San Antonio's Downtown Skyline: Nice or Ugly? (Houston, Dallas: apartments, university)

[L3XVS]

Originally Posted by SweethomeSanAntonio

Wow, Austin is stronger than San Antonio's Biomedical industry? A bunch of baseless mumble. San Antonio's Biomedical-medical, is in the multi-billions, nearly $20 billion on the local economy. Austins cant even come close. The Austin economy is not diversified like San Antonio's. San Antonio's Financial sector is the largest in Texas, well over 20 billion. Then you have Aerospace, Manufacturing and National defense, Convention and Tourisim that are in the mutli billions impact wise. Can Austin say it's stronger in those major sectors? No Way! Austin has the Tech and Music industry, San Antonio has it's strenghts.

I never stated that Austin has a stronger bio-medical industry than San Antonio, I stated emerging.

San Antonio's financial "sector" is by far not the largest in Texas. Please provide sources to back up your claims. Dallas is home to a regional office of the Federal Reserve and is home to Comerica bank.

Moreover, Houston is the defacto capital in Texas in regards to bio-medical research and aeronautics, as well as renewable energy sources, and oil and natural gas.

Lastly, I stated that Austin is at an advantage over San Antonio because it's home to a Tier-I research instution that provides the city with an endless source of top talent who by and large stay in Austin, making the city very attractive to outside business.

San Antonio's economic focus is military, government, tourism, and healthcare.

[L3XVS]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Translation = Higher cost of living.

The hope would be that the infusion of various corporate businesses, and the money they bring, would naturally increase the cost (and quality) of living.

Yes, cost of living would be higher, but so would the median income and salaries of many who live in the city.

[L3XVS]

Originally Posted by dvlpr

Terry -

Your problem is that you think our downtown is "Plain Jane". But you really can't know much about our central city if you think that's true. SA's downtown arguably has the highest concentration of architecturally significant historic buildings of any of the major cities in TX. We also have one of the most admired public parks anywhere in the country (the Riverwalk). And unlike Dallas and Houston, we actually have a downtown that's alive at night.

You think skyscrapers are "sexy" and "progressive". But you still haven't articulated how they contribute to more liveable neighborhoods (which is what makes cities REALLY sexy and progressive).

By the way, your handle includes (presumably) the zip code 78259 - is that the part of town you live in?

I still stand by my statements that the Riverwalk, a tourist destination, does not give an accurate picture of downtown San Antonio's true vibrancy. The activity one sees in downtown San Antonio is confined to the Riverwalk, and a large number of these people are not residents at all.

Contrast this with Seattle, Boston, Miami, and even Austin, in which downtown activity is largely generated by locals, and you can see how the comparisons don't match. In terms of residences and business, what you claim brings liveliness to an area, is severely lacking in San Antonio.

And furthermore, in order for a city to cultivate and maintain these "liveable" neighborhoods, there needs to be an active downtown, that's not tourist-driven, but rather driven by people actually living there. While tourists bring money to an area, they do not contribute to or sustain urban neighborhoods long term.

In any case, I think Austin, Dallas, and Houston all have been more successful in bringing people closer to the city center, with more and diversified residential options.

[lemonfresh]

Originally Posted by L3XVS

Yes, cost of living would be higher, but so would the median income and salaries of many who live in the city.

So COL goes up and income goes up? What's the difference than?

[L3XVS]

Originally Posted by lemonfresh

So COL goes up and income goes up? What's the difference than?

The hope would be that the increase in cost of living would be offset by the increase in income. The median income would increase faster than the cost of living.

[lemonfresh]

In response to Paul's claim that SA has the largest financial sector in Texas (don't know if this is true or not) I found this from 2005.

www.financesanantonio.com/downloads/Oct5.pdf (http://www.financesanantonio.com/downloads/Oct5.pdf - broken link)

It stats that SA has more people employed in the financial sector than any other city in Texas.

In that pdf doc, it stats the 2004 financial employment number was 50,000. As of 2008, that employment number is 65,000.

Moderator cut: see comment

[lemonfresh]

Originally Posted by L3XVS

The hope would be that the increase in cost of living would be offset by the increase in income. The median income would increase faster than the cost of living.

Do you not understand that currently adjusted for COL, SA is a middle of the pack metro when it comes value of the dollar.

Just comparing COL is deceiving as is just comparing median income or per capita.

When you adjust median income or per capita income with COL that gives a fuller more broad picture.

[lemonfresh]

Question L3, have you personally gone downtown at night and surveyed people of their residence? Yo make a claim that all downtown nightlife whether street level or river level is populated largely by tourists is fallacious.

First off, there are more clubs, lounges, dives, pubs, etc on the street level than there are on the River Walk. The Riverwalk is a day time hot spot because of the hotels and restaurants adjoining it. Night time is street level and again to state that a majority of the people downtown at night enjoying the night life is an erroneous and inaccurate statement.

I'd ask you to back up your claims but I wouldn't hold my breath.


P.S.

What's not inviting about the downtown night life? What exactly is uninviting to a local? Please explain this without going into a different direction or trying to compare SA to another city for the tenth billion time. Also, why is a city like New Orleans touted for its nightlife when it's main attraction (French Qtr) is a tourist trap mecca? I don't get it?

[tgannaway89]

Originally Posted by lemonfresh

In response to Paul's claim that SA has the largest financial sector in Texas (don't know if this is true or not) I found this from 2005.

www.financesanantonio.com/downloads/Oct5.pdf (http://www.financesanantonio.com/downloads/Oct5.pdf - broken link)

It stats that SA has more people employed in the financial sector than any other city in Texas.

In that pdf doc, it stats the 2004 financial employment number was 50,000. As of 2008, that employment number is 65,000.

Sorry Lemon but that's just not true.

Here is the number of people employed in the financial sector by metro:

Dallas/Fort Worth - 230,000
Houston - 142,000
San Antonio - 66,000
Austin - 46,000

I've linked each city to their 2009 stat sheets from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

[lemonfresh]

Hence the use of the word "city" by me.