Possible Move to San Antonio!

I recommend the Shertz/Cibolo area! I live there and work downtown! I love coming home, it is quieter! I lived in Converse all my life, but chose not to stay there! It is okay, my father and in-laws still live there. I like Cibolo better so far. I live less than a mile away from all the schools in the area. I would stay away from the Helotes, 1604/281 areas, the traffic is absolutely HORENDOUS and the area is growing so much that it is busting at the seams!

Hi L.! My name is S. S.. In regards to your question about where there are good areas to move to…I would recommend moving up to Schertz or Selma (away from the busy traffic of the upscale NW side). We live in Converse, but would have chosen a more "quiet" neighborhood in Selma or Schertz. There are some beautiful homes near The Quarry area (located on HWY 281), as well as the Forum Area (on the NE side of San Antonio near the 1604 and I-35 North interchange). You can also look at living in Helotes on the NW side if you don’t mind a commute. Check out the Armadillo homes in Laurel Canyon…very beautiful. (We live in an Armadillo home in Windfield Subdivision in Converse).

Good luck on your possible move! I hope this helps. Feel free to contact me if you would like to talk on the phone. You may reach me at: ###-###-#### (home) or ###-###-#### (cell). My e-mail address is: ____@____.com My website is: www.retroaccessories.wetpaint.com (I sell jewelry and accessories if you like to SHOP!) I also sell lia sophia jewelry. Very beautiful and “chunky” jewelry pieces. Please visit www.liasophia.com for a peek at our exclusive jewelry lines!

I hope to hear from you soon!

Sincerely,

S. S.

P.S. My husband and I have 3 year old twin girls and a 7 1/2 month old son!

Yes, nieghborhoods in the North East,Northdide area and Stone Oak are all very nice areas to live and for kiddos to go to school. We live in the Alamo Hieghts area ( North east). the public schools for elementry and jr.high are fairly small. Also if you have a littel one with special needs like PPCD ( speach delay ect.). Howard Early learning school is beyond wonderful!

i hope the interview goes well!
Also if I may... what field is he applying for?

Hi L.,

My family and I just moved from the DFW area just a few months ago. The good news is that we love it here compared to Dallas(we are both originally from NYC). We moved to an area off of 281 about 4 miles north of 1604. We also were looking to stick with the same price range you mentioned. Stone Oak is a nice area close to us but it is a little pricey-most homes start at 250-300k. You want to stick with the NEISD-Northeast Independent School District. We were told to stick to anything in North San Antonio-south is the downtown area anyway. In our area there is a lot of growth going on. But north of us is sort of "country"-very pretty, but if you live there you will have to travel a bit to do most things. The minor downsides to living in San Antonio is the traffic/congestion in some areas and it a little more humid here. The advantages is that it is still very affordable compared to other areas of the country and there is are alot of great things for families to do here.
I also joined a group of SAHM's via meetup.com. It is the north San Antonio group-you can ckeck it out through the website. It is a pretty active group that keeps my children and I busy as well as happy:) My children are 3 1/2(boy), 15 mos.(girl) and we are having our third (boy) in a few weeks. Please feel free to email me directly if you have any more questions. Hope this helps and good luck!

L.

I have to agree stay North West. Stone Oak is very nice also there is a new are going up and all brand new is Alamo Ranch it is loctated 1604 and Culbera and it is all very nice and clean and schools are all brand new and very good. But that area will be the new hot spot just like Stone Oak. But stay far away from South it is older and updates lessen. But good luck!

