Potential Destination: SAN ANTONIO

[Elminster]

Another San Antonio resident right here!

I live on the Northwest side, and the entire area is great. As far as schools are concerned, both Northside ISD or Northeast ISD are execellent districts. I went to school in Northside and have mostly good things to say about it.

What kind of IT work are you looking for? The technology community in San Antonio is fairly small and everyone knows everyone. Most of the 'big players' used to work at Datapoint at some time, and if you know them you're set forever. I was lucky enough to meet and work for some of these people (we're talking about people who invented Arcnet, for instance) and now have all sorts of connections at the young age of 21. Shoot me an e-mail and I'll poke around a bit....

I also usually shoot at Bullet Hole. The owner, Vern, is an awesome guy, and the rest of his staff is wonderful. There are a number of other ranges around that are also execllent. I've only had one encounter with SAPD while carrying (witnessed a bad traffic accident) and the officer was extremely professional. This is what I've heard to be the norm in this area.

One of the nice things about this area is that you can go 10 - 15 minutes out of town (Boerne, Helotes, etc) and have a significant ammount of land, and yes, you can buy enough to build your own range on. Housing prices aren't bad at all on the North side of town, and I'm sure you'll be able to find something in your price range with no problems at all.

San Antonio is an excellent city to raise a family in. Did I mention it's the home of the World Champion SAN ANTONIO SPURS ?!?

Send me an e-mail if you have any other questions, or need any help!

 

[BozemanMT]

I love San Antonio, have relatives all over it. The food is great, the people are great, the traffic is average, but for me, it's too hot.

but, on another note, housing is cheap right now. 30 year rates are down to about 5 to 5.25% on a 30 year fixed.
that means a 100,000 dollars borrowed is about 540 dollars a month (plus taxes and insurance). that's pretty small if houses only cost a 100k. Although I do believe that Texas has OUTRAGEOUS property taxes, but perhaps a native can correct me.

San Antonio rocks , California blows , move now!

oh, mortgage calculator site.
http://www.mortgage-calculators.org/calculators/calculators.html

 

[Sam Adams]

Pendragon

If you want to live away from Liberals, SATX is a pretty good place to do that (as big cities go). Some of the local radio hosts will definitely bring a smile to your face and lower your blood pressure. Carl Wigglesworth (4-7) and Ricci Wear (2-4, I think) on 550 AM are good in this regard. Plus we get Glenn Beck (9-11), Rush (11-2) and Schnitt (2-4) on 1200 AM.

Definitely get a FL non-resident carry license if you can and haven't yet done it - it will enable you to carry much sooner.

SATX has another advantage - a bunch of THL'ers live in and around town, so you'd have a built-in group of pro-gun folks that you can shoot guns or the **** with, and who (at least in my case) would be glad to give you pointers on where to shop, etc.

Good luck in your hunt for a place to live.

 

[Grayrock]

I'm just a hop, skip and jump out of San Antonio (don't call it San Antone!) now. Was born and raised there. Northside schools and an English teacher mom are to thank for my degrees. No property to shoot on in Bexar County unless you are Daddy Warbucks, but you might pick up some acreage not too far out. Bexar Community Range is nice- mostly SG, though. I miss the old range over off West Ave near Blanco. National headquarters for Sporting Clays is here also. They have a big facility out toward Sea World. There is also good hunting in the hill country and south Texas. Everything from cottontails to Nilgai (if you got the $) Wild hogs are also plentiful- got some in my freezer right now. I never thought I'd live in SA once I left, but here I am again.

 

[robear]

My job keeps me in Houston, but I'd move to SA in a heartbeat!!
I have friends on the NW side, (Judson & 1604) that I visit at least once a month..

I've been to 'a place to shoot' , but it is a bit of a drive from the NW side of town..

The last 2 times I was shooting in San Antonio was on a range off of Nacodoches, outside of 1604, behind Rolling Oaks mall.. Not too bad of a setup, but you can't go downrange?!?!?
You shoot THEIR pre-stapled targets, and that's it..

Elminster, where is the Bullet Hole located? I am always looking to try a new range...

pendragon.. we'd love to have 'ya in TX... We'll have a COLD Shiner waiting for you..

-R

 

[Malone LaVeigh]

My old martial arts teacher moved his operation to Pipe Creek, about a half hour northwest of SA a couple of years ago. I have never really liked any part of Texas I've been in before, but that area was pretty nice. It's in the hill country, and as far as I can tell, the major industry around there is built around the popularity of that area for hunting.

