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Old 11-19-2013, 08:50 AM
 
1 posts, read 1,642 times
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Hi! My husband is active duty AF with a pending final assignment to Lackland AFB. We are seriously considering staying put and retiring in the San Antonio area. We are a family of six - kids are 16, 8, 6, and 1. Our 8yr old is autistic (mild to moderate on the spectrum) - and is currently receiving ABA therapy. My husband is from Houston, TX but I really don't want to retire in Houston because it's too crowded and congested. How would San Antonio compare to Houston? I'm a real estate agent and my husband has his masters degree in Business Management. How are the jobs in the area? What areas are the safest with quality schools? We like that San Antonio has a strong military presence and that the cost of living is fairly low. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated and welcome!
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Old 11-19-2013, 09:28 AM
 
Location: Boerne, Texas
318 posts, read 543,301 times
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Welcome to San Antonio - I think you will love it. It is a great town, especially for families and military. San Antonio is less congested than Houston and is much more unique with great history.

For schools, the area is broken up into many different districts. The two best districts are Alamo Heights (slightly north of downtown) and Boerne (pronounced "Burney" and in the Hill Country about 10 miles outside of the SA city limits. Neither is especially convenient to Lackland, although Alamo Heights would be an easier commute. You should also consider Northside and Northeast districts as they have some very good schools as well. Northside would be the closet to Lackland.

You should also let everyone here know what your housing budget is. AH and Boerne tend to be more expensive areas while Northside can be very affordable but also includes nicer areas that you may want to consider like Helotes. All the areas I have mentioned are very safe, although you always need to be careful of property crime (don't leave things out in view in your car). There are some areas in the Northside district that may have somewhat higher crime but I'll let others chime in on that.

As for jobs, despite the complaints of some on City Data, they are plentiful if you are resourceful. Real estate is booming here and MBA's with military experience are sought after (USAA is a good place to start, but good to have connections there). Salaries do tend to be a little lower, but the cost of living is extremely affordable.

Best wishes in your transition to your new home!
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Old 11-19-2013, 09:43 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX via San Antonio, TX
9,672 posts, read 12,571,965 times
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You'll want to be in Alamo Ranch. That's where most people end up that work and then retire from Lackland (at least here at CD). But, if for some reason I might be wrong about that start here: //www.city-data.com/forum/san-a...etro-info.html
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Old 11-19-2013, 10:26 AM
 
6,589 posts, read 8,226,534 times
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I doubt you will want to live in Alamo Ranch, Helotes, or Stone Oak if you are avoiding "crowded and congested" as you stated in your post. It may not seem as crowded as Houston in comparison, but those three areas I mentioned are probably the top three most crowded and congested areas near Lackland with Helotes being the least of the three. It is only going to get worse with poor road planning not really helping the situation.

BoerneMan's post really answered your questions well. If you can afford Alamo Heights, defiantly go with that location.
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Old 11-19-2013, 12:45 PM
 
Location: San Antonio-Westover Hills
6,884 posts, read 19,751,108 times
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Love Boerne, but it is really far. However, if you're looking to retire and hubby only has a few years--I'd go for Boerne. Otherwise, I'd go for Alamo Ranch or Westover Hills.

I always laugh when people suggest Alamo Heights as a suitable alternative to anyone looking to avoid traffic. I love AH, but come on...it's so danged traffic-y! Not any worse or better than the suburbs, IMHO...maybe Stone Oak is worse...

I have an 8 year old daughter with moderate autism (primarily non-verbal) and we love our school, we are in Westover Hills. If we could, though, I'd be in Boerne. More $$ spent there per student than almost any other district (Westlake in Austin is #1). But from an investment standpoint, we're very happy we chose WH, and with what we see around us we think it will get even better. It's a nice little upscale pocket of homes that is very close (less than 20 mins in traffic) to Lackland.
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Old 11-19-2013, 12:45 PM
 
Location: San Antonio. Tx 78209
2,649 posts, read 7,172,819 times
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Windcrest is also heavily favored with military retirees, good schools, easy access to BAMC and the commissaries and exchanges at both Randolph and ft sam. The commute to lackland isn't too bad and has better access to the large employment centers.
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Old 11-19-2013, 12:50 PM
 
