Leaving Houston... considering San Angelo (Dallas, San Antonio: crime, movie theater, YMCA)

[texas1936]

Hey all,

My family wants to leave Houston, and we are considering San Angelo. What are your thoughts.

We are looking forward to little traffic, an affordable place to live, and a quiet place to put down roots and enjoy life. After looking at most Texas cities, we have agreed that SA looks great. We don't want to live in a major metropolis like Dallas, Austin, or San Antonio.

Would really like to hear from people living in SA. The pros and cons and all that. I understand there are some threads here on SA, and I've read them. Any more info on the area would be nice.

Thanks...

[ChristieP]

What do you do for a living? It can be very difficult to get a good-paying job in San Angelo.

[losttechnician]

I don't live there, but have friends and family that do. SA was also my second choice for college way back in the early 80's, and one I still wish I had more seriously looked at. The college is a great choice for folks that aren't into the bigger university experience.

The friends and family that live there really love it. Several are teachers in area schools, and really think a lot of the entire area. A nice small city, plenty of things to do in the area, and if you want the big city experience, 4 hours to the metroplex, Austin, or San Antonio.

[texas1936]

Thanks guys...

I'm in IT. I'm not looking to get rich, just make a decent living. My wife works in the medical field. My wife will likely have an easier time than me finding work.

[ChristieP]

DH and I both went to ASU, and we liked San Angelo so much that we tried to stay there after we graduated. However, we couldn't get good jobs, so we left for DFW... We loved how friendly the people were, and how the city really felt like a small town. Cost of living was very cheap, too!

Medical field is very good in San Angelo. There are 2 regional hospitals, plus Baptist Memorial geriatrics. (I now work in the medical field, and my employer occasionally draws patients to its Abilene facility from San Angelo!) I would think IT would be something that would be in need, but I honestly can't say since it has been so long.

[texas1936]

ChristieP,

Thanks for the info! Good to know.

[Rathagos]

I currently live in San Angelo, and have for the last 12 (minus two years when I was in Italy).

San Angelo is a city with a population of approximately 93k people, over 100k if you include the surrounding areas (Grape Creek, Christoval, Wall, etc.).

There are two High Schools here. Central High School is the bigger of the two, Lakeview being the other. They are not in the same conference for sports, however. There are a few 3-4 middle schools, and numerous elementary schools. The link for schools is www.saisd.org.

Crime is relatively low here, although it does exist. The largest percentage is normally drug related, and involves people who know each other. Random crimes are low, but recently there's been a little increase (probably economically-related). There is relatively few minor crimes (break-ins, assaults) compared to other cities I've lived in in the past.

For recreation, there is a city symphony, a city theater (acting), and we have a semi-pro baseball team (currently in 1st place), semi-pro hockey team, and arena football team. There is are two colleges in the city, Howard Community College, and Angelo State University (which recently adopted accredidation for Texas Tech curriculum). Angelo State University (ASU) also has the standard sports teams that you can watch if you'd be interested in local college games.

For the children, there are city parks, city pools, an indoor rollerskating rink (with indoor laser tag, and an outside mini-golf course). We have a movie theater with about 12-15 screens (not sure the exact number). There is a skateboard park as well. The city holds regular sports events for kids (football, soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, etc.) at both the city rec-level and YMCA groups. There are even select teams for specific sports that are selected from the other rec-league teams.

We have a fairly small shopping mall (one-level), that has stores from Dilliards, Beals, Sears, and JC Penneys, to smaller specialty stores. There are two super-Walmarts, an H-E-B (Texas-brand shopping store), Sam's (Costco-equivalent if you've never heard of it), and Albertson's. We have some specialty stores in the city as well (Starbucks), and all the main pizza and fast-food players.

Our local paper (San Angelo Standard Times) can also be found online at: www.gosanangelo.com\