San Antonio vs. Houston (Canyon, West: live in, law, versus)

[crbcrbrgv]

Houston has 3 sports teams, more museums, art festivals, a great symphony, better restaurant options, a clean downtown (albeit not too lively), the galleria, proximity to Galveston, tons of job opportunities and is very multi-cultural.

San Antonio has one sports team, the Alamo, neighborhoods that are too far apart for numerous festivals, a symphony maybe?, a lot of Tex-mex restaurants and cruddy buffets, a beautiful downtown that is so touristy it gets old after awhile, as many strip malls as Houston, is completely land locked and far fewer job opportunities. And it is not nearly as multi-cultural. San Antonio is really a well run, well governed Rio Grande Valley in a lot of ways (the jocular slogan for University of Texas-Pan America in the Valley is "Preparing students for San Antonio businesses for over 60 years) Oh, and San Antonio does have theme parks.

Today I say Houston, however I might vote San Antonio in the future.

[Guerilla]

Originally Posted by Hyun-Soo

San Antonio: More Character, History, Cheaper Cost of Living [than Houston], more lively

Houston: Proximity to the gulf, more numerous malls, more humid.


San Antonio > Houston

[Insomniac]

Originally Posted by crbcrbrgv

neighborhoods that are too far apart for numerous festivals

What neighborhoods are too far apart? Have you seen an aerial map of San Antonio? That's not too much undeveloped land between neighborhoods. Also, are you saying SA doesn't have numerous festivals? Wow, this city is festival central, there's literally two or three a month.

a symphony maybe?

Yes. San Antonio Symphony

That's good, describing and ranking SA and not even knowing something as basic as whether or not SA has a symphony. This is why I despise it when people who have never lived in the cities they try to compare go ahead and try to speak of it so expertly.

is completely land locked.

San Antonio isn't land locked. Far from it.

San Antonio is really a well run, well governed Rio Grande Valley in a lot of ways

Oh please.

(the jocular slogan for University of Texas-Pan America in the Valley is "Preparing students for San Antonio businesses for over 60 years)

Probably because after they're educated they head for San Antonio which has far and away more opportunities for residents of the RGV.

Oh, and San Antonio does have theme parks.

[Insomniac]

Originally Posted by Guerilla

Seems like a fair acessment. One could maybe argue which city has more character but as for history, SA has more. As for cheaper cost of living, SA wins there as well and another arguement could be made for which city is more lively but it's be a close call.

As for the Houston comparison, it is close to the gulf, has more malls and is more humid during the summer season than San Antonio. Much more humid.

[Guerilla]

Originally Posted by Insomniac

Seems like a fair acessment. One could maybe argue which city has more character but as for history, SA has more. As for cheaper cost of living, SA wins there as well and another arguement could be made for which city is more lively but it's be a close call.

As for the Houston comparison, it is close to the gulf, has more malls and is more humid during the summer season than San Antonio. Much more humid.

You just like that comparison because it heavily favors SA. SA is not cheaper than Houston, and if it is, only a few thousand. Even then, if you want to live in the hilly part, it will cost you a lot more.

For character, Houston has a lot more cultures/diversity than SA. SA does have that historic feel, but SA isn't a diverse area (the typical Caucasion-Hispanic-Black isn't diverse). Houston is.

Houston also isn't "much more humid" than SA. You would be surprised with how close they actually are both cities are.

[Insomniac]

[quote=Guerilla;1855261]You just like that comparison because it heavily favors SA. SA is not cheaper than Houston, and if it is, only a few thousand. Even then, if you want to live in the hilly part, it will cost you a lot more.[quote]

I said I liked the comparison? I said it was a fair assessment because it is. Has the poster added more to the Houston description that was favorable and I felt was true I'd have made the same comment. I wrote what I did because of your simplicitic smiley response which seemed to dismiss those descriptions.

For character, Houston has a lot more cultures/diversity than SA. SA does have that historic feel, but SA isn't a diverse area (the typical Caucasion-Hispanic-Black isn't diverse). Houston is.

As I said, who has more character is an argument I don't think anyone would win. As for the historic feel that's not the same as history, SA has more history devolved into its city than Houston. I hope I don't have to go into it, I'd hope as an American, nay, a Texan you'd already be acknowledged. And as for the diversity, SA is diverse, is it as diverse as Houston, no. But there are other ethnicities outside of Caucasians, Hispanics and African Americans that call San Antonio home. Your argument shouldn't be that SA isn't diverse because it is, it should that SA's diversity isn't nearly as big as Houstons, which you'd win.

Houston also isn't "much more humid" than SA. You would be surprised with how close they actually are both cities are.

I lived in Houston, I have friends that I made while living there that still live there and I've made friends in SA who at one point lived in Houston as well. It's not just me saying this, it's basically a 100% agreement in opinion that the humidity is far worse in Houston than San Antonio. Does San Antonio get bad from time to time? Yes, yes it does. But in Houston it is more frequent and just higher.

[Guerilla]

Show me some stats on SA's diversity, and I will believe you. I know there are many Germans in NB, but that's it.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by Guerilla

SA is not cheaper than Houston, and if it is, only a few thousand. Even then, if you want to live in the hilly part, it will cost you a lot more.

I have family in both towns. When it comes to housing, I think the difference is in how much you want to buy. "Average house" in both towns can seem a bit low-end to a lot of folks in here.

For an example I can take two 10-15 yr old neighborhoods... one on the NW side of SA just inside 1604/Bandera region, the other inside Clear Lake outside of our 2nd loop. Take a generic 2 story house that's about 2600 sq ft, 4 bdrm, formals, center game room upstairs, etc. The one in SA will go for about $170,000 while the one in Houston will go for about $210,000. As an added bonus the one in SA will have houses built on hills as well as gated neighborhood access.

I realize this is only one neighborhood but this is a typical price differential you'll see. When it comes to an "average house," perhaps the two cities are more similar.

[Guerilla]

Originally Posted by tstone

I have family in both towns. When it comes to housing, I think the difference is in how much you want to buy. "Average house" in both towns can seem a bit low-end to a lot of folks in here.

For an example I can take two 10-15 yr old neighborhoods... one on the NW side of SA just inside 1604/Bandera region, the other inside Clear Lake outside of our 2nd loop. Take a generic 2 story house that's about 2600 sq ft, 4 bdrm, formals, center game room upstairs, etc. The one in SA will go for about $170,000 while the one in Houston will go for about $210,000. As an added bonus the one in SA will have houses built on hills as well as gated neighborhood access.

I realize this is only one neighborhood but this is a typical price differential you'll see. When it comes to an "average house," perhaps the two cities are more similar.

That isn't true. There are houses even on the West side of Houston that have 3,000 square feet and go for under 190K. All in nice communities. Hell, go look at the Canyon Gate communities in Houston. Those houses in the hills of SA go for above 170K.

[crbcrbrgv]

Insomniac, was calling San Antonio a well run Rio Grande Valley an insult to the Valley? All these peole on here never believe me when I tell them how people feel about the RGV. As for a symphony, I figured they had one. But I consider Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Chicago tops while the rest of the country lags behind. San Antonio has very little diversity however it is more diverse than the Valley. The Valley is the least diverse part of the country and everybody thinks alike.