The core of downtown has a long way to go...start be eliminating the San Antonio HDRC (Austin: 2013, to live)

[Charlestondata]

A mayor is concerned with the people he serves. When he calls it the nation's seventh largest city, he probably is speaking in terms of what's on City Hall's plate as far as how many people he and the council must responsibly provide services for, not in terms of how impressive the size of the city is compared to New York or to the second through the sixth largest city.

[EntropyGuardian]

I'm going to PM the OP next time I have to go to Austin. The last time I had to drop someone off and wait for them while they were at a concert I could not find _anything_ to do. We ended up eating some korean food, going to the weird museum and drinking in a vacant college bar until time was up. The best part was walking past the greyhound station which was reminiscent of a hornet's nest getting swarmed by homeless people.

I always get the feeling that folks who say Austin has so much more to do than San Anto know of an entirely different part of Austin or are seriously hallucinating. I'm 50/50 at this point.

I rarely go downtown SA, though. There is either nowhere to park, or it costs $20. Anything I would want to go to exists elsewhere in town. You can't even enjoy drinking heavily because you'd have to drive back out of downtown and taxis cost too much to get down there. I don't think any amount of beautiful skyscrapers would improve that. I'm content to tool over to an alamo drafthouse or flying saucer or pearl/museum reach or whatever else rather than struggle to park downtown.

MAYBE if we had BART-like transit that fed through downtown directly I'd be more inclined to visit.

[Chaka]

Originally Posted by EntropyGuardian

I rarely go downtown SA, though. There is either nowhere to park, or it costs $20. Anything I would want to go to exists elsewhere in town. You can't even enjoy drinking heavily because you'd have to drive back out of downtown and taxis cost too much to get down there. I don't think any amount of beautiful skyscrapers would improve that. I'm content to tool over to an alamo drafthouse or flying saucer or pearl/museum reach or whatever else rather than struggle to park downtown.

One of the joys of living within walking distance to downtown or amidst all the great places in Southtown. No worries about driving/parking ;-)

But, that's also why I rarely go to the outer burbs to hang out. Who wants to drive when you can just walk everywhere?

Originally Posted by EntropyGuardian

MAYBE if we had BART-like transit that fed through downtown directly I'd be more inclined to visit.

I'm with you there. Better transit is always a good thing.

[staunchcharacter]

Originally Posted by EntropyGuardian

I rarely go downtown SA, though. There is either nowhere to park, or it costs $20. Anything I would want to go to exists elsewhere in town. You can't even enjoy drinking heavily because you'd have to drive back out of downtown and taxis cost too much to get down there. I don't think any amount of beautiful skyscrapers would improve that. I'm content to tool over to an alamo drafthouse or flying saucer or pearl/museum reach or whatever else rather than struggle to park downtown.

I'm fine with all of these misnomers, as it keeps my favorite hoods (Downtown, Southtown, King William, Lavaca) free of too many folks

[Labamigo]

I always get the feeling that folks who say Austin has so much more to do than San Anto know of an entirely different part of Austin or are seriously hallucinating. I'm 50/50 at this point.

I've never "gotten" Austin. IMO, any city that touts "Keep Us Weird" has a complex. Forced weirdness reminds me of forced nonchalance. Does it exist?

San Antonio is quirky but we don't go around printing bumper stickers and saying we are.

And, Austin is still one of the most racially segregated large cities in the USA. Go figure.

[staunchcharacter]

Originally Posted by Labamigo

I've never "gotten" Austin. IMO, any city that touts "Keep Us Weird" has a complex. Forced weirdness reminds me of forced nonchalance. Does it exist?

San Antonio is quirky but we don't go around printing bumper stickers and saying we are.

And, Austin is still one of the most racially segregated large cities in the USA. Go figure.

To understand Austin, you have to have experienced it when it was indeed 'weird.'

It's been awhile and Austin has been trying ever since to convince people they aren't just another mainstream, chain-driven, Southern California-lite wannabe. From what I've seen over the last 10 years, they're not doing a very good impression of what they once were.

[maracuya68]

First, get rid of the bikini rule!!!!

[mightyyoda]

There are a lot of people here who don't understand Austin or San Antonio. What San Antonio needs is investment in its core that brings people that live there, not tourists. SA does not need more hotels, it needs apartments, condos, grocery stores, and pharmacies. It needs the things that people need every day to live there. As someone who lives in Austin, I love visiting SA. Every time I go downtown though, I can't help but think how much potential it has and what it could become with a little TLC. There are so many historic buildings downtown, but what is a historic building if it is underused or vacant. SA doesn't need tall skyscrapers or anything so much as it needs more of its people downtown living and working there. Downtown should be for the people of the city first and foremost. When that day happens, SA will have a downtown that will be the envy of many cities.

[GEM-Texas]

Had to go to a Riverwalk hotel for a business meeting. Outside of the walk, the area is pretty grim. The old buildings are slum like in many areas. One might argue for an effort to plant trees or something.

Unless there is a reason to live there, I can't see it at present.

[unintentionallyfunny]

Originally Posted by GEM-Texas

Had to go to a Riverwalk hotel for a business meeting. Outside of the walk, the area is pretty grim. The old buildings are slum like in many areas. One might argue for an effort to plant trees or something.

Unless there is a reason to live there, I can't see it at present.

What hotel?