What do you love/hate most about San Antonio? (Austin: theatre, living)

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by ChrisMP

2. What city would talk about as a like their supermarket. Is that the high standards that you hold your city up too???? Come on. Could you picture a New Yorker every saying they like a super market as one of their likes or even a person from Austin. Just another example just has short sighted and sad this town is and why it will never change. I have a feeling that people from San Antonio who love it, just have not been many places or they are not very metropolitan.

Very good comment, because it shows what San Antonio is all about.
The fact that people say one of their favorite things in SA is HEB shows that SA is a family city and not a "metropolitan" city.

To put it in few words...
it's obvious that SA is a great city for families and people that want the best for their kids.
That's why you find people praising HEB and other things that are a high priority for people with families (kids).

ChrisMP, you just have to understand that people have different mindsets
when people are in HS and college, people want bars, clubs, fast cars, etc.
When people have families, they just want to live in a place that is safe, affordable and with lots of things for their kids.

You will NEVER find a city that is perfect,
just to give you an example, I've heard many people say that San Diego, California is the perfect city
I met a family from over there, and they told me that is absolutely beautiful and perfect,
but it's almost impossible to buy a house because too many people want to live there.

For me, San Antonio is PERFECT,
besides the weather, proximity to the beach, affordability, festivities, etc.
My 1st language is Spanish and I could take my family to Mexico for the weekend.

[LoneStarJerry]

Originally Posted by xsa210tx

DISLIKE the over abundance of Catholicism, overly conservative Latinos and bible thumpers! ugggh!

How horrible, I feel so sad that you have to live around Catholics and people who love God and want to better themselves.

And yes I'm being sarcastic, I happen to be Catholic and somehow I doubt that all of San Antonio's Catholics are beating down this person's door and bothering them 24/7.

[bresilhac]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Very good comment, because it shows what San Antonio is all about.
The fact that people say one of their favorite things in SA is HEB shows that SA is a family city and not a "metropolitan" city.

To put it in few words...
it's obvious that SA is a great city for families and people that want the best for their kids.
That's why you find people praising HEB and other things that are a high priority for people with families (kids).

ChrisMP, you just have to understand that people have different mindsets
when people are in HS and college, people want bars, clubs, fast cars, etc.
When people have families, they just want to live in a place that is safe, affordable and with lots of things for their kids.

You will NEVER find a city that is perfect,
just to give you an example, I've heard many people say that San Diego, California is the perfect city
I met a family from over there, and they told me that is absolutely beautiful and perfect,
but it's almost impossible to buy a house because too many people want to live there.

For me, San Antonio is PERFECT,
besides the weather, proximity to the beach, affordability, festivities, etc.
My 1st language is Spanish and I could take my family to Mexico for the weekend.

Actually you're right to an extent. San Antonio is fairly provincial. Other than San Antonio I've lived in Northern Virginia, ie the Washington area and Houston. And both are far more cosmopolitan than old SA. But that is ok. SA also has its own feel and vibe and it's one I happen to like. But that is not what I hate about San Antonio. What I hate is that there are no more major league franchises in the area and that the only thing going for pro sports fans is the Spurs. Could the two aspects be linked? Maybe so.

But one would think that a city of this size, with all of its faults, would at least have an NFL team by now. Given how many football fans there are around here. Maybe one day San Antonio will be considered big and rich enough to warrant having more pro teams move in. And again, as far as being provincial, it's ok by me. If I wanted to live the ultra fast-paced, money and power oriented lifestyle I'd have stayed in the Washington area. Besides I can still watch my Redskins on DirecTV.

[ksan]

I moved from San Francisco to San Antonio almost a year ago. I have been fortunate enough to live in wonderful interesting cities all my life and have spent a significant amount of time visiting and staying in London, Oxford, Edinburgh, Paris, Berlin, New York, Chicago, Toronto, Montreal, Tokyo, and a small town in Spain near Seville. I have always been attracted to major metropolitan centers for their art and culture scenes, for street life, for good food, for music, for festivals, for above all a strong sense of character.

I say all of this to establish that I am not unaware of what's out there; my points of reference are not Waco and Kerville. I have lived a pretty cosmopolitan life. And in the context of all that, I can say gladly and without reservations that I love San Antonio.

Why?

San Antonio has character. Like New Orleans, San Francisco, and Boston, it has something about it unlike anywhere else in the states. It mixes old and new, funky and fine, with a tremendous sense of fun, passion, strangeness, and love.

I love that people are from here. Don't get me wrong, I loved living in San Francisco, and I love reconnecting to the people I left behind when I go back to visit. But most people I knew from San Francisco were from other places, and it gave the whole city the feeling of a temporary, tourist sensibility. San Antonio has generations of family that leave their marks all over the city. The history is remembered in heirlooms and old homes. My brother in law's Mexican grandfather built the building I work in 50 years ago.