 

[Sam Adams]

Robear

The Bullet Hole is located near the Potranco Road exit off of 1604.
It has a website at http://www.bullethole.com/htdocs/index.htm which has directions and a whole bunch of other info. I enjoy shooting there, and you CAN go downrange and examine/change your targets. For rifles, you can shoot at 100, 200 or 300 yards. Vern, the owner, is a hoot, and he knows damned near anything there is to know about guns. The guys working with him are also good - when you're at the handgun station if you are pulling left, right, high, low, etc., or otherwise not putting a tight group on the point of aim, the rangemaster almost always will give you tips. It is a truly GREAT place to shoot.

The machine guns are a real rush (though a tad expensive). You HAVE to do it at least once (with each of the 3 guns, of course).

 

[jsalcedo]

SA is decent I've lived here 20 years with no major problems.

Gun ranges:
Bullet hole
Blackhawk
Place to shoot
Bracken
Dietz

A few others that don't advertise much.

Housing is relatively inexpensive you can buy a 3 bedroom house in an older neighborhood for 600 a month with low crime.

Or you can spend 1500 a month and live in a new 2500 Sq foot
in a develping area.

Traffic is so so

No tax on food medicine or income

Property tax on a $100,000 home is about $3500 per year

People are overall decent but the drivers are mostly incompetant.

I'm staying here as long as possible

 

[SADshooter]

Pendragon:

Flash flooding occurs in the area when, during or after torrential rains, the ground gets saturated and large volumes of water run into low areas VERY fast. A few people die each year trying to drive through low water crossings when their vehicles get swept away and they drown.

Allergens means some of everything (I'm suffering with mold right now) but heavy concentrations of cedar pollen. Pollution is an issue, but not as severe as many other places.

Hill Country property values/density are increasing rapidly, but there are a lot of nice smaller communities around SA where real estate is moderately priced.

 

[another okie]

As you leave San Antonio and go northwest into the hills the humidity drops rapidly and so does the crime rate.

 

[robear]

Thanks Sam Adams.. I will give it a try soon...

BTW, I don't know why I kept saying NW in my previous post, Judson & 1604 is in the NE part of town!! So is that range I was talking about, behing Rolling Oaks mall.. Pardon my cranial flatulence..

R

 

[mushoot]

That range behind rolling oaks mall is the Bracken range. Cedar ridge range has not been mentioned. It is over by 281 not too far from Bulverde.

 

[ahenry]

Pendragon,

S.A. is a great place. There is lots of good hunting in that area and, to my way of thinking, beautiful scenery. Its a different kind of scenery and lots of people don’t like it, so maybe its just grown on me but as far as I’m concerned south Texas is an incredible place with San Antonio definitely being the prettiest city there. I’m actually a couple hours south of there, but it is my favorite places to visit and likely always will be. There is a strong Mexican influence there so if you wouldn’t like that then I wouldn’t even bother. Personally I really like the flavor it adds. While I’ve never been to CA, my understanding of the Mexican influence in CA makes me think that it is very different from the influence of that culture here in Texas (S.A. specifically). I have my own thoughts as to why that is but I digress. If you want more info, feel free to email or PM me about it.

 

[Hank Zudd]

my 2 cents...

I grew up in San Antone (28 yrs-northeast side), lived in Austin 3 years till 87 then moved to California. Lived in Woodland for 3 years, now in Alameda County. I made $8.00 an hour doing construction inspection in Texas; in 16 years since moving to Kali, I now make $40.00 an hour. Wages suck in most of Texas; if you can't get a decent paying job, your just trading one hot hell hole for another humid hot hell hole with tornadoes, occasional ice storms & hurricane spill over and giant mosquitoes & roaches thrown in. I'm not going to raise my kids here forever;Kali definetly is a third world country. Be very open minded about moving. Think Florida. going there again tomorrow. pm

 

[St. Gunner]

Pendragon,

I've lived her for about 20yrs now, since I was 8 so I've had the experience of school through college. I live about 25 minutes from San Antonio near the town of Devine. This area has really grown in the last few years and promises to grow more with the move by toyota to this side of town. Schools are good, but small town is where the kids need to be anymore. Kids hate it because everyone knows their business and rats them to the parents, but hey. Land is cheap if you want to spend $100,000 buy 10 acres in a surrounding county, build a house, and have your own range. I bought 10 acres with 2 septic systems , two electric meters, rural water, two wells, and the phone all hooked up for $34,000.

My suggestion would be this though, it is a move I am contemplating for my family. Look for land on the Southeast side of town, down Interstate 37 towards Pleasonton or even the Floresville area. It is a totally different type of people than anywhere else. Many Polish folks, a bunch of Germans, and a slew of Bohemians, all good hard working folks that are more than willing to help out and look out for you and yours. I started working in the area a bunch with my business 3 years ago and have been wanting to get moved there ever since.

