Have you been personally affected? (San Antonio, New Braunfels: neighborhood, school, college)

[fierce_flawless]

I've had my kid's bike stolen when I lived on the NE side (near Rolling Oaks mall).. I've had my car broken into AND my house when I lived in Tobin Hill, plus a guy tried to steal my van in his attempt to get away from the cops. I think the house and vehicle theft, in retrospect, was a "friend" who lived upstairs though.

Since living here (near West side), I have had something stolen from my shed (a window unit a/c and an extension cord), and I KNOW who did it, but due to retaliation issues and the scary neighbor I didn't call the cops. I don't consider it an indication of the neighborhood being bad.. just having a bad neighbor.

I've lived on the NE side (for 4 years) out Wetmore/1000 Oaks, as well as the other side off Judson and 1604, I've lived in Mahnke park but the area North of Hildebrand which everyone erroneously believes to be Alamo Heights, I've lived in LA Heights (just north of the Deco District), I've lived in Tobin Hill, Alta Vista, Grayson/Broadway near Sam's Burger Joint (Gov't hill?), plus worked for years in a different part of Mahnke park... and if you consider all the places I've lived and that all were semi "low income" (except the NE and the Mahnke park), I'd say those are pretty good numbers, really, especially since one time was someone I knew well.

Oh yeah, and the time the guy tried to steal my van to use as a get-away car, it was a corner house.

[Joli]

I have been in San Antonio for 3 years. Knock on wood, so far, I have not encountered any problems.

[wCat]

Twice, yes.

Having lived in San Antonio twice, for a total of 25 years I've been the victim two times....in the last ten years.

Around 1998, I was in the East Side Cemetery complex near the Lutheran church and a few yards from New Braunfels...WITH a friend, I was mugged by a crack dealer. I was in a gated cemetery at 2pm in broad daylight on a Wednesday. This guy walked along New Braunfels (I had my eye out!) and on down the street...when I looked away, he must have turned the corner and sprinted down the cemetery street to the gate, and was running toward me. I looked toward my friend and started quickly walking toward the car. This guy was so fast, he cut me off and shoved a gun in my face. I just handed him my purse, but he didn't want to touch it.....he didn't want credit cards....just cash which I NEVER carry with me. I fumbled in my purse and wallet and found $30 bucks! And that seemed to make him happy.
He kept waving that gun in my face and I thought he was going to hit me with it! He took off and my knees almost buckled under me....I looked for my friend and she was a good bit away from me and was looking toward me smiling and waving. When I finally got to her she asked who that was....and did he need change? I said "Yes....all of it!"

No more scouting the East side cemetery for Geneaology unless we're in big numbers and the police are out!

#2 was this past year.....a former client (turned psychopath!) hacked my SSN# and actually used it to open some accounts. I'm still feeling the aftermath of that one! And Yes, I've since joined Life Lock (which I highly recommend). Of course this last one could have happened anywhere, and this person might have even been in another state when it happened. Still...the police report is here.

Note to Hello......being positive and honest is actually possible. It's also possible to be truthful about negative things. Are you implying that people say nice things about this city and are being insincere? Why would anyone say something positive about San Antonio, if they didn't mean it? What would be the ulterior motive?

[samustang91]

Originally Posted by fierce_flawless

I've had my kid's bike stolen when I lived on the NE side (near Rolling Oaks mall).. I've had my car broken into AND my house when I lived in Tobin Hill, plus a guy tried to steal my van in his attempt to get away from the cops. I think the house and vehicle theft, in retrospect, was a "friend" who lived upstairs though.

Since living here (near West side), I have had something stolen from my shed (a window unit a/c and an extension cord), and I KNOW who did it, but due to retaliation issues and the scary neighbor I didn't call the cops. I don't consider it an indication of the neighborhood being bad.. just having a bad neighbor.

I've lived on the NE side (for 4 years) out Wetmore/1000 Oaks, as well as the other side off Judson and 1604, I've lived in Mahnke park but the area North of Hildebrand which everyone erroneously believes to be Alamo Heights, I've lived in LA Heights (just north of the Deco District), I've lived in Tobin Hill, Alta Vista, Grayson/Broadway near Sam's Burger Joint (Gov't hill?), plus worked for years in a different part of Mahnke park... and if you consider all the places I've lived and that all were semi "low income" (except the NE and the Mahnke park), I'd say those are pretty good numbers, really, especially since one time was someone I knew well.

