Concerned Citizens

This past weekend the Express-News wrote about the possible demise of the River North Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 27, the TIRZ set up to help fund infrastructure improvements within an area that straddles the recently developed Museum Reach of the San Antonio River. The purpose of the TIRZ was to channel any property tax increases resulting from redevelopment in the area back into the area to help improve streets, drainage, and other infrastructure elements. However, the management of the TIRZ and the lack of any redevelopment may have resulted in a situation that questions the effectiveness of it. So does this mean River North may be just a good idea without any chance of redevelopment? Read more…

Today I happened to notice on Ben Olivo’s Downtown Blog an entry with a video of the construction of The Vistana, a time lapse series of photos taken by the webcam perched on the roof of the Christus Santa Rosa Hospital. It’s a great view of how this building that has been lauded as a new start of urban core development came to be, sitting on a half block of property across from Milam Park. At this point the building is at about 96% occupancy and is growing into its own community of urban dwellers, a collection of doctors, lawyers, government employees, military personnel, downtown business owners, and just plain old folks looking to take advantage of living in the urban core. But it’s also a vision of what could be downtown. Read more…

I’m in Houston this weekend enjoying my annual MLB weekend. Unfortunately my friend couldn’t join me due to work issues. But I’m still going to make the most of it. The weekend started with a presentation to the Texas Festivals and Events Association (TFEA) Conference on Fiesta Verde. After that, we’re at the Inn at the Ballpark (great deal through Priceline) which puts me literally across the street from the park. I’ll have to say the highlight was presenting what we learned during Fiesta Verde to about 15 people in the session. Read more…

Yesterday, at a rally at City Hall, LULAC president Rosa Rosales voiced her opposition to the proposed smoking ban by City Council. According to an article in the San Antonio Express-News Rosales said the proposal is racist and socioeconomically based. With all due respect to Mrs. Rosales that has to be the most outlandish claim I have ever heard on the proposal. What makes it even worse for LULAC is that it give credence to claims that LULAC is more focused on promoting racial division than promoting civil rights and justice by bringing race into a health and welfare argument. While Rosales made claims that such a ban would impact jobs and small businesses, that claim has been found to be shallow and unsubstantiated.
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We haven’t even gotten through the 2010 election cycle and candidates for the 2011 municipal election are already jockeying for position, especially in District 1. In 2011 Councilwoman Mary Alice Cisneros will be vacating her office due to term limits (she was not covered by the term limit extensions) and a field is already developing to run for her office. Greg Jefferson, columnist with the San Antonio Express-News, detailed some of the early political moves by District 1 candidates. It a good read and he’s a lot more cued in on the race than I am so I’ll leave any candidate analysis to him at this point. But a big question in mind is what would make a good District 1 candidate? Read more…

If you’re in downtown San Antonio this weekend without fail you’re going to stumble across someone wearing a green lanyard and name badge attached to it. That’s what the attendees to the 2010 International Convention of Alcoholics Anonymous are wearing here in San Antonio. With over 50,000 attendees it’s probably the largest convention we’ve had in the Alamo City in a while. Some may claim it’s not the best convention to have since they won’t be drinking our bars on the Riverwalk dry. I counter that it’s probably the BEST convention we’ve had because of their attitudes. Read more…

Over the past few weeks several people have talked about downtown living here in San Antonio. Ben Olivo recently wrote a blog entry about people who live and walk to work downtown. In it he interviewed several residents of my building, The Vistana. It highlighted the fact that people are making downtown living happen and enjoying the benefits of it. I am still into my one year experiment with living downtown and have found new and interesting things every day of it. But I’ve also found some bad things that should be pointed out. Read more…

It’s that time again for one of my favorite events in San Antonio – UTSA’s Great Conversation. Each year at the end of February hundreds will gather at the Institute of Texan Cultures for a night of good food, fun and most importantly table talk. The event benefits the UTSA Honors College by providing funds for scholarships for current and future students to attend the college. What makes the event so much more entertaining is that you spend about an hour talking about various table topics led by community leaders and experts. Now in its 10th year this event continues to grow as more people are catching on to the fun. It’s also a great place to network and meet new friends. This year’s event is scheduled for February 23rd and tables are filling up fast. If you’ve never enjoyed the experience, I strongly encourage you to spend a night sitting with other San Antonians enjoying a great conversation.

