Texas Folks tell me about Houston & San Antonio

[ides]

Dh is interviewing for his fellowship at both Houston and San Antonio. I'm not too keen on moving to Texas but I've never been there. I had a unpleasant 5 years in TN and am a bit 'scared' of the south. So, anyone familiar with these two locals please tell me about them - the good, the bad & the ugly.

thanks!

[moonlight]

What part of TN? I would say Texas isn't like TN at all. But I'm a Texan that loves nothing more than to be in Texas! We love the Texas hill country. We are kicking ourselves for not pushing harder for a match in S.A.

Needless to say we are taking our first family vaca to S.A. next month---- can't wait!!

[DCJenn]

Well, then you better stop on by the 'hood!

San Antonio is great city. It's got issues, like really crappy public transportation and a penchant for building ever larger suburbs without the infrastructure to support them. BUT, there's a ton to do and the people are very friendly. The cost of living in Texas is LOW but in SA they get you w/ property taxes. I pay far more for the SA house than we do for the DC house and they cost about the same.

Now, I can specifically tell you about the downtown historic areas. We're central to everything. It feels like you're on vacation every day. We have everything you'd need within walking distance except a grocery store. (rumors have one coming in to the far side of my 'hood this year though) My neighborhood is OLD, like 1850s and before old. My house was built in 1907 and it's one of the newer houses on the street. (no joke) The neighborhood immediately adjacent is the King William district with huge Victorian houses.

Now, culturally, my neighborhood is like most changing neighborhoods. It was first reclaimed from the prostitutes and drug dealers by gay couples and artists because you could buy a house for nothing. They rebuilt these two neighborhoods over the past 30 years. Now, prices and rents are higher and some of the artists have moved to other historic neighborhoods with in the downtown area. (we're DOWNTOWN but there are four or five other historic neighborhoods in SA.) Alamo Heights is another historic neighborhood but it never ever fell on hard times. It's the chi-chi inner city neighborhood (think Georgetown in DC) with the fabulous school district. My school district is pretty horrible but the school itself is great. I live in the little bastion of liberals. We sort of all self-select here in downtown.

We have had friends live in outlying suburbs and friends who live in some of the other inner neighborhoods. They all love coming to visit the big city but are pretty happy in their suburbs. I can't do it. The suburbs are vast and huge and you can find a house in every price point from under 100k to 10 million dollars. But, you have to drive everywhere. Even being downtown, I still had to buy a car when we moved here from DC because you cannot exist in SA in the summer without a car. I'm all for walking to the store and to restaurants but longer journeys? you would die.

The military, USAA, and tourism are big industries. There are also lots of cyber security government agencies here too, like the NSA.

Jenn

Jenn

[SoonerTexan]

I've only visited San Antonio a few times, but DF is from Houston.

Pros: It's affordable, loads to do, near the beach, lots of family friendly suburbs, warm weather (could be a con--seasons don't exist)

Cons: The humidity, oh the humidity! Hurricanes, traffic is hell, some areas are downright scary, the beach largely sucks

The suburbs are great, but if your DH is going to be working in the city, the traffic is just horrible. It takes FFIL 1-1.5 hours a day to commute back and forth from the north suburbs.

That being said, we fell in love with Baylor/the Med Center, and are still a little bummed we aren't ending up there.

In short, IMO, It's not a bad place to spend a few years, but I wouldn't want to live there forever

ETA: The Woodlands is amazing

[moonlight]

Well, then you better stop on by the 'hood!

Jenn

Jenn

Was this offer for me or her? I'd love to stop by and see your 'hood! I've heard so much about it the past couple years!!! I haven't been to S.A. for over 10 years. I can't believe it. We used to go every year when I was growing up.

To the OP- I'd pick S.A. over Houston any day of the week. On the other hand (depending on your DH's specialty) Houston might be a better 'training' experience for him.

[DCJenn]

You, silly!

Come on down.

Jenn

[moonlight]

you, silly!

Come on down.

Jenn

yay!!!!!!!!!