Wages aren't the best in the world in some areas, but you make enough to live on. Toyota seems to be the biggest prospect, but USAA is here, HEB the grocery chain has a huge computerized warehouse, Citibank is on the west side, plus many more corporations around with a high demand for support folks.

I'm an old country hick so I avoid San Antonio most of the time but I can recomend a couple gunshops I go to on a regular basis. HO-Guns off of Culebra road is my favorite hang-out, Wayne is a great guy, the place is frequented by mainly high volume shooters and is on a normal afternoon so full of good stories you have to wear waders. I used to stop off after a day at the socialist cesspool college I attended to de-compress. Wayne if he doesn't have it will order it for you and have it there as soon as he can. He has a good gunsmith in the back. IPSC and IDPA member almost live there and shoot most of the time at BlackHawk Range down I-35 towards Lytle. IDPA shoots the regular pistol course (normally a 90rd count) and then they shoot a carbine or shotgun side match. I've never been around a nicer bunch of guys and gals. For reloading stuff I normally go to the powderhorn, David keeps all sorts of powder, bullets and primers around as well as other reloading stuff. You can normally find it there. Plus Texas has Academy stores, ammo packed clean to the ceiling it may be the coolest store around, aisle upon aisle of gun and hunting stuff.

It is hot here, can't deny that, but it only lasts for a few months, winters are normally mild with a few days per year below freezing, you rarely have to worry about shoveling snow. If you fish you are close to many lakes and the coast is just a few hours away. Hunting is a little tougher, you have to lease land to do that, expect to pay $800-$2,000 a year, but you can find it close to home. But if you buy 10 acres in the right area, you can hunt at home.

I love it here, have a 300yd range right outside, turkeys come water in my front yard at a little pond I built, deer pass through on occasion, plus all sorts of other critters are around. Pretty neat.

 

[Pendragon]

I can hardly express my appreciation to you all (y'all? ) that replied here.

As has been said, every place has its warts - Sacramento can get pretty hot although we often have the cool delta breeze on summer nights - but sometimes its over 100 for several days.

We really have no problem with the "Mexican flavor" - my wife loves mexican food and we have no cultural or ethnic hangups.

As for wages - sure you can make more here in CA in a lot of jobs, but the problem is - the tech sector is in a world of hurt and uglyness. I know several people who used to command an easy 6 figures - now they are working for 1/3rd or less. I am working for under 1/2 of what I made 2 years ago and as I have said a million times here - housing is out of control.

We will have enough to put down at least 20% on a house we would care to own. Before we had kids, we shopped for homes and wanted the biggest and flashiest we could barely afford. Somehow that seemed like the thing to do.

Now, we just want to be out of debt (CC has been racking up while trying to hold house on lower income) we want to have a house that is just enough for our small family with a nice yard so our son can play. The thing is - I could take another 30% pay cut from what I am making now and still live a lot better in SA than I can live here.

I played hookie from work today. I just wanted to stay home and talk to my wife and be with my son - sometimes I feel like I barely see them.

We agreed that moving to SA makes the most sense and we want to do it sooner rather than later. We started calling apartments to get an idea of where we should live in the interim.

I have been checking real estate in New Braunfels and there are several smaller houses (950-1150 sf) under 60k. No pictures so we are not sure if they are shacks or just well kept bungalows but we like the idea of a smaller, traditional style home - wood floors, interesting mill work, etc.

We are going to grab a decent apartment and spend a few months scouting the various towns and areas on the ourskirts of SA.

I think we found our city. Barring some amazing job offer out of the blue from somewhere else, we are going to pack up and go. No job, no nothing

 

[St. Gunner]

Pendragon,

20yrs ago my fathers construction business in Iowa went belly up, we drove out of town one day with all our stuff packed up not even knowing where we where going. It was a toss-up between Alaska and Texas, so they flipped a coin. You will like it here, just like I did.

We looked at a 3 bedroom 2 bath brick home in the town of Devine with tile floors, really neat house, about 1200 square feet for $63,000, before we bought this place . Whatever you look at in New Braunfels make sure it is out of the flood plain. Same with San Marcos and all the towns around the rivers.

If you want, pm me, i'll give you all my contact info and when you get down here, i'll show you around the areas I know. I know there are some nice houses going up for sale in the small town of Poth, normally they are priced pretty low. I don't venture much to the North side of the town, just don't fit in up there most places. Being a big ugly redneck and all.

 

[Walther P99]

San Antonio is definitely the best place I've lived in the several cities I've lived in. The cost of living is definitely lower and there aren't many liberals, relatively speaking as well as several gun shops/shows to go to.

