Relocating to SA
Hey, San Antonio!
My wife and I (early 50s, no kids) are seriously considering a move from Portland, Oregon to San Antonio sometime within the next year, possibly as soon as six months from now.
This isn't a spur-of-the-moment idea. We've spent a lot of time researching different cities and have done quite a bit of homework on San Antonio's job market, housing market, politics and overall quality of life. The more we've learned, the more it seems like it could be a really good fit for what we're looking for.
We've also spent time reading through this subreddit and watching a lot of YouTube videos about living in San Antonio, and it's really helped us get a feel for the city. We're now at the point where we're genuinely excited to visit soon and experience it in person.
We're especially drawn to San Antonio's culture, sense of community, food and overall pace of life. My wife is Latina, and one of the things that appeals to us is being somewhere with a strong Latino cultural presence and diversity.
A little about us: I work in senior-level communications and would likely be looking for opportunities with a large public-sector employer (city, county, university, healthcare system, etc.). My wife works remotely, so her job isn't tied to a specific location.
We're in the early stages of figuring out where we'd fit best. We'd be looking to buy rather than rent, ideally in the $275k–$400k range. We'd need a fenced yard for our dogs and would love a neighborhood where we can comfortably walk around, grab a coffee or a meal nearby and feel connected to the community. We've heard good things about areas like the Pearl and Beacon Hill, but we're also very open to suburban neighborhoods if they offer a good quality of life.
Since we don't have children, school districts aren't a major factor for us. Safety, day-to-day livability and finding the right community matter much more.
We also know San Antonio gets very hot in the summer, and that's actually one reason we're going to visit in July. We'd rather experience the city when it’s really hot before making any decisions.
During that trip, we plan to explore a variety of neighborhoods and surrounding suburbs to get a better sense of where we might fit. We're comfortable trading seven months of Portland's gray, dreary weather for four or so months of intense heat if the overall quality of life is a better match.
For those of you who have lived in San Antonio for a while—or especially anyone who relocated there later in life—what are some things you wish you had known before making the move? Are there neighborhoods we should be looking at that may not be obvious to someone researching from out of state?
We're not looking for anyone to make the decision for us. We are mainly hoping to learn the kinds of things that don't show up in online research. We're excited about the possibility and looking forward to hearing from people who actually live there. Thanks in advance for any insight you can share!