San Antonio Skyscrapers (merged threads) (Austin, Nash: neighborhood, suburb, relocation)

[ChrisSA_wxatUIW]

Originally Posted by oldmanshirt

The problem - for the millionth time - is that you're comparing SA with other cities of its size, when those cities all have significantly larger metro areas, with more total wealth and more demanding business environments.

If you really want a good comparison, try Columbus, Milwaukee, Nashville, Sacramento. The skylines in those places look much more like SA's. Know why? Those are all cities (metros) that are SA's size and thus a much more pertinent comparison than Dallas, Philly, Houston, or whoever else you're trying to compare.

Seattle?
Awesome skyline. Small City.

[BigDogsTX]

Originally Posted by ChrisSA_wxatUIW

Seattle?
Awesome skyline. Small City.

12 second google search "seattle-tacoma metro area"
Wikkipedia Results:

The Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington includes the city of Seattle, King County, Snohomish County, and Pierce County within the Puget Sound area. The U.S. Census Bureau defines the metropolitan area as the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA Metropolitan Statistical Area, with an estimated population of 3,203,314, making it the 15th largest United States metropolitan area.

VS:

San Antonio (pronounced /ˌsænænˈtoʊnioʊ/) is the second-largest city in the state of Texas and the seventh largest city in the United States. Located in South Texas, the city is a cultural gateway into the American Southwest. San Antonio is the seat of Bexar County with a population of 1,328,984 as of the 2007 U.S. Census estimate, as well as the 4th fastest growing large city in the nation from 2000-2006 in terms of percentage.[1] Its metropolitan area has nearly 2 million people and is the 28th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S.

[SilverCreek78250]

Just out of curiosity, because really, I don't get the whole argument/need for skyscrapers, but just to better understand this whole thing, let's say that Red McCombs or some rich guy plopped down a huge Dubai-like skyscraper. Then what? Do the 700 executives from AT&T move back to San Antonio and take up the top two or three floors? If the bottom floor is made exclusively of shops and restaurants, who occupies the remainder of the 30 or 40 floors? Homeless people? Section 8 downtown housing?

I am not opposed to taller buildings when the need arises, but good grief, you gotta do something with them once you have them. If you want to build a worthwhile skyscraper in downtown SA, I say put up a 25 story parking garage in the parking lot of the Alamodome and another one somewhere near El Mercado. That would solve problems.

[imaterry78259]

I just wonder what all the developers see in Austin that they don't see in San Antonio. San Antonio is so underrated. Developers are building multiple stories condo and office towers there. Perception is everything. When a potential corp relocation look at downtown Austin and then SA, what perception do you think they have. SA is just Austin's biggest suburb. Even look at the developments in Nashville and Las Vegas cities that are smaller than SA.

I guess I have to get use to SA becoming a suburb of Austin.

[firstclassflyer]

Yes, please get used to it.


http://bestsmileys.com/dead/10.gif (broken link)

[imaterry78259]

Originally Posted by firstclassflyer

Yes, please get used to it.


http://bestsmileys.com/dead/10.gif (broken link)

Will do

Its a shame to see the massive developments in cities like Louisville, Las Vegas, Nashville, Seattle, OKC and Charlotte developements compared to SA.

[majormadmax]

Exactly, San Antonio is doing very well without skyscrapers. Other cities may want/need them; but our beloved city is, as BigDog stated, the 4th fastest growing large city in the nation! So obviously we don't need skyscrapers to attract people...

Cheers! M2

[oldmanshirt]

Originally Posted by ChrisSA_wxatUIW

Seattle?
Awesome skyline. Small City.

And how big is Seattle's metro population? Somebody already provided the numbers. It is much larger than SA, because you not only take into account Seattle, but also Tacoma, Everett, Bellevue, Redmond (where Microsoft is HQed).

Here are some other pertinent questions: How much wealth is in Seattle? How many big companies? What are the demographics? Is there a significant young, single population with disposable income who are demanding to live in high-rise condos? How much does topography (i.e., water to the west and mountains to the east) limit the amount of land that can be developed and what ways it can be developed? Are there any city ordinances that restrict heights in certain areas or across the board? What is the cultural climate there? Do they value the old and historic, or the new and modern?

Please listen to me, everyone needs to stop looking at population numbers and saying, "our city has X number of people, therefore we should have Y number of buildings with Z number of stories." It doesn't work that way!

[TexHwyMan]

Originally Posted by kevinm030

I go to Austin every other weekend I love their skyline, they're always adding to it, no one is affraid of change there.

Austin's skyline looks nice from I-35, but it looks pretty sucky from MoPac.

[traveler guy]

Originally Posted by oldmanshirt

And how big is Seattle's metro population? Somebody already provided the numbers. It is much larger than SA, because you not only take into account Seattle, but also Tacoma, Everett, Bellevue, Redmond (where Microsoft is HQed).

Here are some other pertinent questions: How much wealth is in Seattle? How many big companies? What are the demographics? Is there a significant young, single population with disposable income who are demanding to live in high-rise condos? How much does topography (i.e., water to the west and mountains to the east) limit the amount of land that can be developed and what ways it can be developed? Are there any city ordinances that restrict heights in certain areas or across the board? What is the cultural climate there? Do they value the old and historic, or the new and modern?

Please listen to me, everyone needs to stop looking at population numbers and saying, "our city has X number of people, therefore we should have Y number of buildings with Z number of stories." It doesn't work that way!

I think this argument is based more on pride then on actual facts. At least that's what I get when I read these post.