SAN ANTONIO | Urban Core Development Thread

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by Spoiler

(yes, it's also the seat of state government, but only for a few months every two years).

A few months every two years is about the legislature only. There's a hell of a lot more about state government than just when the legislature decides to meet... And even the legislature has staff and functions that continue all year round. There's the governor (plus all the independently elected executives and boards) and the massive bureaucracies that they each helm. There's the state judiciary as well, as well as a very large federal government and legal industry presence due to much of the business there being directly or indirectly related to politics and government.

[Spoiler]

Originally Posted by wwmiv

A few months every two years is about the legislature only. There's a hell of a lot more about state government than just when the legislature decides to meet... And even the legislature has staff and functions that continue all year round. There's the governor (plus all the independently elected executives and boards) and the massive bureaucracies that they each helm. There's the state judiciary as well, as well as a very large federal government and legal industry presence due to much of the business there being directly or indirectly related to politics and government.

This is so incredibly beside the point I was making about the cultural influences of Austin, but thanks for clarifying.

[Restless 1]

Originally Posted by Spoiler

Austin is the way it is because of its origin as a college town (yes, it's also the seat of state government, but only for a few months every two years). These kinds of things grow organically and take time and money.

The downtown nightlife scene now is better than it's ever been in my lifetime. With added density, it has the opportunity to improve.


Care to share a few?

If keggers and puking in the street are your idea of "nightlife", then both you and MKLUNDER have a point.

Not sure I agree with either one.

There are plenty of cities that would love to have the number of people in their DT areas outside of work hours that San Antonio has. Yes, it is fairly limited to the river area and Rivercenter, but they are there.

And yes, the St. Mary's corridor has regained some of it's luster of yesteryear.

That doesn't mean that MKLUNDER is necessarily wrong in his comments, perhaps just not up to date.

"Sooo, why are you living out of the country if you think other U.S. cities have everything for their young people???

Just wondering......"-AwesomeSAView

Maybe, just maybe, he has a job that requires him to be there? Maybe he's military? Who are you to question?

[Spoiler]

Originally Posted by Restless 1

If keggers and puking in the street are your idea of "nightlife", then both you and MKLUNDER have a point.

No, I was referring more to the upsurge of live music venues in the downtown area, the new performing arts center that offers a variety of entertainment, the emergence of "classy bars" for locals, and the growing dining and nightclub options around downtown's perimeter to the north and south.

[theOGalexd]

As someone in the college age demo, I agree. There needs to be something nightlife related here. It almost feels like there's a huge age demographic missing because of the spread out nature of the city and lack of a gathering place like 6th street or really, downtown Austin as a whole. It seems like the pearl/southtown attracts the 26+ crowd but there really isn't anything for the 18-25 crowd. Most people I know go to Austin to have fun on the weekends. Not exactly sure how something like that would work though. Lower Broadway corridor is what I would assume to be the best spot for something like that, or if they developed something like the pearl by UTSA.

[mklunder13]

The last time I was in SA was in January...and I was at the strip...and yes, it has improved, and I acknowledged that, and I acknowledged that SA is improving. And I acknowledged that these things take time. I live in NYC for college and am currently doing a study abroad in Paris, and the fact that some views of nightlife in SA is "keggers and puking in the street" is proof enough to show you that SA and its nightlife is not evolved enough. In NYC and Paris, there are options for all and it isn't strictly about drinking. There are many art collectives that provide the cities with unique and out of the box ways of coming together as a community and enjoying the company of each other...without "keggers and puking in the street". These cities have a strong creative class, and if you give Richard Florida a good read, you will see that attracting the creative class, (a big part of this is having a firm nightlife scene), is crucial to a cities success in this day and age. I am obviously not comparing SA to NYC or Paris, but SA could take ideas that have been successful in cities like these and provide the city with many diverse and unique nightlife options. But I am not here taking a dump on SA, I have a lot of hope and excitement for the future of the city. In my personal, college aged, opinion, I do believe the city needs more options for the young adults.

And to answer "AwesomeSAView"...why wouldn't I move to another country to broaden my horizons..? haha

[Spoiler]

Originally Posted by mklunder13

SA could take ideas that have been successful in cities like these and provide the city with many diverse and unique nightlife options.

Again I ask: what ideas?

Edited to point out NYC and Paris have a major advantage that SA does not: density and mass transit, not to mention both cities are known for their colleges and large percentages of well-educated wealthy people, all of which are factors in determining the quality of a city's nightlife. SA has a very long way to go.

[theOGalexd]

Originally Posted by Spoiler

SA has a very long way to go.

