Scouting trip to Austin-San Antonio

[riaelise]

as for covid, Travis County still has a mask mandate in place. some places follow to the T, others don't. If you're not vaccinated, I personally wouldn't commingle with a bunch of tightly packed people, but that's just me.

normal, post-covid, is an interesting term. in some ways things are improving, in other ways no, we're not at normal yet. some places have closed. Abbott's lifting of restrictions isn't some magic wand.

what IS encouraging is more and more people are getting vaccinated so that hopefully soon things will return to a true sense of normalcy.

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by cheeva

The OP will need to really choose either SA or Austin. You can't really live "conveniently" between them. The mid-point is San Marcos, and that could be 90 minutes to Austin in weekday traffic, 60 in weekend traffic. Not sure about traffic into SA.

For reference, I've lived in Austin for 15 years, and I've been to SA, maybe 10 times, or once every 1.5 years on average. LOTS of people come in from SA to Austin on the weekend to party.

Your austin snobbery is showing. there arent "LOTS" of people coming to Austin to party on the weekend. San Antonio has a very vibrant nightlife scene. I go there more frequently than you so I know this.


OP, San Antonio, I'd visit as well whether you want to live there or not. It is more than just the Riverwalk. It has a special cultural charm to it similar to New Orleans and is worth checking out.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by cheeva

The OP will need to really choose either SA or Austin. You can't really live "conveniently" between them. The mid-point is San Marcos, and that could be 90 minutes to Austin in weekday traffic, 60 in weekend traffic. Not sure about traffic into SA.

For reference, I've lived in Austin for 15 years, and I've been to SA, maybe 10 times, or once every 1.5 years on average. LOTS of people come in from SA to Austin on the weekend to party.

I know plenty of people that live in New Braunfels and come up to Austin or go to SA frequently. There’s even been people who have posted here saying they live in NB and work in Austin. It’s all a tolerance level. I drive 5-10 minutes fir work. Anything beyond that bugs me. But, for others 90 minutes could be fine. And fwiw, I have a family member that drives from UTSA to exit 205 for work, and has since 1999.

[Need4Camaro]

I particularly am one who can endure a super commute but a committed daily commute between the burbs of SATX and AUS is one I would avoid mainly due to how unpredictable and how much road work is on I-35. I had a co-worker who did it to the northern section of Austin, he hated every minute of it.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

I particularly am one who can endure a super commute but a committed daily commute between the burbs of SATX and AUS is one I would avoid mainly due to how unpredictable and how much road work is on I-35. I had a co-worker who did it to the northern section of Austin, he hated every minute of it.

Did the drive today. Left southeast Austin at 10:45 with a lil 20 minute detour in new Braunfels to pick something up. Got to SA right at 1pm. It’s one of the longer drives I’ve had recently. I don’t hate doing it but obviously don’t all the time. The construction was ridiculous. From slaughter all the way to 1604 and 35 there was something going on.

[Alamoguy]

Thank you all for the information, hadn’t figured the distance to be that far (Texas is deceptively big), and some early reading kept referring to NB as basically a suburb of SA. Wife was recently looking at other info and crime rates are apparently pretty high in SA. I was hoping for there, but I think she has shifted her focus to more of the areas further North

[Need4Camaro]

I consider New Braunsfel a exhurb of SATX. would imagine you would be okay in the suburbs of SATX if crime is an issue. The #1 priority though should be living as close as you can to work. I definitely wouldn’t settle down in SATX while knowing that you have to commute to AUS daily, and vice versa as well.

[ashbeeigh]

You’re not living in Chicago or south central Los Angeles if you move to San Antonio. Property crime skews the statistics, but I think it’s pretty similar to Austin crime wise. You’d be fine in San Antonio. Don’t discount it. It’s much cheaper then Austin. Pop over to the SA forum to get some more local feedback.

[riaelise]

Originally Posted by Alamoguy

Thank you all for the information, hadn’t figured the distance to be that far (Texas is deceptively big), and some early reading kept referring to NB as basically a suburb of SA. Wife was recently looking at other info and crime rates are apparently pretty high in SA. I was hoping for there, but I think she has shifted her focus to more of the areas further North

Austin has plenty of property crime as well. There is also violent crime that has been rising lately. When there's growth, the crime rate rises as well.

There are areas of SA that have low crime rates as well. You have to go by neighborhood by neighborhood, not just data you find on the internet.

[Seguinite]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

I consider New Braunsfel a exhurb of SATX. would imagine you would be okay in the suburbs of SATX if crime is an issue. The #1 priority though should be living as close as you can to work. I definitely wouldn’t settle down in SATX while knowing that you have to commute to AUS daily, and vice versa as well.

It may be an 'exhurb' by defintion (whatever that is), but for practical purposes it may as well be a suburb. A commute from New Braunfels proper into NORTH San Antonio for work probably wouldn't be too bad, especially early in the morning. But the drive home would be hit and miss. It doesn't take much to slow down I-35, no matter where you are.