There really isn't too much too add that hasn't been said but if you do move here try to get a house outside of Bexar county (the county SA is in) on the North side and you'll enjoy lower property taxes and lower car insurance rates. I live in Schertz and the costs are lower.

 

[Pendragon]

It has been an interesting month.

It took us a little longer than expected to get the house up for sale. We had dome some chromatic experimentation in a couple rooms and it was a major chore to get it back to original color.

House has been polished and immaculate for about 3 weeks now. Based on how everyone else was selling, we thought our house would go quick so we were kind of high on the price. After 10 days, we got no offers so we dropped it. 10 days later, still no offers, so we dropped it again - but too much. We got too much interest now. We reaise the price back up $5k but we got an offer in the mean time - its at our absolute drop dead minimum - the unfun minimum that means no toys, no fun, no cheese, just barely get to move and get settled.

It's ok though.

Nothing more scary than sitting on a house that aint selling, watching the days fly by while you sit at home waiting for people to come and maybe buy - or maybe not.

So - if we dont get a better offer by Thurday night, its sold.

Michelle told her parents. She had told them it was likley, but they were hoping against hope that we would stay. They even offered to buy us a house here (ouch). So many reasons why not to do that.

I am thinking we will land in SA around the begining of September - just in time for the new CHL law to let me apply right away...

We are going to use DoortoDoor.com to move - they give you some large containers and you fill em up and they move the containers. Pretty interesting.

I was going to drive the cars (one, then fly back and drive the other) but my wife convinced me to ship them. With my sleep disorder, it just seemed to perilous.

The housing market is excited - I do online searches all the time because you can buy a lot for under $100k. Meanwhile, the Sacbee.com has all kinds of stories about what kind of filth and horrors people brave to find a sub $200k home in this area.

We are SO close.

 

[AZLibertarian]

Pen, you've got lots of locals responding, but I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned that San Antonio is one of the most military-friendly communities in the country. Sacto is/was fairly mil-friendly by California standards, but it is a world of difference between that and what you'll find in SA.

Good luck on your move.

 

[Pendragon]

If only I was in the military

 

[J.J.]

As stated by others Check out the smaller towns, I live in San Marcos (attending college) it is in the middle of San Antonio and Austin. A lot of people live here and drive to Austin etc. The commute would be harder but the living is cheaper. I remember one person mentioned Seguin, its a nice town but my girlfriends parents live there.. The School system in Seguin is Horrible. My girlfriend’s parents are white and they adopted 3 Hispanic children. They have now realized that Seguin is extremely racist town. They are treated a lot better when the children are around, they never realized how they were being discriminated against cause they were white until they realized all the sudden once they have the children
1.) Service is prompt and polite
2.) They get even dirtier looks than when they are without the children.

My girlfriend is an education major and went to observe a music class room. She watched as the Teacher screamed at the 3rd and 4th graders the whole time, for be behaving as 3rd and 4th graders do (wiggling etc. etc.) So Seguin I wouldn't recommend just because of the school system.

Honestly, check out the smaller towns, those are things that require a map and being in the area.

As was already said, Flash floods can be bad, just be smart don't cross low water crossings, make sure that you house is not behind a low water crossing or etc. Most of the Deaths come from those who try to drive through a crossing that has a marker with a 5’2†barely showing.. idiots..

Spiders are the only complaint I have around here... (I am scared of the things, ever since a brown recluse bit me.)
__
I was just told by my girlfriend to recommend that you try Geronimo (small town near Seguin supposed to be one of the better school districts) Judson or Northeast ISD are supposed to be the better ones IN S.A.

 

[mushoot]

Hi, If you need a picture of a house in New Braunfels just send me the address and I will take a picture of it for you. I live here. Some houses I have seen for sale I wouldn't like because of location near a busy street etc. I will give you a discription as well. I had to stay here this summer for medical reasons. take care, John

 

[Pendragon]

Wow, you really know how to make good on that state motto

Thanks again guys.

Well, we just settled negotiations - we are sold pending signitures. Looks like the first week of September to get there.

Hey what about those spiders?!? My 20 month old son pointed out a black widow on our ottoman a week ago - he kept saying "BUG! BUG! BUG!" which he says to every piece of lint. We finally look and AIIIGH!! - I kilt it but dang!

The more real it becomes, the less real it seems. Kind of a twilight zone feeling lately - that old - wow, never going to go here again...

I will keep you guys posted.

 

[Jeff OTMG]

Depending on what you do for a living, be sure to check out Corpus Christi. It is a large city with the lightest traffic and lowest cost of living in Texas. Houses nearly half what they are in Austin.