Originally Posted by ploddinTod

Well, it all boils down to this. A city is a city wherever you go. The whole urban pie is going to have crime, traffic, pollution, shady politicians, etc. But it's not all bad because the city is where you make your living. The key is to, if you have the option, put yourself close to your playground. Ed, you like nature photography and hiking. So why not make it convienent for yourself on your off-time to be close to areas that you want to explore? That Hwy 16 northwest of SA has to be one of the prettiest drives in Tx. On top of that, SA is only 3.5 to 4 hrs from your friends and family in H-town. I'll stop my ranting now.

Originally Posted by ploddinTod

Kai, I understand completely: Home is where the heart is. I'm not originally from Tx either. I was born in the Land of Lincoln, not far from Camp Wood, the staging area for the Lewis and Clark Expedition. I didn't realize the historical significance of the area until a few years ago because I was just a kid back then. Anyway back to Texas... It sounds like this was your first move and in the military, you move alot. It was all a learning and growing experience, I'm sure. :cool: Even though you'll be leaving the state in a few months, we hope that you'll continue to check in with us here via the internet. Are you still going to able to get that bike ride in?

Originally Posted by ploddinTod

Well, it all boils down to this. A city is a city wherever you go. The whole urban pie is going to have crime, traffic, pollution, shady politicians, etc. But it's not all bad because the city is where you make your living. The key is to, if you have the option, put yourself close to your playground. Ed, you like nature photography and hiking. So why not make it convienent for yourself on your off-time to be close to areas that you want to explore? That Hwy 16 northwest of SA has to be one of the prettiest drives in Tx. On top of that, SA is only 3.5 to 4 hrs from your friends and family in H-town. I'll stop my ranting now.

Originally Posted by kai

I just thought of something RELEVANT, for once

San Antonio is going to one huge traffic nightmare pretty soon- within the next year, I'd guess. I-10, 281 (widening), and 1604 (widening) are all going to be underconstruction. 410 is already/still underconstruction. They've just started work on the San Pedro exit off of 410, and they are going to start finishing Wurzbach parkway where it will cross 281. the whole northwest/north/west side of san antonio is going to become very congested. (I don't know if this is common knowledge or not- hope i'm not giving away secrets here). San Antonio has also just created their own toll booth "solution" at the 281/1604 interchange- which, from what I hear goes like this: at the interchange, you can pay a toll, and just continue on through the interchange as one would generally expect to in a normal situation. or, if you choose not to pay the toll, you have to go through a series of stoplights to change highways. can you imagine the traffic nightmare?

If you choose to live on the southside, you might be Ok. New braunfels area might be ok (37/I-10/1604 interchanges might be ok). but to get anywhere on the north, west, or northwest sides, you are going to be sitting in traffic a lot. and this is where a lot of new development is currently going on- so that means more people using a currently not-efficient and soon to be under-construction system.

then there is the tree oridance issue: in theory, developers are supposed to be preserving trees when they build new areas. if they don't save the trees, they pay a fine. However, the fine is more or less inconsequential and is frequently over looked. it ends up being cheaper to wipe out all the trees and pay the fine than to build developments around large trees. These trees have been proven to improve air qualtiy (reduce pollution), and lower the heat-island effect. also, the trees reduce individual home cooling costs, nevermind the simple aesthetic value. In theory, before developers start any site work, they are supposed to have a tree survey done, to count the trees that are endagered (or rare, or whatever) or very large (and thus very useful). If a developer doesn't do the tree survey, and starts site work, they are supposed to be fined, and site work is supposed to cease immediately. however, this rarely happens. when they are fined, it is frequently overlooked by bureacrats that cater to developers, and work continues. <-- the point of that is that while some regulations may be in place to try and control the negative aspects of development, the regulations are undermined by corruption. This type of thing tends to happen city wide, at all levels, in all areas, i think. Which kind of tells you what kind of decision making is going on at the city gorvernment level.

I'll shut up now.

Originally Posted by Shannon

Justin and I will be in Houston (Clear Lake) for the next several days -- your Brazos Bend photos prompted us to scrounge up a quick getaway to H-Town to experience it for ourselves!

When I get back, I'll post a follow-up to this thread (re: my caveats about San Antonio). The short answer is -- the city leaders are so desperate to "prove" San Antonio's a big league player (eg. on par with all the other major U.S. cities its size), that they often pull some outrageous and highly questionable acts to entice businesses and such to town. For instance, the Toyota plant -- great for San Antonio, great for Toyota, but now there's talk that the deal could be put in jeopardy because the city, in its infinite "wisdom" promised Toyota a 3-mile wide buffer around the entire plant. Of course, the city didn't BUY that promised 3-mile buffer, nor did it require Toyota to buy that land (what better way to control how that land's used, right?!) -- so now landowners who OWN that land and have, in some cases, for the past 50 years are being told they can't build on it. It's likely to be re-zoned specifically so Toyota's wishes are, more or less, preserved. Something wrong with that picture.

Same thing happens everytime a major player comes to town -- sports team or business, it doesn't matter. The city throws so many tax breaks and incentives in that we (San Antonians) walk away wondering who really cut WHO a deal?

Gotta run -- still need to pack for the trip (doing the hotel stay thing, for this one.)

PS: Are you sure that toll road plan is a done-deal, Kai? I remember first hearing about it over a year ago, but it got such negative press (rightly so) on the local talk radio stations (KTSA, etc.) that I thought the City and/or State was back to the drawing board. People already use the new lanes they put in as the highway, often driving at faster speeds than the folks on the main 1604 lanes (accidents waiting to happen). With the extensive growth of the UTSA campus, and all the new homes in the NW and NE, I can't imagine knotting up any lanes to a tollway being a "solution" in anyone's right mind. Then again, we know we're not often dealing with people in their right mind when it comes to politics. (Can you tell I'm just not a fan of politics in general?)

OK. Now I really need to go... heheh!