SAN ANTONIO | City and Metro News Thread

[Keep-SA-Lame]

Originally Posted by forward looking

I think some 14,000 year old pottery shards were discovered in the Olmos park Basin, the oldest yet.
I found a Mastodon tooth while hiking Culebra Creek just inside Loop 1604
near where a flood control dam was built.

Wow! I knew there were 10,000 year old artifacts in Brackenridge but I hadn't heard about Olmos. Those springs have been drawing people here for so long, it's incredible. Good thing we drained the aquifer to water everyone's lawns so the sacred springs don't flow anymore (70% of SAWS water use is for landscape irrigation!).

[Spoiler]

Originally Posted by JACKinBeantown

That's pretty freakin' old.

He's wrong. The oldest American Indian pottery is less than five thousand years old. He's probably thinking of arrow points or stone implements, which go back about ten thousand years in this area.

[forward looking]

I thought it was the radio carbon dating based upon the half life of elements taken from fire heated implements, burnt pottery, which dates archeological sites. I have even heard older population estimates than the one I wrote of, here in the San Antonio River Valley. Arrow heads are dated by style.
I am no archeologist but have always had an interest in science. Native Americans have been in North America for at least 14,000 years minimum according to folsom point arrow and spear head implements found in the U.S. I believe in New Mexico.Some scientific estimates range even up to 20,000 years.
If I am not mistaken this information I entered was published by the archeological dept. of UTSA.
Upon re=thinking of this date I entered; it might only be 11,000 years that people have inhabited Yanaguana, the Indian name for San Antone. I think this date I entered above might have since been changed upwards since I first read it anyway. I could be mistaken on this figure, but I do not think so.

Originally Posted by Spoiler

He's wrong. The oldest American Indian pottery is less than five thousand years old. He's probably thinking of arrow points or stone implements, which go back about ten thousand years in this area.

[forward looking]

70% of Saws water is used for irrigation? You say. Isn't much of that irrigation water for the downtown landscaping, Blackwater?
I know for those residents living south of San Antonio the River is not as clean as they would like it to be. Euphemistically speaking. I have read a lot on the Edwards Aquifer website and I believe it to be pretty bad, downriver according to some interviewed residents I listened to.
I have read that Las Vegas uses blackwater for their landscape vegetation and I believe San Antonio does too?

Originally Posted by Keep-SA-Lame

Wow! I knew there were 10,000 year old artifacts in Brackenridge but I hadn't heard about Olmos. Those springs have been drawing people here for so long, it's incredible. Good thing we drained the aquifer to water everyone's lawns so the sacred springs don't flow anymore (70% of SAWS water use is for landscape irrigation!).

[jaga185]

Originally Posted by forward looking

70% of Saws water is used for irrigation? You say. Isn't much of that irrigation water for the downtown landscaping, Blackwater?
I know for those residents living south of San Antonio the River is not as clean as they would like it to be. Euphemistically speaking. I have read a lot on the Edwards Aquifer website and I believe it to be pretty bad, downriver according to some interviewed residents I listened to.
I have read that Las Vegas uses blackwater for their landscape vegetation and I believe San Antonio does too?

I really do wish we could have an ordinance that would not allow water-guzzling lawns. We should have more desert landscaping processes involved to help preserve the aquifer.

[Spoiler]

Make possession of grass a felony (St. Augustine, that is ).

[forward looking]

It is only a matter of time because the more people keep coming to the City the larger the odds will become the wells will begin to run dry. What about when there are 6 million people?
Can you imagine how dry it will become one hundred years after we are all gone? Three hundred years? A salt water channel will need to be excavated by SAWS in conjunction with Army Corp of Engineers from the coast for the erection of a desalination plant to supply San Antonio's ever growing population with fresh water.
At least the fishing should be nice along it's banks. Good for fishing charters and recreation too.

Originally Posted by jaga185

I really do wish we could have an ordinance that would not allow water-guzzling lawns. We should have more desert landscaping processes involved to help preserve the aquifer.

[kingkirbythe....]

Castle Hills residents worry a 300-unit apartment complex would mean bad traffic for small city

https://www.expressnews.com/news/loc...d-16969355.php

A 300-unit apartment complex proposed for the city with a population of nearly 4,500 has residents worrying about the traffic it would bring and the city’s participation in the project.

Residents voiced concerns and questions about the project, Lofts at Castle Hills, during a recent special meeting of the Castle Hills City Council.

At the meeting, officials from Vaquero Multifamily Inc., the project developer, presented their plans for the proposed $63 million, multifamily apartment complex. It would include 300 residential units within a four-story building, a parking garage containing 451 spaces, and amenities on a 4.7-acre tract bounded by Northwest Military Highway, Winston Lane and Lockhill-Selma Road.

The project also would add sidewalks and lighting along Winston Lane and Lockhill-Selma Road. There would be a main entrance into the complex, off Winston Lane, with a secondary entrance for emergency vehicles.

[kingkirbythe....]

