Moving from Colo. in a month and a half (A lurker seeks a few more specific answers) (San Antonio: rentals)

[pirk51]

Hello all,

First of all, thanks to everyone for all the info complied here. I've been able to get a pretty good idea of SA just by catching up on all the threads. However, I do have a few more specific question I'm hoping you all can answer.

First, a little about our situation. My fiance and I, who are in our late 20s are moving from the Denver area. I'm going to be enrolled at UTSA in their new Ph.D program in ecological anthropology and my fiance works in Human Resources. We are looking to rent and our budget puts our limit at $1200. We're moving with our 2 dogs so we need a house with a good-size backyard. So far we've been looking in zips 78249, 240, 230, 201, 212, 213, 216, and 209. We would also like to avoid the 'burds and prefer older houses in established neighborhoods. From what I've read the Monte Vista area sounds like our cup of tea, but we're definitely not set on it because I haven't been able to find many listings in that area online using craigslist and mySA.com.

This leads to my first question . . . are there any other rental listing resources I need to be using? Also, we are coming to San Antonio Memorial Day Weekend to look at places and I was wondering if there are many rentals that aren't listed online, but if we drive around the neighborhoods we'll see signs in yards/phone polls/street signs/etc.?? Also, I'll take any other relevant advice.

Next I have a question about our dogs. We talked to our vet here in CO and he said we may want to vaccinate them for something called Leptospirosis. What do you dog owners do, do you vaccinate for this?? Also, how are the dog parks? I only can seem to find two in the whole city, if this is the case are there any new ones planned and/or do you know of any organizations that are lobbying for more. We'd love to support those efforts.

Alright, I think that is all I have for now. Thanks in advance for your answers.

[Midorigreen]

As far as rental listings....we used Bradfield Properties. It was fairly extensive....

I don't have dogs so can't answer that questions and I'm not sure about the zipcodes you mentioned. Maybe some other members can help you out with those questions...

Good luck!

[sinsativ]

For SA you dont really need dog parks per say, or for Texas really, there are a couple, here, yes, as far as the areas to live in, I would suggest if going to UTSA, the campus in the Medical area, then you most likely want to live in the 78249, 240 or 230 area the others mentioned are going to give you a drive, and tho they will give you the older type style of housing, they also have the other problems to deal with. Costs. and Traffic. You may try a little area right to the outskirts of SA, called Helotes, rustic, and some have very affordable rentals. Also due to
'country" style, only really about 4 miles frome UTSA your dogs would love it. My dogs vet, I have three, dogs that is,

web site, mysavet.com

[Chaka]

Actually, traffic from downtown/near north to UTSA isn't bad at all. In fact I think it's much better than coming from the NW side unless you're immediately near UTSA, and even then....

I live downtown and commute to the medical center (not quite as far as UTSA) and there's basically no traffic that direction. The only problem is on the streets in the medical area. On the few occasions I'm in the N/NW area, it can take me 20-30 minutes longer to get to my office due to surface street traffic.

[Steel Man]

Originally Posted by pirk51

Hello all,

First of all, thanks to everyone for all the info complied here. I've been able to get a pretty good idea of SA just by catching up on all the threads. However, I do have a few more specific question I'm hoping you all can answer.

First, a little about our situation. My fiance and I, who are in our late 20s are moving from the Denver area. I'm going to be enrolled at UTSA in their new Ph.D program in ecological anthropology and my fiance works in Human Resources. We are looking to rent and our budget puts our limit at $1200. We're moving with our 2 dogs so we need a house with a good-size backyard. So far we've been looking in zips 78249, 240, 230, 201, 212, 213, 216, and 209. We would also like to avoid the 'burds and prefer older houses in established neighborhoods. From what I've read the Monte Vista area sounds like our cup of tea, but we're definitely not set on it because I haven't been able to find many listings in that area online using craigslist and mySA.com.

