-peak traffic times). I.E...you are a shift worker, report extra early or late and not at "normal" daytime traffic flow hours.

[CyVaquero]

I work right at I10W/410W and 2nd Trapper and Paka on that particular commute. Living on the far west side (near Tally/Potranco for reference) it takes me about 25-30 minutes when leaving at 6am-6:15am. A year and a half ago it only took 20. After 6:15 traffic starts building pretty quickly. When I was putting my kids on the bus and getting on the road at 6:45am, I needed to drive an extra 10 miles down 211 to 90 then 410 to save 15 minutes and it still took 40-50 minutes.

The drive home at 3:30pm used to be traffic free but now I can't remember when the last time I didn't run into traffic slowdown between the hill approaching the Ingram Rd exit and 151.

You may want to look toward Castroville/Rio Medina or west of Helotes. Not sure what you are looking for so I can only point to small surrounding towns with better commutes.

[TexasRedneck]

I used to do some work in Poteet......swore I'd never live there. Take that for what it's worth.

[EntropyGuardian]

A minimum 1hr 15min commute. I work in Pleasanton on occasion.

I grew up in Charlotte, which used to be a one horse town but it left with the railroad. It's right outside of Jourdanton, which is between Pleasanton and Poteet. My family still lives in the area.

With the Eagle Ford Shale boom we got tons of new businesses (hotels), commodities (traffic) and new faces (meth addicts).

The main drag in Pleasanton is choked with traffic and thru trucks. Traffic lights were installed finally to cut down on wrecks in the area. It is definitely a small town area but the oil boom drove prices up. It increased the congestion and drove out the small town feel. (Technically Pleasanton was 'going to town' growing up... going to San Antonio was like going to New York City).

Drug crime and murder is up. People are getting found on the side of the road. Or never found at all. This is a shock to the people who have lived there their whole lives. Out of towners bring in their fly-by-night living-out-of-a-motel lifestyle and in comes the methamphetamine. The same happens in San Anto proper but it's amplified here because every instance is front page news.

The second I could I moved out to San Antonio. I work in SA and Atascosa and I would never, ever settle down in Atascosa. It's too long a drive to wherever I want to be. Even the apartment I had in 2008 or so in Pleasanton didn't have broadband internet access. A 1 year lease with dial up 8 years ago.

That's my 0.02

[TexasGEEK]

Well it's good to hear some feedback on the changes in various communities and what to expect living outside of San Antonio.

We will be moving somewhere outside of town because we would like to be away from all the city hustle and zero lot line houses. Looking for a reasonable 5'ish acres and intend to build. Looking for an area with few or no restrictions. Right now in town in DFW I can't build a shop on my property without HOA and City hell to pay for attempting to do so in town in a residential neighborhood.

Have considered Lytle, Natalia, Lacoste, Hondo and other areas to find affordable land prices. Family lives off of 1604 and 10, but Grey Forest and Helotes were way out of sight on land and home costs.

Will consider your comments on Poteet and Pleasanton areas. Where would you consider as a good area to look into outside of town.

I plan to have a shop and do some wood and metal working on the property. I'd almost consider doing part of the building myself, but I know that I'll need help with some finish work, drywall, part of the framing work. I'd say that I'm more of a craftsman with a direction towards quality not quantity.

Don't know much about Borne and Leon Springs, that could be another route into the city, but I'm concerned that land costs will be a $$$ anywhere north of 1604.

Any recommendations based on cost and community life?

Having to go back to DSL would be a pain (especially since San Antonio is supposed to have Google gigabit fiber soon in some areas which I image they will bring south from Austin) but if that's what it takes to get open skies and a bit of land we will manage.

[sandqueen]

We are a few miles north of Poteet. Our subdivision is on a dirt road with 5 acre tracts. We've been out here since 1998.

In the past the county didn't keep our dirt roads in good shape although lately they've done a better job. They were slow to address issues after hard rains. Residents maintain their own wells, septics as well as trash disposal.

Internet is our biggest problem. No unlimited plans are available out here and speeds are pokey. So we really have to monitor our usage. I had my fingers crossed that AT&T would become available but it's not here yet.

EG's assessment of the area is spot on...Eagle Ford Shale brought in money but there's a huge change in traffic/people.

Oh, another thing, make certain you have vehicles that can survive HIGH mileage cause you are gonna rack 'em up. Vehicle maintenance is essential. Our kids were grown when we moved here; I can't imagine running kids here, there and everywhere.

[Paka]

People do not REALIZE the drugs that come thru that area....it is a MAJOR drug route out of Mexico. I would really think twice about it. Those that have lived there or know anything about it will tell you it is NOT the "rural America" you are hoping for.

[rynetwo]

Save yourself the headache and try Floresville or La Vernia which are way nicer and the commute is shorter.