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.
San Antonio has always been blessed with a healthy dose of natural charm, even though it didn’t have nearly as much to offer when I first decided to make it my home.
People often ask me if I experienced any sort of culture shock when I moved here from Paris in 1972. The short answer is yes, of course. There’s no denying a certain element of shock was involved. This was perhaps accentuated by the fact that my working knowledge of the language at the time was rudimentary at best and that I was just 17 years old and on my own.
Through the years, I lived in Castle Hills, Shearer Hills-Ridgeview, Wilshire Terrace and Northwoods, all of which were enjoyable in their own right. Each enclave served its purpose at different times, supportive of various epochal life stages and evolving family dynamics.
Fast forward to when my son, Tristan, graduated from Alamo Heights High School and acquired a real estate license. I was his first victim (or client). When he told me he found my dream house but that I had to move fast, my gut feelings told me to trust his opinion. On a hunch, I complied and I am both grateful and delighted that I did.
For well over a decade, he and I had driven dozens of times past the Donella exit, on the way to Northwoods Ice Center where we both played ice hockey with nary a clue about the gem of a neighborhood called Oak Haven Heights, which stretches east of U.S. Highway 281 and south of Loop 1604, directly across from Hollywood Park.
Starting in the late 1950s and established in earnest mostly in the early 1960s, Oak Haven Heights consists of roughly 450 properties spread over what used to be farmland. With quaint and quiet winding streets, this locality wears its name well. The lots are oversized and they feature a nearly continuous thick canopy of towering mature oak trees.
A sizable herd of white-tailed deer roams freely throughout, harboring in its ranks statuesque 10-point bucks along with a plethora of females of all ages, from youthful does to seasoned full-grown adults, many of which seem to drop numerous fawns on cue and in unison, in late May and early June. Last year, one of them did so right at my front door and for a few hours, we had to gingerly step over it in order to enter or exit the house.
All around, nature abounds, teeming with a multitude of native plants and a rich, diversified fauna. In addition to the deer, there are gray and red foxes, coyotes, legions of birds of all feathers, including majestic great owls, and, of course, possums, raccoons and squirrels. Although we’ve only caught sight of it a couple of times, there’s at least one armadillo that lives under the deck in our backyard. And let’s not forget the tarantulas and, for good measure, a few snakes to maintain a year-round Halloween-like experience.
Situated only 10 minutes north of the San Antonio International Airport and about 18 minutes to downtown (when there’s no traffic), and conveniently located within minutes of several major thoroughfares, there’s plenty of convenient shopping available and eateries galore nearby. Yet a peaceful countryside feel permeates the area.
Having grown up in such a large metropolitan area, I appreciate the benefits and the convenience of city life while enjoying the duality of the semi-rural feel of the surroundings. This easy feeling seems to carry over into a certain laid-back attitude that is characteristic of many of my neighbors, several of whom have become friends.
This is a wonderful neighborhood that’s safe for walking or jogging. Traffic is light and it’s not rare to see families or teenagers cruising along on golf carts in the evening (often with pets aboard). Some of the amenities that are available include the Oak Haven City Park, complete with a walking and jogging trail, picnic tables and dog watering stations, as well as a tennis court, basketball court and even a well-attended and in high-demand pickleball court.
I played ice hockey since I was a child and was instrumental in bringing ice hockey to Central Texas. My house is almost walking distance to the Northwoods Ice Center and as a bonus, I now have room for one of my prized possessions, a vintage ice hockey-themed pinball machine which was unfortunately hidden away in a garage for over 20 years in my previous house.
One question I’m often asked is why I left Paris to come to San Antonio. My canned answer is that it’s the only city in the world that throws a party for my birthday every year — and it lasts a whole week. Fiesta comes once a year, but a daily reminder of why I made San Antonio home comes every day at dusk when about 20 or 30 deer gather on my front lawn. A friend of mine once called the view from my kitchen window Deer TV, and in spite of all its cosmopolitan glamor, there’s no such thing as Deer TV in Paris.
