San Antonio's Simple Appeal to Millennials: Diversity, Decent Jobs, and Cheap Living

"I would describe San Antonio as a laid-back version of Austin, with more jobs," says Gus Cantu, 26, who moved from Austin to San Antonio after getting a job here as a software developer.

I'm having fajitas with Cantu, his girlfriend, Aimee Devine, and a few others on the River Walk, the famously revitalized waterfront park dotted with restaurants. They both live a few blocks away in Tobin Hill, a lively, decidedly younger residential neighborhood with a handful of divey bars. Devine, 30, is from El Paso, about to graduate with a social work degree, and thanks to an internship program that paid off, has a job waiting for her as a clinical practictioner here in San Antonio. Cantu has already finished repaying his student loans. Both hail from working-class families, and say it hasn't been hard to keep themselves afloat.