Any plans to tear down sections inside 410? (Houston, Dallas: homes, neighborhood)

[tgannaway89]

Inhumane? It's business. It doesn't matter "what was there". Once you tear it down you start a new. Fence of the area, circle drives, whatever you have to do to keep it from connecting to run down areas. Phase in the areas over a period of time. These older run-down areas have low property values and higher crime. What's wrong with a vision of high property values and low crime rates?

[210]

What's inhumane is not caring about what happens to the lower income people you run out of the area.

What's inhumane is not considering the best options for essential revitalization of those nieghborhoods instead of the generification of them.

So, the people who live there are worthless, and destroying their neighborhoods so that you can replace them with a fantasy land of cul de sacs and overpriced tract homes and "amenities" is just business?

Again, Where. Do. Those. People. Go.

That is the question that haunts anyone trying to rejuvenate an area. Have you ever done any serious study of urban design, or urban history? Historically, when those with means have pushed those without means off their land, the have-nots have been ghettoized, forced into a smaller and smaller area. This does not lead to a happy and healthy city culture. A city where the working class feels that they can be wiped off the map and replaced quickly becomes overwhelmed by conflict and resentments.

While it would be a lovely gumdrops and sunshine sort of place if everyone in San Antonio could live in a brand new home in a gated community, that's not how capitalism works. You need housing stock at all ranges of the economic ladder. The destruction of affordable housing stock is a cancer that has infected many cities. We should do our best to keep it from eating up San Antonio.


Fix the schools. Improve the microeconomy of that area. Then that area will improve. Deciding that it is irretrievably broken and replacing it with an entirely different type of socio-economic culture is not a good idea.

[hello13685]

I kind of agree, but that isn't going to happen under the Republican administrations that Texans are so fond of.

[tgannaway89]

San Antonio needs a large upscale suburb... like Sugar Land.

[smuboy86]

^ No it doesn't, why should tax, property and sales go to another municipality. It was San Antonio's aggressive annexation policy that has left San Antonio stable (one of the reasons) when other cities (dallas, houston, Austin) when times got really tough at (the end of 80's, tech bubble burst).

[oldmanshirt]

Originally Posted by tgannaway89

San Antonio needs a large upscale suburb... like Sugar Land.

San Antonio already has a large, historic, picturesque, booming "suburb", located some 30 miles northeast. I much prefer that than some characterless haven for the rich and snooty.

[tgannaway89]

That other municipality would offer lower crime rates and be more appealing to the eye. At least this would offer a certain style of living that many long for in San Antonio.

I thought we had one of those - it's called Stone Oak.

Also "appealing to the eye" is a very subjective concept. Sugar Land to me is as much a blight as a rundown inner city neighborhood.

[tgannaway89]

I know that areas such as Stone Oak do offer this kind of living, but in the end it is still SA. [ADD] This means that stats will be mixed with SA bringing down average property values, raising crime rate, and lowering average incomes.

Yes, San Antonio has remained stable. Overall, though, the long-term growth in San Antonio is surpassed by other Texas metros.

SA incorporated in 1718 now has a population near 1.3 million.

Dallas incorporated in 1856 has a population over 1.2 million (along with a massive metro area).

Houston incorporated in 1837 has a population over 2.1 million (and a sizeable metro as well).

Austin in 1839 now has a decent population and a metro that rivals that of San Antonio.

Don't get me wrong, I love the historical aspect of San Antonio. And I am sure that had it grown like Houston much of that historical value would have been lost.