Is San Antonio the Place for Us? (Houston, Dallas: fit in, how much)

[shoes4birds]

My family and I are considering moving from SW Michigan and we're looking at a number of places. On the list are Nashville, Virginia Beach, Raleigh/Duram, and several cities in Texas. We have two small children, 2 and 4, and don't care for Michigan because of its winters and lack of culture and how conservative it is.

We are a couple that loves family activities, but we also love being around a lot of young couples (30ish) that like to have fun. We like the idea of good restaurants and bars, and a more liberal attitude about life. We like having things going on all the time, concerts, festivals, etc. We don't want to be in a overly religious area -- not that we mind religious people (we go to church), but we don't want it shoved down our throats either.

We used to live in Virginia Beach, which is why it's on our list. While we love the area (for its laid back attitude along with a city life feel, great seafood and tons of things to do), we can't get much of a house for the money. We're looking to spend between 300-375K and would like to get a fairly nice home out of the move (2500+ square feet, and a nice neighborhood w/nice neighbors). We like to live near things, not out where we can't easily (within 5 minutes) get to stores, restaurants and the interstate.

By the way, my husband is a Voice Network Engineer and I'm a Contract Administrator. Any thoughts on the job market for us is appreciated as well.

We're looking for honest opinions about the San Antonio area. What are the major differences between the major cities (San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Austin)?
Can you give me some info based on what we're looking for?

[Bo]

Originally Posted by shoes4birds

By the way, my husband is a Voice Network Engineer and I'm a Contract Administrator. Any thoughts on the job market for us is appreciated as well.

AT&T is the most obvious choice for your husband's employment in San Antonio. They recently announced that they are moving the company's headquarters from SA to Dallas. I suspect it could be pivotal to know whether the type of position that your husband would be seeking with AT&T will be moving to Dallas or whether it's already there. Hopefully someone with more knowledge of the inner workings of AT&T will enlighten you here.

Other than that, the item on your checklist that strikes me as the biggest challenge would be finding a house in the city at that price point which is 5 minutes from shopping and an interstate. That might be tough. 10-15 minutes is more doable, unless you're willing to live in a nearby county.

There are many good threads in this forum (and probably the counterpart city forums) comparing the cities on your list in a variety of ways. I would encourage you to take advantage of all of that prior wisdom by using the "Search this forum" feature and doing a search with any two city names from the list.

[firstclassflyer]

https://www.city-data.com/forum/san-a...formation.html

[sapphire]

Deja vu!

[satomtom3]

You would be surprised at how much square footage your price range will give you.

[TexHwyMan]

Originally Posted by shoes4birds

We are a couple that loves family activities, but we also love being around a lot of young couples (30ish) that like to have fun. We like the idea of good restaurants and bars, and a more liberal attitude about life. We like having things going on all the time, concerts, festivals, etc.

There are lots of festivals here year-round, and lots of stuff for the family. This is mostly a family town.

We don't want to be in a overly religious area -- not that we mind religious people (we go to church), but we don't want it shoved down our throats either.

You shouldn't have that problem here. SA is predominately Catholic, and they tend to less "in-your-face" IMO.

We used to live in Virginia Beach, which is why it's on our list. While we love the area (for its laid back attitude along with a city life feel, great seafood and tons of things to do)

Other than the seafood, that pretty well describes SA. Although you can get good seafood here, it's not as predominate as it is in VB, for obvious reasons.

We're looking to spend between 300-375K and would like to get a fairly nice home out of the move (2500+ square feet, and a nice neighborhood w/nice neighbors). We like to live near things, not out where we can't easily (within 5 minutes) get to stores, restaurants and the interstate.

Oh, you'll have no problem getting a house to match your expectations for less than $300K. As for being near things, that will depend on which neighborhood you choose, but there are many neighborhoods all around town that meet that criteria.

By the way, my husband is a Voice Network Engineer and I'm a Contract Administrator. Any thoughts on the job market for us is appreciated as well.

Besides the aforementioned AT&T, lots of large companies and government agencies also maintain their own voice networks, so I can't imagine he'll have much difficulty locating something. Same for you. Although be warned that you probably won't make as much as you're used to. But because of the lower cost of living here, you won't need to.

[compSciGuy]

Originally Posted by shoes4birds

My family and I are considering moving from SW Michigan and we're looking at a number of places. On the list are Nashville, Virginia Beach, Raleigh/Duram, and several cities in Texas. We have two small children, 2 and 4, and don't care for Michigan because of its winters and lack of culture and how conservative it is.

We are a couple that loves family activities, but we also love being around a lot of young couples (30ish) that like to have fun. We like the idea of good restaurants and bars, and a more liberal attitude about life. We like having things going on all the time, concerts, festivals, etc. We don't want to be in a overly religious area -- not that we mind religious people (we go to church), but we don't want it shoved down our throats either.

We used to live in Virginia Beach, which is why it's on our list. While we love the area (for its laid back attitude along with a city life feel, great seafood and tons of things to do), we can't get much of a house for the money. We're looking to spend between 300-375K and would like to get a fairly nice home out of the move (2500+ square feet, and a nice neighborhood w/nice neighbors). We like to live near things, not out where we can't easily (within 5 minutes) get to stores, restaurants and the interstate.

Most of the places on your list are much more conservative than Michigan.

[SATX56]

Originally Posted by shoes4birds

My family and I are considering moving from SW Michigan and we're looking at a number of places. On the list are Nashville, Virginia Beach, Raleigh/Duram, and several cities in Texas. We have two small children, 2 and 4, and don't care for Michigan because of its winters and lack of culture and how conservative it is.

We are a couple that loves family activities, but we also love being around a lot of young couples (30ish) that like to have fun. We like the idea of good restaurants and bars, and a more liberal attitude about life. We like having things going on all the time, concerts, festivals, etc. We don't want to be in a overly religious area -- not that we mind religious people (we go to church), but we don't want it shoved down our throats either.

We used to live in Virginia Beach, which is why it's on our list. While we love the area (for its laid back attitude along with a city life feel, great seafood and tons of things to do), we can't get much of a house for the money. We're looking to spend between 300-375K and would like to get a fairly nice home out of the move (2500+ square feet, and a nice neighborhood w/nice neighbors). We like to live near things, not out where we can't easily (within 5 minutes) get to stores, restaurants and the interstate.

By the way, my husband is a Voice Network Engineer and I'm a Contract Administrator. Any thoughts on the job market for us is appreciated as well.

We're looking for honest opinions about the San Antonio area. What are the major differences between the major cities (San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, Austin)?
Can you give me some info based on what we're looking for?

Try Austin, sounds like you'd fit in there!