Austin is probably better for your allergies, but is chock full of liberals. San Antonio is lower, hotter, more touristy and has a few more sketchy areas safety wise than Austin. San Antonio is more diverse, but Austin certainly is not lily white, either. Austin is a little more vibrant, with the University of Texas and a nightlife and local music scene that is great. San Antonio has a lot more tourist attractions; Austin has more parks and hiking trails.
I don’t know if that helps... :-) (I live just north of Dallas.)
If you are a liberal, you will love Austin. If you are conservative, San Antonio is better. Austin is also in the valley and gets more rain which equals more allergens.
Welcome to FR.
I hear that Stevenville’s nice.
Seriously, your allergies may be TERRIBLE there.
I don't know about San Antonio regarding allergies.
Hope that helps.
Oh, and any place you go in Texas has a great economy. This is one of the more business friendly states in the US now.
Austin is as far left as you can find in Texas.
San Antonio had more bars than churches last time I was there but it’s still better.
I am in North Central Texas. Politically this is as good as it gets but it has wind driven prairie pollen that you might not want.
You might look into Amarillo.
Actually, Dallas/Ft Worth is where you want to be.
Do you feel more comfortable when you aren't the only Caucasian around?
My daughter visited friends in Round Rock (just north of Austin) and loved it. She’s pretty conservative, and said it’s a nice community.
If you are a liberal, stay the hell out!
I had awful allergies in San Antonio. Every plant to the north pollinates and blows right into the heat sink of SA.
Austin has a more pleasant climate.
San Antonio is one of my favorite cities. It has all of the good things about Mexico (the way it used to be) without too many of the bad things, like unsafe water and drug cartels (yes, they are there but you can basically live there without getting kidnapped or having your head cut off).
Example: the good things about mexico are the food, architecture, traditional music, and arts and crafts. Not all of mexican culture is bad.
Great towns. My only thought based on what you said is that Austin has “cedar fever” when cedar trees are putting out pollen...
Great state too!
I want racial diversity, active economy and nightlife, safe town and a way to stimulate my life.
I’v lived in or around Austin 60 years, or thereabouts. Regarding the sentence you wrote and that I copied and pasted above, Austin certainly has an active economy, nightlife and ways to “stimulate”. As far as “safe” is concerned, Please note the following:
...............”With a crime rate of 58 per one thousand residents, Austin has one of the highest crime rates in America compared to all communities of all sizes - from the smallest towns to the very largest cities. One’s chance of becoming a victim of either violent or property crime here is one in 17. Within Texas, more than 95% of the communities have a lower crime rate than Austin”. (cite: neighborhoodscout.com).......
If your conservative, you might want to live outside of Austin City Limits and ETJ (Extra Territorial Jurisdiction) like I do. That way the Marxists that run the town can’t mess with you.
Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, I love Austin and would not want to live anywhere else. There are a lot of reasons but that would take a book!
First, Welcome to FR. As for Texas- Prepare for allergy hell, dust, tornadoes, wind, heat, drought, flash flooding, caliche, clay, sand, limestone, rattlesnakes, scorpions, fire ants, illegals and chupacabras, the best barbeque brisket and sausage on the planet, ice cold beer, sweet tea, guns, pickup trucks, longhorns, aggies, dance halls, beirgartens, oil wells, gas wells, tex-mex heaven, bluebonnets, and stunning sunrises and sunsets. Oh, and guns... Lots of guns and not enough ranges, ammo or enough hours in the day to shoot guns. Did I say guns? Good, but just one more time to make sure. We all have guns. Lots of guns. We love guns.
If you’re a liberal Austin will be more to your liking.
If you want to remake the State of Texas into the failed Socialist utopia you’re leaving then it’s a terrible place and you won’t like the climate.
Perhaps you’d be happier in Detroit!
Any town or city with cedars to the west is bad. That includes Waco to SA and south. DFW is best. Ft Worth is where I wish I lived. I am in Dallas.
Do you have to live in a major city? New Braunfels may be considered also the Bryan/College Station Area. Just about everywhere in Tx in mid summer to early Sept is hot like an oven. I’m up here in the DFW area and along with Houston and Austin the traffic is mighty thick in spots. A little less so in San Antonio.
'...you may all go to hell and I will go to Texas'.
I had a friend who was transferring to Austin for a job promotion. I suggested he check out San Marcos.
He not only liked it, he bought a house there and thanked me for the suggestion. He had 12 children and liked the University there. It was easy to get his kids into and was still a good college.