I'm confused:Is SA nice or not? (Houston, San Antonio: transplants, theater)

[GIAcakes]

Wow, didn't expect so many posts. Thank you everyone for your opinions! I know when it comes down to things, it's how we feel about the area. Believe me, Minneapolis has bad areas that I would never drive through and would look over my shoulder if I was walking down the street. I think it's different though, when it's a place you've always lived and you know the areas to avoid. It's hard going blindly to city you know nothing about. I feel so far, the pros outweigh the cons.
It's just like the people here. My neighbors are from Virginia and Texas, they are in the military and are counting the days when they get to leave here. They don't understand how anyone could live here. They said they may as well be living in Alaska. On the flip-side, my brother-in-law is a born and raised surfer from San Diego. He loves it here and wants to move here. How could he want to leave great weather and the ocean? Turns out he loves hunting and loves the woods. He thinks Boundary Waters is heaven.
So basically, I know it just comes down to your own wants and needs.

[Polacoster88]

Originally Posted by slaleman

The OP was looking for facts, not opinions.

That's not really an opinion, it is in fact a fact. I've lived in Dallas, Houston, and Austin, and San Antonio has lower salaries, less job opportunities for college graduates, and has more poor people.

I go to Trinity now, and the statistics of people who actually stay here after graduation are surpisingly low (in comparison to Dallas/Houston); SA just does not have the wherewithall to maintain an educated set of people.

[traveler guy]

Originally Posted by rd2007

those are the only places you've travelled to? if so, you're excused.. I've been almost around the world, on every ocean, and almost every continent.. I've travelled MUCH more than your average bear and no matter how you like to spin it, the city of San Antonio is the 6th or 7th largest in the country.. it may not feel it, but it is..
it's obvious you hate this city and I'm sure the OP recognizes that also...

Moderator cut: no need for that

It's true SA city proper is big but counting metro SA is the 27th largest metro now not 29th and even though it's 27th that is still pretty big. SA does have a lot of crime but it's concentrated mostly inside 410. Look at a map of SA and you will see much of the city has grown outside the loop now giving SA a safer feel if you just venture outside 410. I'm not saying you shouldn't go inside the loop cause there are many nice areas inside the loop as well but SA is not crime ridden just some areas in the inner city are.
Like most people said the pros out weight the cons.

[Polacoster88]

Originally Posted by dvlpr

I'll take a crack at this.

I'm going to agree that San Antonio has undergone a lot of growth, especially since the two years I've been here. However, the city still is lagging in a variety of facets.

First off, I'm 20 and not particularly happy here. Is it customary on this board to insult young people and their opinions? Or was that just an isolated event? I've been all over the US and the world (spent last summer in Japan) and coming back to San Antonio is just like living in a impoverished, sullen, vapid, retrogressive, deprived northern Mexican town.

As someone who's been to Mexico extensively (my parents own a house there and in Houston), San Antonio's culture, society and infrastructure is more reminiscent of places like Monterrey and parts of south Texas border towns in my opinion.

Everything here is slower, and let's face it...this still is a poor city compared to others it's size. Yes, it's impoving, but let's not fool ourselves into making it something it's not. And yes, the singles scene, young persons scene, diversity scene, and young professionals scene seems to be pretty much nonexistent.

[ryneone]

Originally Posted by Polacoster88

And yes, the singles scene, young persons scene, diversity scene, and young professionals scene seems to be pretty much nonexistent.

Granted im a tad younger to you the singles scene is hardly nonexistent. What would it take for you? Hundreds of bars and clubs. Many live music and local bands playing weekly. The list goes on.

[ryneone]

Originally Posted by Polacoster88

As someone who's been to Mexico extensively (my parents own a house there and in Houston), San Antonio's culture, society and infrastructure is more reminiscent of places like Monterrey and parts of south Texas border towns in my opinion.

