Moving...San Antonio? Austin? or somewhere in between?? (New Braunfels, San Marcos: to rent, house)

[apreju]

Hello Texans!
Original roots are in Texas (Northeast)..been out of the area 25 years. I know this will read as way overboard and 'out there', but we are Wanting to find a place to move that we will still like in 20 years, will be good to raise the rest of the kids, and the grandkids and make it our generational home. We have been in the midwest for 10+ years and find the winters too much to stay any longer. We have a large family.....grown kids w/ spouses that will also make the move(within a couple years of our relocation)--so the job market needs to be such to support college grads and young families in the making. Our personal relocation will be husband, wife in low 50's with a middle schooler and elementary ager. Neither of us work at this time....retired. We would like to be in an area that is not run down and not likely to be in the years to come. We are down to earth people that enjoy family and the simple...but nice life. Medical, shopping, Walmart, schools, parks convenience important. Not interested in downtown bustle, cultural arts, etc......but would make day trips around the areas once we live there to enjoy what is offered. We are wanting to downsize somewhat to 3000 - 5000sf. with community amenities. Leaving a rural large acreage setting...wanting large lot neighborhood.....but not acreage. Good schools. PCA church is our flavor of choice, so a 30minute or less commute to church twice on Sunday and once on Wednesday is the usual. Don't want any house older than 90's....needs to feel new. Kids do sports. We play golf and frisbee golf as a whole family. Love to have all the kids home every Sunday for dinner and that's usually a total of 10+.
---------So, with all of that information.........if you had the opportunity to move anywhere in Texas..... and had the ability to get housing for <$500,000 with all of the stipulations above.........would you choose Austin, San Antonio or any of the surrounding towns ? Thanks for any and all input.

[sakssa]

Sounds like you need to be in San Antonio. More things to do for families. I would check out Boerne and Bulverde, two smaller SA suburbs with some large lot neighborhoods.

[apreju]

Thanks sakssa! I will check out those places.

[TexasHorseLady]

You might want to check out Georgetown in the Austin area. I wouldn't say that San Antonio has more things to do forh families than Austin unless you count theme parks. Both are very family friendly areas. And whichever you choose, what it doesn't have, the other is just a short drive away for a day trip.

[ddeel]

Well I looked up the PCA churches in the SA area. There are only 4--looks like there are 5 listed in the Austin area but I didn't look any of them up. Most in SA seem to be smaller meeting in schools still. There is one not far from where I live in SA that seems to have their own building. This is a great area to live in with shopping, restaurants, and really good schools. More often then not the yards aren't large though. Still in your price range you may find something you like. The zip codes out here are 78258, 78260 and 78259. Just inside 1604 and the church zip code is 78248. Beautiful neighborhoods in there but my personal choice for middle/high schools are outside 1604. The far NC side of SA lends itself to easy daytrips up both IH10 and 281. My house in Stone Oak is also only 45 minutes to the outlets in San Marcos off 35.

A lot of people will say the job market in SA is only low paying jobs but the NC side is full of new upscale communities as is the IH10 corridor up to Boerne so people must be making money somehow. My husband covers TX for a company in Ohio. He's had several good jobs that were the same way so a company doesn't have to be based here to hire here.

Comparing cities...Austin proper is overall very liberal. I found the surrounding towns to be more conservative but it's been 10 yrs since I lived there. SA is more conservative and less interested overall in change although the city votes democrat like Austin. Like the surrounding Austin towns the NC side of SA is more republican overall. I've been told TX version of liberal is not that liberal but I wanted to give you something to go on when you pick an area in case you prefer to live around likeminds.

Hope you find the right place for you and your family

[apreju]

Thank you TexasHorseLady and ddeel. Your replies are very helpful. Ddeel, you gave me some good info to look up. I wonder what you think of the New Braunfels area? I did see a PCA there, too. We will plan a visit to the area soon and hope to narrow down the selection, although, I thinkit may take more than one short trip with so many places to choose from. I think we will def. have to rent for at least one year.

[Johnhw2]

Look into Boerne or Bergheim, a little NW of San Antonio. Both are growing and in a pretty area of the hill country closer to San Antonio than Austin. Should be able to find a newer home as these areas have grown significantly over the last decades or two. Welcome back to Tx

[ddeel]

I don't know much about NB but there is a lively discussion about it right now on the San Antonio forum so you should check it out.