San Antonio Suburbs: Find the Right Fit for Your Move

So, if I were to move to San Antonio today, I would have two completely lists than what I had when I first moved back here. And really, what that means is like it's going to be a list of like areas that everybody knows about, but there's also going to be a list out there that that really nobody really talks about uh moving to here in San Antonio. We're going to go over both. So, what we're going to do today is like, guys, we're going to talk about eight uh eight different suburbs around San Antonio. Four that you're probably heard of and four that you may like, okay, where is that located at? Cody.

But guys, I mean, you're going to want to stay tuned to the end because that last one that's on this list, guys, this [clears throat] is the area that my wife and I have discussed, not only like picking up and moving today, but if we had it all over again, that's where we would choose. So, let's get started. So, the first uh place in this list, guys, it's going to be well known. If you were to Google it, it's typically going to be in your top three areas to move to in San Antonio, and that's going to be Stone Oak. So, if you look up on a map, you're going to go right up north of 281, just barely above 1604, and you look to the west side of 1604. That's going to be the Stone Oak area.

Now, people flock this area is one because I mean, you're in Northeast ISD, which is very, very popular uh school district, but guys, also the proximity to the shopping that you have, but you're still outside of that 1604 like the riff raft, the lof, and all the traffic that really comes into play. So, I mean, you're going to have all the shopping and all the restaurants at your fingertips, not just on 1604, but also on 281, but you're also going to have access to like uh the Corey, the Pearl, downtown San Antonio, which is actually only going to be about 15 to 20 minutes away. But guys, on top of that, I mean, you just go a little bit further west on 1604, then that's where you're going to get in some of the best shopping that is around San Antonio, which is over there at Lantara. So, as you can see, like Stone Oak, like why a lot of people move there, uh, is just because of the proximity of everything. But also, guys, I mean, it's a very established neighborhood that's really at the start of like the Hill Country going up in San Antonio and on further north. So, when you look at like the neighborhood, you're going to find like houses that that are going to be up on like um on the hilltops.

You're going to have the oak trees, but some of the downside is that is like if you want like modern new construction home, you're not going to find a lot of that out there because essentially there's really nowhere, no more dirt to build that's up there. But guys, one of the other things that you need to be aware of is like as you look at that far north is understand what the traffic is going to be. And if you don't like traffic, guys, it may not be the area for you. But if you like the access of downtown, it could potentially be a very very good fit for you. Which brings us like just a little bit further out, speaking of traffic, is going to bring us our number two area. Uh is going to be Boerne.

Uh now guys, if you go out west I 10, it's going to be about 30 35 minutes from downtown. uh you're going to run into the small town of Boerne, which I mean like another town we're going to talk about here in a minute, it's not so small anymore. Uh what I would tell you about Boerne is like it does have that true small town little small town charm, but one thing about it, it is rapidly growing cuz like when you look at just in the outside of just in between like Boerne and Lock and Terra, you're going to have like the Fair Oaks Ranch area, guys, that is quickly expanding. But not only of Fair Oaks Ranch, but you look in Boerne itself, you got a couple like master plan communities that a lot of people love to flock to. Uh, one of them being Espiranza, which is right outside of Boerne, but also if you just go a few miles outside on 46, you're going to run into one of the most invigorated luxury communities that's out there, which is going to be George's Ranch. Uh, people flock to this area because like when you're looking at Hill Country views, uh, it's it's endless out there.

But on top of that, like because of its location on the outside of San Antonio to the west, you don't have to worry about that traffic in between San Antonio and Austin on I35, which itself can be very, very stressful. But guys, I mean, as as Boerne is is like as you look at Boerne, if you flip around to its brother on the east side, which is really one of the most popular areas just not even just San Antonio, but in the US itself, and it's actually where I personally live, it's going to be in New Braunfels itself. Now, New Braunfels, a lot of people will classify New Braunfels as a small town. Uh, and I will say yes, New Braunfels has that small town feel, but the one thing about it that you need to understand that New Braunfels is no longer a small town. Uh, when I moved here over 10 years ago, uh, we were roughly about 75 78,000 people here. And then people that were here roughly anywhere from the early 2000s or even the 90s, they can go all the way back to probably where the population is around 20 to 30,000 where it was truly a small town.

Well, guys, I mean, the unfortunate part is that small town is now over 120,000 people. But the reason why so many people flock here, uh, is one because I mean, you're not going to be just in the in just just with San Antonio, but you're also going to have that quick access to Austin. But like when I first moved here, I mean, typically like like when you're driving, it's all about the time and when you would leave and just checking the traffic patterns. I mean, I can get to San Antonio, uh, where I worked at a Fort Sam Houston in about 30 35 minutes. Uh, but I can also get to Austin when I retired out of the army. I can get up there in about to where my job is in South Austin about 50 55 minutes.

