Here is the transcript for the above video.
Hi. I'm Pam Roberts, team leader for the Gateway Group at Keller Williams. Welcome to San Antonio Homes Insider. Today we're going to talk about the top 10 pros and cons of living in San Antonio.
First, let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am a born and raised Texan, and so I do know a little bit about Texas, and particularly San Antonio.
Pro and Con #1
The #1 PRO for living in San Antonio is it's a big time city, but with a small town feel. And you have a great big lifestyle that goes along with that. You have all of the amenities that a large city has to offer. There's plenty of shopping, restaurants, all those things. But, the other side of the coin is that it does have that small town feel. You may be in the city, but then within about five, 10 minutes you can drive and be in the Hill Country. I'd have to say the #1 CON about living in San Antonio is the traffic and construction. Because the city and area is growing so rapidly, almost every road is under construction, which means delays, particularly during the commute hour. However, the commutes are not that long, so overall it's not that big of a deal.
Pro and Con #2
#2 PRO for living in San Antonio is the diversity and culture. San Antonio is one of the oldest cities in Texas. It was established in 1718, and so we have a long history, and that means we have a lot of variety as well. We have Mexican culture, we have Southwestern influences, and we also have German cultures that influenced this area. What makes up our diverse culture is really the lifestyle, the restaurants, the events that go on, as well as the nightlife. There really is a wide culture range. The #2 CON for living here in San Antonio has to do with allergies. And so if you suffer from allergies, you have to know that we do have what's called cedar fever here. And that's because junipers and cedar trees that grow in the area and the Hill Country, and during the spring season they let off this yellow pollen, which creates what we call cedar fever, and it can be debilitating for those that suffer from allergies.
Pro and Con #3
#3 PRO for living in San Antonio is the military-friendly atmosphere. We have a wide range of bases that are located here, and the military is really respected, and they are offered all kinds of discounts. So if you are military, either retiring here or coming here as a PCS, know that you're going to get a lot of benefits as a military person living in San Antonio. Well, #3 negative, or CON, for living in San Antonio is we have no NFL, we have no MLB, we don't have a hockey team. However, we do have the Spurs, and the Spurs are very beloved. As a matter of fact, the motto here is go Spurs go, pretty much year round.
Pro and Con #4
The #4 PRO for living in San Antonio is the mild climate that we have here. We actually have 220 average days of sunshine throughout the year. We have very little, if no, snow. It might last a day and then melt off the following day. So it's pretty to look at, but it doesn't last long. And we really have very little rain, although we do get some fog. And it usually burns off by midmorning or midafternoon. But it's kind of interesting that we have fog. That was something I was surprised of when I got here. While we're on the subject of climate, the number #$ CON, for living in San Antonio is the summer heat. And during August it really is pretty miserable. So you're going to want to stay indoors or near a body of water. And the good thing is we have a lot of opportunities here in San Antonio and the surrounding areas to enjoy the water. We have many rivers that people enjoy floating during the summer. And we also have Canyon Lake and Medina Lake, if you enjoy boating.
Pro and Con #5
The #5 PRO for living in San Antonio is the cost of living. And I did a separate video on that. I'm going to link that information down below. So if you get a chance, take a look at that video as well. When you compare San Antonio as an example to San Diego, the cost of living is about 78% less than San Diego, taking into account the average housing, the groceries, the medical, all of the different utilities that you might have, owning a home here. So again, the cost of living is a great pro for living in San Antonio. The #5 CON for living in San Antonio has to do with cost of living, which is the lower average income. Where you may have earned a certain amount in a different city, maybe in California, when you move to San Antonio in the same industry, you might earn a little bit less.
