What makes San Antonio a desirable place to live? (Houston: transplants, tax)

[Pancho-Villa]

If you go back to the last page, that person is claiming that "food" is more expensive...that's it.

[miche111e]

Originally Posted by madrone2k

An interesting discussion that has veered off on to politics, which is fine. However, I was just reading elnina's earlier comment regarding to what extent elements of German culture still exist in San Antonio. I know from reading that in Houston (where I live) Germans were an important part of the community, but one would not know it today other than for the German street names in west Houston.

I have read that prior to WWI and WWII, a lot of Texas families spoke German at home, but later pushed to assimilate into Anglo-American culture due to prejudice engendered during those wars.

I know that places like New Braunfels and Fredericksburg successfully use German heritage to promote business. My impression is that its pretty fake, though I would not tell them to stop. A Houston colleague from Germany once hosted his German parents here on a trip to Fredericksburg and they were rather shocked and disappointed after absorbing all the hype about how it was a little time capsule of German culture. I found their experience instructive. On the other hand, I find Fredericksburg to be fun if one accepts it as it is.

Has anyone here been to Solvang, California? Some would believe its a quaint little Danish village. In actuality, its a kitschy tourist trap. Despite that, it is still fun as long as one doesn't fall for the PR.

I agree with what you said. My mom was German, and we also just moved back here from Germany. I can’t even stand the “German” food here. But I will give them points for trying.

And as a matter of fact, we have been to Solvang (we were stationed nearby twice). It’s exactly as you described it.

[TXStrat]

Originally Posted by Chaka

Depends where you are. My yard is covered with 70 year old + trees forming a canopy so thick nothing grows in the shade but we do like the shade.

This summer we had a bad dust storm that came from Africa. Hit this area hard. But yeah, can get dusty with the dryness.

Owning a house near downtown with insane jumps in property taxes, I wouldn't mind a housing crash either!

I get that your post may be a bit tongue in cheek, but wishing for a housing crash is sort of like wishing to shoot yourself in the foot. I have family in the Detroit enclave of Grosse Pointe. For those unfamiliar, it is very similar to Alamo Heights here in that it is completely surrounded by the city of Detroit, or Lake St. Clair, and has it's own city government, schools, etc. In the last housing crash, their home lost over 60% of its value, and the recovery of said value has being agonizingly slow. While it may seem beneficial in the short term with regard to property tax relief, in the long term, you're saddled with home unless you're willing to take a significant loss on your investment.


The best thing for Texas would be some common sense property tax reform. In many parts of Bexar County, the valuations automatically max out at a 10% increase each year, and requires home owners to go through the appeals process. In my area, I suspect that a lot of this increase in valuation had more to do with the city's plan to annex the I-10W parcel. Most neighboring communities in the planned annexation area have all reported having property value increases maxed out each year for the past three years.



This planned annexation is nothing but a tax revenue grab by the city, and has absolutely nothing to do with protecting the training mission at Camp Bullis from encroachment, or development. If that were the case, why would the city enter into a 30 year non-annexation agreement for the large tracts of land that border Bullis on the eastern side?

[ged_782]

Originally Posted by TXStrat

The best thing for Texas would be some common sense property tax reform. In many parts of Bexar County, the valuations automatically max out at a 10% increase each year, and requires home owners to go through the appeals process. In my area, I suspect that a lot of this increase in valuation had more to do with the city's plan to annex the I-10W parcel. Most neighboring communities in the planned annexation area have all reported having property value increases maxed out each year for the past three years.

That's not exactly correct.


The appraisal district cannot raise the assessed value of an owner-occupied homestead property more than 10% annually. However, there is no limit on how much the market value (or appraised value) can be increased from one year to the next on any property, homestead or not. So if contesting an appraisal, you will be working off the appraised value, which may not always be the same as the assessed value.


Believe me, I know, as I've had first-hand experience with this. Got thousands off the proposed appraised value increase on my home a couple of years ago, but not enough to get below the 10% increase in assessed value increase, so my tax savings from that effort was $0.00

[fritos56]

Housing and other things in this area keep going up due to all the people moving here. Homes are cheaper than California and some other places. Don't know about property taxes, BUT don't forget we rarely have snow which is a boon to folks from the Midwest and east Coast. The city touts itself as military City USA so lots of military retire here, and most important of all, TAHDA, NO STATE INCOME TAX! ONLY FEDERAL INCOME TAX. Yeah everyone forgot about that deal.

[Pancho-Villa]

I don't think anyone forgot, silly. Military retirees are not a draw for some as well. Property tax rates are high...and as values continue to rise (lower than a lot of cities right now, but that's changing), people will start to feel the squeeze, if they aren't already.

[supfromthesite]

Originally Posted by TXStrat

I get that your post may be a bit tongue in cheek, but wishing for a housing crash is sort of like wishing to shoot yourself in the foot. I have family in the Detroit enclave of Grosse Pointe. For those unfamiliar, it is very similar to Alamo Heights here in that it is completely surrounded by the city of Detroit, or Lake St. Clair, and has it's own city government, schools, etc. In the last housing crash, their home lost over 60% of its value, and the recovery of said value has being agonizingly slow. While it may seem beneficial in the short term with regard to property tax relief, in the long term, you're saddled with home unless you're willing to take a significant loss on your investment.


The best thing for Texas would be some common sense property tax reform. In many parts of Bexar County, the valuations automatically max out at a 10% increase each year, and requires home owners to go through the appeals process. In my area, I suspect that a lot of this increase in valuation had more to do with the city's plan to annex the I-10W parcel. Most neighboring communities in the planned annexation area have all reported having property value increases maxed out each year for the past three years.



This planned annexation is nothing but a tax revenue grab by the city, and has absolutely nothing to do with protecting the training mission at Camp Bullis from encroachment, or development. If that were the case, why would the city enter into a 30 year non-annexation agreement for the large tracts of land that border Bullis on the eastern side?

For most people, a house is not an investment, it is a place to live. But everybody thinking of them as an investment is exactly why housing prices are so ridiculously inflated.

>In the last housing crash, their home lost over 60% of its value, and the recovery of said value has being agonizingly slow.
In other words, it has gone back to normal.

[supfromthesite]

Anybody else feel like San Antonio being a military city has done a lot in getting rid of its unique culture?

[huckster]

This city has always been a military city. One of the most fought over pieces of real estate ever. Always there have been soldiers here. Rare was the time there wasn't. Always a garrison.

Originally Posted by supfromthesite

Anybody else feel like San Antonio being a military city has done a lot in getting rid of its unique culture?

[rynetwo]

Oh CD the helpful forum was gonna long ago.