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.
My husband and I have lived here in Uptown for almost 10 years now. This part of town was always intriguing to me, even back when I was a kid. We used to take our dog to the vet clinic on Bulverde Road and frequented Larzland, the infamous 5-cent arcade, on occasion. I spent a lot of time at the Blossom Athletic Center, too, since I went to Churchill High School. Besides that, there wasn’t much else around here back then.
Growing up I always thought of Bulverde Road as a hidden treasure in the midst of the mass development that surrounded it. Thick trees loomed over the small two-lane road in a picturesque manner. It was a place to go for a nice relaxing drive (or spooky at night!). Although the original picturesque road is wider now and has been under construction for quite some time, it still feels like a stolen treat.
When my husband relocated to San Antonio from San Angelo in 2005, we were all about renting cute, historic places downtown, and did so for many years. We were both active in the music scene and lived that downtown life, just steps away from the St. Mary’s Strip.
When it came time to buy our first home, we looked at several areas of San Antonio, all with their own unique charm. But the Uptown neighborhood was where we found the one. We moved out to this area in the summer of 2013, just a few months before our wedding. (I don’t recommend house hunting while planning a wedding!)
The neighborhood we live in is super cute and lends itself well to bird and animal watching. There are lots of mature trees and deer, and in the summer, lightning bugs illuminate our evening walks. We love to watch the deer and we have feeders and a bath in our backyard so we can see all the birds that live around us up close and personal. One of my favorite places in our neighborhood is the Eden Duck Pond. We love to go down there and feed the ducks and geese lettuce.
There are a lot of great businesses and things to do very close to us. On the weekends we like to go out for coffee at Theory or Curator Coffee. There’s a bowling alley right around the corner on Thousand Oaks, a cool upcycle place called Spare Parts within walking distance, and a brand new H-E-B at Bulverde Road and Loop 1604. My husband likes to ride his bike and can get to McAllister Park without riding on any main roads. We have three libraries within five minutes of us, as well as three parks with playgrounds that we frequent with our kids.
The houses in our neighborhood were built in the ’80s, so they have character but aren’t too old. We are close to Loop 1604 and Wurzbach Parkway, so it feels like we can get to most places fairly quickly. We’re also just minutes from the airport but not so close that you hear the air traffic on most days. We drive down Wetmore Road quite a lot, and it’s always neat to see the airplanes landing and taking off.
To be honest, what drew us to Uptown, at least at first, was the bang for our buck. We were able to buy a nice size house in good condition for a great price. We have a big yard for the kids and our pets and we are in a good school district. The houses downtown were beautiful of course but not within our reach financially. Sure, we sacrificed location and convenience since we work and go to school downtown, but we felt it was worth the trade then and still do after 10 years of living out here. Uptown is continuing to grow and evolve and it’s been an amazing environment for our family. We love where we live and will definitely be here for years to come.