This leads to my first question . . . are there any other rental listing resources I need to be using? Also, we are coming to San Antonio Memorial Day Weekend to look at places and I was wondering if there are many rentals that aren't listed online, but if we drive around the neighborhoods we'll see signs in yards/phone polls/street signs/etc.?? Also, I'll take any other relevant advice.

Next I have a question about our dogs. We talked to our vet here in CO and he said we may want to vaccinate them for something called Leptospirosis. What do you dog owners do, do you vaccinate for this?? Also, how are the dog parks? I only can seem to find two in the whole city, if this is the case are there any new ones planned and/or do you know of any organizations that are lobbying for more. We'd love to support those efforts.

Alright, I think that is all I have for now. Thanks in advance for your answers.

I want to point out that this is an excellent post. You did some research and then defined what you would like to know more about. Keep posting!

You might try around the Medical Center in the Northwest along Wurzbach or Babcock areas. There are some nice established older homes in that area.
Good Luck!

[Schaertl]

Originally Posted by Chaka

Actually, traffic from downtown/near north to UTSA isn't bad at all. In fact I think it's much better than coming from the NW side unless you're immediately near UTSA, and even then....

I live downtown and commute to the medical center (not quite as far as UTSA) and there's basically no traffic that direction. The only problem is on the streets in the medical area. On the few occasions I'm in the N/NW area, it can take me 20-30 minutes longer to get to my office due to surface street traffic.

Chaka, what time do you make that trip?

[JuneOf48]

I agree with Chaka: the commute OUT from downtown or near-north to UTSA is not bad at all. You can suck up some gasoline (you'll be traveling somewhere around 10-12 miles each way), but time isn't really an issue. I did it all year, leaving from 7:45am-8:15am, and I never really had problems. You might have a bit of a back-up, at times, coming home (4:30-5:30pm), but it's not bad at all.

It's even better now that the I-10 construction is done.

There's also an express bus from downtown that's free for UTSA students and faculty. I'm not sure how quick it is, but it's worth looking into.

If you're looking for established neighborhoods, I'd definitely recommend something around Monte Vista, Beacon Hill, Alta Vista, etc. And YES, you'll definitely see a lot of street signs for rentals that never make it onto mysa.com or craigslist. That's how I found my place.

If you want HUGE backyards, you might have to look farther out. I have heard, however, that 1604 around UTSA can be a real hassle. If you come from downtown, you can get off at UTSA Boulevard, and you never even have to touch that outer loop.

[JuneOf48]

Oh yeah--anything outside of the neighborhoods directly encircling downtown will seem EXTREMELY suburban to you. Hell, even the areas close to the city center are pretty residential, but more in a quirky, historic, edgy kind of way.

By the way, you should write to the other UTSA grad students (anthro or otherwise) to see what they recommend. Some live close to downtown, while others prefer to be on the edge of campus.

[CelesteDF]

Originally Posted by JuneOf48

I agree with Chaka: the commute OUT from downtown or near-north to UTSA is not bad at all. You can suck up some gasoline (you'll be traveling somewhere around 10-12 miles each way), but time isn't really an issue. I did it all year, leaving from 7:45am-8:15am, and I never really had problems. You might have a bit of a back-up, at times, coming home (4:30-5:30pm), but it's not bad at all.

I frequently drive from 281/Hildebrand area to UTSA/La Cantera, and the drive down Hildebrand to get to I-10, and then I-10 all the way up to De Zavala is fine... usually I can do that in 15-20 minutes. However, I can't count the number of times I ended up in virtual standstill traffic once I got past De Zavala all the way to the 1604 exit and then around to the La Cantera/John Peace exit. Many times it's taken me 15 minutes to get from downtown out to De Zavala, and another 10-15 minutes to go 2 exits from DeZavala to the UTSA John Peace entrance. Just be aware that time of day will radically alter your travel times, so plan accordingly.

[pirk51]

Thanks for the input. These are all options that I need to consider now that I never really thought about before.