Can somebody point me in the right direction for researching all aspects of San Antonio? Family consists of my wife and myself, 2 small boys, and 2 golden retrievers. We would likely want to live in a suburb.

Main items of note:
Neighborhoods (larger homes and safe)
If land values are reasonable, we would entertain buying a home with acreage (2-10 acres).
School Districts (great ratings and safe)
Nearby parks would be nice if we cannot get the acreage.

Thanks!

http://texags.com/forums/62/topics/2006777

I'd love to help you find a home. texagsvaltosca@gmail.com

Castle Hills
Hollywood Park

Both have 1-2 acre lots, HP is zoned to Chruchill HS, Bradley MS and Hidden Forest S. Great value, you don't have to deal with suburban traffic which is akin to driving IH-10 before the new Katy Freeway mods. HP has a great sense of community. SIL lives there and they love it.

Castle Hills is even better from a value of what you're getting and where you're getting it. You are in NEISD , but the schools are iffy compared to HP. You can have school choice though. I must say, Castle Hills ES is really good. IT's a year-round school. straddles Loop 410. Virtually no traffic.

Full disclosure, We live in Alamo Heights. most lots are .25 to .5 acre. Same deal as HP and CH, you just pay more and commute even less. We love the sense of community and the school district is great. its walkable to some extent and you're in the heart of the action.

All three give you your own police and fire/ems, as they are cities within the city of SA. SAPD does not give a damn about northsiders outside of speeding tickets. If you have a problem, AHPD will be at your doorstep in 3 minutes as they police aggressively.

Great info and thanks for the link to the other thread...I'm currently in information overload phase.

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Great info and thanks for the link to the other thread...I'm currently in information overload phase.

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I may be new to Real Estate but I'm not new to San Antonio. I'm also an Accounting grad and know many people in the industry and public accounting realms if that helps!!
(210) 920-1728

Castle Hills PD, aka Castle Hassle, love to dish out traffic tickets.

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Castle Hassle, Hollywood Park, Shavano Park, Selma, Windcrest, Schertz, Leon Valley, Terrell Hills, and Alamo Whites love to dish out traffic tickets.

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FIFY

Live in Rogers Ranch and it's great. good access to Stone Oak but don't have to deal with it all the time.

The great thing about RR is Vinyard Ranch Elementary, Lopez Middle and Reagan HS. Hard pressed to find three better schools.

Just made the move from Houston to SA back in April. My understanding so far:

• SA has far fewer suburbs like Houston has suburbs. There are areas of town which sort of correlate to different Houston 'burbs, but don't have the plethora like Houston does w/ the likes of Katy, The Woodlands, Tomball, Cypress, Sugar Land, Pearland, etc, etc.
• For schools, when I moved I was told to stick w/ Boerne ISD or Northside ISD. Alamo Heights is also great, but looking at much smaller lots, older and more pricey homes. Don't know much about NEISD, but think Churchill HS is viewed pretty good, as well as schools near Stone Oak
• We wanted to find land when we moved too, but ultimately gave up on that. Some nice lots up 281 in Bulverde and Spring Branch, but 281 is horrible north of 1604. Think Highway 6 or 1960 - tons of traffic and stop lights.
• Tons and tons of new housing on the west side, and they are about to open a new Northside high school near Taft. But 1604 not all highway yet out there. But the houses they are building were typical nice new suburban housing.
• We ended up in Rogers Ranch, but on the west side of Rogers Ranch Blvd which put us in Northside ISD. Schools are great so far, much better than the crap bag that was HISD schools. Kind of sad, really.
• Rogers Ranch has been great because we feel very centrally located. Can easily take 281 or I-10 to downtown, and rather easy access to Shavano Park, Stone Oak, La Cantera/The Rim. I don't feel the west side would be like that, but perhaps I just don't know that area very well yet.
• Coming from Houston, you will appreciate the amount of places which do NOT charge for parking. That has been a major shock to us.
• That being said, we went to a show at the Majestic a few weeks back and were also shocked that there was no valet. I don't mind paying for parking when it is hot as balls in Sept, and the family is all dressed up for a show, and rather the kids not have to walk by 10 homeless people between the lot and the theater.
• The roads in this down baffle me, as none are straight. I swear Huebner (fyi, pronounced Heeb-ner, wtf?) snakes in like 10 different directions.
• The cloverleaf at 1604 and I-10 was designed by a certified moron. or a masochist.
• When you move here, half the people you tell that you just moved will ask if you are in the military
• As stated above, it gets hot as balls in the summer, but weather is still 100x than Houston. Evenings and mornings are actually pleasant most of the time, even in August. Houston sucks from May 15-Oct 1.
• Really miss Houston restaurants. For a city that is often cited as one of the fattest in the nation (right along w/ Houston), you'd think there would be better food options.
• Traffic can be bad here, but still a breeze compared to Houston.

