Retire in San Antonio good option ?

[RadiantBaby]

Originally Posted by flashfearless

Salt Lake City is pretty boring compared to San Antonio. Let’s put it this way. I would never live in San Antonio without a pool to be able to cool off in. That water takes 10 degrees off everything.

Hard disagree.

Beautiful scenery. A ton of new development. Incredible outdoor activities. A usable, functional lightrail through the city. Friendly people. Great weather. An airport that easily puts SAT to shame.

I would spend a month out there every year. I loved it.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by RadiantBaby

Hard disagree.

Beautiful scenery. A ton of new development. Incredible outdoor activities. A usable, functional lightrail through the city. Friendly people. Great weather. An airport that easily puts SAT to shame.

I would spend a month out there every year. I loved it.

I think they're trying to get away from winter, though. SLC would be equal to, if not more, wintery then where they are coming from.

[StealthRabbit]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

I think they're trying to get away from winter, though. SLC would be equal to, if not more, wintery then where they are coming from.

Long island / eastern seaboard does not have similar winter to SLC, so likely worth a look. Especially if Nashville is too hot... Texas is not much better, excluding Alpine / Ft Davis area. (Cheap housing, few jobs!)

I was able to ride my bike to work all except 3 days the last yr I lived in a Rocky mtn state.

OP will need to do some serious recon of areas during worst seasons.

SLC region is a pretty good choice for cooler, mtns, jobs, and moderate housing cost, but way different than LI or Texas!

NM mtns could be a good place to inquire.

[Atari2600]

I lived in San Antonio from 2017 through 2021. I left only because of work... and I miss it every day.


I had several options for work, and I picked San Antonio because I thought it would be interesting... a little different than all my prior East coast moves (I've lived all up and down the East coast, including Miami).




I'm going to give you the CONS first:
1 - Weird smell in the air after it rains... kind of smells like weird clay dirt.
2 - Very little food options. You either have to like Mexican food, steak, or fast food.
3 - Traffic can be bad in some places.
4 - Centipedes ... huge ones, like... the size of small dogs, and they live for up to 7 years





Now the PROS:
1 - You will fall in love with the city.
2 - NEISD school district is fantastic. Some of the best schools in the country are located in NEISD.
3 - Home prices are still very affordable compared to places like NYC, Miami, ATL, etc. $600k would get you a 2600 square foot 4 bedroom / 3 bath, in a nice neighborhood in an A-rated school district.
4 - It has a growing tech industry... lots of data centers and big tech companies are moving there every month.
5 - If you enjoy being outdoors, the "hill country" is amazing... absolutely fantastic.



My opinion, with what you've stated, I think you would enjoy living North of 1604 off 281... either in Stone Oak, or Encino Park.




I bought a total dump of a house in a FANTASTIC neighborhood... paid like $220k in 2017. I spent two years renovating it top to bottom (did all the work myself). Put about $50k in renovations into it... and did minor improvements for the next two years I lived there. I sold it in 2021 for $400k. I really miss that house, but I made a massive profit, so I can't complain... but I loved that neighborhood.




Bottom line, we never expected to like San Antonio as much as we did... we absolutely loved visiting The Pearl, and riding our bikes or even walking all the way down from The Pearl to the Alamo. The city is VERY old... so there's a lot of history there, and some very unique and proud traditions.


I definitely miss it, and want to move back, but I'm living in a ~3,000 square foot Craftsman home with a huge front porch and detached 3-car garage w/ gigabit internet in Tampa, FL... which is also really nice... but whatever, I can't live in two places at the same time.

[Cuero]

FYI, OP did not say Nashville was too hot.

He said Phoenix was too hot.
Nashville was too pricey.

[StealthRabbit]

. We scratched off Phoenix and Nashville already too hot for those 3 months and Nashville is very pricy.

Sounds like Nashville was too hot and too pricy. (Nashville region has quite a lot of very nice affordable towns within 30 min). But it also has tornadoes.

I don't do AC (for my entire life) so both are out of my comfort range, and Texas tests me often, but I only need to survive there (PT) until Apr 9, 2024. Then poof, gone!

Counting down

[fritos56]

Well, I'm not sure what the house prices in the Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City are going for .Try Trulia or Zillow to see what they are like, These are towns east of San Antonio.Schertz has a nice library, A community swim center, and a YMCA. I saw there is an older house for sale on the corner of Aero and Lindberg, in Aviation Heights. Newly renovated. Has a work shop, and room for dogs, though the yard isn't as long as mine in the same area.Mine's 75 feet by 125 feet. Most of the people in this area are long time residents and mind their own business,No HOA here. Newer housing seems to be on top of each other. I think some of the newer homes range from 100k to 300,400k.
Forgot to mention the City of Schertz has various activities planned through the year. They even had a New Years Celebration from 8PM to 12:15 PM. Didn't walk down to the park, as mountain cedar was kicking my butt. We do get very hot in summer here, and have mountain cedar and other allergies here.
If you like movies, you have Regal 18 in Live Oak,Santikos Cibolo and Evo Entertainment Schertz. There are three Walmarts here, 4 Dollar Trees, 2 Family Dollar and 1 Dollar General. Plus there is Arlen's a small grocery chain from Houston. There are two H.E.B.Grocery stores, and they are building a new one in Cibolo.They are the big South Texas chain, and even have some stores in Northern Mexico. Sprouts, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods are in San Antonio. Wish they would put one out here, with all the growth you think they would so. We have Home Depot and Lowe's . I think you get the idea.