Location: San Antonio. Tx 78209
2,649 posts, read 7,172,819 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mom2Feebs View Post

I always laugh when people suggest Alamo Heights as a suitable alternative to anyone looking to avoid traffic. I love AH, but come on...it's so danged traffic-y! Not any worse or better than the suburbs, IMHO...maybe Stone Oak is worse...
This makes me laugh! There is hardly any traffic in heights, heck you can drive clear across alamo heights in five minutes, you can't even get out of a subdivision way out in alamo ranch in that time I bet.
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Old 11-19-2013, 01:58 PM
 
6,589 posts, read 8,226,534 times
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Alamo Heights has never felt even as close to be crowded or congested compared to Alamo Ranch, Helotes, and especially Stone Oak. That is my personal opinion, if you want to laugh at it...be my guest.

My response was never meant to be anti-suburbs although it would never be my personal choice to live in the 'burbs. I was trying to let the OP know what I felt about areas mentioned by other posters in this thread.
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Old 11-19-2013, 03:31 PM
 
Location: San Antonio-Westover Hills
6,884 posts, read 19,751,108 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by smuboy86 View Post
This makes me laugh! There is hardly any traffic in heights, heck you can drive clear across alamo heights in five minutes, you can't even get out of a subdivision way out in alamo ranch in that time I bet.
Laugh all you want. "Hardly any traffic"??? Seriously? In the morning? Lunchtime? Evenings? Talk about laughable. There's comparable traffic in Alamo Heights at the same times of day as anywhere in the suburbs. Especially if you're intent on going all the way to Lackland. I'm not bashing your precious little AH, for God's sake. It's a great place, I personally love it! But let's not kid ourselves...it can be EXTREMELY trafficky.

Quote:
Originally Posted by MattTx View Post
Alamo Heights has never felt even as close to be crowded or congested compared to Alamo Ranch, Helotes, and especially Stone Oak. That is my personal opinion, if you want to laugh at it...be my guest.

My response was never meant to be anti-suburbs although it would never be my personal choice to live in the 'burbs. I was trying to let the OP know what I felt about areas mentioned by other posters in this thread.
Not trying to make it seem that way, but always, always, always, the anti-suburb people come out of the woodwork in threads such as these and present their cases (or snarky rebuttals a la smuboy86 above). That's fine--I get it--not your personal choice. I understand it isn't smuboy86's either. Are each of you single? Do you have children? Do you understand the needs of parents with autistic kids? I'm not trying to be belligerent with my questions, but I'm just curious. These are all reasons why many of us point to the suburbs rather than the city. Unless you're living the dream as a dual-income household above $200K annually, Alamo Heights' home prices (average home sales asking price $576K currently according to Trulia ) and property taxes aren't very realistic for military families that have children with special needs. Just my opinion.
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Old 11-19-2013, 06:43 PM
 
Location: San Antonio, TX
8,399 posts, read 22,189,543 times
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We were in the same boat, I had my final assignment at Lackland and our youngest son is autistic. We live up hear Helotes as we love this area (we lived in it when we were stationed here the first time) and the NISD schools have great special needs programs. Plus, I easily transitioned into a contractor job with the DoD when I retired and have been doing that for over seven years now.

But don't limit yourself to one particular area, I always use the following map as a recommendation for folks looking for a pace to live who will be working on Lackland...



Also, I strongly recommend a good realtor if you're looking to buy. We had one that has helped numerous military families moving to SA and we found our current home the first morning we went looking at houses. What made the difference was that he contacted us while we were still in Belgium and found out our wants and desires, and had a list for us as soon as we arrived. If you want his contact info, send me a DM or just let me know in this thread and I will send it to ya!

By the way, after being stationed here we knew this is where we wanted to retire. Not only for the attributes that you listed, but SA is a very family-friendly town with lots to see and do! Sure, there are a few bad things about the place, rush-hour traffic can be bad and people tend to drive erratically here; but for the most part it is a great town full of friendly people! Hopefully you will love it as much as we do!

If you have any other questions, feel free to contact me.

Cheers! M2
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