Agreed. The layout of this city is the achilles heel. The inner city is just now up and coming and most people that would be interested in that kind of scene avoid the VIA bus like the plague. I suppose Lower Broadway/River North will eventually become something like a less pretentious Uptown Dallas... but a long way to go before that happens.

[sirkingwilliam]

Enough bickering. Back to the subject at hand.

[The Model]

[IMG]Living on Broadway by Raul Medina III, on Flickr[/IMG]

Was driving down Broadway yesterday and I love the density popping up!

[Sigaven]

Originally Posted by The Model

[IMG]Living on Broadway by Raul Medina III, on Flickr[/IMG]

Was driving down Broadway yesterday and I love the density popping up!

Beautiful! Looks like Broadway is going the way of Lamar in Austin - lots of density! I think it'll be an even better avenue than Lamar once the Complete Streets are integrated.

[AwesomeSAView]

Originally Posted by Sigaven

Beautiful! Looks like Broadway is going the way of Lamar in Austin - lots of density! I think it'll be an even better avenue than Lamar once the Complete Streets are integrated.

Again, what is the deal with comparing San Antonio to Austin?
I don't get it.
San Antonio is COMPLETELY different from Austin.
Furthermore, San Antonio is not looking to be like Austin, either.
San Antonio is San Antonio.... Not Austin, Dallas, nor Houston.... Sorry.
Love it or leave it....




And GO SPURS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by AwesomeSAView

Again, what is the deal with comparing San Antonio to Austin?
I don't get it.
San Antonio is COMPLETELY different from Austin.
Furthermore, San Antonio is not looking to be like Austin, either.
San Antonio is San Antonio.... Not Austin, Dallas, nor Houston.... Sorry.
Love it or leave it....




And GO SPURS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yaaaas.

[Runner]

Originally Posted by AwesomeSAView

Again, what is the deal with comparing San Antonio to Austin?
I don't get it.
San Antonio is COMPLETELY different from Austin.
Furthermore, San Antonio is not looking to be like Austin, either.
San Antonio is San Antonio.... Not Austin, Dallas, nor Houston.... Sorry.
Love it or leave it....




And GO SPURS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank You! I totally agree with you.

[The Model]

[IMG]Tower Life Building by Raul Medina III, on Flickr[/IMG]
Noticed since American Ninja was in town that they had a spotlight on the Tower Life Building. The whole building was lit up! Lets put this light on some other buildings too!

[kingkirbythe....]

Wish I could live in there.

[SAtown]

Originally Posted by kingkirbythe....

Wish I could live in there.

The building is pretty empty--it would make much better apartments than offices

[Sigaven]

Originally Posted by AwesomeSAView

Again, what is the deal with comparing San Antonio to Austin?
I don't get it.
San Antonio is COMPLETELY different from Austin.
Furthermore, San Antonio is not looking to be like Austin, either.
San Antonio is San Antonio.... Not Austin, Dallas, nor Houston.... Sorry.
Love it or leave it....




And GO SPURS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good grief, what's wrong with the comparison? For your information I basically live in both cities so I am of course following development in both. There's nothing wrong with comparing SA with Austin. SA could learn a thing or two from ATX, and definitely the other way around.

[AwesomeSAView]

Originally Posted by Sigaven

Good grief, what's wrong with the comparison? For your information I basically live in both cities so I am of course following development in both. There's nothing wrong with comparing SA with Austin. SA could learn a thing or two from ATX, and definitely the other way around.

Again, San Antonio does not want to emulate Austin, and I'm sure Austin does not want to emulate San Antonio. Otherwise, Austin would have already attempted to build a Riverwalk, and San Antonio would have attempted to create a Sixth Street. Sorry, too totally DIFFERENT cities.

And GO SPURS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Restless 1]

Originally Posted by AwesomeSAView

Again, San Antonio does not want to emulate Austin, and I'm sure Austin does not want to emulate San Antonio. Otherwise, Austin would have already attempted to build a Riverwalk, and San Antonio would have attempted to create a Sixth Street. Sorry, too totally DIFFERENT cities.

And GO SPURS GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, we don't want to be Austin, Dallas or Houston, but we ARE in competition with them, and we'd better start acting like it.

Tourism is declining, and the tourists we do get are by and large from those cities. Catering to the "budget traveler" is not sustainable, all the while, forgetting about the RESIDENTS of San Antonio, both current and future. We need to get the tourists those other cities are getting. Austin, Dallas and Houston are mentioned nationally and internationally much more than San Antonio, and that has to change.

There are a lot of exciting ideas in the pipeline, but I remain dubious to much of it given SA's history of dialing down.

Not wanting to play second fiddle to any other city should not be confused with wanting to emulate them. I want to surpass them.