Neighborhoods Near JBSA: A Veterans Day Look at Fort Sam Houston, Lackland and Randolph

Today is Veterans Day, and in San Antonio it lands differently. Military City USA is home to Joint Base San Antonio, and three of its main locations, Fort Sam Houston, Lackland, and Randolph, sit on three different sides of town. If you are trying to sort out the neighborhoods near JBSA, the first thing to know is that the right area depends on which gate you will drive through every morning.

I am Betsy Nava-Flores, a Broker Associate and REALTOR® with Harvest Real Estate Group (eXp Realty, LLC), and I help veterans, service members, and military households buy and sell across the San Antonio area. To every veteran reading this: thank you. This spotlight walks through what sits around each base, the history worth a visit, the kinds of homes you will find, and the Veterans Day events still on the calendar this week.

Joint Base San Antonio is one military installation spread across several locations around the city. The three most people move for are JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, northeast of downtown, JBSA-Lackland, on the southwest side, and JBSA-Randolph, in Universal City to the northeast along Interstate 35 and Loop 1604.

Those locations are far enough apart that a home that works well for one can mean a long drive to another. Before you look at a single listing, confirm which location is on your orders and which gate you will use. Then choose areas from there, not the other way around.

Fort Sam Houston carries some of the oldest Army history in Texas. Construction on its Quadrangle began in June 1876, according to Joint Base San Antonio, and it was the first facility on the land later named Fort Sam Houston. The Fort Sam Houston Museum now sits inside the Quadrangle's former storerooms. The post is also home to Brooke Army Medical Center, and Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery sits along Harry Wurzbach Road.

Just south of the post is Government Hill. The City of San Antonio's neighborhood plan describes it as bounded by the fort on the north and east, with Broadway on the west. St. Paul's Episcopal Church there dates to 1883 and served as a chapel for soldiers at the fort. Many homes in this part of town are older bungalows and early twentieth century houses. If you buy one, ask whether it sits in a designated historic district, because exterior changes in those districts go through the City's Office of Historic Preservation.

A short drive north, Alamo Heights is a small, independent city with mature trees and a walkable core. For a wider view of the city side, see the San Antonio neighborhoods guide.

Lackland sits on San Antonio's southwest side. Joint Base San Antonio says construction began there in June 1941, when it was still part of Kelly Field. The Airman Heritage Museum on the base traces Air Force history back to 1917 at Kelly Field. Base access rules apply, so check the museum's visitor guidance before you go.

Right next door, the old Kelly Air Force Base land is now Port San Antonio, a public entity created to redevelop the former base into a business and technology campus. Around Lackland you will find established southwest side subdivisions alongside newer construction farther out toward Loop 1604.

Some buyers trade a longer drive for more land and a slower pace. US Highway 90 heads west to Castroville, a historic river town on the Medina River. Interstate 35 heads southwest toward Lytle and Natalia, two small towns with a rural feel.

Randolph sits in Universal City, roughly 15 miles east-northeast of downtown San Antonio. Its best-known building is the Administration Building, Building 100, nicknamed the Taj Mahal. It was finished in 1931 in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, with white stucco and a clay tile roof, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. The National Park Service lists the central part of the base as the Randolph Field Historic District, a National Historic Landmark since 2001.

The cities around Randolph run together along Pat Booker Road, Interstate 35, and Loop 1604. Universal City, Schertz, Cibolo, Converse, Live Oak, and Selma all sit close by, and much of the housing there is suburban subdivisions built over the last few decades, with new construction still going up on the edges. Universal City holds a Veterans Parade on Pat Booker Road each fall, organized by the Greater Randolph Area Veterans Council.

Keep driving up Interstate 35 and you reach New Braunfels, a river town on the Comal and Guadalupe Rivers that some buyers weigh against the closer-in cities.

Texas Public Radio published a roundup of local events on November 7, 2026. A few that are still ahead as of this morning:

• Today, November 11, at 11 a.m.: a Veterans Day ceremony at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, 1520 Harry Wurzbach Road, and a ceremony at San Antonio National Cemetery, 517 Paso Hondo Street.
• Saturday, November 14, noon to 6 p.m.: SA Veterans Day at Hemisfair downtown, now in its sixth year. Hemisfair lists it as free, with live music, food, and a Veteran Resource Fair.
• All of November: Texas Public Radio reports the San Antonio Zoo is offering free admission to service members and veterans.

Times and details can change, so check each organizer's page before you head out.

When I sit down with a military buyer, we work through the same few questions in order. Each one narrows the map.

• Drive your commute at rush hour. Do it on a weekday morning, to the gate you will use, before you make an offer.
• Know your timeline. If your report date is close, my PCS to JBSA timeline lays out when to buy, rent, or wait.
• Look at your financing options early. A VA loan can change what fits your budget. My VA and military buyers page covers how that works.
• Think about your next move. If you may PCS again in a few years, ask how a home would rent or resell before you buy it.

If you want to see each step of a purchase laid out, how buying works with Harvest walks through it from start to keys.

Tell me which JBSA location you are headed to, your report date, and what matters most to you in a home. We will narrow the neighborhoods near JBSA that fit, and you will leave the call with a short list to tour. The first conversation costs nothing.

Call or text me at 210-889-7495, or send me a note through the contact page. And to every veteran and service member in San Antonio, thank you for your service.

This post is general information, not legal, tax, or lending advice. Your lender and base offices have the final word on your situation.