Whitetail said:

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The cloverleaf at 1604 and I-10 was designed by a certified moron. or a masochist.

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Local trick is to skip the cloverleaf and use the frontage road instead, although more people are figuring that out.

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Yeah, it's a very old interchange designed when traffic was almost nonexistent out that way.

Still, I avoid it usually by using the frontage road.

The same moron must have designed the 281N 410W flyover. Who thought it was a good idea to dump traffic onto 410 in front of the busiest exit ramp in the area? Most times you are better off taking the airport exit or go east and then do the turnaround at Nacogdoches.

Same moron who just designed the brand new 1604 south to 151 east flyover. Now instead 2 lanes of 1604, then an exit to 3 frontage lanes queued to dump into 2 lanes on 151, we get 2 1604 lanes, then an exit to a 1 lane flyover that dumps to 2 lanes on 151.

Seriously WTF. Who thought going 2 to 1 to 2 was a good idea? Now one of the 1604 lane gets bumper to bumper in the morning.

A quick read on why I-10/1604 cloverleaf is the way it is:

http://www.texashighwayman.com/101604yield.shtml

slappy said:

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A quick read on why I-10/1604 cloverleaf is the way it is:

http://www.texashighwayman.com/101604yield.shtml

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That was pretty fascinating!

Need to redo the whole thing now that that side of town has grown. My daily commute goes through there.

I don't really mind traffic, though.

We live off of 281 just north of town. Heading toward Spring Branch you get larger, newer homes, often with acreage, while still being close to amenities. You have NEISD, Judson ISD and Comal ISD- all pretty good. Traffic on 281 can be bad, but I can make it from 8 miles north of 1604 to airport area in 30-40 minutes, even in heavy traffic.

PPAag06 said:

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Can somebody point me in the right direction for researching all aspects of San Antonio? Family consists of my wife and myself, 2 small boys, and 2 golden retrievers. We would likely want to live in a suburb.

Main items of note:
Neighborhoods (larger homes and safe)
If land values are reasonable, we would entertain buying a home with acreage (2-10 acres).
School Districts (great ratings and safe)
Nearby parks would be nice if we cannot get the acreage.

Thanks!

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PPAag06 - Shoot Blake or I an e-mail, and we will help provide you with any information you need. I live in the Stone Oak area, and really like the northern portion of San Antonio. There is certainly traffic, but also routes to get around it. I agree with the previous post about the Bulverde area, and would add Timberland Park. Your price point will be a deciding factor concerning your options. When you send us an e-mail, let me know where you will be working, so we can consider you commute. Also, include a needs/wants list for your new home. With regard to schools, there are several great options regardless of the district in which you reside. The Basis charter school is fantastic.

Sincerely,

Bill Barkley
Bill@rvreco.com
Blake Mayerhof
Blake@rvreco.com

Thanks for all the help. This is all contingent upon a job opportunity which popped up. I'm not real worried about traffic and am more concerned about location / schools. I have done quite a bit of research and now have a good starting point for what we are looking for. The help here was priceless to form a starting point. If this heats up I will reach out to some of you who have responded.

Thanks!

I'm in bulverde. Have been for 16 years. Growing fast but still reasonable costs and acreage. Comal schools, smithson valley are good but so are the NE ISD schools Reagan and Johnson. Much quieter at 46 and 281. Everything you need and still close enough to drive downtown and go eat on the river or go to a spurs game. Definitely better basketball in SA! I grew up in Spring. Spring high. That area has really gone down hill. Did a 5 month stint as DM in houston this year. SA traffic and other things are much better. Hope you make it here and get out of there.