I’m curious…a few questions for transplants to SA (San Antonio: for rent, how much)

[ElleGee]

Hello everyone! I am curious about how you ended up in SA. After reading many posts, it seems as if the far north side is comprised of mostly transplants from other cities.

Did most of you come to SA as a result of a job transfer or were you recruited by a SA company? If any of you originally came to SA for college, did you stay because you found employment there? If you are still in college in SA, do you plan on looking for employment there after graduation or are will you not even bother?

Or, did you make a small fortune selling your home in CA, FL, NY, etc? If this is the case, and you came to SA completely voluntarily, what made you choose to start over in SA? Was it family ties, weather, cost of living, etc? Or, did you truly “fall in love” with the city? Do any of you regret your decision?

[hello13685]

Great questions ElleGee! I think that for the long answer, you should peruse mine and others' past posts. Short answer: I came here for a specialized university job. The only reason I considered TX was for the warm weather. I am one of only two people I know who came to SA without family ties. Most of the locals I know claim that they would leave SA if not for these family ties. (i.e., they too feel the oppressiveness of the small town environment, but family is important in Hispanic culture.) Every single local has been very kind, but I, too, will be moving on in the semi-near future because I have lived in many cosmopolitan places and I feel very deprived here. Best of luck to you!!

[Latinocowboy]

We left NYC because we have family here in San Antonio. The weather, people, history, home prices, and potential were secondary reasons. I would have never imagined we'd move to Texas, but we love it and have no regrets.

[AFWife1029]

We came here because my husband is AF and he is doing training at Randolph. I am currently attending college here for my Masters in Arts in Counseling in School Counseling, and am hoping to finish it before we have to move. I am also working on becoming a teacher at two different levels, ec-4 and ec-12 special education.

As far as where we are from, I am from oklahoma originally, hubby is from houston, tx, our previous base was wichita, ks.

Hope that answers some questions for you feel free to ask me more if you like.

[slaleman]

I moved to San Antonio voluntarily to do my student teaching. After being here a week, I knew I was meant to stay. I am originally from central Illinois.

I moved back to the midwest and lived in Chicago for three years, but came back to San Antonio...I can't tell you how much I missed living in a warm climate with nice people.

I have no family here, other than my wife's family, so I was not obligated by anyone or anything to come or stay here. I came out of curiosity and stayed because I fell in love with the city.

So, Hello...now you know another person who came here without family ties.

[noplacelikeWA]

Simply put we moved here for the SUN! We have no family in SA but do have family in Austin. We started our hunt for a sunnier place with Hawaii but couldn't figure how we would afford it. After several months of prayer and job searching my husband found a job transfer opportunity in SA. We had not even looked at SA before the job came available. After a nearly a year of being in SA I still feel the SUN is the best part. We live on the far westside where you can measure growth by the minute. Unless something changes with the job we plan to remain in SA until retirement and then try for Hawaii again!

[winst0n]

I moved here about 6 yrs ago, and it's because of the job. I grew up and lived my life in a real big cosmopolitan city (in asia). I was in mid 20's when I moved here. At first, I was having frustrations about the small town/suburb lifestyle. I was missing all the big crowded shopping malls, trendy bars and clubs, big concerts, 24-hour food chains, metro-rail transits, etc. I said back then, I'm not gonna stay here and want to go back home due to boredom of this place.

But that was 6 yrs ago... Now it all changed. I love it here in SA. I love how this city is very relax, that i don't have to spend daily 1 hr commuting to any place i want to go in the city, that i don't have to fight for someone to get a parking spot or a taxi cab, that i don't have to wait in line for 30 min in the bank or grocery or fast food chain, that I don't have to inhale all smoke coming vehicles that are in a bumper to bumper traffic while walking downtown, that i don't have to pay half of my salary for rent but only spend 20% of my salary to pay for my OWN house.

I can go on an on but the bottomline is, I know there is no perfect world, I miss some of the amenities of living in a big city, but not enough reason for me to switch back. I love the lifestyle that SA is offering me, no regrets for me!!

[hello13685]

Hi Slaleman, I would consider a wife and her family as constituting a "family tie" to the area.

[Insomniac]

Moved here in 2003 after accessing everything and immediately feel in love with the city. My current girlfriend moved here in 2001 to attend school and also feel in love with the city and thankfully never left (I met her last year) or I would have never met her.

[Insomniac]

Originally Posted by hello13685

Hi Slaleman, I would consider a wife and her family as constituting a ’’family tie’’ to the area.

I believe he’s talking about staying in San Antonio prior to meeting his wife. He had no family ties to stay however he did.