Hi L.,
I am a REALTOR here in San Antonio and the market is great here. The NW side of town is really booming and NISD school district is very good. North Central is good too. I have put together relocation packages and information on many schools here locally and if you would like me to mail that to you please send me your e-mail address. I will send this to you with no obligations just as a Mom who knows relocating to a new city can be tough! There are many Mom's Clubs here it just depends where you live, which branch you go to.
P.S. I love your kids names, they are so cute! :)

I agree with AMY. She gives good advice. I can also giv eoyu my Aunt's email address...she is a realator & can help you out. Her daughter actually lives in the SToneOak area & it is very nice.
Northside & NorthEast school districts are the best. All 3 of my girls attend NE & we have been very pleased throughout the years.
Inez Moya - Inez Moya [____@____.com]or '____@____.com'
Hope this helps

L., For the price range you are looking at, there are plenty of home in the N/NW of San Antonio. (This is the area we are currently living in) As far as school districts, my kids go to Northside Independent School Distric (NIS) and we have had execellent service from them. Both of my kids have behavior issues and the school staff have done an outstanding job of helping us teach them better ways to handle problem than lashing out they way the like to (especially by screaming). As far as local mom's groups/clubs, I am still looking for those myself as we have only been here since February, but if you do move here and want someone to chat/get together with, just send me a note.
Debi :-)

Hi L.,
I live in the little city of Windcrest, it's located where I 35 and I 410 split on the east side of town. The homes are in your price range, yes they are older homes but are very well kept up. We have our own police & fire dept. Our own mayor, town hall, post office. We also have dozens of community groups. It's a very quiet community. However I don't know much about the schools in this area since my kids are all grown.
The Northwest side is growing really fast and a few of the roads in that area will be becoming 6 lane highways, so you may want to ask your realator about that if you don't want to live by a major highway. We lived on the NW side for 5 yrs but when the major highways started popping up is when we moved.
Good luck.

I've lived in San Antonio pretty much all my life and the only area of town I recommend is the North Central side. I lived on the NW side of town for about 15 yrs until it got so bad we had to move. I had the tires and rims stolen off my car in my OWN driveway. I now live in the Stone Oak area and LOVE it. I wouldn't live anywhere else in town! I love being minutes away from good restaurants and lots of shopping!

As for school districts...the Northside school district used to be the premier district, but you'll find that the NEISD is up and coming as well. The price range you've listed is about the median for the area, so you'll have no problem finding a house. If you're looking for a little bit older neighborhood that has an East Dallas-Lakewood feel, then look at Alamo Heights (78209). Alamo Heights is very nice, but you're probably going to get less house for your money.

Here are the main zip codes for the NC side of town: Stone Oak - 78258, 78259, 78260; Deerfield- 78248; Shavano- 78231; Gold Canyon and surrounding area- 78232.

My main advice to you is to steer well clear of the South, West, and East sides. You will not be safe there. My grandma lives on the west side and has an almost weekly attempted break-in. If she weren't so stubborn and her house worth so little, we'd have moved her out of there years ago. Also, do not look anywhere inside Loop 410, unless its Alamo Heights, Olmos Park, or Castle Hills.

We just moved to San Antonio a month & a half ago from Baltimore and absolutely love it here. I agree with the other responses that the north side of the city is the area to be in. We live just east of 1604 & 281 (Redland Oaks elem school)& find that it is very easy to get anywhere and super close to anything you could possibly want (shopping/restaurants/churches/schools). The TX Dept of Educ has an excellent website to find out info about schools (maps, district/school websites, test scores, demographics, etc): http://deleon.tea.state.tx.us/sdl/Forms/mapWin.aspx
You do need to ask realtors/school districts about enrollment capping. When we were looking for houses there were a couple elementary schools that were capped (wouldn't allow new students to enroll), so you would go to a different school than the one next to your house.
With regard to SAHM groups, I have been involved with MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) groups for the past 4 years and think they are wonderful. You can search on the MOPS website for groups in a city (www.MOPS.org). There are at least 10 groups that would be close to you if you lived in the 281 & 1604 vicinity. You do not have to attend the church that holds the groups meetings. If you email a group I'm sure they would get you plugged in with their playgroups.
If you need a realtor, I can recommend the one we used - he was great!

Good districts -- Northeast ISD, Northside ISD, Alamo Heights ISD. There are actually a whole bunch here, and I don't know about all of them, but you probably want to steer clear of San Antonio ISD and definitely stay away from Edgewood ISD. The housing market here is in flux, but cheaper than DFW in general. Maybe you'll be able to get a bit more for your money!