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.
This is my first time living on my own, and after a lifetime in Houston, I braced for the usual first-timer turbulence: quiet nights, forgotten spices, and furniture in need of assembly. But once I settled into my place on UTSA Boulevard, the nerves gave way to something better — joy.
My neighborhood has a way of meeting me where I am: young, curious, and eager to build a life that’s equal parts routine and adventure.
I’m a recent college grad who lucked into a dream role as a software developer near the University of Texas at San Antonio campus. My days start early, and often outdoors. As a runner, I’ve fallen for the greenways here. The Leon Creek Greenway slips right past Fox Park, where shaded paths and a loop trail skirt a beautiful body of water, Jewell Lake, which feels like a pocket of calm in the middle of Northwest San Antonio. It’s where I reset, jog, and sometimes just stand and breathe.
When I want a longer stride, I head toward UTSA’s Park West Athletics Complex, a couple of miles west of campus. I’m not competing, but running past a real track and soccer venue adds a jolt of motivation to the workout.
Mason Field goes for a jog on the Leon Creek Greenway Trail in the Northwest Side of San Antonio on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. Credit: Clint Datchuk for the San Antonio Report
The best part of living here, though, is how walkable my daily treats are. A few minutes down the boulevard, Roadrunner Creek is like my personal food hub. If I’m craving late-night sugar after a long day, Insomnia Cookies is just down the street. Though usually, I just grab a box of smoky brisket tacos from Smokey Mo’s or a quick lunch nearby on Hausman Road from Sapporo Sushi & Asian Fusion — delicious, affordable options that keep my budget intact.
For more local flavor, my two favorite spots are right next to each other. Indy Coffee Club sits near The Block SA and has everything I look for in a café: friendly staff, a quiet vibe to practice programming, and a delicious tea to start my day. It’s an easy walk, and it’s become my default “focus and relax” spot.
Next door is Noodle Tree, a San Antonio original that’s embraced creativity without losing comfort. Whether it’s a rainy-day bowl of ramen or one of their fun seasonal additions, it’s the kind of place you can sit for an hour, decompress, and leave feeling like the day has just improved.
My neighborhood has the perfect outdoor-meets-urban vibe. With new walkable development along UTSA Boulevard and easy connections to the greenway, my weekends are simple: coffee, a stroll, and a run, threaded together without ever starting the car.
Mason Field poses for a portrait at the Leon Creek Greenway on the Northwest Side on Friday, Sept. 5, 2025. Credit: Clint Datchuk for the San Antonio Report
The small, quiet joys make this place feel like home. On warm evenings, I’ll jog the greenway and catch deer nosing along the brush. On Sunday mornings, I’ll take a walk for tea and pastries, then catch up on the latest chapters of my favorite reads. On Tuesday nights, a takeout bowl from Noodle Tree turns into an impromptu Discord call with my friends in Houston, sprinkled in with some of our favorite multiplayer games online. It’s the rhythm of early adulthood — paying my own electric bill, but also building the kind of routine that tethers me to a place that’s new, but familiar.
Growing up, San Antonio meant big, episodic memories like roller coasters at Six Flags and tubing the Guadalupe River. Now, the city shows up in everyday ways; a lake at the edge of a trail, the hum of a coffee grinder, and the ease of getting everywhere on foot.
As someone who’s on their own for the first time, that’s what I was secretly hoping for: a neighborhood that doesn’t just house me, but invites me in. I came here to start a career and I’m staying because this corner of San Antonio — its greenways, cafés, great food, and all — feels like the right place to start this next chapter of my life.