Oh yeah, and the time the guy tried to steal my van to use as a get-away car, it was a corner house.

fierceflawless. the crime in the North East side you may think its bad but Its way worse in the areas around the West Side, South Side.

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by samustang91

fierceflawless. the crime in the North East side you may think its bad but Its way worse in the areas around the West Side, South Side.

Ummm, I didn't say the crime on the NE side was bad. I said my kid's bike was stolen.

I also pointed out that I live on the West side now and have for over a year, and have had one incident related to a neighbor.

My neighbors diagnoal, across the street, and on the other side of me have lived here (some of them ) since the 50's and before, and I've talked to them at length. The West side did have a period where it WAS a scary place to live. That reputation seems to linger but doesn't reflect reality anymore.

Have you lived on the West side or the South side?

[traveler guy]

ARe you sure it's the neighbor or just guessing it's him cause he looks shady. Cause even though the west side isn't as bad as it used to be it is still bad nonetheless.

[wCat]

Originally Posted by traveler guy

ARe you sure it's the neighbor or just guessing it's him cause he looks shady. Cause even though the west side isn't as bad as it used to be it is still bad nonetheless.

TG....you are correct. The "near" West side used to be more crime ridden.....not to be confused with the "far" West side where a lot of new developments are.

[ryneone]

Gee maybe I dont' have bad luck after all!

[fierce_flawless]

Originally Posted by traveler guy

ARe you sure it's the neighbor or just guessing it's him cause he looks shady. Cause even though the west side isn't as bad as it used to be it is still bad nonetheless.

Oh I'm sure it's him. Some of those things they don't have to disclose when you buy a house came to light after we moved in. I learned that the previous owner's moved for 2 reasons... first was health related (they were older), but the other was due to the next door neighbor stealing from them repeatedly.

They had put in an alarm system and security lights and so forth, SOLELY because of this heroin addict scum.

The fence between my house and theirs is not complete, doesn't run all the way the length between the two houses... and the stuff that was taken was taken when someone (my teenage son) got something from the shed then failed to lock it up properly. There is no way for anyone else to get in and out of there with what was stolen.... the only place you could go without being seen is next door. It's hard to explain the layout but trust me, it was either him or someone visiting him. These people even stole from their own family... the guy that owned the house (in part) was a truck driver and had to lock his own stuff up in a bedroom to keep this guy (his nephew) and this guys' sister (his niece) from selling it all off while he was on the road!

We've beefed up security and have a temporary fencing solution until we can afford a professionally installed one and the problems have stopped. The truck driver next door died and his sister (the mother of the problems) moved in, and it's much better since... seems mijo won't behave as badly with mama around, thankfully! She didn't admit to anything specific of course, but when she moved in she made a point to tell me that I could expect no more problems from "over there", and alluded to the "problems of the past" being over. So it seems she knows her adult kids are a problem and was trying to restore some decency to the house next door.

Long response, sorry, but yeah, I do know it was that guy. Point is you can live near "that type" regardless of where you live.

As for the near West Side's crime rates, I kinda thought the whole point of this thread was not statistics but persona experiences... but since you brought it up: There was a study done on the near West Side. The West Side Development Corp. found that overall crime activity in the West Side is "actually lower than for the city at large for every 1,000 residents". And no, they were not talking about the outer West with all the new developments. They were talking about the near West, where I live. They used "crime per 1000 residents" because in the past, the extreme population density of the West side skews crime stats. Of course the West side scored higher in some types of crime. The East side generally lead the way and the North side scored low overall. The numbers showed East side as the highest, then the overall SA city numbers next highest, followed by South, then West, then North.


You can read more here if you're interested since I'm not good at explaining all that:

Welcome to the City of San Antonio Economic Development Department-Index

Of course it's not perfect here, but it's certainly not as it's painted. I have a car that one window won't go up on the driver's side. It's been parked on the street for a while now. CD player is still in there, as well as the jumper cables and a spare battery and some camping stuff. No one has touched it. Ditto the barbecue grill, lawn tools, etc.

Here's another relevant article:

Study makes recommendations for revitalizing West Side - San Antonio - Local Business News - Portfolio.com (broken link)

Yes, it is VERY poor here. Yes, it is largely un-educated. Dangerous? IMO not any more than any other area. If you don't lie with dogs, you won't get fleas.... most violent crime has something to do with being acquainted with the "wrong element".

[traveler guy]

That is kinda true, I mean all you ever hear now a days is about stuff that happens on the South side and East sides. You don't hear much about the west side as much as before.