Back to San Antonio

[scraperfetish]

...At the same time, I'm taking nothing from my fair city. The more I live in it, the more I love it. It is so livable. Besides, I have been to numerous uber-sexy big cities in the U.S. and in Europe, Western and Eastern Europe, and I've been impressed with all they've had to offer, but everyone knows, there is no place I'd rather be than in SA-Town. I'll always be a huge fan, regardless.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Fantastic work, Kevin

[bobdreamz]

Kevin? not to rain on your parade here but I had 2 relatives in the military and dragged 3 others along with them not to mention my nephew being born there but they didn't like SA at all except for the downtown/Riverwalk area. They said it was one of the most boring, sprawly mess of a city they had ever seen and couldn't wait to get back to Florida and haven't been back ever since.
Otherwise I did enjoy your pics because I have never been in SA or Texas for that matter. You seem to do any city justice!

[KevinFromTexas]

Well the area outside of downtown is pretty generic in places. However, there some areas of the city outside of downtown that are not and do have character. There's not just the Alamo in downtown, there are several other missions from the same period outside of downtown in the southern part of the city. That area of town is the older part with older neighborhoods. The north side is where most of the new development is and is what typically forms people's opinions of San Antonio since it's what they see first. It's where the airport is. Those areas are more like other places. But yeah, downtown is my favorite area of the city. It really is unlike any other downtown.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by bobdreamz

Kevin? not to rain on your parade here but I had 2 relatives in the military and dragged 3 others along with them not to mention my nephew being born there but they didn't like SA at all except for the downtown/Riverwalk area. They said it was one of the most boring, sprawly mess of a city they had ever seen and couldn't wait to get back to Florida and haven't been back ever since.
Otherwise I did enjoy your pics because I have never been in SA or Texas for that matter. You seem to do any city justice!

Sounds like they didn't see much of the city. There are many really gorgeous areas. But if you don't venture off the freeways or if you hang out mainly in the areas of military bases, you won't get a good impression.

[cole world11]

my city has some very nice architecture! good work on capturing it, Kevin!

[volguus zildrohar]

Riverwalk pigeons...yeesh.

[sirkingwilliam]

Originally Posted by bobdreamz

Kevin? not to rain on your parade here but I had 2 relatives in the military and dragged 3 others along with them not to mention my nephew being born there but they didn't like SA at all except for the downtown/Riverwalk area. They said it was one of the most boring, sprawly mess of a city they had ever seen and couldn't wait to get back to Florida and haven't been back ever since.
Otherwise I did enjoy your pics because I have never been in SA or Texas for that matter. You seem to do any city justice!

And how long ago was that?

Things have greatly changed in just the last 5 years.

[sirkingwilliam]

Originally Posted by 202_Cyclist

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/

1) Booming not only in overall population but also in downtown/urban core residential development. Between 2011 and 2012, nearly 1,000 residential units were built in the downtown area. But also, the young population in the urban core has exploded. Thanks to the Museum Reach, The Pearl and Southtown. Because of this, biking has skyrocketed and those areas now resemble a mini-Portland with regards to biking. In 2011, San Antonio was the first Texas city to start a bike share program. Now the San Antonio B-Cycle program is the largest bike share program in Texas and the second largest B-Cycle program nationwide, after only Denver. There are 52 stations and nearly 500 bikes.

2) Not sure why you thought SA and EP would be similar landscape wise. El Paso is 8 miles from San Antonio. Honest mistake no doubt. lol

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by sirkingwilliam

1) Booming not only in overall population but also in downtown/urban core residential development. Between 2011 and 2012, nearly 1,000 residential units were built in the downtown area. But also, the young population in the urban core has exploded. Thanks to the Museum Reach, The Pearl and Southtown. Because of this, biking has skyrocketed and those areas now resemble a mini-Portland with regards to biking. In 2011, San Antonio was the first Texas city to start a bike share program. Now the San Antonio B-Cycle program is the largest bike share program in Texas and the second largest B-Cycle program nationwide, after only Denver. There are 52 stations and nearly 500 bikes.

2) Not sure why you thought SA and EP would be similar landscape wise. El Paso is 8 miles from San Antonio. Honest mistake no doubt. lol

8 miles? Oh...OK...I guess you were being sarcastic. But seriously, many Americans think we're located somewhere out there near Utah, if they can even figure out where that is.

[KevinFromTexas]

Actually one of the things that strikes me the most about San Antonio is how lush it is. Downtown especially is beautifully landscaped. I'm not sure there's another city in Texas that pays such close attention to landscaping, and it's all native plants and stuff that is climate appropriate.

[sirkingwilliam]

I should revise the numbers.

Between 2011 and 2012, nearly 900 residential units were created downtown/urban core. In 2013 alone, 1,050 units were created.

[ChiTownCity]

Nice vantage point shots from that parking garage. And I like that second to last shot from the expressway a lot too!