thinking of movin to san antonio nice place to live with children?

We hope you decide to come to San Antonio. It is a beautiful city, though it is growing very fast. Now the 7th largest city in the US, San Antonio is very racially diverse. The overall city is about 54-55% Hispanic, and that hispanic flavor gives the city a feeling of fiesta all year long.

The weather is much warmer here during the winters, with the average low days in January being 39 degrees and the average highs in July being 95 degrees. The humidity is usually around 50-60% which is more than many parts of the country but much drier than the coast or Florida. Patients with arthritis still have complaints about the weather here, but usually not as much about the cold as about wet weather fronts. For the most part, the average afternoons are between 70 and 85 degrees most of the year, and we have a predominence of sunny days most years. It is the good weather here that promted Sea World to build here, and the area is now in the planning stages for a probable Disney development.

As far as the city there are many fine areas to live all over the city, and everyone from the city has their own favorite areas. There is new development on the southside and especially in the area called Southtown, which is close to downtown SATX. The southern part of the city has a higher percentage of hispanic children in the schools (many as high as 99%) so if that is an issue for your son, it may be something to consider.

The Northside and North East Independent School Districts are the better public school districts in the city, by academic ratings. In a recent listing of the best schools in the state 9 were in Northside ISD and 15 were in North East ISD. These areas run between 50 and 30% hispanic and have a high percentage of racially mixed children.

Unfortunately, though the downtown area is having a lot of rehabilitation and renewal of living areas, there is not a lot of improvement in the schools at this time.

The east side has traditionally, been lacking in school academic ratings and development, though the people living in the area, frequently vote to pass extra bond issues to fund the schools.

Though it is not a reason to move to the city, there is also very good, mental health support in the city. My wife is a pediatric psychiatric nurse and works at an excellent facility in the city. I hope that you will no longer need these here, but they are available.

Welcome to San Antonio

It can be. Like any large city, it has good areas and bad areas. You might want to focus on the north-northwest quadrant of the city OUTSIDE Loop 410. That seems to be the better area of town. There are a lot of kid-friendly things to do: Sea World, Fiesta Texas, the San Antonio Zoo, lots of museums, the Botanic Gardens (my grandkids love that place) are just a few of the attractions offered in San Antonio.

Not that I am saying racism and biasism do not exist in SA as it does, but it is lower here because we are such a mixed culture. Your best bet is the Northeast or Northside school districts where so many of the kids are mixed. Churchill high school area, Clark High School area, and MacArthur high school area are by far the most of the accepting school areas.

My oldest son is 1/2 European (my folks are from the areas of Austria-Hungaria and Alsace lorraine) and 1/2 mexican-navajo (His grandparents on his dad's side). He graduated from Alamo Heights and felt biased against. He is a beautiful young man with European features, but dark hair and eyes and skin. He is at San Antonio College now where he has discovered many mixed culture friends, and he loves his life and this area. Even at his age of 21, he still feels the impact of his culture when he and his mixed culture girlfriend drove to see some family in Colorado and was pulled over for his youth and his color. He was very nervous and called me right after the incident. I knew exactly what was going on and asked him to take some deep breaths; he just hit another snag in the world of biased behaviour. It has taught him sensitivity and grace of which most folks today could use a good dose.

At your son's age, my son also took an anxiety medication, but decided he was better without it. I also have a son who is white and blond and is on meds because of the non-acceptance of his slower mental state. I have a third son who is smart and creative but considered ethnic because of his bohemian looks. Children are cruel where ever you go and you have to learn to teach the kids the fundamentals of an ability to be tough and still maintain a sensitivity that they personally do not bully.

I am sure you will love it here. It's warm and pretty. Get your son involved in soccer or baseball at the YMCA or through the many soccer associations and baseball organizations locally. Getting him involved is key. My son was involved in baseball and music at your son's age (he plays guitar, keyboards, trumpet and drums) and now he is more into xtreme sports like skate boarding, BMXing, snowboarding and surfing. In fact, another wonderful sport in our area is BMX bicycling and again, it's year round. Help your son find his niche. He'll be happier than hitting a hospital. You should go to the meetings, too. We don't call them mental hospitals around here. They are psychiatric facilities and the more wealthy folk have therapists. It's accepted.

The first answer is excellent and very informative, I just want to add that in San Antonio we have several military installations and we are a large tourist city so therefore we are inclined to welcome people of different ethnicities etc....

We are a friendly city with lots of great, helpful people. Our weather is pretty mild compared to PA. I know if you make San Antonio your home you will not be disappointed!