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Old 07-14-2009, 10:49 PM
 
5 posts, read 11,666 times
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I am about to get a job in Texas but will probably be given the choice to live in either San Antonio or Houston. I am married with 3 young children (oldest is 8) and my wife and I are looking for a family friendly community with a good school district. Would also love to take advantage of a soft housing market and really get into a beautiful home we could live in until we retire.
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Old 07-14-2009, 10:51 PM
 
Location: Fondren SW Yo
2,783 posts, read 6,649,537 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dividends View Post
I am about to get a job in Texas but will probably be given the choice to live in either San Antonio or Houston. I am married with 3 young children (oldest is 8) and my wife and I are looking for a family friendly community with a good school district. Would also love to take advantage of a soft housing market and really get into a beautiful home we could live in until we retire.
You should visit both. They are very different cities, both offer areas with good schools and affordable housing.
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Old 07-14-2009, 11:45 PM
 
Location: San Antonio, TX
1,606 posts, read 3,386,069 times
Reputation: 2012
San Antonio is a less dense area than Houston. Also SA feels like a huge town as opposed to Houston where you can tell it is an international city. Traffic is a lot worse in Houston. But, both cities are great and both have a lot to offer. Houston is a city for more of the professional white collared group and SA would be more family oriented and laid back.
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Old 07-15-2009, 12:00 AM
 
5,976 posts, read 15,185,479 times
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Default More jobs in Houston

If you ever consider changing fields, Houston would have more opportunities/jobs. It has two major airports, one a true international airport which is convenient if you travel internationally.

SA has more hills, scenery. Houston has more choices of neighborhoods to choose from, and some great schools, and more choices of universities.

Both Houston and SA are close to each other, and to Austin, and to beaches. Either way, both are great places.
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Old 07-15-2009, 07:13 AM
 
Location: West Houston
1,075 posts, read 2,902,696 times
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I hate to post an equivocal response, but they really are such different cities (though close together and sharing Texas ties) that you will just have to literally go to both and see for yourself.

San Antonio used to be a sleepy small city (not any more, but it was), while Houston has been a metropolis for a long time.

Houston has big-time arts (Symphony, Opera, Ballet, Art Museums) and big-time sports (Texans, Astros, Rockets, along with Dynamo and Aeros). San Antonio has some very nice museums, a nice symphony, and a great basketball team.

San Antonio is in a totally different part of the state geologically. Houston is where the piney woods meet the coastal plain; San Antonio is at the southern end of the Hill Country. Just radically different.

Racially/culturally, Houston is much more diverse (if it exists in the world, there is a representative here). San Antonio tends to be Hispanic and caucasian, with a small African American community (not saying there aren't other cultures/races there, just that they are much less visible). So if that's important to you (either way), there it is. San Antonio also has the military bases, and while they're not as prevalent as they were, they still add an international quality (Houston is a much more international city).

They're just so different. You'd have to visit to see.
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Old 07-15-2009, 08:34 AM
 
147 posts, read 349,330 times
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San Antonio is a much more beautiful city, and you won't see the huge mounds of trash on corner lots like you do here in Houston. It is also much safer, and it feels infinitely safer. You have attractions like Sea World, The Alamo and other missions, the unique River Walk, and Mexican markets. San Antonio has very friendly people even in the city. You won't sit in traffic for hours like Houston. You are closer to Mexcio if you make frequent border runs like I do.

Houston has cultures from all over the world. You find find semi-authentic wordly cuisine that you won't get in San Antonio. You have so many job opportunities here in Houston. If you are educated and competent the competition for you in Houston will be fierce. There are always exihibits and festivals going on here. I enjoy world music and things like Cirque du Soleil which will be in Houston soon. The beach is 45 min from downtown is you like beach runs. Some people don't like Galveston but it is better than nothing. We have the three major sports here if that is your thing. Restaurants can be cheap. There are actually places here where 2 people can eat for $10. It isn't gourment but may be Mexican, Colombian, Thai, burgers,etc. It is easy to make friends in Houston. I have more friends here in one year than I made living in North Carolina for 4 years.

Houston is heaven for me (bilingual rednecks actually serve a purpose here), but my wife thinks it is hell on earth. I think you need to come to Houston before you make a decision.
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Old 07-15-2009, 09:12 AM
 
Location: Clear Lake, Houston TX
8,376 posts, read 30,564,242 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Dirty View Post
San Antonio is a much more beautiful city, and you won't see the huge mounds of trash on corner lots like you do here in Houston. It is also much safer, and it feels infinitely safer.

Yeah, unless you're in the locally-famous south side. Then the trash and crime kicks in at least as bad as H-town. Most north side SA whites won't even pass through the south side barrio.
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Old 07-15-2009, 09:59 AM
 
147 posts, read 349,330 times
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I guess at least it is the south side. Here in the dirty you a crack house on one side of the street and million dollar home on the other.
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Old 07-15-2009, 10:24 AM
 
Location: Houston, TX
1,305 posts, read 3,474,460 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Dirty View Post
I guess at least it is the south side. Here in the dirty you a crack house on one side of the street and million dollar home on the other.
I've heard people say this before, but it's only hyperbole. I've never encountered a single crack house next to a mansion in Houston, and I'm constantly traveling in and around the city for work. I'm not saying it's impossible to find, just that if it did indeed actually happen, it would be a statistical anomoly, not the norm.
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Old 07-15-2009, 11:28 AM
 
Location: ✶✶✶✶
15,218 posts, read 30,396,210 times
Reputation: 10846
Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Dirty View Post
San Antonio is a much more beautiful city, and you won't see the huge mounds of trash on corner lots like you do here in Houston.
It's easy to come away with this impression when you've never been to the "hood" of a given city. I think it'd do you good to find a different part of Houston to live in, although I think you'd be surprised at Houston's near north side in, oh, 10-15 years.

The other observations are pretty spot on though.
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