I'm confused:Is SA nice or not? (Houston, San Antonio: crime, how much)

[ChrisSA_wxatUIW]

Every city has there bad parts or bad sides, every city has crime, and every city has their problems; But I think in San Antonio the good out weighs the bad tremendously.

[rd2007]

Originally Posted by trnmeon

Calling San Antonio the 7th largest city does it an injustice. Again, if you've traveled (something a majority of San Antonians have not done, I'm sorry to say), you'd realize this cities infrastructure is severely lacking in comparison to other top 10 cities, and arguably, to even smaller cities like Seattle, Boston, Miami, and San Francisco.

No kind of light-rail, poorly planned, executed, and laid out road system, virtually no culture, very little diversity, large number of poor and uneducated people, prevalent provincial mindset, lack of single life, lack of restaurants (unless you mean barbecue or Mexican), the list goes on.

In my opinion, if one is expecting a metropolitan experience, they will NOT find this in SA. This city just is not a true cosmopolitan mecca in the least bit. The fact of the matter is that, the way San Antonio is organized (with no suburbs and every area around the city counted as the cities population) you get an inaccurate picture of the cities true size.

The reality is that San Antonio is the 29th largest metro in the US. The city itself may have 1.2 million people, but the metropolitan area only has marginally more. Classifying San Antonio in this fashion, one can accept the cities small-town atmosphere, instead of comparing it to the likes of other top 10 US cities.

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

[SanAntoQT]

Originally Posted by GIAcakes

I have been researching SA for a while now for a future move. This site has had so many postive things about the city. I have been very excited for our upcoming trip to check things out. I was on another site recently which has info on all the best cities. The message board there was terrible! Almost all negatives, very few positives. These posts portrayed SA as a garbage-ridden cesspool with tons of crime and very few nice areas to live. More than one poster said they are always scared and have to always be looking over their shoulder. What gives? Why such different potrayals? Thanks for your input!

Originally Posted by trnmeon

I'm sorry but many on this site give a very inaccurate picture of what San Antonio is really like. First off, San Antonio is a poor, working class, and largely uneducated city. A lot of the sentiments expressed on that site - about the lack of decent paying jobs, lack of importance of education among a large number of the population, and high crime rate are just the way things are here.

The fact of the matter is that if you've traveled like I've traveled, and then come back to San Antonio, you can really see how this city is just a big bordertown like Brownsville. The city has neither economical or cultural significance and is very provincial in regards to change and progress.

Trnmeon: Where do you see the OP asking about jobs, culture or economy? OP seems to be asking if SA is as dirty and crime-infested as others have portrayed. Being poor and uneducated, as you have suggested is the case with the majority of San Antonians, doesn't make them criminals. Sheesh!

[Bo]

Originally Posted by GIAcakes

Why such different potrayals? Thanks for your input!

Online communities vary widely. The other site may attract people who have an axe to grind or people who love to focus on the cloud rather than the silver lining. I'm sure you've encountered some of those types of people in your offline life.

There's a lot to like about living here in San Antonio and I believe you can get a well-balanced view on this board. There are plenty of San Antonio boosters here as well as people who hold strong opinions about specific ways that the city could be better. Try reading back through some of the older San Antonio topics here at City-Data. I am sure you'll be able to find discussions about everything you've mentioned that troubles you from your research at the other place. Some of what you find will be reassuring and some of it won't.

[trnmeon]

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...

International traveling, which I've done, is irrelevant in this conversation. The comparison was between smaller US cities, and San Antonio, which lacks the infrastructure and economical significance of other top 10 US cities.

Technically, San Antonio is the 7th largest city in the country. But, like I said, having been to each of the other 9 largest US cities, San Antonio is, to put it frankly, backwards and severely underdeveloped.

If stating the truth about a city is hating a city, I wonder what you'd say if I actually insulted it (which I have not done).

[rd2007]

I have also been to 41 (soon to be 43) of the states. I think most of what you understand comes from books and the internet (based on your age). That's not actually life... I've been to miami and it's a crime infested garbage hole (actually worse than that, but this is a family oriented site). Their economy is tanking due to awful real estate investment by extremely uneducted people.. Now lets look at San Antonio and how the recent economy is hurting it.. my house is worth more than ever and last year we made $35K more than we did the year before.. wow, that is so awful..

[trnmeon]

Originally Posted by SanAntoQT

Trnmeon: Where do you see the OP asking about jobs, culture or economy? OP seems to be asking if SA is as dirty and crime-infested as others have portrayed. Being poor and uneducated, as you have suggested is the case with the majority of San Antonians, doesn't make them criminals. Sheesh!

Ummm, I was making a correlation between the factors which may contribute to a crime infestation and lack of cleanliness.

[texdav]

I see many more postive post about san antionio that in the threads about many other large cities. The you jhave to really remember that many areas that some think of as san antionio are not really in san antonio;just in the outlaying areas.I would compare the new comer post to other areas and what I see is very postive in realtion. If I had never travleed to the NE area of the coutries;from post in their area;I would have to say that the NE is much like something from a movie after a nuclear attack.I see none of this about san antonio and I hope you have the time to see more than just the urban sprawl of san antonio.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by trnmeon

Technically, San Antonio is the 7th largest city in the country. But, like I said, having been to each of the other 9 largest US cities, San Antonio is, to put it frankly, backwards and severely underdeveloped.

It's not fair to compare San Antonio with the other cities in the US top 10 because its metropolitan area is so much smaller than the others. The media market (Nielsen DMA) is a better reflection of the reality here, since San Antonio is the 37th largest media market. Take a look at the rankings below to get a better idea of San Antonio's true peers.

31 - Kansas City, MO
32 - Columbus, OH
33 - Cincinnati
34 - Milwaukee
35 - Salt Lake City
36 - Greenville/Spartanburg/Asheville
37 - San Antonio / Del Rio
38 - West Palm Beach
39 - Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek
40 - Birmingham/Anniston/Tuscaloosa
41- Harrisburg/Lancaster/Lebanon/York
42 - Hampton Roads, VA

[rd2007]

Moderator cut: referring to a post that has been removed

so anyhow, there are haters here, there are people that call it home, there are people that want to leave yesterday, and there are people that can't wait to move here.. It's basically a big city with its share of good and bad, but currently much more good than most other large cities (economically speaking).