San Marcos vs San Antonio vs Austin (house, school)

[AlwaysWandering]

My husband and I are looking to move and Texas is one of the places that has our interest. He is a remote employee so the job follows him. The area's in Texas that we like are San Marcos & Austin, but in looking we have also put Austin on our list. I'm not sure how accurate, but in comparing the cost of living to where we are now (SLC, Ut) and these 3 cities, all are cheaper except for Austin. Is the cost of living there really that much higher than SM or SA and if so could someone explain why?

Also, for those familiar with these 3 areas, would one be better than another for raising a family?

Thanks guys

[Little Hawthorne]

any one of those city would be great for raising kids. they are all community oriented. granted, they are all (excluding Austin) very right-winged and conservative there are plenty of school activities for kids like football...texans don't play when it comes to friday night football!. lol

[Austinite101]

Originally Posted by AlwaysWandering

My husband and I are looking to move and Texas is one of the places that has our interest. He is a remote employee so the job follows him. The area's in Texas that we like are San Marcos & Austin, but in looking we have also put Austin on our list. I'm not sure how accurate, but in comparing the cost of living to where we are now (SLC, Ut) and these 3 cities, all are cheaper except for Austin. Is the cost of living there really that much higher than SM or SA and if so could someone explain why?

Also, for those familiar with these 3 areas, would one be better than another for raising a family?

Thanks guys

Austin will be the most expensive place to live out of all of the Texas cities. This is especially true of downtown Austin and right around the core because demand right now is unbelievably high in Austin and will be cut throat is many cases when looking for housing. For example, you will be fighting with many Californians who will see a $300K+ house and think its a bargain and will be able to fork over that kind of money.

What type of living are you looking for? Downtown, near the core, suburban, bedroom community? It would really help answer more of you questions.

As a response about the politics of the cities as mentioned by the poster before me, Austinites are fairly left wing in general while San Antonio is generally to the right. San Marcos is moderate to right of center.