Alta Vista is one of the older neighborhoods in San Antonio and is located in an area referred to as Midtown. Its neighbors include Beacon Hill and the Monte Vista Historic District.
Alta Vista is a community located in the heart of San Antonio just minutes from downtown in zip code 78212. Its history goes back to the 1800s, like many communities in the area.
Alta Vista is bound by Hildebrand Avenue to the north, Hickman (to Myrtle St.) to the south, Banner/Union Pacific Railroad tracks to the west and San Pedro Avenue to the east. These boundaries include San Pedro Park, which is the second-oldest park in the entire United States.
The houses in Alta Vista are mostly mortgaged with roughly 75% occupied by the owners and the rest rented out on lease. There are also a small number of apartments along the busier streets. Because of the historical value of the houses (though the area is not officially a historical district) the cost of housing in Alta Vista is fairly high.
The median cost of a single house is $123,890 as of 2006. This is a huge jump from the $78,000 value in 2000. This easily makes Alta Vista one of the hottest markets in San Antonio for homes.
The Alta Vista Neighborhood Association is an option neighborhood program with monthly meetings. The dues are $10/home or $20/business. An order form, along with more information about the AVNA can be found at avna-sa.org
The AVNA takes their association very seriously. They aim to preserve the history of the area while acting as a sounding board for residents to city government. Since many residents in Alta Vista are elderly, they will even arrange transportation to the monthly meetings if someone wishes to attend but is unable to drive.
The residents of Alta Vista who have children are served by the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD). Amongst the schools for AV are Mark Twain Middle School and Edison High School. Several parents of children in Alta Vista also send their kids to one of the many private schools in the area.
Alta Vista is considered to be one of San Antonio's first modern platted subdivisions. This means that the streets and alleys were divided with clear borders that are easy to distinguish for ownership purposes.
The neighborhood thrived as electric trolleys began to transport residents from Alta Vista to other areas of town. The subdivisions within the area included Laurel Heights Addition, Treasure Hill, Fox's Beacon Hill, Beacon Hill, Beacon Hill Terrace, and North Haven.
With all of the movement into San Antonio, more houses were built in Alta Vista to meet the housing demand. To this day, many of the homes in Alta Vista and neighboring divisions have a distinctive, turn-of-the-century architecture.
No two houses look alike with everything from Victorian to French Eclectic and even Italian influences being seen in the diverse set of homes.