Building ‘South Texas Triangle’? Geekdom looks south to recruit startups

https://www.expressnews.com/business...p-16981355.php

So Geekdom is trying something new to attract tech talent and startups: It’s looking south.

CEO Charles Woodin said Geekdom’s game plan is to search for startups in South Texas and Mexico and develop partnerships with them.

He’s looking to appeal to the culture of what he calls “the South Texas Triangle” — which encompasses the cities of Laredo, Corpus Christi and Guadalajara, Mexico. He’s banking on San Antonio’s standing as the largest Hispanic-majority city in the United States.

...

At an open house Feb. 23, Woodin told a crowd of tenants, staffers and supporters that Geekdom’s goal was to launch 500 startups over the next decade, with at least 75 percent of them headquartered in San Antonio.

Lorenzo Gomez III, a former Geekdom CEO and its current board chairman, said the outsize number of startups made sense because most fail, even when funded. “We need volume,” he added.

Referring to Geekdom’s South Texas-Mexico strategy, Gomez said: “We want to be the people that dominate this market.”

Standing close by, Weston said he supported Geekdom’s plans because the city hasn’t birthed enough startups to develop a vibrant tech scene. His main interest was whether the coworking space could identify businesses willing to put down local roots.

“Having a headquarters in San Antonio is what we should be aiming for,” he said. “To set up a headquarters means a company builds the brain power of the city. The best way for that to happen is for us to chart our own course.”

[kingkirbythe....]

The history and future of San Antonio's Samuels Glass building

https://www.mysanantonio.com/busines...P-CP-Spotlight

If you have been living in San Antonio for any stretch of time, you've likely rolled past the old Samuels Glass Building, identifiable by its large, burnt-orange retro sign coloring the Pearl District. Recently, it was given an official historic designation by the City of San Antonio Office of Historic Preservation.

Shannon Miller, director of the City's Office of Historic Preservation, tells MySA that the new designation, along with that of the Grumbles home on Wyoming Street, are examples of the city's efforts to celebrate our architectural and cultural diversity. "Samuels Glass, built in 1948, has a simplified Art Deco design and is distinctive for its relationship to the business, which is still in operation today, and its unique wedge shape built to accommodate the old railroad spur," said Miller.

As it stands, the building is a former glass factory. Interestingly, it's a good example of San Antonio's transitioning industrial history — straddling two worlds — not yet revised and sitting starkly in a plane of re-developments. But where is it headed? Let's first look at where it's been.

[kingkirbythe....]

San Antonio hires Austin's 'Noise Whisperer' to find middle ground on revisions to noise ordinance

https://www.sacurrent.com/sanantonio...t?oid=28376787

The city of San Antonio has hired a consultant who helped slash Austin's commercial noise complaints by more than 70%, in the hopes of finding middle ground between residents and club owners locked in an impasse over the city's noise ordinance.

[forward looking]

Many, many times I have thought that Bar music is wayyyyyyyy
over amplified. You know those times when you must scream to the person seated next to you in order to carry on any kind of communication. At all.
Roll over Ludwig van Beetoven. Must the music really be THAT loud?

Originally Posted by kingkirbythe....

San Antonio hires Austin's 'Noise Whisperer' to find middle ground on revisions to noise ordinance

https://www.sacurrent.com/sanantonio...t?oid=28376787

The city of San Antonio has hired a consultant who helped slash Austin's commercial noise complaints by more than 70%, in the hopes of finding middle ground between residents and club owners locked in an impasse over the city's noise ordinance.

[Keep-SA-Lame]

Originally Posted by forward looking

70% of Saws water is used for irrigation? You say. Isn't much of that irrigation water for the downtown landscaping, Blackwater?
I know for those residents living south of San Antonio the River is not as clean as they would like it to be. Euphemistically speaking. I have read a lot on the Edwards Aquifer website and I believe it to be pretty bad, downriver according to some interviewed residents I listened to.
I have read that Las Vegas uses blackwater for their landscape vegetation and I believe San Antonio does too?

Absolutely not. Most of the river walk landscaping is xeriscaping, ie it doesn't need to be watered in our climate except some supplemental irrigation to get plants established when they're new. And even if they were irrigated, consider what a tiny fraction of the city downtown landscaping is compared to the thousands and thousands of acres of irrigated exotic turf grass in people's yards. I killed my lawn years ago and replaced it with flowering perennials and other stuff that actually improves the environment without taking any water for irrigation. I haven't looked back.

[kingkirbythe....]

Developer’s plan to 8 build homes in Dignowity Hill sent back to drawing board

https://saheron.com/cherrycourt-dign...drawing-board/

A San Antonio developer’s plan to build eight 2-story homes on two vacant lots on the edge of the Dignowity Hill Historic District was recently rejected by a city board because, it said, the overall project was incongruent with the neighborhood.

On March 2, Ricardo Turrubiates of Mint Development presented his plan for CherryCourt on the 1000 block of North Cherry Street, two blocks north of Hays Street Bridge on the near East Side, to the Historic and Design Review Commission (HDRC).

