Is it common to think that Austin is bigger than San Antonio? (Dallas: live, land)

[whereiend]

Originally Posted by DanielWayne

If you grew up in Texas you still probably think SA is the bigger city. If you are a young college student in let's say Florida or Colorado, then you probably hear about Austin a lot in the media so it will seem bigger.

One thing to consider is that the age distribution is different. Austin is very heavily weighted toward 20-40, San Antonio is more balanced with many more children and elderly. So if you are in your twenties, Austin and San Antonio are about the same size as far as you are concerned. And then if you filter further by say, white-collar professionals, you can see how Austin starts to feel bigger.

Originally Posted by Redlionjr

Austin's skyline definitely is more modern than San Antonio's but c'mon that's clearly an older picture of SATX.

That was kind of a weird picture of Austin as well TBH. I think San Antonio has an interesting skyline but Austin's is definitely the much larger of the two.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

What exactly happened in Austin that enabled its change when it was so tightly kept in check prior? Just curious here.

I don't know for sure but it seems to me like the environmentalists had a lot more political power in Austin in the 70's, 80's, and 90's than they do today. They really wanted to slow down the growth of Austin. They knew they couldn't stop the growth but they didn't want to Houstonize Austin either. Seems like Austin really took off like a rocket in the early to mid part the 2000's and the drastic change of the skyline took place in a few short years.

[Trainwreck20]

City Austin growth based on US Census:
1950-1960-----40.8%
1960-1970-----35.9%
1970-1980-----36.4%
1980-1990-----34.6%
1990-2000-----41.0%
2000-2010-----20.4%
2000-2019-----23.9%

That doesn't include the metro, though, where is where a lot of the growth is occurring.

Edit: Here is more of a comparison belwo.

In short, SA is still gaining more people per year than Austin (city limits to city limits). That increase has been fairly constant since the 70s, with SA gaining 33k+ per decade compared to Austin. Austin has a higher percent growth, but SA's larger base still means that it is getting more people.

Comparing metro to metro, I think, is where the possible impression of Austin being 'bigger' comes from - since after 1980, the Austin metro has gained 60k+ per decade over the SA Metro. Considering that the SA metro has (and has had) a much larger population, this represents a huge percentage difference.

[malcorub16]

Here you go, more updated photos.

[R1070]

That glass tower looks so out of place in San Antonio.

[supfromthesite]

It probably won't in the future

[gabetx]

Downtown, at the Domain, Mueller, along E. Riverside, S. Lamar, and West Campus, Austin feels much larger. On the freeways, especially along 410 in northern SA, San Antonio feels much larger and more comparable to Dallas and Houston. Austin has a much larger skyline that emulates a city of 1,000,000+. Austin is also more urban overall and has a much bigger airport. However, SA feels more historical and mature, with a much more developed highway system and road layout overall.

But overall, both cities are very similar in size. There is no need to have a reproductive organ size measuring competition.

[BillyH]

According to another CD site on density.

Houston 3,434
San Antonio 3,428
DFW 3,308
Austin 3,187

[Trainwreck20]

Originally Posted by gabetx

[...]

But overall, both cities are very similar in size. There is no need to have a reproductive organ size measuring competition.

The original question, though, was whether Austin was perceived as 'larger', not which was actually bigger or better or whatever. Fair enough question, I suppose, and it might be the case for non-residents based on national news stories or whatnot.

But you are correct in that the metros are pretty similar in size and getting closer in size each year. The actual city of SA, though, is much bigger and will remain that way for the foreseeable future. The city limit acreage in SA is ~40% larger than Austin - SA is HUGE when it comes to footprint. It doubles or triples many 'bigger' cities (Atlanta, Chicago) and is almost the same size as Los Angles.

[BillyH]

Agree, Houston is 172 square miles bigger than SA.