I love that San Antonio is down to earth. In San Francisco, New York, London, and a bunch of other places it is never enough for a lot of its denizens to eat or drink at a laid back, enjoyable place. You must find the finest wine, the stinkiest cheese, the best of everything. Give me a break. I love how San Antonio has wonderful food and wine and beer and music and art but doesn't get so snooty about it.

I love that San Antonio has a vibrant festival life. Fiesta and the dozens of other gatherings give the city a feeling of passion, of life, of community.

I love the art here. The Tobin Gallery of the McNay Art Museum houses one of the best collections of European Theatre Design in the country. The AtticRep does top notch performances that blast plenty of more established companies in major cities out of the water in their intensity, relevance, and quality. The Museo Alameda Smithsonian is out of control cool. SAMA is cool and striking and fascinating. The new Riverwalk museum reach extension looks gorgeous. The whole River is beautiful and old and fantastic.

I LOVE the food. Breakfast tacos at Cafe Regio or Taco Taco, enchiladas at the Blanco Cafe or Picante, fish tacos at the Cove, burgers at Chris Madrid's or the Broadway 50/50, sandwiches at the Sandwich Garden, amazing Jamaican Jerk Barbecue at Willard's, good healthy fare at the Liberty Bar and anything imagineable available at Central Market: there's always something good to eat.

I LOVE the laid-back bars with outdoor seating, live music, and an open funky vibe. Some favorites: The Cove, La Tuna, Candlelight, the Web House, Beethoven Maennechor, and Blue Star Brewery.

I love that this is a beer town.

I love that there are funky neighborhoods radically different from each other, like King William, Monte Vista, St Mary's strip, Alamo Heights, Tobin Hill, downtown.

I love that there are a thousand shades of green and a tropical rainforest enmeshed with the old neighborhoods.

I love that people disagree. I love that there is a vibrant gay community as well as conservative gun-toting cowboys. I love that it's Mexican and German and Texan all at once. I love that you can meet a philosophy professor and a construction worker at the same blues bar. I love that people can't remain insulated from those with different backgrounds. In San Francisco, everyone's progressive, green, and totally in agreement about major political views. I happen to be quite liberal myself, so I felt at home -- but I also felt insulated, living in a bubble. It's not healthy for thought and debate.

San Antonio has the funky warehouse artists of Berlin, the mystical stone side streets of Paris, the debauchery and festivity of New Orleans, the quirky flamboyance of San Francisco, and the heat of Mexico City. And yet in San Antonio all these aspects feel more real, less fairy tale, more grounded and even a little crappy. Everything is duller, filled with contradictions, and uglier. It's too hot, too sprawling, too conflicted, and too gritty to attain the kind of cosmopolitan je ne sais quoi that the overhyped, overpriced tourist-laden capitals of culture have. But I even like that.

I love that San Antonio bumper stickers, in answer to the corporate "Keep Austin Weird" campaign, say "Keep San Antonio Lame." San Antonio is lame. There are crumbling 1920s mansions with people still living in them. There are potholes that can swallow your car. There is a sense of inertia that balks at anything pretentious.

Good for San Antonio. I love that it's lame. I'm pretty lame. If you're kind of lame, and you like funky, spicy, gritty, strange, lively, festive, laid-back, unpretentious, artistic life, you might like it too.

But I should also say what I hate:

I do hate the urban sprawl outside the loop that eats up what was once the Hill Country. I do hate the constant construction and the cookie cutter exurbs.

But more than any of that, I hate the impulse among so many San Antonio transplants and natives alike to turn a snobby nose up at what is a truly striking, unique city unlike any other. You don't need to praise it, but if you can't recognize something quite special here, you're not looking hard enough. If you can say San Antonio has nothing to offer, you could find the dark side of the sun.

[deek102]

I do hate the urban sprawl outside the loop that eats up what was once the Hill Country. I do hate the constant construction and the cookie cutter exurbs.

Agreed!!!

I hate that SA's mass transportation system is so limited.

I like biking in the Hill Country, it's beautiful.

I hate the lack of bike lanes and shoulders.

I like the Riverwalk and the Southtown/King William area.

I hate the 100 degree weather from June - September

I love my a/c!

I hate that SA is just now building connectors on 410/281, 1604/281, San Pedro/410, Bandera/410, etc. Why weren't some of these done 15 years ago???

I'm sure I could come up with more but I'm too lazy today.

[perticusrex]

For new best post ever.... see #184.

[deek102]

Originally Posted by perticusrex

For new best post ever.... see #184.

agreed!

[starlite3463]

You just need to find a social group to hang out with.

[deek102]

Originally Posted by starlite3463

You just need to find a social group to hang out with.

pffft.

[dh281hou]

Originally Posted by ksan

But more than any of that, I hate the impulse among so many San Antonio transplants and natives alike to turn a snobby nose up at what is a truly striking, unique city unlike any other. You don't need to praise it, but if you can't recognize something quite special here, you're not looking hard enough. If you can say San Antonio has nothing to offer, you could find the dark side of the sun.

agree with you on that ksan.