Houston or San Antonio for outdoorsy families? (Austin, Corpus Christi: to rent, insurance)

[aen935]

Hello! My family and I are moving to San Antonio in the middle of July. I know I may be totally crazy to be reconsidering the area we move so close to the date, but I am starting to wonder if the Houston area and/or the Gulf Coast would be an area that encompassed more of what we're looking for.

Don't get me wrong. I love San Antonio! I've been there twice and have been doing research for 6 months in preparation for our move, but I'm still having a difficult time with some things. We are coming from Michigan and we LOVE water! We are constantly at the beach in the summer, as you're never more than 10 miles from a body of water here. We're also avid hikers and enjoy camping and being outdoors in general. Coming from Michigan, we are used to forests and water.

With that information, the more I look into it, the more it seems like the Houston area (north for forests, south for water - am I wrong about this?) would fit more of what we love and are looking for.

I love the beach and a life goal is to have a house directly on the beach. I also love the Hill Country and could see that area being stellar for great hikes and more interesting landscape.

Does anyone know if there is any lake/water life in the San Antonio area (I know about tubing on the river in San Marcos and New Braunfels as well as Canyon Lake, but I wonder if there's anything else)? I see that Corpus Christi is between 2-3 hours away, which is great, but does anyone know if there are more local areas for regular day trips?

Or would the Houston area be more ideal for what we are looking for? The only reason I hadn't considered that area when we made a trip down in January is because of hurricanes. We don't deal with many natural disasters in Michigan so I was worried and wanted to avoid hurricanes at first. However, the closer we get to our move date and the more houses we look at, I've set aside those fears and started more seriously consider whether Houston and/or the surrounding area would fit us better.

A little more info for better guidance in advice:

- We're in our mid 30s/mid 40s
- We have 13 year old twins
- We are going to try homeschooling this year so schools aren't a huge concern, especially as I hear Houston and San Antonio has some great school systems if we switch back to public schools.
- My husband and I both work from home so commute and work opportunities aren't a factor
- We value having space to breath in our home (aka we don't want a neighborhood where homes are stacked on top of each other)
- We would like to keep our monthly mortgage (mortgage + insurances + property taxes) around $2,000 or less a month. We have been looking at homes in the $200-300K range.

Thank you in advance for any info and advice! Much appreciated!!

[SugLandDAd]

San Antonio's access to the Hill Country is difficult to compete with. There are deeper sections of the rivers, and dammed lakes that have boating on them. Warning..... there are not a lot of beaches in the Hill Country.

Hiking and camping are more of a strong point for San Antonio, than for Houston. We hike and camp from Sugar Land, but often its a drive of 2 hours to get there. Exception being Brazos Bend State Park, about 20 mins from our house. Nice trails there.

We live in Sugar Land, just SW of Houston, and like you, we like the beach, but we are salt water folk. We have a beach place right on the Gulf of Mexico, and we can be there in about an hour and 20 mins. Great salt water fishing and crabbing. You can drive on most beaches here, so you dont have to carry everything out to the sand.

Houston is a good food town, and way ahead of San Antonio for events, museums, music etc.... If those things are important, you might lean Houston area.

Our attitude toward hurricanes is that our place in Sugar Land is relatively safe from them. We didn't flood in any of the hurricanes or rain events. Our beach place could well take a hit, but its kind of a game of chance.... there is a good chance we can get 15 years out of it without it being washed away, and for us, that's all we will need.

So its down to live in SA and take long trips to the beach, or Houston and take long trips to hike and camp. Given that you are from a fresh water environment, you will likely feel more comfortable with the "lake life" in San Antonio. Perhaps the best solution is to rent in San Antonio for a while and get a feel for it. You can make trips to the ocean, and the lakes and rivers and see where you feel happiest.

[houston-nomad]

Originally Posted by SugLandDAd

San Antonio's access to the Hill Country is difficult to compete with. There are deeper sections of the rivers, and dammed lakes that have boating on them. Warning..... there are not a lot of beaches in the Hill Country.

Hiking and camping are more of a strong point for San Antonio, than for Houston. We hike and camp from Sugar Land, but often its a drive of 2 hours to get there. Exception being Brazos Bend State Park, about 20 mins from our house. Nice trails there.

We live in Sugar Land, just SW of Houston, and like you, we like the beach, but we are salt water folk. We have a beach place right on the Gulf of Mexico, and we can be there in about an hour and 20 mins. Great salt water fishing and crabbing. You can drive on most beaches here, so you dont have to carry everything out to the sand.