The surface streets are up in coming but the freeway system is one of the best in the nation. Check this out.

http://http://www.texhwyman.com/san.htm (broken link)

[Danilo-11]

Keep in mind that not everybody likes the same thing,
otherwise, we would just go and buy a book of "the best cities in the US" and that would tell us which city is the best one.

I visited San Antonio last year, and I'm constantly reading about it,
I just feel that San Antonio is the perfect city for me and my family (I'm 29 with 2 kids)

It's interesting to see that the things that people say are bad about San Antonio, they seem completely fine to me.
- Roads: No problem
- Uneducated people: I lived in the Ozards for 10 years and that also means that things are cheaper than in a city where everybody has a college degree.
- Low salaries: I'm an electrical engineer, so they have to pay me what I'm worth.
- Feels like a small town: Perfect, my wife grew up in a town of 15000 people in the Ozarks.
- People speaking spanish: That's my 1st language
- Hot weather: I wear shorts all year around inside my house and refuse to wear sweaters and jeans inside my house

[AnthonySA]

Originally Posted by Polacoster88

I'm going to agree that San Antonio has undergone a lot of growth, especially since the two years I've been here. However, the city still is lagging in a variety of facets.

First off, I'm 20 and not particularly happy here. Is it customary on this board to insult young people and their opinions? Or was that just an isolated event?

Nah, I don't get the feeling this is an anti-youth forum. I'm young also and I have yet to be scolded. Since I've been to City-Data the touchiest threads are the threads like these which compare the good and bad about San Antonio.

Don't take it personally

As someone who's been to Mexico extensively (my parents own a house there and in Houston), San Antonio's culture, society and infrastructure is more reminiscent of places like Monterrey and parts of south Texas border towns in my opinion.

I wouldn't consider being compared to Monterrey a bad thing. I have visited there plenty of times and it is a great city with plenty to do. It's not bad to be on the same tier with one of the most progressive cities in Latin America.

Everything here is slower, and let's face it...this still is a poor city compared to others it's size. Yes, it's impoving, but let's not fool ourselves into making it something it's not. And yes, the singles scene, young persons scene, diversity scene, and young professionals scene seems to be pretty much nonexistent.

Who said we lacked a singles seen? Get on out there and take a closer look.. you'd be surprised.

[Hyun-Soo]

Plenty of pleasant suburbia to raise the family.

Stay more on the northside and you'll most likely be fine.



I really wish San Antonio's downtown would grow out with skyscrapers and become more cosmopolitan. I just feel it's way too touristy right now.

[Topperone]

Wow, when I saw this thread had 6 pages, I figured it was months and months old. Not, just a day old. Shocking, lol. It seems trnmeon was banned then came back under a new name to again be banned. So I'd assume he or she is reading this, and hopefully others as well. I'd like to correct some of the statements that poster made.

First off, calling San Antonio blue collar is laughable. Data after data has proven San Antonio has way more white collar jobs than blue collar jobs.

Second, calling San Antonio "poor" is also laughable. Firstly, what is poor? Where is the poor line in per capita or in Median Household Income? If there isn't one, then who is too decide what "poor" is? Would poor be described as living in "poverty" or as living with one car instead of four? With two tv's instead of five? It's like poor stopped being an actual identifiable word and instead can used whenever and wherever even if it doesn't apply. You know, like calling Tyra Banks or Jennifer Love Hewitt fat.

If we're going by the poverty level of the city or metro area, well, in the city that number is 14%, in the metro area, that number is lower at 12% and in the 16 country area that is served by the San Antonio Food Bank, that number is 16%.

Not only are those number not anywhere near 50%, allowing for a "San Antonio is poor" comment to be true, it's lower than a lot of cities that one wouldn't dare call "poor."

Also, to comment about not keeping college graduates, well, that may have been an issue in the past but things are dramatically changing and opinions for the those graduates are ever expanding as is our population.

I'd like to just close by saying the number of generalizations and stereotypes I read in this thread is unfortunate. I can only imagine what was said that had to be deleted.