San Antonio needs to step their game up (Houston, Dallas: job market, construction)

[n0vemberHAWK]

I was looking at pictures of the greater Houston Area today and those places - The Woodlands, Katy, Cypress, etc are all beautiful with amazing looking shopping centers and nicely paved roads. Just beautiful overall. I have friends that live in those places and I have been there in the past and it is always so great.

I wish San Antonio could keep improving, but even the current improvments are not as good as those in Houston.

[sapphire]

Is there some reason you live here rather than there? I just moved from the Baytown area east of Houston, and I couldn't be happier. Houston has definite smog problems with all of the factories, refineries, etc. and the traffic problems are 10 times worse than ours. The outlying areas are nice, yes, but there is almost too much growth, IMO. San Antonio is coming along nicely--I'm glad to be back home!

[n0vemberHAWK]

I live in San Antonio because of my job.

I have lived here my whole life.

I wish that San Antonio would continue to grow and build quality communities.

[Insomniac]

I don't understand your rant.

You provide cities in the Houston metro you think are nice and well developed yet are vague in description "improvements" you wish to see and "improvements" you do see.

The Woodlands, Katy, etc are there own cities they do not rely on Houston for anything. They govern and run themselves. So why is your argument using San Antonio as the one who does nothing?

Schertz is nice, it has shopping centers and is getting more all the time. That could equte to Katy. The Woodlands (although a modern developed master planned city) can be compared to New Braunfels.

Again, I do not understand your point.

[n0vemberHAWK]

Originally Posted by Insomniac

I don't understand your rant.

You provide cities in the Houston metro you think are nice and well developed yet are vague in description "improvements" you wish to see and "improvements" you do see.

The Woodlands, Katy, etc are there own cities they do not rely on Houston for anything. They govern and run themselves. So why is your argument using San Antonio as the one who does nothing?

Schertz is nice, it has shopping centers and is getting more all the time. That could equte to Katy. The Woodlands (although a modern developed master planned city) can be compared to New Braunfels.

Again, I do not understand your point.

Schertz = Katy?

I concur.

New Braunfels = The Woodlands?

I will agree to that also.

My rant is that as a whole, right now at this second, the Houston Metro is more attractive physically that the San Antonio Metro.

They have more shopping centers and they look better, at least in my opinion.

Now, while my opinion is solely mine, I have plenty of folks that agree with me.

What I want is SA to develop a lot more upscale shopping centers instead of the plain old Wal-Mart and tag along shops that I see going up so often.

Mainly, my only complaint is that Houston has more $ that SA and because of that SA does not have the same quality of living as those in the Houston Metro.

[Insomniac]

novemberhawk, it's quite simple as to why the metro Houston area has more shopping centers, why it seems bigger. Because it is.

Houston metro is 5.5 million. San Antonio metro is 2 million. That's almost three times bigger. Of course they're going to have more shopping centers.

How can you fault SA for not having the same number of shopping centers a metro of 5.5 million has when there's only 2 million people.

Your argument makes no sense, no offense.

What I want is SA to develop a lot more upscale shopping centers instead of the plain old Wal-Mart and tag along shops that I see going up so often.

As for this, I could give you plent of upscale shopping centers going up and maybe 2 shopping centers anchored by a WalMart going up.

Here is what I can just think of off the back.

Upscale developments under construction:

The Shops (Phase II is under construction; 300,000 sq. ft. added to the already 1 million sq. ft).

Regal Hills (1 million sq. ft.)

Legacy (800,000 sq. ft.)

The Fountains at Live Oak (700,000 sq. ft.)

Alamo Ranch Market (900,000 sq. ft.)

The Village at Stone Oak (600,000 sq. ft.)

The Rim (2 million sq. ft.)

The Reflection (600,000 sq. ft.)

Quarry Village (100,000 sq. ft.)

Walmart anchored developments:

The one off of 1604 and Potranco.

That's it. That's the only one I can think of.


FYI, even Rivercenter Mall is going to become upscale after its renovation.

[wCat]

I understand Insomaniacs point. Houston, Dallas and Austin are all more progressive in development.....but that is where the job market is. It is money driven because there is more of a "corporate" base in all those cities. Having lived in Dallas for 18 years, I would NEVER go back to the traffic congestion and general competitive feel of having to do everything fast and yesterday. Houston is actually worse in that respect, and everyone knows what a traffic nightmare is in Austin.

I have family and friends in Houston....and while it has some beautiful area's the humidity, pollution and climate is miserable. I do love to visit all the above cities....but living there would not be my choice. Nothing wrong with wanting those things for this city.....but it's all a trade off. SA needs a higher paying job base to get those things which might mean a more corporate driven area....and more congestion. I'm so over that.....but each to his own. No right or wrong answer here.....maybe some of us want the best of both worlds?

[Insomniac]

Actually only Houston and Dallas (more so their many suburbs) have more corporate bases than San Antonio.However, my point was size of population, not money. San Antonio has a higher household income than both Houston and Dallas.

DFW (about 6 million) and metro Houston (5.5 million) are vastly larger in size than SA which is why there are more shopping centers. Though November's argument steems from quailty of said shopping centers. As I posted, there ar plently of upscale shopping centers going up.

[googie2525]

I have to agree with n0vemberHAWK on this. I spent my college years in Houston, and although I didn't care for the city for various reasons, the shopping was 100X better than ANYTHING SA has to offer, many, many amazing specialty boutiques, and the vintage clothing shops in Montrose alone are almost akin to Los Angeles. And don't get me started on the restaurant scene in H-Town, you could eat out every day of your life and still not sample everything, and it's mostly interesting one-off eateries, unlike SA, where Tony ', Chili's and TGIF-type chain joints reign supreme. The sad fact is, SA cannot and will not support anything truly upscale or "indie" at this point, yeah sure, we have Julian Gold, Cork, restaurants like Le Reve, Biga, etc., but they are few and far between for sure...simply, the money is not here (and I would like to see the information that says otherwise, as compared to Dallas and Houston), nor is the clientele. This WILL change with time, like I said earlier, the fact that IKEA is coming here is an indicator. Although not "upscale," it's still fact that SA is growing up...One day, SA will have the amenenties of other cities it's like-size, it will take time, like everything here, it's always VERY slow to take hold in SA, in every facet. The big city with a small town feel will dissipate with increasing population, which is good and bad. My two cents.

[LivingLikeAGradStudent]

The area near the Galleria and Montrose/Westheimer is interesting, but much of Houston proper (not the self-contained suburban cities) is unmanaged and unmanageable. For as many people as live there, the area is unsophisticated and not that relevant outside the state. There's a reason (or 20) why San Antonio is much more sought as a tourist destination.