How is San Antonio still growing so fast? (Houston, Austin: school, college)

[rynetwo]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

Barton Creek Greenbelt, Kayaking, other "hiking" options, pretty good food scene, live music that bypasses San Antonio.

We have plenty of hiking, two lakes, and a long river for all that outdoor fun.

The concerts are the only thing mentioned that might be important to people, but that would not be a reason to move to a city with WAY worse traffic and premium real estate prices for the area.

[temptation001]

There's no hurricanes in San Antonio. Honestly, I'm surprised we haven't gotten the entire east coast moving in yet.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by rynetwo

We have plenty of hiking, two lakes, and a long river for all that outdoor fun.

The concerts are the only thing mentioned that might be important to people, but that would not be a reason to move to a city with WAY worse traffic and premium real estate prices for the area.

I’ve spoken to many people who have come to Austin go sxsw and decided they wanted to move to Austin after that experience. Beats the hell outta me how people can decide just on that one experience, but they do. For me, it was to get away from family, to try something new, but to still be close to family.

Originally Posted by temptation001

There's no hurricanes in San Antonio. Honestly, I'm surprised we haven't gotten the entire east coast moving in yet.

Have you lived through a hurricane season in San Antonio? In 2010 the eye of I believe, tropical storm Erin, went right over my office at the time. We get very strong outer bands and occasionally storms track over us. The floods of 1998/1999 were directly related to a dying tropical storm. Hell, even Austin got a lot of rain and large trees fell in my neighborhood from that event.

[temptation001]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

I
Have you lived through a hurricane season in San Antonio? In 2010 the eye of I believe, tropical storm Erin, went right over my office at the time. We get very strong outer bands and occasionally storms track over us. The floods of 1998/1999 were directly related to a dying tropical storm. Hell, even Austin got a lot of rain and large trees fell in my neighborhood from that event.

Lmao. I've lived in San Antonio all my life. Storms are nothing compared to the flooding in Houston. In fact a lot of the people in the path of the hurricane, during hurricane season, come to San Antonio for shelter, since they know SA is not going to be harmed for the most part. But if storms bother you, then there really might not be any place safe.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by temptation001

Lmao. I've lived in San Antonio all my life. Storms are nothing compared to the flooding in Houston. In fact a lot of the people in the path of the hurricane, during hurricane season, come to San Antonio for shelter, since they know SA is not going to be harmed for the most part. But if storms bother you, then there really might not be any place safe.

I lived in San Antonio from 1988-2015. My point is that it happens. Not that it’s a daily occurrence. I’d you move to SA thinking you’re free of any weather experience you’re going to be sorely mistaken. Either that or you live on a magical hill that gets no weather in Alamo heights/Olmos Park.

[TXStrat]

Originally Posted by ashbeeigh

I lived in San Antonio from 1988-2015. My point is that it happens. Not that it’s a daily occurrence. I’d you move to SA thinking you’re free of any weather experience you’re going to be sorely mistaken. Either that or you live on a magical hill that gets no weather in Alamo heights/Olmos Park.

I think the point was yes, we get weather. However, we're far enough inland that we don't suffer the devastating effects of hurricanes, and we're far enough south to be outside of the southern end of "Tornado Alley". Chances of a serious tornado don't begin to increase until you hit Austin/Central Texas.

[bluemylk]

I honestly think San Antonio’s problem is more of a marketing issue, oh, and the people make the city. For example, overall San Antonio is an okay city for your basic needs. It probably has a lot of things that many other cities have but is not marketed that way. Hiking, nice or unique restaurants, art scene, cute/hip neighborhoods, etc.

It’s marketed more as military city, family city, big city with a small town feel, etc., so the other stuff gets over looked.

About the people making the city, lots of new people move there but it’s not really the kind of city where you move to work in a “cool” industry, to “find yourself” or to have wild fun. So it can be a little harder to have those crazy experiences and form those connections that you might have in party cities or major urban cities. It’s not impossible, but you have to seek it out more.

I agree that there are some things it lacks when compared to other cities in the state or even comparable cities of its size (nightlife scene, ethnic diversity, high end establishments, cultural experiences, etc.). San Antonio has those things in pockets, but other cities may squash it when it comes to most of these amenities (Houston and Dallas for diversity and culture, Austin for nightlife and job opportunities, Orlando for theme parks and entertainment, Portland for urban development and quirky scene, and so on and so forth).

The Pearl is great, but a city of its size should have more of that, if you know what I mean.

I lived in SA for years before moving to east coast and now the west, so I like to keep up with developments in the city, but it is hard to! I scour them out and go to development websites and see some nice stuff proposed but the average person would never know it, whereas cities like Austin, Nashville, and such you see or hear people mentioning their development much more.

Overall, I see the city continuing to grow and as a result get more big city amenities, making it more attractive to the types that like that. I don’t know how it will fare compared to the other TX cities, though. People seem to like it now because it is cheap compared to a lot of other places and has decent quality of life depending on which area you live in.

[LocalPlanner]

San Antonio's appeal to the U.S. masses still revolves mainly around having most of the basic amenities of a large urban U.S. city (minus good mass transit if that matters to you), proximity to appealing natural areas (compared to much of middle America at least), with suburban-style homes at attainable prices. For a lot of folks, that's enough, as long as they can get a decent paying job.

If you need a heady hipster / techie / trendy / "Anglo creatives" cultural vibe, then it's not going to make your top ten list. But how many folks *need* that?

To me, the two things that hold San Antonio back the most are: (1) a limited quantity of high-paying jobs and industries, so college-educated career-climbers will find less opportunity there (maybe this is changing?) and (2) limited commercial airline connections. Well, those two things plus a lingering perception of being a relatively poor, Hispanic military-oriented city.

[supfromthesite]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

Yep. Close to Austin. Houston and Dallas not too far. Closest major to RGV as well as West Texas.

I rarely visit either city. Most of my friends rarely visit either city.

[ashbeeigh]

Originally Posted by TXStrat

I think the point was yes, we get weather. However, we're far enough inland that we don't suffer the devastating effects of hurricanes, and we're far enough south to be outside of the southern end of "Tornado Alley". Chances of a serious tornado don't begin to increase until you hit Austin/Central Texas.

I agree, but to say SA doesn’t get weather is completely inaccurate, and any native knows that.