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What is the Helotes area like? Looking to buy......
We are looking to buy a house near San Antonio. We have found some homes around Helotes that we like. I can see the school's ratings online at the ISD website, so don't need that info. What does the area look like? Hilly or flat? Does it seem like a nice place to live?
Helotes is a nice area, and in general it's more hilly than flat.
Can you be a bit more specific about where in Helotes you're looking? The areas off Bandera/16 are very different from the areas off Kyle Seale or Hausman, but they're technically both Helotes. They're both nice areas, but I'd describe the Kyle Seale homes as more traditional suburbs and more modern while the Bandera area is older and more country'ish. There are exceptions to both though.
Off 16 (more commonly referred to as Bandera Rd.) is a really pretty area. It's especially ideal for people who'd like to live among trees and nature but still want to be close to the city.
Here's a few neighborhoods in that area that I'm familiar with:
Iron Horse Canyon: Of the neighborhoods I'm bringing up, it's probably the most typical of suburban neighborhoods. Lots (and I mean lots) of brick/stone homes with nice landscaping, although some of the homes are fairly close together as is typical in San Antonio. To get a good idea of what it looks like, use Google Street View and go up and down Iron Horse Way.
Shadow Canyon: Developed by the same people as Los Reyes Canyons, I believe. It's very similar, but my personal opinion (others may disagree) is that the land has less trees but better views. It's quite a bit further out than Los Reyes Canyons.
Scenic Loop area: These are typically older homes with more established neighborhoods and mature trees. The architecture is much more similar to homes inside 410 than you typically find outside 1604. I love the look and feel of the homes and have driven through the area a few times just to look around.
To summarize, you really couldn't go wrong with anywhere in Helotes. Good luck!
By the way, of those four areas, only the Scenic Loop area is "old." Los Reyes and Iron Horses are nearing completion (LR may be actually be totally done by now), and Shadow Canyon still has a few more years of development at least.
I'm certainly not saying old is bad, it just depends on your preferences.
Thanks, Drzy! Info from a real person is much better than another website. I will check out the photos that you recommended to see if I have better luck with those.
Thanks, Drzy! Info from a real person is much better than another website. I will check out the photos that you recommended to see if I have better luck with those.
You didn't know where to look, and that "web site" is this one...with answers from the very same "real people".
What do you want to know? It's a great area, but the Helotes "area" encompasses a lot more than the city limits! Sometimes people simply refer to it as the NW part of SA.
Plus, there are numerous subdivisions outside of the SA city limits but not within the Helotes ones. And, as Drzy mentioned, there is a lot of development within Helotes as well.
But it is a very nice area, it rests on the foot of the Hill Country and there is lots of shopping (La Cantera, The Rim, Alamo Ranch) and entertainment (SeaWorld, Six Flags) close by. Or you can head out on Highway 16 and be in the Hill Country and away from it all. Medina Lake is closeby, as is Government Canyon State Natural Area, the second-largest in Texas.
Personally, I love that we can get away from the congestion and take some nice back roads to places like Bandera or Boerne, typical small Texas towns. "Downtown" Helotes itself is relatively small, but there are a few highlights to include Floore Country Store (there's another thread on it), Bobby J's Burgers and el Chaparral (yeah, we like eating out! ).
The downsides are that rush hour traffic, from about 4:00-7:00, stinks! 1604, the outer loop of SA, gets heavily congested a lot. Heck, I just got back from running to Pei Wei's (I told you we like to eat out a lot!) and 1604 southbound was stopped from beyond north of the Bandera Road overpass all the way to Braun Road. I work on Lackland and beat the traffic by working flex hours, I go in at 6:00am and leave at 2:00pm. I never hit traffic jams working those hours.
But besides that I can't say anything bad about this area. We've lived here a total of seven years (three years the first time, and four years this time) and we love it. As a matter of fact, when we returned from overseas, we told our realtor to focus in this area. We are actually only a mile from our old house as the crow flies...
Hope that helps!
Cheers! M2
p.s. I forgot to mention it did snow here 24 years ago...
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Welcome to City-Data.com forum! Make sure to register - it's free and very quick! You have to register before you can post and participate in our discussions with 700,000 other registered members. User profiles and some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your free account you will be able to customize many options, you will have the full access to over 15,000 posts/day about local topics and you will see fewer ads. 
What is the Helotes area like? Looking to buy......
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