Living in San Antonio

Ranked by Relocate America as the second top place to live, San Antonio is a thriving, exciting city to call home. Forbes.com recently ranked San Antonio as the nation’s second, top recession-proof city. As the third fastest-growing city in the United States, San Antonio has plenty to offer. More than 1.2 million people call San Antonio home and more than 26 million people visit each year.

San Antonio encompasses 368 square miles and is the seat of Bexar County. San Antonio is located approximately 140 miles northwest of the Gulf of Mexico and 150 miles northeast of the Mexican border.

Abundant job opportunities, a strong economy, low crime rates, a strong business sector, a low cost of living, and affordable housing have attracted new residents to San Antonio, as well as given existing residents good reason to stay.

San Antonio, because it is centrally located between the east and west coasts, and close to other major cities, has become a midpoint for more than 50 percent of the goods that flow between the US and Mexico. Non-stop flights from San Antonio to Mexico also allow for the transport of goods between the US and Mexico.

San Antonio’s diversified economy includes financial services, health care, national defense, and tourism. The South Texas Medical Center is the largest medical research and care provider in South Texas.

Home prices in San Antonio are approximately 30 percent below the national median and are often less than half the cost of comparable homes in other major US cities. The median price for a home in San Antonio is $150,800 and home appreciation has increased by 1.62 since 2007. San Antonio’s cost of living is 24.8% lower than the US average.

San Antonio boasts six, major universities, four community colleges, 67 public high schools, 82 public middle schools, and 213 public elementary schools.

Whether you are looking for a chic urban loft or a historically designated Victorian home, San Antonio can offer the right neighborhood and architecture of your dreams. With the diverse, lovely neighborhoods that encompass San Antonio, you can easily find one that is right for you and your family. Simply click on a neighborhood on the left, and you can read more about the neighborhood culture, school district, commute, demographics, and much more.

Frank Tolbert, a Texas historian, once said, “Every Texan has two homes: his own and San Antonio.” San Antonio truly captures the spirit and essence of Texas. It is the eighth-largest city in the nation and has still retained its own sense of history and tradition, all the while keeping up with the modern economy. Frederick Law Olmsted, a Texan journalist, said,

“We have no city except perhaps New Orleans that can vie, in point, of the picturesque interest that attaches to odd and antiquated foreignness, with San Antonio.”

There are many communities in San Antonio that residents have chosen for their homes, and several of these neighborhoods have various points of interest, such as the China Grove suburb, which has a song written about it that was recorded by the Doobie Brothers. Downtown San Antonio is a growing residential area that is surprisingly affordable for its location. Alamo Heights and Castle Hills are in the North-Central region of San Antonio and are the site for some of the most costly homes in the state. These suburbs are the home-places of Spurs star Tim Duncan, George Strait, and Tommy Lee Jones. San Antonio is a melting pot of cultures and ethnic backgrounds.

These suburbs are the home-places of Spurs star Tim Duncan, George Strait, and Tommy Lee Jones. San Antonio is a melting pot of cultures and ethnic backgrounds. With its mild climate and year-round sunshine, San Antonio has a family, down-home community atmosphere, and is a wonderful town in the beautiful Hill Country of Texas.

San Antonio, TX Statistics>

Population: 2 million
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Median household income: $36K
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Number of homes: 450,000>

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Advice on Choosing a San Antonio, TX Neighborhood

Whether you’re new to the San Antonio area or shopping for your fourth or fifth house, or even a vacation home, the old adage still holds true: the most important thing to remember is location, location, location!

Determining where you want to live, new addition or an old, established neighborhood, the distance you’ll be commuting, streets, highways and public transportation, quality of schools, nearby shopping, public parks, churches, medical facilities, and other requirements combine to make location the number one priority in a home purchase.

If you’ve lived here for some time, or possibly all of your adult life, you’ll have a fairly good knowledge of where you want to live. However, if you’re moving from out of town, you’ll need to do a Sherlock Holmesian investigation before deciding where you want to live.

Here is where you should start:

Get an overview of San Antonio, TX by reading our “San Antonio, TX Info” section on the left.
The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce will tout the business and commercial segments,
The San Antonio Conventions & Tourism Bureau will tell you about attractions and entertainment.
The City of San Antonio website will supply tax information, public transportation, and city services information.

In fact, there’s hardly any facet of our community that isn’t covered somewhere on the Internet.

So the big job of finding information is pretty much solved.