Seattle (east side) vs. San Antonio (northern) (Redmond, Issaquah: amusement park, crime)

[Mililani Gal]

Aloha. I've posted here before and appreciated the information. Husband and 2 young daughters seriously considering a move from Hawaii late this year or early next year. We're looking at the Duvall/Issaquah area of Seattle, WA because my sister lives there and has been trying to get us to move for the last 15 years. But, my MIL and SIL live in SA and so we're considering SA. We've done A LOT of research (re: cost of living, schools, jobs, etc.) and each area has it's pros and cons. We both work do administrative/fiscal at the University of Hawaii. So I think we'll be able to find decent jobs in either area. We've visited my sister like 6 times in the last 15 years and have been tossing around relocating to the area since our first visit. So we are pretty clear about what Seattle has to offer.Can someone that has lived in the San Antonio area tell me what they've learned in their move from TX to WA. Good. Bad. Do it. Don't do it. Any comments would be helpful and appreciated.

[allforcats]

Hi. Have you considered: 1) the huge difference in population density between your target locations in Texas and in Washington; and 2) the huge differences in climate?

Duvall and Issaquah are not areas of Seattle. Seattle is a city of 600,000
http://www.city-data.com/city/Seattle-Washington.html
Issaquah is a city of 12,000
http://www.city-data.com/city/Issaquah-Washington.html
and Duvall is a town of 6,000.
http://www.city-data.com/city/Duvall-Washington.html
They all have the same climate with only the smallest variations. All the climate information is in those links, about halfway down the pages.

San Antonio is a city of some 1.4 million people and a climate that's hugely different from any of the WA locations mentioned
http://www.city-data.com/city/San-Antonio-Texas.html

Perhaps some of the wealth of statistical info on those City-Data links might be helpful to you. I wish you fun making your choice!

[tankratt]

Every Texan I have met outside of Texas says it is a good place to be from. I have worked a time or two in Texas, Houston area, and there is no way I could move there. But the Texans I have met there love it. So it is a love it or hate it deal, Seattle on the other hand is not my favorite place either.

[Jennibc]

Well, after eight years I am about to move back to Texas. I've had enough of the gray and the high cost of living here. I've only been to San Antonio a few times and I didn't like it as much as I liked Austin (although it did have some really cool architecture from the 1800s.) BTW, Houston is on the coast and San Antonio is in Central TX. Central TX isn't nearly as humid as Houston. It's like going to Seattle and then saying you couldn't live anywhere in Washington State.

If you are coming from Hawaii, you are used to a high cost of living so Seattle may seem reasonable to you. However, the cold and damp climate might be difficult to adapt to after living someplace so sunny. People seemed friendlier in TX than they do in Seattle but that may not be important to you.

It sound like you have been to Seattle, have you been to San Antonio? If not, it would be worth the money to visit there. The two cities are just so different.

[Topaz]

I lived in Seattle and Issaquah for 10 years combined and I would never live there again. While it is gorgeous, I didn't care for the weather or the vibe.

I haven't lived in San Antonio but I have lived in Austin (almost 10 years) and Houston (almost 1 year so far). I am very happy in Texas and I will likely live here the rest of my life. I live in a very humid place but I am willing to tolerate the humidity to get the other stuff that I like, mainly sun, friendly people, affordable cost of living in a neighborhood with excellent public schools, and good job market (slowing down now but not as tough as other areas of the country).

Your decision totally depends on what you value. You'd have to tell us more about your priorities for people to weigh in on which area seems like a better match.

[texastrigirl]

Yeah, two entirely different places in terms of weather and cost of living which are usually major factors for most people. Both have good/bad things about them so you should your list of things you can't live without and get a budget together to see which one makes sense.

[Mililani Gal]

allforcats: Thank you for the links. I have been using City-Data, Sperling's, GreatSchools and Google maps to assist in our research. All very helpful.

Jennibc: Yes, we visited my MIL and SIL in SA about 4 1/2 years ago. Don't remember too much about it and mostly played tourist visiting Fredricksburg, Gruen, The Alamo, and The Riverwalk. We're going on an investigational visit for ten days in July. We want to see if we can handle the heat and we're going to do a lot of driving around to visit neighborhoods.

