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Downtown demolition to clear path for new project

The ebb and flow of downtown San Antonio development is rooted in the fabric of the streets and the river. It is amazing to see from historic photos how vibrant the downtown streets were in the early 1900’s. From all indications, the downtown streets were the center of civic life. It was the place to see and be seen, streets busy with commerce, cars, a network of trolleys and a variety of housing and businesses. Over time, however, things changed. In the late 1960’s, the modern River Walk began to emerge, and businesses began to leave the downtown for the suburbs. Within a decade, those streets began to die.

Today, the River Walk is our city’s crown jewel of urban redevelopment. But with the development of the new 1,003 room Grand Hyatt Hotel and other major projects, pressure is increasing on an already congested River Walk. We have all experienced those times when River Walk is packed, and feels more like “rush hour” than the romantic stroll the magazines so beautifully depict.

So what is the solution for protecting one of our most cherished assets, and what about those once great downtown streets? Maybe the answer lies in finding ways for the River Walk and streets to better complement each other so that they revitalize and expand economic activity and create a more diverse downtown.

One obvious suggestion is to strengthen pedestrian paths between the river and streets. Historically speaking, the “Paseo” has served this function, the most notable being the Paseo del Alamo. Others include the link from the Arneson Theater to La Villita and the Presa Street Stair to Houston Street. Thanks to our Mayor’s leadership and contributions by the private sector, soon a new bridge from the River Walk to the redeveloped Main Plaza will provide yet another link. The city has also done an outstanding job introducing a new way-finding system in the downtown that organizes the downtown into districts that helps people learn more about the downtown.

As we increase linkages, consideration should be given to strengthen street level destinations like Houston Street, Main Plaza and Alamo Plaza. Over the past several years this has begun to happen. Signs of housing, new retail and office space combined with a growing demand for an urban lifestyle suggest that San Antonio has a bright future in urban redevelopment. Houston Street, San Antonio’s traditional “Main Street” continues to be revitalized through the efforts of the City and private partnerships and is finally coming into it’s own as an “entertainment district” where an evening out can include multiple venues for dining or drinks before and after a show.

As we recognize the success of the River Walk and the significant contributions the tourist and hospitality industries bring to the downtown economy, we can also acknowledge that great cities are more than meccas for tourism. Our vision for the future should encourage development that makes the downtown “hip” for the locals, so that they might want to live, work and play downtown.

Christopher Leinberger, an urban land strategist at the Brookings Institution, notes that, “over the past 15 years, many consumers have been demanding different options to the ‘one-size-fits-all’ drivable sub-urbanism…there are many segments of the population that want something different; what can be broadly called ‘walkable urbanism’. You don’t have to look any further than downtown Austin to see successful mixed-use urbanization. Discussing Austin’s downtown in a recent issue of <u>Austin Urban Home</u>, Mayor Will Wynn stated, “The vision is definitely up versus out."

It is important to note, that whereas cities like Baltimore and Chattanooga have spent hundreds of millions of dollars creating catalysts to promote successful urban redevelopment, San Antonio’s catalyst, the River Walk, is already in place and ready to leverage such growth.

So as the number of residents and visitors to San Antonio increases and the River Walk becomes increasingly over crowded and in need of relief, that relief can come by way of a more vibrant network of pedestrian-friendly, redeveloped streets that will encourage circulation among the city’s other treasures—the Alamo, Main Plaza and San Fernando Cathedral. Streets that support downtown life with the daily necessities of on street parking, small grocery stores, dry cleaners, beauty salons and the like. Focusing on this type of development would spread economic growth throughout the downtown and make San Antonio an even more livable and walkable city that is attractive to everyone…including the locals.

Andrew Douglas is President of Douglas Architects, Inc. in San Antonio.