Pro and Con #6
The #6 PRO for living in San Antonio is entertainment. We have so many things to do and see in San Antonio. It's just amazing. We have the parks, such as Six Flags. We also have SeaWorld. We also have a variety of museums. We have major events, such as the Rodeo as well as Fiesta. And then we also have all kinds of smaller outlying events and things to do in the towns outside of San Antonio. We also have a world-class zoo. So overall, there's plenty of fun things to do, places to go, fun things to see, and activities to be had. The #6 CON for living in San Antonio has to be tourist season, which is actually pretty much year round here because of our climate. And what happens is when you're trying to go downtown, say during the holiday season and Christmas, it's a little bit difficult to find parking. It can be more congested. And you may need to have reservations for a restaurant if you wanted to visit one at the River Walk.
Pro and Con #7
#7 PRO for living in San Antonio has to be our food. And it's not just Tex-Mex, which is fantastic, but we also have a variety of other food as well. I'm going to put a link below for an Instagram account that I follow, and it's called s.a.foodie, and they highlight all different kinds of restaurants, breakfast locations, food trucks, different places throughout the city. And it's a great tool that I use often, and I think you'll find it very helpful as well. There's a lot of pictures there. So if you want to explore food in San Antonio a little bit further, I suggest you check out that Instagram account. I also did a video on a local restaurant called Smashin’ Crab. And I'm going to put the link to that below because it's a great seafood restaurant, which many people may not even realize we have a great seafood option here in San Antonio. The #7 CON for living in San Antonio kind of relates to the cost of living, and that is taxes. We have property taxes and we have HOA fees. And in fact, some of the locations in San Antonio have multiple HOAs for one subdivision. So those are things that if you're looking to purchase a home here, you're going to want to take a look at.
Pro and Con #8
So moving on to #8 PRO for living in San Antonio, we have a great walking city. And there're so many places where you can do walks, or hikes, or things like that, here in the area. We have great city parks. We also have local state parks. There's also the fun outlying towns like Bandera, Fredericksburg, Gruene, and New Braunfels. All of those are great walking towns, and there's plenty of little shops, restaurants, and things to do when you visit those small towns. The #8 CON for living in San Antonio has to be snakes, critters, and deer. Oh my. The most common snakes that you'll find here in South Texas would be rattlesnakes as well as coral snakes. The only time you might run into a snake would be if you're doing walking out in the wilderness areas, or areas that are less populated because it's their natural habitat. We do back up to a preserve where I live, and they can get into our neighborhood. Personally, I really enjoy seeing all of the deer that are around San Antonio and the Hill Country, but they can be a hazard, especially at dusk or at night. So you do have to be prepared, when you're driving around, to kind of be on alert. And since we're kind of on the subject of critters, I will say we do have fire ants and we have scorpions, neither of which are deadly, but they are there and they're a nuisance. And so you do have to be aware of that, and you may have to have pest control in your area so that you're protected, and it kind of deters them from being around your home.
Pro and Con #9
Okay, we're getting closer to the end of the list. Our #9 PRO for living in San Antonio and the surrounding area is wild flowers and wine country. We live very close to the Texas Wine Country. Fredericksburg, Sisterdale. All of those areas have wonderful wineries, and there's actually Best Tours that take small groups out for wine tours. It's a great thing to do for a date afternoon and I highly recommend it. San Antonio is part of the Hill Country and we do have a ton of wild flowers, especially in the early spring. Enjoy the beautiful weather and the scenery and the flowers. The #9 CON for living in San Antonio has to also do with the weather. And we do get flash flooding here when we have heavy rains, which can happen in the springtime mostly. But because we have hills and we live on limestone, there isn't a lot of runoff, and so there can be low areas that do get a lot of water. Turn around, don't drown, when you see high level rain gauges and there are barricades.
Pro and Con #10
Lastly, the #10 CON for living in San Antonio would be the quarries. We do have quite a few limestone quarries that are here, in and around the area. And they can be noisy when they're doing their blasting. Then there's also a lot of rock trucks that result, moving to and from location. So you just have to be aware of that when you're planning on purchasing a home. Just take note where the quarries are in relationship to where you're planning to build, or whether you're planning to buy.
