San Antonio Neighborhoods
October 3, 2011 - Broadway–the city’s fixer-upper
Yesterday about 15,000 people came down for the city’s first ever SiClovia, a four hour bike, jog, walk, skateboard, Zumba, you name it time when folks just enjoyed a good time “playing in the street.” The event was sponsored by the Mayor’s Fitness Council and was designed to get people out and about Sunday. Everyone I saw had come out to participate but started the day wondering who else would show up. We were all pleasantly surprised and ... Read more »
June 16, 2011 - What’s next? Lady Gaga Drive?
Today I heard from someone that a small group apparently is trying to get a portion of Pecan Valley Drive renamed “Barack Obama Drive,” supposedly not for political reasons but to honor his presidency. While I respect the group’s intentions, it’s a little too early to start renaming streets for Pres. Obama. Usually that honor is given after the president leaves office. At that point, depending on the impact of that person and his or her administration, ... Read more »
June 9, 2011 - Is Live-Work design right for the Lavaca neighborhood?
In an article in Tuesday’s Express-News, Jennifer Hiller reported on a new residential approach that won zoning approval in the Lavaca Historic neighborhood just south of Hemisfair Park. The project by designer and builder Hilary Scruggs, the Mews on Devine, is a development of five live-work units with 250 square feet of work space on the first floor and 800 to 1,000 feet of living space in the floors above. The units would be constructed on a ... Read more »
January 22, 2011 - It's a wrap, well not quite
Today was the last public forum for SA2020, Mayor Julian Castro's long-range planning exercise to help shape the future of San Antonio. About 1,000 people gathered at the TriPoint YMCA this morning, giving up a Saturday morning to help finish the process. During the past four months over 4,000 people have come to various public venues to define a vision, establish measures and map out a path to helping San Antonio build a brighter future. Today was ... Read more »
December 23, 2010 - 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 ... Read more »
December 22, 2010 - Madison Square Park would make a great walkable neighborhood
After I posted my blog entry on pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods a friend of mine commented that it was a shame parks like Madison Square Park and Crockett Park had lost that neighborhood feel due to business development around the parks. While I agree with him regarding Crockett Park, Madison Square Park actually has potential as a neighborhood park. It really only has limited business development surrounding the park which is probably not a bad ... Read more »
December 20, 2010 - Where should San Antonio's residential focus be?
As many of you probably know I'm a resident of downtown San Antonio and have been for over a year now. I moved into the urban core as an experiment to see how living downtown might be. It's been a good experience so far but, after living here for a while, I'm starting to see where the real focus of residential living should be for downtown and it's probably not in the core. While San Antonio has aspirations to be a big city like many other urban areas ... Read more »
November 21, 2010 - The High Line and San Antonio, there is a connection
This weekend, while reviewing some of the various events, I ran across an article in the Express-News about an upcoming lecture by Robert Hammond, co-founder of The High Line project. The event will be Tuesday, November 23, and is sponsored by the Architecture Foundation San Antonio. While I have already written about The High Line in an entry a couple of summers ago, I found out that the project actually has a San Antonio tie in Mr. Hammond, a native ... Read more »
October 19, 2009 - Vision for River North revealed tonight
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 ... Read more »
October 5, 2009 - National night out - San Antonio style
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 ... Read more »
August 21, 2009 - Community gardens, where you can be the farmer
Today I was having a conversation with a co-worker about some interesting things and the subject of community gardens came up. He's a member of Gateway Church in San Antonio where they have established their own community garden behind the church. Apparently they are zoned in such a way they can raise poultry and possibly even a couple of milk cows. They also raise fruits and vegetables to provide for members and some of the staff of the church. It's ... Read more »
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