Alamo Heights

Alamo Heights is what a lot of San Antonio neighborhoods try to be and can't fake. It's a real city, incorporated in 1922, with its own police, fire, water and school district, five minutes from downtown. Many call it old money, and the description fits in the best way: live oaks arching over the streets, homes built to last, and people who move here and stay for decades.

Life runs along Broadway. You'll run into neighbors at breakfast, walk to dinner at Paloma Blanca or Frederick's, and meet friends for a glass of wine at Postino. The traditions are small town in the best way: a Fourth of July parade now past its 50th year, Alamo Heights Night during Fiesta, the Pooch Parade, and summers at the Heights Pool, which has been cooling the neighborhood for more than 70 years.

That character comes at a price. Active listings run from about $525,000 to $2.3 million, with a median asking price around $1.15 million. For the people who choose it, it's worth every dollar.

Alamo Heights homes were built over a century, and you can see every decade on a single walk. 1920s cottages and bungalows, Tudors with plaster walls and steep roofs, low mid century ranches, and larger traditional homes on the main streets, with some newer construction where an older home was replaced. Lots are small by suburban standards, mostly a tenth to a quarter acre, so the yard, the trees and how the home lives outside matter a lot.

Price per square foot runs from about $238 to over $560, and the spread tells you everything. Buyers pay a real premium for homes that feel finished and keep their character. Homes that need work, or that lost their original details, sit longer.

Location is the quiet luxury of Alamo Heights. Downtown is about 12 minutes down Broadway or US 281, the airport about 10 minutes north on US 281, and the Medical Center about 20 minutes on Loop 410. Fort Sam Houston, the Pearl and Brackenridge Park are all close. Rush hour adds 5 to 10 minutes, but compared with the suburbs it's an easy life.