We Need to Incentivize Civic Wealth
All great places have civic wealth: shared elements that elevate everyday human life—walkable streets, beautiful buildings, shade trees, plazas, local businesses, and access to nature. These communal resources make the simple joys of life easily available. Great places aren’t purely economic machines built for efficiency. They are human places; places for work, creativity, rest, connection, […]
Why Walkable Streets Matter for San Antonio’s Future
Imagine waking up, putting on some comfortable clothes, and heading outside. You can feel your neighborhood waking up with you: families out walking, chairs being set out in cafés, the smell of a nearby bakery rising in the air. You take a leisurely fifteen-minute stroll down a few tree-lined blocks, running into people you know […]
Rethinking San Antonio’s Sprawl: Zoning Reform
In my last article, I gave several reasons why our suburban sprawl has negatively impacted our society. These articles going forward will suggest pragmatic solutions to slowly but surely curb sprawl and help us create a more beautiful, human-scaled, and walkable San Antonio. First, let’s imagine what we want in a city. Most people that […]
Little Red Barn: A Legacy of Community, Hospitality, and San Antonio Spirit
On San Antonio’s South Side, a sprawling red building with wooden benches and pewter plates has been serving steak dinners since 1963. Little Red Barn is more than a steakhouse restaurant. It is a story of perseverance, hospitality, and a city’s embrace of authenticity over the course of six decades. The restaurant was born from […]
How the Initiatives Behind San Antonio’s Art Scene Are Making It a Creative Capital
San Antonio’s art scene is both vibrant and accessible, unfolding in galleries, on street corners, and across neighborhood festivals. For decades, First Friday and Second Saturday have drawn residents into studios and galleries in Southtown and downtown, and have been the standard Date Night for me and my husband for many years. My favorite part […]
Three Years of Fear: When Students Turn Stories Into Healing
Seven years ago, I was lucky enough to be sitting at a table with some of the most creative people in San Antonio education, the Cast Network and friends. We were brainstorming and dreaming about opportunities for kids. We shared memories from our own middle and high school experiences, and Lorenzo Gomez’s book, Tafolla Toro: […]
Paved Over: Rethinking San Antonio’s Sprawl
San Antonio is a city of contradictions. On one hand, it is a beacon of historic preservation and urban revitalization. We have incredible historic districts, beautifully conserved buildings like the Alamo and the Missions, the world-renowned River Walk, and the 21st-century model for great mixed-use development in the Pearl. On the other hand, we have […]
Urban Momentum: Southtown Aldea
Would you like to see the San Antonio of the future? I can show it to you today. Meet Southtown Aldea, a bold new development reshaping the edge of downtown San Antonio. Just across the street from Hemisfair, at the intersection of Lavaca and César E. Chávez, Southtown Aldea is stepping into one of the […]
An Alternative Idea to Project Marvel: Let’s Retrofit the Alamodome and Save Hemisfair
There’s a lot to like about the vision behind Project Marvel. Bringing the Spurs downtown, anchoring a vibrant entertainment district, finally delivering on the promise of walkable urban life…it’s a compelling idea. But here’s the problem: we may not have the political will to make it happen. That’s not a judgment on whether the project […]
Unleashing Safety – Using Dogs to Deter Crime in San Antonio’s Urban Core
Over the last few weeks, a couple of high-profile shootings have shaken San Antonio’s nightlife scene. One incident happened outside a popular bar in the suburbs. Another took place on North Alamo Street. These weren’t isolated events. They were flashpoints. And they got me thinking about public safety in our city, especially in the urban […]