Can anybody tell me about San Antonio; thinking of relocating there

[BigBearJohn]

What's the political climate?
Friendly?

[carpetbagger]

1. San Antonio...

It's a friendly town, in the latino subset of friendly. The pace is a bit slower, keeping the yuppies in check. The anglo menfolk walk around with a bit of swagger, which can at times be quite unfriendly to women, but it's not terrible.

The political climate is moderate. Local government is liberal in the economic-populist blue collar liberal mold, like other SW towns with latino majorities. Bonds generally pass, people give a damn about civic pride, environmental protection, and economic justice (at least outside the most gated parts of town), and while the more business-friendly, moderate (officially nonpartisan) democrat won as mayor, the runoff was in fact between two democrats. The social climate, while not Austin, is certainly sprinkled with enclaves of the more bicoastal liberal types. The evangelical and southern nature of the anglo half of the population can be stifling in certain subcultures (ask my stay-at-home wife), but there are outlets.

[pop goes the weasel]

2. you'll love it if you are adaptable

The town is very military, very proud of its service tradition, and so you need to get used to that. Buy a flag and fly it on all the patriotic holidays, and no one will question you about left-leaning politics. The fact of the military presence in San Antonio is actually a liberalizing factor. The military also means that San Antonio has a wide mix of people from the rest of the US and from the world, and this is a cosmopolitan aspect that few outsiders recognize. It's also a majority-minority city, so it will help if you learn you some Spanish, especially as the best news comes from the Spanish-language outlets, and the progressive movement has strong support in the Spanish-speaking communities. The traditional ethnic divide, the one that shaped the city, is Anglo/Mexican/German. There's a black San Antonio too, but I don't know much about it. When I was a child there, all the blacks I knew were military, and military is its own ethnic group. Treat the military with the respect you would give any other ethnic group, and you will get along fine.

Your experience of the city will vary greatly according to where you live. Don't move out to the northwest if you are hoping to avoid the standard suburban mentality. Personally, I'd try to live inside Loop 410 if I was moving back there. If you move to the far south side or the far northeast/east side, the city still has very rural looking areas.