Flying Solo

Not too many San Antonio millennials live alone, says new report

Not too many young people are living alone.

Photo courtesy of Leaseful

San Antonio is becoming more and more attractive to millennials, but are they getting the independence they crave?

Not really, according to a report by Zillow. The real estate website recently analyzed which metro areas have the largest concentrations of millennials living alone, and Alamo City isn't one of them.

Only 10.7 percent of San Antonio millennials live solo, compared to an astounding 25 percent who live with their parents. But those who do are in pretty good financial shape. They have a median salary of $48,000 and can afford 28 percent of available homes.

The story is different in Austin, which has one of the highest percentages of millennials living alone, 13.4 percent, but it's a stretch. Millennials flying solo in Austin have a median salary of $40,000 and can afford only 1.5 percent of available homes. Compare that to Oklahoma City, where the 13.3 percent of millennials live alone and can afford more than 20 percent of homes.

Where is the highest concentration of independent young people? Richmond, Virginia (15 percent); Pittsburgh (14.3 percent); and Buffalo, New York (14.2 percent) round out the top three. The rest of Texas is on par with San Antonio. Twelve percent of Dallas-Fort Worth millennials live alone; in Houston, the figure is 10.6 percent.

---

Want more great stories like these delivered to your inbox daily? Then sign up for our emails.

zillow young-professionals

Hold Your Horses

San Antonio City Council considers plan to phase out horse-drawn carriages

Getty Images

A scant majority of San Antonians like the idea of ending the practice.

In a special session on Thursday, October 31, the San Antonio City Council will deliberate on possibly phasing out horse-drawn carriages. A proposal called "A Just Transition from Horse Drawn Carriages" has led to a one-to-three-year plan for replacing the horses with electric carriages.

An early project proposal in November of 2022 — written by District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran — laid out concerns for the horses' wellbeing, quoting the Animal Welfare Institute. Concerns included exposure to traffic and pollution, long periods standing and walking on hard surfaces, and extreme weather, among other things. In addition to the effect on horses, the request also mentioned environmental effects from slowed traffic.

It proposed completely stopping any new use of horse drawn carriages and letting any existing permits expire. The request also mentioned pedicabs as an alternative alongside the electric carriages, but the pedicabs seem to have fallen away from the public discourse.

Following up on the proposal, a city survey that concluded in August of 2024 found that of 50,476 respondents, a scant majority (51.98 percent) said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." Other options like changing hours and location of horse-drawn carriage use were unpopular, and 29.01 percent said they wanted to continue with the current system of use.

A majority of respondents (53.83 percent) had never ridden in a horse drawn carriage at all, and an strong majority of those survey takers cited the treatment of the horse as the reason they hadn't tried it. Those who had ridden on the carriages mostly liked it for the "historical and cultural experience," with examples including feeling nostalgic and learning about San Antonio's history.

The survey did not disclose how many of the people who rode on the carriages were tourists, but tourists made up 21.66 percent of respondents.

In addition to the survey, council members also unanimously voted on August 19, 2024, to have a plan drafted by city staff that would phase out the horse-drawn carriages in one to three years.

The only item on the special session agenda (aside from approval of minutes) is a briefing and possible action on the proposal, meaning that a decision is not guaranteed.

More information about city council meetings is available at sa.gov.

animals civic issues