Tuesday night Mayor Julian Castro hosted the first virtual town hall in San Antonio, a fulfillment of a campaign promise. For the first time it turned out great thanks to the hard work of Trinity University, several members of his staff, and his campaign office. During the hour session moderated by Elaine Wolff of the San Antonio Current people could e-mail, chat or tweet up questions for the mayor to respond to. A limited audience at Trinity was also provided the opportunity to ask questions. Hopefully we’ll see more of this type event as Mayor Castro works to bring more transparency and accessibility to city government through online resources. He is becoming one of the most connected mayors San Antonio has ever seen. Read more…

CPS missed a great opportunity in the contract negotiations for its share of STNP. The board and management probably didn’t realize it but by revealing the increase in the contract price by $4 billion CPS could have leveraged public sentiment in driving down the price. By showing Toshiba the public would not tolerate such a large increase in project costs CPS could have taken Toshiba to task at driving for a more reasonable price. Then again, CPS seems to be missing a lot of great political opportunities these days. In an editorial piece in today’s Express-News the editors call for a more formalized reporting process between the public owned utility and city leadership. I couldn’t agree more. Because of the relationship between CPS and the city it is important to understand that the utility is being run in the best interest of the citizens of San Antonio. Read more…

TED: ideas worth spreading. That’s what hits you the first time you pull up the TED website. But what is this thing called TED? What’s so hot about it and why is it spreading across the globe? More importantly, why am I even writing about it? Well, to sum it all up in a nutshell it’s a chance for San Antonio to come together and explore some new ideas by some creative and visionary people. It’s a localized version of the annual TED conference where some of the great minds of the world come together and spill their innovative brains onto attendees in less than 20 minutes. It’s about Technology, Entertainment, Design which leads us to TED. So what’s up with the San Antonio angle? Read more…

Tonight the City of San Antonio’s Planning and Developments Services Department revealed the vision for River North and started a rezoning process that will involve a series of public meetings and hearings. Early in 2010 City Council will vote to rezone the area to prepare for the expected redevelopment of the area into mixed use that will hopefully spark a collection of condos, shops, restaurants, and offices. It is a part of the goal of many to help rebuild the urban core of San Antonio and bring more people to live in the area. Tonight the proposed zoning map was shown to about 40 people who showed up for a public hearing at the Central Library. It’s the beginning of a process but from what I saw I’m pretty much pleased where this is going. Read more…

It’s been a while since blogged about living downtown so maybe it’s time for an update. After last Saturday’s fun and the great weather this weekend it’s been the perfect time to enjoy the experience downtown by getting out. Last weekend started off with Chalk It Up sponsored by ArtPace. It’s a collection of artists, students, and children who use Houston Street from about Main Street to Alamo Plaza as their canvas. Lots of kids got to have some fun playing in the street and drawing their most creative impressions. What was even better was to see the other people who came down to enjoy the art and weather. But that’s just the start of the fun happening downtown. Read more…

Today Scott Stroud wrote in his column in the Express-News about how Mayor Julian Castro is facing big challenges barely into his first year in office. First Castro is faced with the decision over CPS’s future investment in the South Texas Nuclear Project, an issue that has been controversial since it was first introduced by CPS. In a time when San Antonio is experiencing strong growth making sure there will be a reliable energy source for the future has created the need for a critical decision. Now, after meeting with the Express-News editorial board, Castro appears ready to take on the next infrastructure need of the city – water. But these aren’t the only issues Castro is ready to tackle. High on his list are transportation, education, and development of the urban core of the city. So will Castro’s legacy as mayor be investments in San Antonio’s infrastructure? Read more…

Tomorrow night is National Night Out – Texas. I add the Texas part because Texas actually celebrates the night in October instead of the national celebration in August. Here in San Antonio it’s a pretty big thing with celebrations going on across the city. The San Antonio Parks and Recreation Department will be celebrating their 75th anniversary with a dance at the Berta Almaguer Studio from 6:30 – 10 p.m. Oct. 6th. Here in the downtown area we’ll be celebrating at the Radius Center from 6 – 8 p.m. Oct. 6th. sponsored by the Downtown Residents Association. It should be a great event with refreshments, games and other activities planned by the Association. I’m sure there are other celebrations planned across the city. Read more…