Who thinks downtown needs some MAJOR rennovations (Houston, Dallas: hotels, university)

[kevinm_03]

Everytime I visit Austin and go downtown I see a huge difference in "life" downtown. San Antonio's downtown is pretty sad while Austin's downtown is "booming".

Opinions?

[rstrstx]

I agree 100% about a facelift. Most buildings that have gone up since the '60s are sterile architectural garbage which would not get a tear from me if knocked down, they look like junk from anywhere USA. That would include most hotels (with a few notable exceptions like the Valencia), the parking garages, the Bank of America building, the cement colored Alamodome (at least a little paint guys?). I could go on and on. Right now the new hotel looks like it is going to be ugly too on a bigger scale but we'll see when it's done. Something tells me it's not goint to look very "San Antonio"

Mixed emotions about Rivercenter, I just still hope all that old Joske's art-deco stuff in Dillard's is still there under those mirrors and panels waiting for the day when someone with some sense and taste comes to rescue them.

Kudos to the library though, it is unabashedly Mexican looking and colorful and I love it. Plus all the restoration: those older buildings have so much more class and elegance: the Majestic, the Aztec, Casino Club, etc etc. Still have a lot left to go, but give it time. Also look forward to the extension of the riverwalk.

Have to disagree about the nightlife though, the riverwalk is usually interesting even if it's not a local crowd (though Austin is good too).

Now the suburbs....

[tgannaway89]

Another 20 or 30 sleek new age skyscrapers wouldn't hurt

[kevinm_03]

Agree...the buildings from the 60's look like garbage, and another 20 or 30 sleek skyscrapers would look pretty nice.

[Primo]

THey need to get rid of all the homeless people, drug addicts, and little punk gangsters first. Travis Park needs to be napalmed and leveled in order to get rid of the urine smell from all the homeless people that harass everyone in a 100 yard perimeter. They need to move all the bus stops to the edge of town, so you don't have 100 low lifes on every street corner pan handling..and scaring everyone.
If you work downtown...you know what I am talking about. If you don't then you probably only go to the riverwalk or South bank tourist area....you know why those areas are so nice...because they drive all the riff raff out of there...and they roam the other parts downtown....that only the downtown workers see.

Fix all that...and then maybe people will want to go downtown.

[Bo]

I'd rather see the skyscraper development continue to grow north of downtown along I-10. Putting a bunch of them downtown will drain the fun out of downtown and just lead to more commuter traffic. One downtown in Texas like Houston's is enough.

Look where Valero and Tesoro built. It wasn't downtown in a skyscraper. The next wave of office space development in San Antonio is not going to happen downtown for at least a generation.

If you want San Antonio to be more like Austin, you don't need skyscrapers. What you need is a sprawling university campus down there. You should have been lobbying for the A&M campus to be built on one of the edges of downtown. But that ship has sailed and docked on the south side.

[majormadmax]

Sure, we need to turn San Antonio into another Houston or Dallas! What's wrong with the people here, why do they resist change so much?!? The downtown area of San Antonio has no draw to it whatsoever!

Cheers! M2

[kevinm_03]

It sure is a shame that the Texas A&M campus is going to be built on the southside...Why isn't the campus built on the northside?

[imaterry78259]

Originally Posted by tgannaway89

Another 20 or 30 sleek new age skyscrapers wouldn't hurt

Amen, SA downtown skline looks patheic for a city it size. Even Corpus Christi has a better skyline than SA

[Bo]

Originally Posted by majormadmax

The downtown area of San Antonio has no draw to it whatsoever!

The Paseo del Rio Association would disagree strongly.