Houston is a good food town, and way ahead of San Antonio for events, museums, music etc.... If those things are important, you might lean Houston area.

Our attitude toward hurricanes is that our place in Sugar Land is relatively safe from them. We didn't flood in any of the hurricanes or rain events. Our beach place could well take a hit, but its kind of a game of chance.... there is a good chance we can get 15 years out of it without it being washed away, and for us, that's all we will need.

So its down to live in SA and take long trips to the beach, or Houston and take long trips to hike and camp. Given that you are from a fresh water environment, you will likely feel more comfortable with the "lake life" in San Antonio. Perhaps the best solution is to rent in San Antonio for a while and get a feel for it. You can make trips to the ocean, and the lakes and rivers and see where you feel happiest.

I second this opinion. We are really into hiking and being outside, and while there are tons of parks and beautiful places to visit from Houston, you get tired of it all being kind of the same, flat coastal prairie. We end up going west, and every time I think of how awesome it would be if our starting point was SA or Austin, instead of Houston. You can get to so many beautiful places easily from SA.

[mkwensky]

I agree with the other posts. You're likely an hour away from a beach in Houston anyway unless you're in the far north or far south, and since you're used to freshwater beaches anyway proximity to the ocean shouldn't be that big of a deal. I'll also add that the trails that are within the city limits are nicer in SA too. Less crowded and better maintained IMO.

[Ghost Town]

Hiking scene in Houston is pretty good too. Just different. Mostly flat. There are forests, nature preserves, state parks around Houston. Not only Brazos Bend. Huntsville State Park is the best state park near Houston in my opinion. There are huge lakes too with public water access: Lake Conroe, Lake Houston, Lake Livingston, Lake Somerville. Smaller lakes like Lake Woodlands also count. Real hills start within about an hour drive from Houston which is not too far. I love Brenham area for the scenic countryside biking with some hilly terrain.
For the different type of scenery (red rocks, bigger hills) Austin area is within about 3 hours drive from Houston, also not bad.
Of course, San Antonio has more. Some of the best state parks. There are more state parks around that city overall.
But I don't think you would experience lack of outdoor options around Houston.
San Antonio rivers are overrated in my opinion, especially Guadalupe River. Dirty and crowded.

[SugLandDAd]

I agree... In general, Texas is a great state for outdoorsy families. You can much more of your life outdoors here, than you can up north. You can be just as outdoorsy from Houston as anywhere else in the state. I think its a personal preferences thing.....what are you really looking for.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by Ghost Town

Hiking scene in Houston is pretty good too. Just different. Mostly flat. There are forests, nature preserves, state parks around Houston. Not only Brazos Bend. Huntsville State Park is the best state park near Houston in my opinion. There are huge lakes too with public water access: Lake Conroe, Lake Houston, Lake Livingston, Lake Somerville. Smaller lakes like Lake Woodlands also count. Real hills start within about an hour drive from Houston which is not too far. I love Brenham area for the scenic countryside biking with some hilly terrain.
For the different type of scenery (red rocks, bigger hills) Austin area is within about 3 hours drive from Houston, also not bad.
Of course, San Antonio has more. Some of the best state parks. There are more state parks around that city overall.
But I don't think you would experience lack of outdoor options around Houston.
San Antonio rivers are overrated in my opinion, especially Guadalupe River. Dirty and crowded.

The Guadalupe doesn't run through San Antonio, and it's not dirty anywhere I've ever been along its route.

[Ghost Town]

Originally Posted by WRM20

The Guadalupe doesn't run through San Antonio, and it's not dirty anywhere I've ever been along its route.

I didn't say it runs through. Not far from that city though.
To me it was pretty dirty. Probably cleaner than Brazos River but I wouldn't swim in any of these rivers.

[Ghost Town]

And from the lakes perspective Houston is probably better. Lots of lakes around this city.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by Ghost Town

I didn't say it runs through. Not far from that city though.
To me it was pretty dirty. Probably cleaner than Brazos River but I wouldn't swim in any of these rivers.

I guess you wouldn't swim in any river, then, because they are all pretty much the same. The Brazos, Colorado, etc carry a fair amount of dirt from runoff. The Guadalupe, San Marcos, Blanco, Frio, etc are pretty clean and have minimal runoff. There is occasionally danger in all of the rivers from dead livestock.