San Antonio, Texas

Pros and cons of living in San Antonio?
MonolithOfTyr / Living in San Antonio / 3y ago
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If it were my choice it'd be San Antonio or nothing. I moved here at age 13 with my family and have been here since. Now I have a family of my own and this city has become home.

Pros:

-Friendly as hell people
-Amazing food
-Touristy but not in a bad way
-Close to other nearby cities so day trips are easy
-Great schools from pre-k to university
-Affordable without feeling cheap
-Everything you'll need is always close by, including the world's greatest grocery store HEB
-Each side of town has its own quirks and charms

Cons:

-Growing homeless population
-Still affordable but prices are rising
-Very car dependent unless you're extremely lucky

What is it like to live in San Antonio?
Updated 1yr ago
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San Antonio is an extremely large suburb around a medium sized city. If you think of cities like NYC or L.A. as “ 24 hour” cities because there’s always things happening, San Antonio is maybe a “16 hour” city. Which if you like quiet or a slower pace (me) is not a bad thing.

The city itself is very segmented and it can feel disjointed. An area with bars and entrainment here another there but nothing in between. It has isolated pockets of things to do, but those pockets can be a great time.

San Antonio is an interesting combination of liberal and conformist. They tend to vote Democrat but you don’t see the blue hair and artistic flair walking around the way you do in other places.

I’ve lived in many cities and the drivers in San Antonio are Hands-down the worst I’ve ever seen. Other cities people drive badly with a logic behind it. Traffic requires aggression or people are in a hurry, or whatever it may be. In San Antonio people will swerve across 4 empty lanes to crash into the only other person on the freeway for literally no reason. There’s a level of incompetence to the driving you will not find other places.

San Antonio has the worlds best BAR B Que and the world’s best Tex-Mex. They also have basically no Mexican food that isn’t Tex-Mex. You can’t find the sort of burritos, and enchiladas you find in other parts of the southwest. Everything has a gravy on like you get with chili con carne. Lots of cumin. That’s neither good nor bad. A lot of people LOVE it with good reason but people can be disappointed by the narrowness of the flavor profiles in this city. Make sure you like the food before you move here because things tend to taste the same everywhere. This idea will upset people that haven’t traveled much but it’s true.

If you’ve never lived in the South before there things about bugs and humidity and weather that can’t be explained. The heat sucks and the storms are fun.

There is almost no traffic outside of parts of northern San Antonio.

People are really interested in what High school you went to.

The cost of living is low but rising. The wages are also low so the cost of living being low only goes so far.

If you’re thinking of buying a home, the property taxes are so high that you might be better off buying in a different city.

Texas is “low tax” but the reality is I pay more to the state of Texas to live here then I have in any other state. There is talk of reform and some actual reform in the works to reduce the costs.

The people in San Antonio are fucking chill and really nice. It’s a mellow city that isn’t interested in pretentiousness. “Keep San Antonio Lame” Is a real thing.

It will look like there are stray dogs running through the streets everywhere, but most of those dogs have owners (the city did a study on it). It’s just that that’s the dog culture in San Antonio. If seeing loose/dead dogs in traffic will ruin your day that will be a real problem.

It’s much more of a small town than a big city. Whether that’s good or bad is up to you

Oxford89 / Living in San Antonio / Edited 1y ago
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It's a hidden gem, an emerging metro of authentic coolness with a vibrant Hispanic culture. The San Antonio river is the heart of the city and the investment into the lower and upper reaches over the last 15 years has made it a destination for locals, not just tourists, to eat, drink, exercise, and relax on. We have one of the best annual events of any major city in Fiesta, which is a two weeks long excuse to drink, party, and celebrate culture all in the name of charity. We're centrally located in Texas which makes intrastate trips much easier than the would otherwise be. We have a love for sports, and a special obsession with the Spurs. The Tex Mex and especially our breakfast tacos are unrivaled. San Antonians have a ton of pride in their city and that brings a strong sense of community, so you'll find most locals to be incredibly friendly and generous. I was born here but have spent my life traveling throughout the US and the world, and I like to say that other places are great to visit but San Antonio is home.

Downsides… It can get hot as hell and you have to drive everywhere all the time. But traffic really is not bad outside of 4-6pm and it takes 20 mins to get anywhere you want to go. Also, everyone seems to know everyone.

Nnikki- / Living in San Antonio / 1y ago

Pros

Variety of Restaurants & Bars
Theme Parks Very Huge community for film, photography, models, and any artist to make up hair and clothes for photoshoots or events Fashion show annually for awards and nominations Fashion shows at public places for boutiques and clothing stores Downtown offers a lot of local art shows & The pearl Pickle ball is trending here We have mini festivals all around year especially when it’s crawfish season Car meets happen often Good selection of Church communities A lot of people here are into D&D

People are nice here. Very polite. The weather can get hot but enjoy the water parks and pools lol. Besides that, born and raised and I love it SA. Apartments rate fluctuate but you can find cheap ones. The rim or south of the rim area is worth looking into if your not tight on a budget. If you want to make friends, there’s good amount of apartments over by UTSA. A lot of college students hang out at the block and over in that area.

Cons

It’s hot in the summers and we have bipolar weather sometimes but it’s use getting use to. As well, some say traffic. It’s just morning rush-hour, and 5 o’clock rush-hour on 1604. Sometimes lunch hours makes the traffic heavy but ehh. Not bad. Military 1604 is an evitable of getting backed up all the way too Vance Jackson exit but that’s the normal. It ain’t terrible just stay in the left lane. You’ll be good. It won’t spare you too much time. Btw left lane for passing here. Just Fyi. Better be going 10/15 miles pass the speed limit lol. Or stay and watch the strobe lights go off with some beeps 💃🏼💃🏼💃🏼

PROS AND CONS OF LIVING IN SAN ANTONIO TEXAS IN 2022