So, you could see and you can understand why it's so popular. But guys, the one of the other things about New Braunfels that a lot of people flock here for is because of the school district. It's not just really that they're superior to any other school districts, but it's more or less because you're going to have lots of choices. And what I mean by that is like you have two prominent ISDs here. You're going to have New Braunfels ISD and you're going to have Comal ISD. I mean, it's raw all right here in the at your fingertips.

And if you prefer one of the school district to the other, make sure that you check of where your house is zoned because if it's zoned for one of the school district, it can be very difficult to get that crossover. So, just understand that that you need to check of where that house or where your home is located inside of that school district. But also, one of the other things about New Baffles, guys, I love about it is is its endless recreation that we have out here. I mean, I mean, I'm standing out here right now at Land Park, but you also have Slitterbond, you have the Kamale River along with the Guadalupe River where people just I mean, they go tubing. people coming here all around not even just the state but also the nation just to go river just to go tubing down the rivers here as well. But guys understand with all that there does come a downfall and the biggest downfall here is like because I mean our our town here has gotten so overpop populated is the amount of traffic.

So it can easily take you 15 to 20 minutes just to get across town. And if you can imagine that like the difference between that and a place like Stone Oak where you can get 20 minutes to get downtown San Antonio just to get 20 minutes to go five miles here in New Braunfels. That's just a fact of life here that you need to be able to respect. But guys, if you just like want a little bit more, if if you want just a little bit closer the access of what you can get in San Antonio, um, but you don't want like everybody just bombarding you here with recreation, that goes to my number one known spot here, and it's really the most popular area for, uh, the military community, and that's going to be the Seab Below Shirts area. Now, if you look right outside on the east side of 1604, I mean, you're going to see like Selma, uh, Universal City, you're going to have live oak, you're going to have those different areas, but really where the most popular areas is going to be right now, and it has been for a long time standing is going to be Seeo shirts. Now, the reason why that area is growing so fast is one, you're having a numerous amount of master plan communities that's going on out here.

uh like you're going to run into [clears throat] communities like Saddlebrook, you got the Crossfine, which is actually probably one of the most popular communities that's out there, but you also got like Buffalo Crossing, Homestead, which is going to be up on the north side, more like on the Church, uh New Braunfels's border, uh if you could picture like a city border and everything else. But there's so much establishment that's going on out there. But also it gets popular because I mean a lot of the roads are developed except for one. You got 1103 that they're trying to uh catch that road up where to uh help the traffic pattern out. But you're going to have easy access from the north to south to really get to anything. Uh but also you're going to have the easier access getting into San Antonio because you're not going to be just completely dependent on um I35, but you're also going to have highway 78 or you're going to have pretty easy access if you want to go to I 10.

But for the military members out there is like like when you look when you look at where CBO Church's located, you're only going to be minutes away from Randolph Air Force Base and you're looking about a 20 to 25 minute drive to Fort Sam Houston. And if you want to work all the way over to Lackland, I mean that's going to be a little bit more of a haul, but it's really about a 30 35 40m minute drive depending on what the traffic is. And if it gets thick in traffic, you're going to look at an hour plus. But as you can see like with his locations like like you can understand why it gets so very very popular for people to move out in that area. And look guys, I mean I understand [clears throat] like those four areas or even the areas that we're talking about today, they not may not be the right match for you. And that's what I do.

So if you'll do me a favor, you go down to the description, book a session with me and let's map everything out so we can find what that location is for you. And look guys, I've helped numerous of people like like they thought they wanted to be in one area of San Antonio, they end up switching a completely different area because it just doesn't fit their lifestyle or maybe it didn't fit their budget. And guys, these are the discussions that I have with all my all the people that I work with. All right, guys. So, that brings us to the places that everybody knows. So, but let's talk about places that nobody really ever talks about.

Like when you Google it, it's not like top places of of San Antonio. And guys, that's going to really bring us into like four different areas. And the first area that we're going to talk about uh is going to be the far west side of San Antonio. Now, the west side of San Antonio has gotten so popular for a couple reasons. Because like majority of San Antonio is expanding east, but when you expand east and you say south of 35, you're going to get into a lot of farmland, a lot of flat land. And when a lot of people come down here, they want to get into that Texas Hill Country.

