It's like were almost unaffected by the crisis... (San Antonio, Anton: for sale, real estate)

[allenk893]

I feel like San Antonio or perhaps all of Texas in general is almost completely unaffected by the economic crisis going on in the rest of the country! We still have jobs lined up and still have regular saleries, on a good week we have low gas prices. It's like wow. I'm just a high school student and I watch the news almost everyday. When I see what's going on I am so shocked because I don't see any of that over here. And my family is not a family that we always have jobs to pay our bills. Something always happens but we try to find a way. We just get by basically. And I feel like I'm really privileged to be living in San Antonio at this day and time. I never really liked San Antonio per say (no offense!), but now I have really huge respect for the city. We have a really good thing going! And the housing prices haven't dodged so much people can't afford it. I'm suprised we don't have expats pouring in from idk, California or something. I know we have alot of expats from there but I mean at this current time. There should be an influx of new residents! With the way other state and city's economies are I am so surprised people haven't considered moving here as an alternative. I don't want to get corny here but I think San Antonio actually rocks.

[Dube665]

My last day of work is April 30. Most of my co-workers were let go last week and we will continue to have rounds of lay offs til June. We were affected.

[Ripshin]

Yep, I lost almost 80% of my self-employed income in the past eight months, due to client bankruptcy and budget cutting. Tons of rental properties are vacant due to consolidated living situations. Restaurants are closing. Etc., etc. Stop believing everything you read in the Express-News. I know LOTS of people who are suffering.

[sapphire]

Until yesterday, I didn't know anyone who had lost their job...turns out my BIL's company has been sold and will be closing their SA location at the end of May....another soon-to-be member of the family works for a Toyota supplier and was headed to work today to find out if he was still employed. So no, SA is not unaffected. But we still rock!

[Spock's Beard]

How can you say that? More and more people I know are jobless, "for sale" signs on houses are twice as plentiful this year as they were last year, companies are still doing layoffs, stores are closing, you just don't see as many customers in many stores, especially high-end ones, as you used to. Half the people in the apartment complex had friends and family members move in due to financial circumstances in the past year, so apartments here are more crowded than they used to be. Plus just last week I was in the texas Workforce commission and saw it with my own eyes: standing room only, and just not enough jobs to go around.



I don't know anyone who hasn't been effected by the downturn in the economy.

[egeorge]

allenk893,

I'm sorry to say you are wrong...I know a lot of people in the commercial architecture, design, and construction field who have lost jobs here...a lot of others, myself included have had pay cuts and/or lost benefits. We have had clients who have never had problems with getting money to fund projects either being offered much less or being denied loans altogether from the banks. It's creates a domino effect from there.

[Deep Forest]

The slowdown just hasn't hit hard here yet. But it's coming.....slowly..

[allenk893]

Originally Posted by Spock's Beard

How can you say that? More and more people I know are jobless, "for sale" signs on houses are twice as plentiful this year as they were last year, companies are still doing layoffs, stores are closing, you just don't see as many customers in many stores, especially high-end ones, as you used to. Half the people in the apartment complex had friends and family members move in due to financial circumstances in the past year, so apartments here are more crowded than they used to be. Plus just last week I was in the texas Workforce commission and saw it with my own eyes: standing room only, and just not enough jobs to go around.



I don't know anyone who hasn't been effected by the downturn in the economy.

Oh my god! I didn't realize all that! I'm sorry. I guess maybe I just haven't seen the grand scheme of things. Again, I'm just a kid so maybe I didn't observe everything like I should have. I really didn't know all that. That's horrible.

[djw]

Originally Posted by allenk893

Oh my god! I didn't realize all that! I'm sorry. I guess maybe I just haven't seen the grand scheme of things.

There's nothing wrong with having a positive attitude and feeling good about things. It's great that you aren't feeling it directly, but it is important to see the bigger picture!
I have to explain to my teen son on a fairly regular basis that while we aren't doing bad, we aren't in the best shape either. Helps him keep things in perspective when he wants the newest and bestest and latest and greatest. Also shows him the value of saving now for later, and doing it in a variety of ways (not just stocks, real estate, etc)

And despite the terrible first-hand stories below, San Antonio is a great place to be for a lot of reasons. There are many others worse off in greater numbers.
Good luck to you and thanks for being so young and being so interested!

[L3XVS]

SA may seem "unaffected", but that's only because it was already a poor city with a low number of high-income corporate jobs to begin with. There was such a small corporate, high-skill labor force here that the recession (which has affected this city) seems as though it hasn't had an affect.