[weeniegeniewife]

Re: Texas Folks tell me about Houston & San Antonio

DH did his peds uro fellowship in Houston at Texas Children's. He said Houston is a great place to train and it has fab restaurants. However, he says there is bad crime there as well and lots of bugs! He was there for two years and couldn't wait to leave.

Probaby not what you wanted to hear, but there you have it.

[ides]

Thanks for all the replys! We were in Nashville when in TN. It's a pretty mondern and cosmopolitan town but the bible beltyness of it really clashed with my personality. It's just too conservative and old fashioned for me.

Thanks Jenn for all the San Antonio details. I think I would prefer SA over Houston. I don't do well in the humid heat so I can guess that if we were in Houston I would be indoors 24/7 with the a/c blasting. I over heat easily and am not a beach person. On the other hand, I deal much better with dry heat so hot and dry would be okay. I'm really not a suburb person so I like the idea of SA's downtown neighborhoods. I also love walking so that is a plus.

Both programs are desirable to dh. The one in Houston is with Baylor and the one in SA is at the SA Hand Cntr in conjunction with the Univ. The SA program has the dr who's written the bible on hand surgery so dh is excited to meet the man (star struck sort of). Dork.

[DCJenn]

We have humidity here, too, just not like Houston. We're only two and a half hours from the beach so it can be pretty nasty here at times. You DO adapt. and besides, you can grow banana trees in your front yard.

Downtown has lots and lots of rental places- both houses and condos. The other plus is being downtown, to get to the medical center, he'd be going against traffic both ways to work and it is maybe a 12 minute drive. I'll PM you some information and websites so that you can get an idea of the various neighborhoods.

The weather here in south Texas is insane. I thought DC weather was schizo but here is wacko. Yesterday was 70 degrees and sunny. Last night we got inches of rain and today it's super windy and tonight it's supposed to be 20 degrees.

Jenn

[Vishenka69]

As far as I'm concerned SA's only redeeming qualities are Jenn and steak at Bohanan's. I've lived in a humid NYC most of my life but you haven't experienced hot and humid until you've been in TX. I might be able to deal with it for a finite time of a fellowship but after only a week we both realized that climate-wise we're NE people.

Jenn's hood is awesome though. We loved the bohemian vibe, restaurants, houses, etc.

[SoonerTexan]

Personally, I'm a big fan of Dallas...too bad that isn't an option

[GrayMatterWife]

I had a unpleasant 5 years in TN and am a bit 'scared' of the south.

I think it may be important to recognize that Texas is not the South, if by "South," you mean south-of-the-Mason/Dixon-line, sweet-tea-drinking, good-ol'-South. The culture has some Southern aspects, like cotillions, but that tends to be more with the upper society levels in major cities like Houston and Dallas. Texas is better understood as being southwestern within an independent spirit.

A lot of people from Texas are like lifelong Mahattanities--they can't understand why anyone would live anywhere else. It's a deeply engrained sense of identity.

But, that being said, the state tends to be very welcoming of new folks. Probably because the residents are used to it--there are a lot of transplants in the major cities.

San Antonio beats Houston, in my opinion. Smaller, better traffic situation, less spread out, less industrial.

[medpedspouse]

Re: Houston

Very true about the hummidity and heat but S.A has that too. If it is just for fellowship, I think both cities have tons to offer.

In Houston, I would bet that there is probably a large contingency of any culture/nationality there. I loved this about living there. Going to the farmer's market and listening to different languages - and the food - as a foodie it was overwhelming. I could never hit every spot....and dive.

We were "innerloopers" (lived inside 610) because we wanted to live near the medcenter. Therefore, we did not have the commuting stress and had the advantages of living near the museum district and rice village...very cool neighborhoods. Also, Houston is a hub - you can fly anywhere...I miss getting great deals on flights.

Traffic is bad - so is crime but I found it to be no different than any other city its size. The one thing that is different is the roads...the streets have potholes that the city is always trying to fix but never get around to since every time it rains, a new pothole is formed.

I don't think I would want to make Houston my forever home but would take it over San Antonio (sorry Jenn) for a short stint. I just find Houston to be more multicultural than SA.

Where is RocketBoy to chime in for HTown??