Are there any high crime neighborhoods in San Marcos? (San Antonio: apartment complex, rentals)

[L210]

I will be attending a PhD program at Texas State, and I'm thinking about moving to San Marcos instead of commuting from San Antonio (if I can land a job in the area). I'm going to ask this same question in the Austin forum. Are there any bad neighborhoods to avoid? I'm hoping to rent a house or a duplex, and it doesn't look like there are many options. Being in my late 20s, I really do not want to live in an apartment complex filled with college kids. I also like having a backyard for my dog.

[elnina]

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My Neighborhood Update

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or google: best places to live in San Marcus, TX

Good luck!!

[Sally_Sparrow]

I have been looking for non-student focused housing in SM for months now. I have a semi-tight budget. Pardon my drama but I am about to have a mental breakdown over the issue. We are students but we are non-trads and we have kids, there are so many policies about students renting, how many students per house (even though we are all related in ours!), students needing parent guarantors (I am 41!) and the rents are high due to the student population. I am about to pull my hair out over all of it, with the clock ticking for us to find something by mid August!

If you are just one person and can pay a bit more or have the flexibility to drive from the outskirts of town you should be able to find something. It's pricier than SA, don't let the rental rate statistics fool you; they are skewed by all the listings that boast a three bedroom for $600 a month when it's actually $600 per room for a student with an individual lease. There is little incentive for landlords to rent a 2 bedroom for $900 when they could get $600 per student instead, you know?

I have also found a lot of home and duplex rentals in Kyle, which is really really close, for about the same money or even less and usually more space, yards, etc. We just haven't gone for the Kyle option yet because we want to have the kids in school in San Marcos and we would really like to be able to use the bus to get to Texas State.

Also tiny but close is Martindale, more houses, usually a bit rural so often pet friendly from what I've seen.

I have not found out anything about bad neighborhoods and from what I hear, none are "horrible" or anything. Like any town there are poorer parts of town. Some areas are zoned so that no more than 2 unrelated people can live in a house, by city ordinance, to keep students from filling up a house in large numbers. If I were you I'd maybe ask a SM realtor about those specific neighborhoods.

[Nomadicus]

Maybe help here. Map of incomes per area on CD's demographic side.

//www.city-data.com/city/San-Marcos-Texas.html

[TexHwyMan]

When I lived there back in the '90s, the area around Gravel St. on the southside of town was known to be high crime, lots of drugs, etc. Otherwise, most of the rest of town was fine.

[L210]

Thank you for all of the responses. Of course, being from here, I'm a big city girl and not used to the limited options of small towns. San Marcos being a college town makes the search even more difficult. I've found 3 places so far. One says no pets, and one says no dangerous breeds. I don't know exactly what that means. My dog is Boxer, German Shepherd, and Labrador, and everyone thinks she's a pit bull mix. The other place looks a little run down, and I was wondering if it was in a sketchy neighborhood. I'm not looking for squeaky clean. I just don't want to have to worry about someone breaking into my car, burglarizing my house, or robbing me while I'm in my neighborhood considering that I can't bring my gun with me onto campus. I also don't want to live where there's a lot of meth activity.

Currently, I can afford $750, but I doubt I can continue to afford that with the jobs available in Hays County. My current rent is $650 for a 2 bedroom with a small backyard. Some people might consider my neighborhood sketchy just by looking at the people who live here, but I haven't had to worry about crime.