Furnish This

Report shows just how much San Antonians spend to furnish their apartments

The average cost for a piece of furniture in Austin is $127.

Making a new living space feel like a home is no small feat, especially if you have to start from scratch. While it’s important to make your home comfortable and uniquely you, it can also take a toll on your wallet.

OfferUp, an online marketplace of local buyers and sellers that helps users find furniture for sale in their area, analyzed data from its app to find out how expensive it is to furnish an apartment in 118 U.S. cities.

As luck would have it, San Antonio is one of the least expensive markets in Texas. San Antonians spend an average of $128 on individual furniture pieces and only $775 to furnish an apartment, which is cheaper than Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Austin.

Houston leads the pack as the third most expensive city in the nation (No. 1 in Texas) to furnish an apartment, with a median apartment furnishing cost of $925 and an average item price of $164. Dallas-Fort Worth ranks as the 12th most expensive in the country. The median furnishing cost is $819 for an entire apartment; an individual item costs $133 on average. The average item price in Austin is a dollar cheaper than San Antonio, but the median furnishing cost is $815.

What are we spending all that money on exactly? Practical items like dressers and sofas are the most popular, followed by desks, tables, beds, and TV stands.

It sounds like the next time you’re in the market for outfitting your new place, you'll need to set aside almost $1,000 (and let us know how you do it for cheaper). In the meantime, check out our favorite places to shop for furniture in Alamo City.

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Insect News

Crane flies have landed ever so lightly in San Antonio, which means one thing

activepestcontrol.com

Crane flies: fragile, sweet, harmless.

The crane flies have arrived in San Antonio, and this year, they're here in droves.

Fragile, leggy, and whisper-light, crane flies are most often found around streams and lakes. But at certain times of year, they show up in urban areas, hovering and bobbing around houses and doorways.

If you live in certain areas — green, suburban areas — you've surely encountered them or seen complaints on your cranky Facebook neighborhood page. This, even though they don't bite or want to bother you in any way.

To bug experts like Janet Hurley, an Extension Program Specialist with Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, their arrival means one thing: Spring is officially here.

If they seem to be in larger numbers, it's, as usual, related to weather.

"The weather has been warmer, and we've had a number of damp days," Hurley says. "We've also had an unusual 2023, with spring bouncing in and out for a couple months. They usually show up during or right before spring break. But we all joke that if you see the crane fly, you won’t be seeing freezing temperatures again."

Of all the pests Texas must endure, crane flies have to be the most innocuous. Now-retired Texas A&M entomologist Mike Merchant called them "among the gentlest of insects."

It's a myth that they prey on or are related to mosquitoes. Crane flies are larger, and unlike mosquitos, their wings do not have scales. They also don't want your blood. They live on fat reserves built up during their larval stage.

They live short but amorous lives. Their sole purpose is to mate and make more crane flies for next spring.

Hurley says that they might be a nuisance but to consider the alternatives.

"Once they're gone, the mosquitoes come in," she says.

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