How is it living in San Antonio? (maybe compared to Chicago) (Dallas: crime, house)

[ItsTheTruth]

Originally Posted by ILtoTX

very family oriented

I hear this so often as a plus for San Antonio but after living here for a few years, I have realized that this is just secret code for "people have a lot of kids". San Antonio is no more a family town than any other suburban sprawl city.

[L210]

Originally Posted by Camper1

I may be wrong on this , which happens from time to time, , but I'm pretty sure we do have some union jobs here.

VIA has a union. It's just that we're a right to work state.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by L210

VIA has a union. It's just that we're a right to work state.

A quick google search will show up quite a few unions in San Antonio. But in general, yes, Texas is not labor-friendly.

[Paka]

Originally Posted by ItsTheTruth

Other than Mayor Cisneros' felony.

PLEASE note I said ALL! And WHAT party line is he and the Chicago gang again....help me please...getting old, having trouble remembering all the little details....

[Paka]

Originally Posted by L210

VIA has a union. It's just that we're a right to work state.

True, true...but Texas is KNOWN as a "Right to Work" vs controlled by unions state....

[huckster]

There are unions here. Electr., laborer, Plasterers ,teamster etc. No teeth to the union locals in San Antonio.
Wimpy, sort of, but they do vote all in one direction, usually.
Right to work state? A horrendous proposition. Exploit, exploit, blue collar. The unions don't control anywhere
Paka. Especially entire states.
Does a union return some political power to the average person. Oh yes.
They have to listen back or lose your voting.

Originally Posted by Paka

True, true...but Texas is KNOWN as a "Right to Work" vs controlled by unions state....

[huckster]

20 degree below zero wind chill,
ice stuck on the car
windshield
doors
windows
and...
slush
snow
ice
Lake effect snow
blizzards
Parkas
snow boots
mittens
snow shovels
Snow blowers
Rusty cars
overcast skies
worse,
traffic!
congestion
pollution
smog
infrastructure
urban decay
crime
Cabin Fever
arthritis
pneumonia
It is beautiful city right on Lake Michigan, but I just never could warm up to the town.
It reminds me of Toronto , Canada. It has that enormous city look and feel,gazing down from the
CN tower but it is on Lake Ontario instead. That tower sure dwarfs ours here. I think the CN Tower is 1700 ft. high. Two and a half times as high as the tower downtown.
Urban energy in Chicago is severely curtailed from Dec.-April. Beautiful skyline, that downtown.Amazing. Ever been to the Alamo Tex-Mex Restaurant just east of downtown Chicago ?
It is a pretty nice place. Authentic.

Originally Posted by ILtoTX

Having lived in both cities, I personally prefer Chicago by quite a bit, but it all depends on what you are looking for.

If you are someone who is most interested in:
mild winters
Tex Mex culture
lots of sunshine
more desert landscape
very family oriented

then San Antonio will be a good fit

If you are someone who wants world class museums, music, and theater, then, while there are certainly museums, music, and theater in S.A., you will find Chicago to be better.

Also, if you draw energy from urban life, then I would say Chicago would be the better bet. There is an energy on the street in Chicago that isn't found in San Antonio, or very many places, for that matter. Many people dislike that urban feel--I'm not saying one is better than the other--but if you really want that experience, you will be happier in Chicago.

As for recreation, I think you can find plenty in either city (driving more in Chicago for it, although the Lakefront Path is terrific). Cost of living will be a lot higher in Chicago, which can make a big difference in your enjoyment.

[Proffer]

I'm originally from Chicago and have lived in SA for eight years. If Chicago had mild winters, I never would have left it. The weather in San Antonio, as hot as it is, is much better than the months of cold and endless gray skies. I think that in evaluating responses here, it would help you to keep in mind that, yes, San Antonio has many of the things you would find in other places. The problem is that it has a lame version of everything you find in comparably-sized cities. That is what has set up many a transplant for disappointment. Yes, there's an art community (but it's a provincial and lame one). Yes, there are a lot of jobs (but they are horribly-paying ones). The pace in San Antonio is much much slower, which might be a good thing for you. Also, San Antonio is a poor city. There is a poverty-consciousness here that pervades all aspects of life, so be prepared for that. Just one aspect of that is what people might call a "laid back" feel, but for someone from Chicago, it might be better communicated as being a "rumpled trailer-trash buying cigarettes at a downstate I-55 truck stop" feel.

[huckster]

Here most work, make an honest living notheless. Never noticed any poverty consciousness at all.
Pervades what aspect of life? Things here are better now than ever, in San Antonio.
Chicago does have a higher paid labor force, due to unions.
San Antonio has a "cosmopolitan feel" to it today, now that the cattle stockyards have been gone from downtown for a while.
The best part of living here in San Antonio is that it is a cleaner environment and a healthier environment.
It never was a part of the manufacturing rustbelt, Chicago is one of the most polluted places on the face of the earth..Zug Island in the Detroit River was the epicenter, the eye of that pollution topographical map.
All of the pollutants in Lake Michigan. Inedible are fish over 22" long to children and expectant mothers.
To all other adults twice a year only. Mercury, PCB, arsenic, copper all sorts of stuff.
I don't really know if the Ballet would be that popular here in S.A. so bringing "Real Ort" to San Antonio
might be wasted money.
In the many , many times I commuted from here to Chicago and back by auto, I have never used the I-55.
route. It is an indirect route into San Antonio through St. Louis etc. to use I-55. Chicagoans must use that route
exclusively. But if that is how south of Chicago looks ,like rumpled trailer trash , I believe it. It has a lot of run down areas.
Better to route on I-57 through Memphis to Texarkana all the way to Dallas when coming from Chicago..

Originally Posted by Proffer

I'm originally from Chicago and have lived in SA for eight years. If Chicago had mild winters, I never would have left it. The weather in San Antonio, as hot as it is, is much better than the months of cold and endless gray skies. I think that in evaluating responses here, it would help you to keep in mind that, yes, San Antonio has many of the things you would find in other places. The problem is that it has a lame version of everything you find in comparably-sized cities. That is what has set up many a transplant for disappointment. Yes, there's an art community (but it's a provincial and lame one). Yes, there are a lot of jobs (but they are horribly-paying ones). The pace in San Antonio is much much slower, which might be a good thing for you. Also, San Antonio is a poor city. There is a poverty-consciousness here that pervades all aspects of life, so be prepared for that. Just one aspect of that is what people might call a "laid back" feel, but for someone from Chicago, it might be better communicated as being a "rumpled trailer-trash buying cigarettes at a downstate I-55 truck stop" feel.

[CLR210]

Originally Posted by SimpleTruthNOW

Chicago is diverse, urban and vibrant.

San Antonio is not diverse(All Hispanic and some(few) Anglo), Suburban and slow paced.

If you are going to rely on public transit then be prepared for hours of commuting each day.

San Antonio has the WORST public transit I have ever experienced.

You apparently do not get out much because San Antonio is very diverse in its population. Sure there is a large concentration of hispanics but we have African Americans, Asians, Germans, etc etc. Even the Hispanics come from differing cultures dependent upon where they were born/raised. The bus system also isn't that bad either if you know how to route your travels correctly. Agreed, it's not Chicago but its doable