I'm currently sitting in a Borders bookstore, mooching free wifi from a neighboring restaurant and trying to come to terms with the lack of wifi access in San Antonio. Despite being one of the top-ten biggest cities in the US, wifi hasn't really caught on here...or rather, it's caught on at hotels near the Riverwalk, but nowhere else. Tourists, rather than locals, seem to be the perpetual focus of urban projects around here. This makes SA a great place to sit next to a river and drink a margarita, but it means that there is a substantial lack of basic city services (like recycling) for people who actually live here. (And, the fact that I would refer to recycling as a "basic" service means I really am an ex-Seattlelite.)
And, why am I sitting in a Borders, rather than an independent coffee shop? Because there are, like, maybe four that are "in town" (meaning, mostly outside of the loop), and of these, at least three are run by evangelical Christian groups. I'm all for freedom of religious expression, but it's hard to concentrate on a dissertation when you're encouraged to join the Bible study in the back room.
Somehow, I thought it would be easy to move here and view the significant cultural shift as a interesting sociological experiment. Instead, I find myself getting frustrated by the smallest things, and it's difficult not to feel like I'm a serious outsider. Still, I know that a city this size has to have a number of people who are somewhat like me -- it's just a matter of finding them.
(Oh, and the nicest thing about sitting in a SA Borders? Streaming KEXP live!)
This reminds me of when I moved to Champaign-Urbana for 5 years of Grad School. It took a while to get into the loop, but in the end I knew all the good things about that town, and the right people to hang with for a good time. The most important thing I learned was that there were only a few good things that came up (or to town) and you had to plan ahead and change your schedule to catch them or be out of luck. In SF or Seattle you just pick up the paper when you have some free time and see what is happening or wander around looking for a good restaurant or bar. In Champaign-Urbana that just didn't work. There was no good Indian food or even good Chinese, so I learned to like Korean. The only Thai place was in the Y and served 5 selections for lunch if you were lucky to get there before they ran out, so I learned to show up early. Nothing came to the local cinema but first-run trash, but there was a good video rental place. There was one good music venue, and a few decent bars. The closest real city was Chicago at 2 1/2 to 3 hours away which ruled out day trips. But in the end, as my buddy Ray used to say about Saint Louis: 'there are the cool 2000' (a good deal fewer in Champaign-Urbana). When you get to know a couple of them pretty soon you know them all, because there are only so many of 'em and they are looking for the same things you are. At least that was my experience. Didn't mind moving back to SF though, and 2 of my old buddies from Champaign-Urbana live just down the road, and a couple more in the area. Still, it was good in the end, and SA is much bigger... you will probably have to work through a bit more dross before you find some nuggets of gold, but I'll bet there are plenty to be had.
Hang in there.