narrow streets? (San Antonio, Schertz, Windcrest: HOA, neighborhoods, homebuyer)

[Tropical Trouble]

I've read a couple threads that refer to people not being allowed to park on the street in their own neighborhood, and that if people park on the street then only one car can drive down (and certainly not a moving van). Is this "normal" for San Antonio? How about further out in Stone Oak, or in Schertz/Cibolo? I'm used to living on nice wide streets where even if people park on both sides, there is still room for cars to drive down - in both directions! Where should I try to move for wider streets?

[shenane]

Crestway Rd in Windcrest is really nice

Originally Posted by frootloop6

I've read a couple threads that refer to people not being allowed to park on the street in their own neighborhood, and that if people park on the street then only one car can drive down (and certainly not a moving van). Is this "normal" for San Antonio? How about further out in Stone Oak, or in Schertz/Cibolo? I'm used to living on nice wide streets where even if people park on both sides, there is still room for cars to drive down - in both directions! Where should I try to move for wider streets?

[Bo]

Originally Posted by frootloop6

I've read a couple threads that refer to people not being allowed to park on the street in their own neighborhood, and that if people park on the street then only one car can drive down (and certainly not a moving van). Is this "normal" for San Antonio? How about further out in Stone Oak, or in Schertz/Cibolo?

It's difficult to pin this issue down to an area of town. Some HOAs with streets that are wide enough to accommodate street parking prohibit it. My advice would be to include it on a checklist of things that you consider in your search. Besides looking for "no parking" signs, if you move into an HOA neighborhood, you will definitely want to review whether street parking is one of the rules enforced by the HOA. Since house-hunting is typically done during the workday, it's really going to be hard for you to tell whether street parking is an issue in need of enforcement unless you visit the neighborhood in the evening on a weekday.

[CelesteDF]

Originally Posted by frootloop6

I'm used to living on nice wide streets where even if people park on both sides, there is still room for cars to drive down - in both directions! Where should I try to move for wider streets?

You will probably want to avoid any of the older neighborhoods in town. Most residential streets inside 410 (and some areas inside 1604) were built three car widths across, only occasionally four. That's not to say that you can't navigate these streets, it's just that if two cars are parked on the street directly across from each other, most times only one car will be able to pass through at a time. One car will have to pause, do a friendly little San Antonio steering wheel wave, tip the hat and let the other car through. Just one of those hick things we have to endure here in hicksville.

[Montirob]

Originally Posted by CelesteDF

You will probably want to avoid any of the older neighborhoods in town. Most residential streets inside 410 (and some areas inside 1604) were built three car widths across, only occasionally four. That's not to say that you can't navigate these streets, it's just that if two cars are parked on the street directly across from each other, most times only one car will be able to pass through at a time. One car will have to pause, do a friendly little San Antonio steering wheel wave, tip the hat and let the other car through. Just one of those hick things we have to endure here in hicksville.

Sometimes in the old neighborhoods, the width varies street by street. For example, in Monte Vista, Kings Highway is HUGE, but some of the other streets are very narrow. In my 'hood of Monticello Park, Mary Louise is very wide, but the next street over (Furr) is narrow.

I actually really like the way the street widths vary - it gives the neighborhoods character. Narrow streets, however, are inherently safer because they cause traffic to slow down. Unfortunately, in some new subdivisions, the narrow streets are too packed with cars because the driveways aren't large enough to accomodate many vehicles (few park in the garages). Our old neighborhoods have long, long driveways (the garages being at the back of the lot) so there aren't nearly as many cars on the street. I do like the friendly waves that we have to do in the old 'hoods.

[ShaneSA]

The city was going to make my street a "no parking this side" on one side of the street. The neighbors fought it and it still is parking on tqwo sides. The reason to fight it is that it keeps the speeds down. If there are no cars parked, the cars travel at 40 or 50 miles an hour. With cars on both sides, they need to slow down and it keeps it safer. We tried for speed bumps and stop signs, the street goes for 3 blocks with no stops. No go becasue of the driveways and after a survey, the city said there was no need for stop signs.
So, in the end, the parking on both sides makes things a little slow, and that's a good thing.

[dvlpr]

Originally Posted by ShaneSA

The city was going to make my street a "no parking this side" on one side of the street. The neighbors fought it and it still is parking on tqwo sides. The reason to fight it is that it keeps the speeds down. If there are no cars parked, the cars travel at 40 or 50 miles an hour. With cars on both sides, they need to slow down and it keeps it safer. We tried for speed bumps and stop signs, the street goes for 3 blocks with no stops. No go becasue of the driveways and after a survey, the city said there was no need for stop signs.
So, in the end, the parking on both sides makes things a little slow, and that's a good thing.

ShaneSA is absolutely correct; narrow streets are good for neighborhoods because they control auto speeds, which improves walkability.

To the OP, as many others have said, wide streets change block-to-block in SA, even in historic neighborhoods. Your best bet would be moving to a suburban area (pavement widths for most new subdivisions are a minimum of 28' in SA, and wider in other suburbs).

Am I the only one who finds it really interesting that this paticular detail is that high a priority for a homebuyer?

[Dave1215]

Originally Posted by dvlpr

Am I the only one who finds it really interesting that this paticular detail is that high a priority for a homebuyer?

Nope, I find it interesting too and for me it would be a high priority.

[Chaka]

In my 'hood, the streets were made for horse and buggy traffic, so they're quite narrow. My own street is on of the widest and you still couldn't have cars on both sides with 2 cars driving.

I really really like narrow streets. I think it promotes neighborhood interaction, not to mention slows down traffic. Our streets have cobblestones, alas, they're all under the asphalt now.

In our area, though, there's not a lot of people parking on the streets in general.

[CelesteDF]

Originally Posted by Dave1215

Nope, I find it interesting too and for me it would be a high priority.

Really? That's interesting... I'm surprised that this is something people would specifically look for. Why is it important to you?