Reviews & Comments
San Antonio, TX
Variety of cultures and recreation -
7/27/2016Many city parks all over town, most with walking and bicycle trails, some with skateboard parks.
Several state parks up to two hours away in any direction, the gulf coast about 3 hours southeast, Austin is two hours north.
Theme parks: Sea World on the NW side (new dolphin swim attraction), Fiesta Texas Six Flags on the north side, Schlitterbahn in New Braunfels about an hour NE of town.
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Culture: very diverse. Used to be primarily Hispanic heritage, and the parades are Hispanic still, yet restaurants include Eastern heritage now.
I can honestly say that growing up in a city of diverse ethnicity has helped me realize that people are people no matter the color of their skin. I've grown up having friends of various cultures and so have our children.
San Antonio, TX
Keeps growing and growing and growing -
7/27/2016I've lived in San Antonio for 45 years and have seen tremendous growth in my lifetime.
Economy: What used to be primarily a tourist and military city has expanded to several business industries, so the economy has more variety.
Texas is a red state, business friendly, so new businesses have been moving in for the past several years. The school districts in San Antonio are constantly building more schools to try to keep up with the population explosion.
San Antonio, TX
Variety of education available -
7/27/2016Public Education: high stakes standardized testing for children, though there's been pressure to reduce it in recent years, and rely more on class test scores. Texas doesn't use common core in the curriculum at this time.
Some will spend an exorbitant amount of money for a house in a certain school boundary. I don't agree with this decision. All public schools are teaching the test. It's just in a rich neighborhood.
Christian schools are great! There's no standardized testing and the kids get recess, the attention they need, and learn what's necessary to succeed in life, not just for a test.
Homeschooling is very popular, too, because so many parents have concerns about the quality of public schools.
Colleges and universities: Several, including a medical and dental school.
San Antonio, TX
One of the most affordable places to live in the c -
7/27/2016I don't know why this city isn't ever on the lists of lowest cost of living?
Just look at housing online and you'll see what I mean. Those who move in from out of state buy so much more house than what they had before, they feel like they're in a mansion, so to speak.
Gas prices are the lowest anywhere, even in the state.
It makes it difficult to afford to move out of town or state, given there's only so much you can get for your own house.
San Antonio, TX
Very humid! All year long! -
7/27/2016Humidity makes the heat in the summer feel hotter (100+ temps feel a few degrees hotter and heat exhaustion is a real threat) and the cold in the winter feel colder, to the bone colder.
Summer swim teams are big here! Just about every neighborhood with a junior Olympic size pool has a summer swim team. There are opportunities for year round swimming for those kids who are interested.
A common myth is that winter clothing isn't necessary. Usually, the people wear coats only in the morning and night outside, not needing them on sunny afternoons. I recommend thermals for days that get to freezing temps, because it will feel like it's in the 20's. Those days don't happen too often. Even those from snowy climates admit that it feels cold here at those times. It's extremely rare for it to snow here, but we do have ice storms which will close schools and some businesses. We don't have any snowplows.
We get 3' of rain each year and the common joke is that it's all at once. We have droughts with water restrictions, severe floods, then weeks later back to restrictions.
I recommend the best times to visit are between October through May.
The climate is the main reason we want to move. My family loves to play in the snow and enjoy being outside in the summer.