Why wouldn’t a city redevelop it’s core?
I’ve been blogging lately about the focus of redevelopment in and around the downtown area of San Antonio. To start the conversation I focused on whether the development should be in or around downtown, feeling that developing around downtown might be a better choice. Following that I looked at the area around Madison Square Park as one of the neighborhoods that might make a good choice for redevelopment focus. In doing so, I started to realize that redevelopment actually makes a lot more sense for our city than continuing the sprawl currently happening around the edges of the city. It’s just the right thing on so many fronts.
To start with, San Antonio is actually pretty fortunate in how it has grown in that it has grown from the center outward. It’s pretty easy to find the center of our city. Start with downtown and the area bounded by Interstates 10, 35, and 37 and you have the core of the city. Within that area lies the downtown business and tourist district running along Commerce and Dolorosa/Market Streets from east to west. To the north is the area I described as River North and to the south is King William/Lavaca/SoFlo, both potential residential areas.
From there the city spreads out in all directions with business areas interspersed around the city. What has happened residentially is that most of the new development has been focused northward, creating a transportation nightmare along US-281 and Loop 1604. Given the propensity of Texans to drive everywhere they go, it didn’t seem out of the ordinary to buy or build further and further out of the center of the city. After all, the inner city was always portrayed as a crime haven and unfit for raising children.
What this ended up doing is creating sprawl that forced abnormal traffic patterns throughout the northern area of the city. In reality, if the focus had been to improve and develop within the city traffic would not have been an issue and there would have been no need to add infrastructure. Instead the city could have either upgraded or enhanced what is already there. Police already patrol areas of the current city limits. Fire stations already exist. Stores and businesses are in place already.
Many American cities are going through a redevelopment focus that is turning inward. People are realizing it just doesn’t make sense to spend a good portion of their day driving to and from work when they could be spending that time with their families. Gas prices are starting to climb again, creating a need for more efficient commuting options. All in all, the major cities of America are starting to implode.
San Antonio is really at a crossroads in this urban shift. The city hasn’t experienced extreme growth. The inner areas haven’t been completely overriden with crime to the point of no return. There is a cultural and generational among residents to many of the older areas of the city. People constantly tell me stories of how they grew up living or visiting many of the older parts of the city. This last point is important as San Antonio moves forward.
As San Antonio moves forward in its planning for the year 2020, now is the time to start bringing together city and community leaders to help refocus the growth of the city to many of the older neighborhoods. This refocus is going to be both beneficial and painful to several as some will try to cling to a life once remembered and others will realize the need for change. No one is going to be entirely happy, nor should they be.
But by building momentum for redevelopment and a desire of some to move back into the city San Antonio can accomplish many goals such as reducing costs, improving the quality of life, and reconnecting people with their heritage and roots. It would also create a more sustainable city for the future as much of the existing areas would be retrofitted with more efficient and energy saving materials and home items.
San Antonio has the opportunity to do things right in the wake of other cities that figured this out late in their growth. We don’t have to compromise a way of life for urban redevelopment. We just have to look to our families, both young and old, as to the reasons why this would make sense.
