The Where I Live series aims to showcase our diverse city and region by spotlighting its many vibrant neighborhoods. Each week a local resident invites us over and lets us in on what makes their neighborhood special. Have we been to your neighborhood yet? Get in touch to share your story. If your story is selected and published, you will receive a $250 stipend.
Near the end of summer in 2002, my parents finalized a deal on a new house in a new neighborhood. We had been living on the East Side of San Antonio with my grandparents at the time. I was 8 years old and attending James Bonham Academy downtown, with little concern or notice of the world around me.
Our new house was out in the boonies — as my relatives would say — way out just south of China Grove, in the Crestlake neighborhood. I would come to recognize this house as my childhood home, in the neighborhood that I still live in today.
Getting past the shock of changing schools and leaving my grandparents, I remember thinking that we might have moved next to a forest from Narnia or some other fantasy story. The neighborhood was well-developed but the surrounding area remained claimed by nature, home to boars, deer, rabbits and much more hostile wildlife. Nature seeped into the streets from time to time, with luminescent fireflies appearing at night.
As life happens, my siblings and I grew up, and the neighborhood was always a good place to grow up.
Most of my fondest memories are all the same — spending time with my family. We would often take the short, pleasant walk down the street to my uncle’s house, where we would have family gatherings and celebrate special events. My uncle’s house has always been like a second home.
In reflecting on the last 20 years, Crestlake has not changed much, but it seems like everything worth seeing around the neighborhood is noticeably gone. The streets, houses and neighbors are generally the same. What changed was the development of the land outside — an entire gated community was built, playgrounds were installed and asphalt was laid down to make way for new homes.
The neighborhood does feel secluded from the rest of San Antonio being that it’s practically on the edge of town, and my house is deep in the center of the community. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
We’re so close to Rigsby Avenue, where there is a Walmart, other businesses and several restaurants. Brooks City Base is also just a short drive away. Lots of family time has been spent at the City Base Cinemas.
I still spend a large amount of time downtown because of work. With good traffic, a drive from Crestlake to downtown is only 20 minutes. Getting anywhere else wouldn’t take much longer, unless I’m going to the other side of town.
My neighbors are friendly and mostly keep to themselves. You can always expect to be greeted by someone mowing their lawn or on a walk with their kids or dogs.
The neighborhood has always prioritized safety. There’s a charm to the street lights on the corner across from my house and, for the most part, the neighborhood is pretty cozy for short walks at night.
The only thing I’d change is adding a nature trail closer to the community, just to get away from the visuals of asphalt, angled rooftops and cars.
Although I have stayed in the neighborhood because of nostalgia for the family home, I would like to move somewhere else at some point for a change in scenery. My experience in the Crestlake neighborhood has always been positive, and I think that San Antonio as a whole is a great city to live in.
