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Incredible photo set. This is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating downtown areas in the U.S..
So were you eating at Casa Rio? My family was eating there as long ago as the 50s. |
Yep, Casa Rio. We started going in the mid 90s and have gone back there every time we've been back. And yeah, Casa Rio was one of the first businesses along the riverwalk.
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i love Casa Rio! epic tour, thanks
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Great pics of my hometown! Have you explored the Southtown area before? It's like a slice of Austin in San Antonio.. quirky and full of good restaurants.
The King William's District is in the area and has a lot of very nice historic homes. Also, did you see any of the B-cycle bike sharing stations? Can't wait till we get ours here in Austin this fall. |
Solid set Kevin, especially how thoroughly you covered downtown with your elevated shots.
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1) It looks like San Antonio is booming.
2) I am always surprised how green San Antonio is. I thought it would be more like El Paso. 3) Please don't take photos while driving: http://www.distraction.gov/content/faces/ |
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There is a bike share station at the central library. Here's a photo of it I took back in March. http://i.imgur.com/SZd6rAg.jpg Quote:
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KevinFromTexas:
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In all seriousness, though, go down to the Guadalupe St bridge where it crosses the tracks west of S Frio. If you want good views of the entire city, try going up to LaCantera where the Elian development was just completed off of Interstate 10. Great pictures, by the way. There's always talk in the SA forum about how the city needs more tall buildings. Part of it I'm sure is the inferiority complex and being in Texas, but I suspect it's mostly because of how easy it is to ignore the wonderful variety of architecture that's already there. It's something that's easy to tear down but impossible to build new. |
Thanks, oldmanshirt, I'll have to check out those places.
And agreed on what you said. What's been going on in Austin is really a spectacle and is amazing, but during that time I've learned to appreciate San Antonio for doing its own thing. Most of San Antonio's biggest office buildings and even its major residential buildings are not downtown. Some cities are good at meshing the old and new buildings and making it work and be a connected neighborhood, but it can be very hard especially with different eras of architecture that might have been withdrawn from the street. I really like San Antonio the way it is since it's so different from other places. I'm not even sure how I would feel about adding more towers to downtown that are big and glassy and modern. And I'm not sure I like new buildings that try to replicate old architecture. I'd rather have the real thing than to try and copy it. San Antonio definitely has a style all its own and is doing it right. |
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I should have mentioned that the thing San Antonio and El Paso have in common is the vibrant Hispanic cultures. The two cities represent what Texas is rapidly becoming in an ethnic sense. |
I actually notice a fair amount of tropical plants along the riverwalk, and they're clearly safe from freezes being as big as they are. That's another thing I love about San Antonio. The city seems to pay close attention to landscaping and native/warm climate plants.
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Awesome set! Marriott Rivercenter towers are so cool in that 80's sort of way...
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Very interesting and complete tour, Kevin! Thanks for your pictures.
I like the architectural details of many buildings. I like the green spaces of San Antonio too and that area with that water canal and tourist boats. Lovely city. I suppose San Antonio will be very warm by summer, won´t it? Congrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain!:tup: |
Yes, it was about 99F or 100F those days. My bike computer thermometer said 112F/44C. The 2nd day, though, rain moved in and it rained pretty hard for the drive home. You can see the clouds build up in some of the photos.
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Thoroughly Enjoyed This Post!
Thanks for sharing. Living in SATX all these years has been a sheer pleasure for me. I fell in love with the Alamo City immediately after I arrived here 31 years ago and to watch it grow so much during the decades since has been so exciting! One of the few things that I would change would be to finally have clusters of ultra-modern, sleek skyscrapers downtown to offset all those charming, ornate, yet earth-toned and bulky buildings. That would befit a city that boasts itself as the nation's 7th largest and the state's 2nd. It sure would be cool to see some of the concrete, glass and metal "madness" that we see going on in Houston, Dallas and Austin to start occurring in San Antonio. I'm upset that so many people are fighting so hard against the proposal for the 26-story "Joskes" hotel near the Alamo. Amazing...
To clean up/modernize the area right around downtown would also be a welcome change to get rid of the decrepit, "warehousey" look. They are working on that, though, with all of the lofts they are building around Downtown. You Go, San Antonio! |
Thanks for the pics! DT San Antonio seems like a weird/eclectic mix, half Austin (walkable/urban/bustling), half parking lots, billboards, and exit ramps, like a bigger Shreveport or something.
Although it's probably not my place to comment having never been there. |
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