Concerned Citizens

Today I spent the morning wandering around the urban core of San Antonio. I contemplating moving downtown into The Vistana and decided to check things out some more while going through the application process. It’s a big move for someone like me who was born and raised in the rural area and suburbs of Arkansas and who has lived outside the loop my entire life in San Antonio. What I found was surprising and enlightening. The journey took me around the Market Square area, along the Museum Reach of the San Antonio River and ending up at the Pearl Brewery Farmer’s Market. San Antonio is at the verge of a renaissance of sorts, as my good friend Alan Weinkrantz likes to put it.

As I walked around The Vistana and checked out the ‘hood I might be living in I found several things I didn’t know existed downtown. I was afraid that by living downtown I would have to drive a long way to get basic food and household necessities. Not so as I found a Dollar General Store located a half a block away on Commerce. While it might not have 10 different kinds of olive oil there were all the basic needs of home within walking distance. For late night munchies who could beat Mi Tierra’s for a good carne asada or papa con huevo taco? Looking good so far.

From there it was on to the Museum Reach to see how the filling of the river was coming. I had stopped by yesterday around lunch and it was just starting to fill with the stretch by Turner Bowling still dry as a bone. Today it looks like the main stretch was about 5 feet away from being full all the up to the turning basin by the Pearl Brewery. The locks had water in them and are waiting to be tested next week when the river is full. All of the river looks incredible but the locks seem like a little bit of overkill. Apparently they are needed due to a 9 foot difference in the elevation of the northern section of the river. Now we have a new tourist attraction on the San Antonio River to complement the Riverwalk.

The locks were needed to allow barge traffic to continue up the river all the way to the Pearl Brewery past the San Antonio Museum of Art. But wait, this seems to be all about the tourist and not about the residents. $72 million and we have another tourist attraction. Granted residents of San Antonio can enjoy the river but only from the banks. The barges still rule the river, something I think should change. To find a more resident-friendly model of our San Antonio River I turn to the east about 3 hours away in Houston and the Buffalo Bayou Partnership.

I first discovered the Buffalo Bayou on my annual MLB weekend in Houston about three years ago. There a friend of mine and I were looking for something to do after an afternoon Astros game. We stumbled across the inaugural lighting of Blue Bayou and all the festivities associated with the installation of the blue lights along the bayou. We wandered along the banks, had some great food and sat back and watch a movie shown on a barge in the bayou. It was a great experience and continues to be for Houstonians, including canoeing and kayaking along the bayou and nature tours. Buffalo Bayou focuses on the residents more than the tourists to Houston. It’s a true part of the urban core.

So will we see that with the San Antonio River? It’s hard to say and you really can’t get a sense of it from the San Antonio River Foundation, the comparable organization to the Buffalo Bayou Partnership. Right now the only focus I see is a continuation of the Riverwalk up the river to SAMA and the Pearl Brewery. I don’t think canoes will ever be allowed in the river with barges. Only after some exploration and discovery can I truly make an assessment of the promised parks along the reach. Now that’s not to say that people could enjoy the river along the Mission Reach or the Park Segment of the Museum Reach. Those are sections the barges can’t get to so maybe people can finally return to the river.

I can only hope our own River Foundation will look to Buffalo Bayou on ways to bring the river back to the people. After all, we helped pay for the project through San Antonio tax dollars. The river really should be more about San Antonio and for San Antonio than just another tourist attraction where more hotels can be built. Let’s hope the new sections will have neighborhoods and families walking along the banks or enjoying picnic lunches. If San Antonio ever really wants to build the urban core it should start focusing on residents and quit chasing the tourist dollar. Don’t get me wrong, those dollars are important to the city. However, it’s time we grow the downtown back into the vibrant space it was many years ago.

Oh, and lest I forget the rhubarb part. The Pearl Brewery Farmer’s Market had its grand opening this past Saturday. It seemed to follow the same footprint I saw several weeks ago and many of the vendors ran out of goods. But that’s a good thing as it helps to sustain the event for weeks to come. It was great to see people parking under US-281 and wandering through the Pearl Brewery complex. This truly was a people’s event and I hope the market expands with more vendors and more activities.

So, I think I’m going to enjoy the urban core if I move there and will probably write more about it as the weeks progress. I’ll let you know what living in the core is like and how it can be improved.