King William District/Southtown (San Antonio, Victoria: apartments, townhomes, camps)

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by verybadgnome

As far as King William was concerned I was pretty impressed after driving through it a couple of weeks ago. The only thing that I've seen in this area of the country that can compete with it architecturally and historically are select parts of old New Orleans. There isn't an equivalent area to this in Austin, not with that density of early period homes.

Have you checked out Government Hill? It's not quite King WIlliam and doesn't have a river nor is it walking distance to downtown, but oh wow the homes are gorgeous! They're mostly in pretty lousy shape, but nowhere near as bad as some of the KW or Lavaca homes were just a few years ago. It's such a gorgeous area and as there is a pedestrian gate open to Ft Sam on E. Grayson, the whole area is very walkable to the base. I'm surprised people aren't snapping up property there. Many of those homes are just gorgeous, but in need of some TLC. If I worked at Ft Sam I'd be all over that.

for rgb - I agree walking in heels into downtown is not terribly appealing. I am not typically in jogging attire when I walk (sandals, skirt, tank top more likely), but no heels. That said, when I worked downtown I used to carry my
fancy shoes in a bag and walk in more comfy shoes. For a night out, I settled on the little skirt to be the appeal rather than the shoes

[Bo]

Some posts above were deleted. Let's let this post by rgb123 serve as the final word on the feasibility of or alternatives to walking downtown from the rgb123 residence in King William/Southtown.

Originally Posted by rgb123

like I said, I walk it all the time. But it's not ideal for my guests from out of town on a Saturday night.

Here's a reminder of the original topic.

Originally Posted by ArizonaTexan

OK...Since joining the forum I've heard a lot of different things from different people around the city and I just wanted to give my insight about a wonderful neighborhood. Since moving from home I truly miss my old neighborhood - King William/Southtown. Others and myself used to brag about how good we had it there; beautiful homes, great bars, restaurants, art, theatre, and the most wonderful people you'd ever meet. You rarely have to use a vehicle (most people insist on walking or biking) to get from one place to another. First Friday is a blast and the King William Fair during Fiesta is the best event to take place. People there are from different parts of the country from different ethnicities and cultures which compliment the neighborhood to the highest degree. If you ever get a chance, drop by and try it out for a day. If you ever stop by La Tuna tell them I said "Hi!"...by the way, La Tuna is celebrating their 15th anniversary this summer...They're supposed to have a huge celebration next month.

[TexHwyMan]

Originally Posted by Chaka

Have you checked out Government Hill? It's not quite King WIlliam and doesn't have a river nor is it walking distance to downtown, but oh wow the homes are gorgeous!

Monte Vista is also quite nice.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by TexHwyMan

Monte Vista is also quite nice.

Oh definitely, but it's well established. Government Hill is officially an historic district, but more homes than not are in not-such-great condition and the neighborhood looks a bit rough (maybe like king william 20-30 years ago and Lavaca about 10 yrs ago). It'd be wonderful to see the area restored, it's a great location and beautiful places.

[BillyH]

Originally Posted by Chaka

Oh definitely, but it's well established. Government Hill is officially an historic district, but more homes than not are in not-such-great condition and the neighborhood looks a bit rough (maybe like king william 20-30 years ago and Lavaca about 10 yrs ago). It'd be wonderful to see the area restored, it's a great location and beautiful places.

You seem to know areas well, I will admit to growing up and living out in loopland. An area I never hear much about is Highland Park on the near southeast side. It's not an historic district but has some great older homes, some in great condition some not. It's bounded roughly by IH 10 to the north, S. Hackberry to the east, Clark to the west and Steves or as far south as Fair to the south. I work not far from that area and have driven through to numerous times the area has great potential.

[skeet09]

Originally Posted by BillyH

You seem to know areas well, I will admit to growing up and living out in loopland. An area I never hear much about is Highland Park on the near southeast side. It's not an historic district but has some great older homes, some in great condition some not. It's bounded roughly by IH 10 to the north, S. Hackberry to the east, Clark to the west and Steves or as far south as Fair to the south. I work not far from that area and have driven through to numerous times the area has great potential.

It sure does! I wanted to buy a house there so bad but I needed to be closer to my parents and my mother in law but I'll try to get out there as fast as I can!
Here's an article on their association from last year: Highland Park association working together (http://www.mysanantonio.com/community/southside/Highland_Park_association_working_together.html - broken link)

[BillyH]

Originally Posted by skeet09

It sure does! I wanted to buy a house there so bad but I needed to be closer to my parents and my mother in law but I'll try to get out there as fast as I can!
Here's an article on their association from last year: Highland Park association working together (http://www.mysanantonio.com/community/southside/Highland_Park_association_working_together.html - broken link)

It should have read Hackberry to the west and Clark on the east. If SA is going to have another historic district Highland Park is worthy.

[RGJ]

Interesting thing about Highland Park is that the story goes the original developers of Highland Park were some of the same guys that developed King William, Monte Vista, Olmos Park, Mancke Park. In Highland Park, you'll find some very large two story houses that have basements, extensive hardwood flooring, trim, doors, cabinetry, servants qtrs above the detached garage, etc.

Interesting website about all this

http://ozuna-parafina-gtt.blogspot.c...ighland%20Park

[Montirob]

Originally Posted by RGJ

Interesting thing about Highland Park is that the story goes the original developers of Highland Park were some of the same guys that developed King William, Monte Vista, Olmos Park, Mancke Park. In Highland Park, you'll find some very large two story houses that have basements, extensive hardwood flooring, trim, doors, cabinetry, servants qtrs above the detached garage, etc.

Interesting website about all this

GTT (Gone To Texas): Highland Park

Wow! What an interesting website.

The only thing to add to your statement above is that some of the same builders from Monticello Park (Woodlawn Terrace at the time) also built similar homes in Highland Park. In fact, I've seen some homes that look almost identical between the two neighborhoods.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by RGJ

Interesting thing about Highland Park is that the story goes the original developers of Highland Park were some of the same guys that developed King William, Monte Vista, Olmos Park, Mancke Park. In Highland Park, you'll find some very large two story houses that have basements, extensive hardwood flooring, trim, doors, cabinetry, servants qtrs above the detached garage, etc.

Interesting website about all this

GTT (Gone To Texas): Highland Park

Thanks for that link. We have wood from our original porch and some of the walls with "Saur" written on it. Now I know where it's from!

Highland Park/Hills is indeed a great area. I have a few friends living there and love it.