And that's purely what you're going to be in on the west side of San Antonio. But also like when I talk about the far west side is like a lot of people initially you're going to look up like, "Okay, Cody, that's Alamo Ranch." I'm not talking about Alamo Ranch. I'm talking about going further south down in the Petranco area around like Briggs Ranch. Uh you got Petran uh you again you got Petrankco Oaks and you got several other master plan communities that's building out there. And what you're going to find is the reason why it's starting to capture a lot of people uh because you're going to get a lot more for your money because uh you're you don't have a whole lot of people right now moving out to the west. But the city is also knows that as it expands and as San Antonio has become one of the most rapidly growing cities in the US, it has to expand somewhere and a lot of people are going out west.

Now, one thing to note out there is like if you do look at the west side, understand like highways like 211 and all that, a lot of them they're going to be under construction because they're trying to catch up with the infrastructure because there are so many people trying to move out there quickly, but they need several pathways to get into San Antonio. But also like guys, if you're going to work at Lackland, I mean that's one of my spots that I would really look at as far as like if you're looking for like affordability, uh if you're looking for like that new construction community, looking for that modern feel. And I've moved several of my clients over in the west side, especially when you look at like Bridge Ranch and some of those other master plan communities, which brings us to the number three, guys. This one, like this is one that nobody really ever ever talks about, and we're going the opposite direction of San Antonio. Uh, this is a one that I call the hidden gem right now, and that's going to be Sigin, Texas. Now, if you go down Highway 46 from New Braunfels, further east and south of New Braunfels, you're going to run in a not so little town anymore called Sigin.

But guys, this place is becoming a very big hot spot for several reasons. Uh, one because like if you were to look at home prices in New Braunfels, let's say if you were to look in Ver Mind at like a Perry home up there, you can go down to Mills and Metal Creek uh down in Sigin, you can find that exact same house, guys, for $1 to $150,000 less. And guys, why is that? It's like because one, it's like the land is cheaper to build on out there or it's cheaper to purchase. It's not going to say cheap or build on, but also it's like it's lesser known like people flock to New Braunfels versus people like kind of like leave sagen alone. Well, that cat is slowly coming out of the bag as you're having master plan development starting popping up everywhere.

But there's also a second reason for that. Like when you look at some of the best industries in the San Antonio area, Sigin has a lot of like a lot of your top industries like you got Caterpillar out there, you got Schaler out there, you got Tyson Foods. So like like when you compare that to New Braunfels, which is a lot of it is going to be um a lot of like recreation or a lot of like mom and pop shops uh style of job. Sigin is going to be like more of like your industrial jobs that's out there. So with that, as that circles around it, that's going to allow that city to continue grow and thrive. Now, just note like when you live in Sigin, you're going to be further out of San Antonio.

Uh you're typically from downtown, you're going to be about a 3540minute drive. Understand that they are completely restructuring I 10. Uh they've got a good portion of it done from like all the way from downtown to even outside 1604, but right now they are working on uh the Sigin area and it it's pretty nasty down there right now, but they are I mean I mean I'll be honest with you like I'm very impressed with a lot of the road construction down here. Now people may disagree with me on that but I do believe that they are working pretty fast on it but also understand like Sigin uh there's like two two school districts that's out there that a lot lot of people are looking at. You got Sigin ISD and you got Navaro ISD. Guys, make sure like if you're searching one school district over the other.

Guys, make sure that you [clears throat] are again like looking at where those schools are zoned because even a half mile can completely make the difference. All right, so let's bring us into number two. And guys, this is really hard for me because this is really one of my favorite areas. And we're going to get to number one, which is the area I'd actually choose today. But number two, it is right behind it. And guys, it's Garden Ridge.

Now, when you look at Garden Ridge, like it it is a city that nobody knows about. Nobody talks about unless you're from San Antonio. And what you're going to find out there, it's you're going to have acre plus lots to sometimes you're going to have three, four, five acre lots. Uh you're going to see a good mixture. You're going to have more of like your higherend homes to luxury homes. Yes.

But you want to talk about peace and quiet and you want to talk about tranquility, but also just getting the getting the feel that you live on like a farm area and everything else or not a farm area, but like like true Hill Country Ranch area. That's where Garden Ridge is going to fit in. Um guys, it's you're going to have like endless views that backs up to the back conservation area uh out there. Especially like when you look at FM309, it's going to be up on the west side. And what's nice about that is you don't have to worry about all San Antonio or them to build behind you. So that area is going to constantly stay concentrated in one small area because San Antonio really can't move out in that area.

