San Antonio's Downtown Skyline: Nice or Ugly? - Texas (TX) - Page 26 - City-Data Forum

L3XVS · 06-17-2009, 10:02 AM

I've got a question for those of you who seem unconcerned with the current trajectory of San Antonio's downtown development, which to clarify, seems to disproportionately cater to tourists, and not in cultivating an urban, walkable, self-sustaining community.

Where do you see San Antonio's downtown in twenty years?

HisLilSecret · 06-17-2009, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L3XVS

I've got a question for those of you who seem unconcerned with the current trajectory of San Antonio's downtown development, which to clarify, seems to disproportionately cater to tourists, and not in cultivating an urban, walkable, self-sustaining community.

Where do you see San Antonio's downtown in twenty years?

Wait a minute there, cowboy! When I asked you why it bothered you that Austin was surpassing SA, you didn't give a straight answer. Instead you responded with yet another question. So, why don't you answer my question first? Why does Austin surpassing SA bother you so much?

dvlpr · 06-17-2009, 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L3XVS

I've got a question for those of you who seem unconcerned with the current trajectory of San Antonio's downtown development, which to clarify, seems to disproportionately cater to tourists, and not in cultivating an urban, walkable, self-sustaining community.

Where do you see San Antonio's downtown in twenty years?

This is more like it! 20 years is awfully hard to forecast, though. Homer Williams, who developed the Pearl district in Portland, refers to the concept of the "10 year overnight success story", meaning that urban redevelopment starts very slowly, but once it gets to a "tipping point", it tends to accelerate very fast.

I think it's most appropriate to think about this in terms of the "Central City", not just downtown. This would include Downtown "proper", King William/Lavaca/Southtown and Lower Broadway/Pearl. The near East & West sides will probably be in the second wave of development 10-20 years from now.

I think it's reasonable to assume that in the next 10 years, you'll see 5,000 new residential units. There are already 1,100 rental units at what I would call an "advanced planning" stage (meaning if capital is available, they'll break ground in the next year). And developers already control plenty of sites in these areas for future projects.

I think you'll continue to see lots of tourist-related development, which is not all bad. Aside from creating jobs and an "alive" downtown, these projects can help to fill-in the "fabric" of the central city, making the entire place feel more complete. We just need to make sure they're built in accordance with NU principles, which is where form-based code comes in.

I do think that the vast majority of the new construction in the central city (excluding tourist-related stuff) will be residential (and mostly rental). And that's good. Urban neighborhoods need lots and lots of residential for the other stuff to work. What little retail comes in the next 10 years will be mostly in the form of bars/restaurants/cafes/entertainment.

How fast neighborhood-oriented retail comes is anyone's guess. Right now, it's still very tough for independent & neighborhood service retailers to compete with supermarkets & big boxes. Even at some of the most successful NU projects (like Pearl district), true neighborhood retail has been slow to come.

I also envision a well-developed, user-friendly streetcar/trolley of some sort that connects the entire central city from north to south (and, ultimately, from east to west). This, in conjunction with bike lanes and good pedestrian-friendly sidewalks should link everything up quite nicely.

Believe it or not, most of the developers working on these projects are very well versed in the New Urbanism, meaning the projects will form the skeleton of compact, walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods. I think it will take up to 50 years for the central city to substantially fill in. But that's okay. It takes time.

The most critical component, as you've previously identified, is that CoSA and Bexar Co. continue to work dilligently to attract new companies and businesses to SA (which will bring people to the city), and that they both place a very high priority on funding improvements and incentives that will jump-start these neighborhoods (and end subsidies for sprawl).

If SA can offer a business-friendly climate and great urban neighborhoods that are relatively affordable.......I think SA will have great prospects for the next 20-50 years.

Dopo · 06-17-2009, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by L3XVS

I've got a question for those of you who seem unconcerned with the current trajectory of San Antonio's downtown development, which to clarify, seems to disproportionately cater to tourists, and not in cultivating an urban, walkable, self-sustaining community.

Where do you see San Antonio's downtown in twenty years?

I doubt many investors are gonna build apartment building when they can build a hotel (more rooms per floor) and charge $100-$200 a night.

Make it walkable?
You can start with (1) build a nice homeless shelter to get homeless people off the street (2) build a lightrail with a huge A/C on top of them.

lemonfresh · 06-17-2009, 04:24 PM

River North will utterly change of the landscape of downtown or better yet the Urban Core/Central Loop.

In ten years the downtown skyline will have changed, big time. Count on it. It'll be a mini-Vancouver of sorts.

I hope I don't have to clarify what I mean by that.

SweethomeSanAntonio · 06-17-2009, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lemonfresh

River North will utterly change of the landscape of downtown or better yet the Urban Core/Central Loop.

In ten years the downtown skyline will have changed, big time. Count on it. It'll be a mini-Vancouver of sorts.

I hope I don't have to clarify what I mean by that.

I agree! Didn't River North when some kind of World Congress award in New Urbanisim?