Some of our main priorities are an excellent public education system for our 2 young daughters (6 and 3), advantage of in-state tuition for University/Colleges, ability to get in the car and drive for weekend exploration trips, diversity in ethnicities and cultures, less expensive housing options, scenic beauty, and cost of living better than Hawaii.

My sister and her family live in Duvall but are in the process of moving to Redmond. We can't afford Redmond, therefore, we are looking at the outlying areas such as Issaquah. Although my sis has offered to let us live with her family during a transition move and assist us in finding jobs, she has a family of 6 and our family of 4 would be a bit of a pain. They live in a very large house, but still 10 people is a lot for any period longer than a couple of weeks.

My MIL and SIL live in San Antonio, TX and are super people that have offered us carte blanche assistance for as long as we need if we decide to move to SA.

The comments are very welcome and anyone that has more advice, please jump-in. All comments, good and bad, are appreciated.

[kendsley]

i live in san antonio and am trying to move back to WA since i was born there. what can i say about san antonio? completely different than seattle in every way.

san antonio is a very very old city with a deep history. it has many beautiful historical buildings if you like that sort of thing. it is a very affordable place to live compared to other cities. the nothside of san antonio is the most expensive side of town. the climate is very hot and humid long summers(even at night). life without air conditioning is unthinkable and you will use it most of the year. this is something i don't like about the south. i can't stand the opressive heat. the economy in san antonio is strong and diverse but jobs generaly pay less here. it is a family oriented city since most people here have kids. the vast majority of the city is hispanic and whites are a minority here. the hispanic people are very friendly and almost everyone here speaks spanish. the tex mex food is to die for. the landscape is flat and in my opion not very green compared to WA. the crime is sorta high but this is a huge city and growing. we have REAL ghettos. i like to think of san antonio as little mexico. oh yeah we have huge scary bugs (shudder).

[mitsuturbo]

Originally Posted by kendsley

"the climate is very hot and humid long summers(even at night). life without air conditioning is unthinkable and you will use it most of the year."

"the vast majority of the city is hispanic and whites are a minority here. the hispanic people are very friendly and almost everyone here speaks spanish."

"the landscape is flat and in my opion not very green compared to WA. the crime is sorta high but this is a huge city and growing. we have REAL ghettos. i like to think of san antonio as little mexico. oh yeah we have huge scary bugs (shudder)."

....note to self.. NEVER go to Texas because of these exact reasons

[4satx]

I think you would love San Antonio. I'm originally from the Los Angeles area where the sun shines and there's almost no winter. Moving here (15 years ago), in regards to weather wasn't a big change. Yes it is hotter in the summer and colder in the winter, but you've gotta love the number of days that it's sunny here. The funny thing is that in the winter, as short as it is, I can't wait for spring and summer. (By the way it was in the 70s today). Humidity shouldn't be an issue, coming from Hawaii. Houston and East TX are bad, but SA isn't that bad. I live just north of Loop 1604 on the 10. There is a new mall (La Cantera), a huge new shopping center (The Rim), and Fiesta Texas the amusement park. This makes everything you need within 15 minutes. If you're looking for good schools, there are lots of great ones. Leon Springs El is off the 10 and it's one of the top in the state, so is Fair Oaks Ranch El. There are good churches nearby if you're looking for religious purposes or a Mothers Day Out or preschool. You can definitely find affordable housing. The people out here treat their friends like family. You will find that lots of families participate in extra curricular activities with their kids, so it makes an immediate circle of friends for your kids. If you need to be near Universities, UTSA is off 1604 and 10, and a lot of others are off 281 (a more conjested side of town than 10, but also has nice areas like Sonterra at 1604). One thing that most people enjoy is that you can live in the city and be in the country in 30 minutes from almost anywhere. Like someone else said, there's not much ethnic diversity except for white and hispanic. I've noticed more middle eastern and Asians moving to the area. Well, maybe you can buy our house. Oddly, we are going to move to Seattle because of work. Maybe I can tell you more then.