Now your access to San Antonio is really going to be kind of more or less a couple different ways. You're going to go down to Nacadocious or you're going to go all the way down to 35. And both of those can be heavily trafficked. Um so it could take you a little bit longer to get into San Antonio. But again, one of the nicer things about Garden Ridge is like again, you're 15 minutes away from your grocery store. But with that, if you don't mind that drive, just going down to HB down in the Seab below shirts area, it is a wonderful place to live.

Like especially if you're looking for room, uh you're looking for big houses and if you want a lot of green space, it's going to be completely endless out there. Now, look guys, I hope these have been helpful and everything else before we get to my last one. So, this is what I do. And if you have questions, there's two things. Like, one, I put my phone number here on the screen for a reason for you. That's right here below.

Shoot me a text. If you just got a simple question or if you just want to sit there and go through the entire San Antonio area, book a session below. And if we come across anything, hopefully what I hope to accomplish is not find those like find that specific area, but let's eliminate like 10 different suburbs of San Antonio that you may be looking at because it doesn't fit your lifestyle and your family. And guys, like for me, when when my family made that move, I wish I had that help or I would have probably chose a different area, which I'm not disappointed where I live out today. absolutely love New Braunfels, but I may have chose where this certain area, where this one area that we're about to talk about here, uh, if I were to do it all over again. But again, I was trying to make that transition from Hawaii, uh, technology wasn't good back then.

That's why I put you my phone number below so we can actually talk, get on a Zoom, and let's go over the map and see what's your lifestyle, and we could break this down and narrow to the exact spot. So, with that, let's get to the my favorite place. And if I were to choose to move all over again, guys, guys, I would [clears throat] choose up in Bverde. Now, the reason why is is like when you look at San Antonio, it's continuing to expand on north. But one thing about Bver Verde, it's going to give you like the trifecta. It's going to give you access to San Antonio because you're still only going to be about 30 35 minutes away.

You're going to have the recreation like over in New Braunfels and then the Canyon Lake uh in the Guadalupe River and Kale River. you're only going to be about 30 35 minutes away from that. But also like the gateway, it it's really becomes the rifle is what I consider the gateway to Hill Country, but you're going to be fully uh thoroughly inside of Hill Country because you're only going to be about 30 35 minutes away from Boerne, too, as well. So, you got so many options of what you can do like in Bver. And that's why what you're finding is you're finding so many master plan communities that are going on out there. In fact, right now it's probably one of the like like when you look at Bver Verde, uh like the just south of BVE, you're going to run into Kinder Ranch.

That is probably the fastest growing uh master plan community going on on the outside of San Antonio. And guys, just to kind of like paint the picture, they just opened up a school down there. It's going to be Piper High School. It's going to be part of the KOM ISD school system. Uh and [clears throat] it has it opened up in 2122. It is already as of this year in 2026 a 6A high school.

That tells you like how popular that area is. Now, one thing about it is like to understand that what's going to be coming up there is like 281. They just finished construction about 3 years ago on 281 going up from like 1604 all the way up to what's called Borfield, which is a borderline of what I would consider Bulverde. Uh but and they're about to start construction on like 281 and I don't know when. This is probably two or three years out to build that all the way up because of the expansion to give you access. So just note that there is going to be like construction that's going to be up on the way as they completely look to reinvigorate the area.

Now communities out there to look at guys. I mean you're going to run into like master plan communities understand like um you got as I talked about Kinder Ranch. Uh you're going to have several gated communities in that. Uh you're going to places like Johnson Ranch is very popular, Thornbeck. uh you're gonna have different places like that is just like like just offers you just endless views. But the pricing, but also not a lot of people flock out there is because of their tax rates.

They're going to be lower even in the master plan communities than what you're going to find a lot in like on the west side of San Antonio or even up in Boerne or especially in New Braunfels where you're going to have a lot of mud taxes. Uh now, I will tell you like Johnson Ranch, just make sure that you're checking because Johnson Ranch is one of those areas that does have mud taxes. If you don't know what I'm talking about, ask a question below and I can go into that a little bit more thorough about it. But understand guys, like like when you're look looking at moving the area, don't just get like fixated on like what the eye candy is out there. Look on some other areas because t San San Antonio is like is it's going to be projected to be one of the like more growingest metropolitans in the United States at 2027 and that's going to be according to like the realtors. But guys, hope this helps.

If you want to see more in the playlist, more on this playlist, check this playlist out right here. Check out some of the communities, the master plan communities in all these areas. And I look forward to seeing you next time.