Commissioners told Turrubiates, who was seeking conceptual approval for the project, that the size of the homes in relation to existing nearby homes, and the number of units on the two lots were out of place for the historic neighborhood.

Although the ratio of building footprint-to-lot size was well below the 50 percent threshold outlined in the city’s Historic Design Guidelines for buildings inside a historic district, many of the commissioners said the CherryCourt project was too big when compared to Dignowity Hill.

[Restless One]

Originally Posted by Keep-SA-Lame

Absolutely not. Most of the river walk landscaping is xeriscaping, ie it doesn't need to be watered in our climate except some supplemental irrigation to get plants established when they're new. And even if they were irrigated, consider what a tiny fraction of the city downtown landscaping is compared to the thousands and thousands of acres of irrigated exotic turf grass in people's yards. I killed my lawn years ago and replaced it with flowering perennials and other stuff that actually improves the environment without taking any water for irrigation. I haven't looked back.

Yes, San Antonio has done a wonderful job of xeriscaping DT.

However, the rest of your post seem pretty fascistic. "Own your property, but have no control of it".

Do you boo, and I'll do me. As long as I pay for what I use, it's none of your business. (And I water rather infrequently, as I've found if you mow consistently, you can keep weeds down, and don't have to water as much.)

[Rynetwo]

Originally Posted by kingkirbythe....

Developer’s plan to 8 build homes in Dignowity Hill sent back to drawing board

https://saheron.com/cherrycourt-dign...drawing-board/

A San Antonio developer’s plan to build eight 2-story homes on two vacant lots on the edge of the Dignowity Hill Historic District was recently rejected by a city board because, it said, the overall project was incongruent with the neighborhood.

On March 2, Ricardo Turrubiates of Mint Development presented his plan for CherryCourt on the 1000 block of North Cherry Street, two blocks north of Hays Street Bridge on the near East Side, to the Historic and Design Review Commission (HDRC).

Commissioners told Turrubiates, who was seeking conceptual approval for the project, that the size of the homes in relation to existing nearby homes, and the number of units on the two lots were out of place for the historic neighborhood.

Although the ratio of building footprint-to-lot size was well below the 50 percent threshold outlined in the city’s Historic Design Guidelines for buildings inside a historic district, many of the commissioners said the CherryCourt project was too big when compared to Dignowity Hill.

This area is constantly stepping on itself. These were not going to be those massive 3 story SFH squares it actually looked better than 75% of the house in that area.

[kingkirbythe....]

It took over 14,000 screws to replace more than 1,000 boards on New Braunfels' Faust Street Bridge

https://www.expressnews.com/news/loc...e-16995239.php

After three-and-a-half months, the top layer of wooden boards on Faust Street Bridge in New Braunfels have been completely replaced. The city's parks and recreation department shared the announcement Thursday evening on Facebook.

The popular bridge overlooks the Guadalupe River and is 640 feet long. A team of five workers replaced the 1,420 boards using over 14,000 screws, according to the City of New Braunfels.

The project was a part of routine maintenance, according to David Ferguson, the media and communications coordinator for the city.

Crew members averaged 100 boards a day to complete the project, Ferguson said.

The bridge was originally built in 1887 and is one of six remaining whipple truss roadway bridges in the country. It's the only one that remains in its original location, according to the city.

The old-fashioned bridge was designated a Texas Historical Landmark in 1999, and it is sometimes rented out for weddings and other events.

[kingkirbythe....]

City of San Antonio celebrates new amenities at Martin Luther King Park

https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/lo...K-16994546.php

The City of San Antonio has celebrated the completion of improvements at Martin Luther King Park that was part of the 2017 bond project. Officials held a ceremonial ribbon-cutting event to commemorate the installments on Tuesday, March 8.

Park visitors can expect a new pavilion with attached bathrooms, new paved trails, additional parking, a splash pad that will open at a later date, and a new art piece called "Spheres of Refection" by local artist, Kaldric Dow.

[JACKinBeantown]

Originally Posted by kingkirbythe....

It took over 14,000 screws to replace more than 1,000 boards on New Braunfels' Faust Street Bridge

https://www.expressnews.com/news/loc...e-16995239.php

After three-and-a-half months, the top layer of wooden boards on Faust Street Bridge in New Braunfels have been completely replaced. The city's parks and recreation department shared the announcement Thursday evening on Facebook.

The popular bridge overlooks the Guadalupe River and is 640 feet long. A team of five workers replaced the 1,420 boards using over 14,000 screws, according to the City of New Braunfels.

The project was a part of routine maintenance, according to David Ferguson, the media and communications coordinator for the city.

Crew members averaged 100 boards a day to complete the project, Ferguson said.

The bridge was originally built in 1887 and is one of six remaining whipple truss roadway bridges in the country. It's the only one that remains in its original location, according to the city.

The old-fashioned bridge was designated a Texas Historical Landmark in 1999, and it is sometimes rented out for weddings and other events.

Is the Hays Street Bridge one of the other six?

[kingkirbythe....]

That's a good question that I don't know the answer to.