San Antonio

Is San Antonio a back roads Western town near the Mexican Border with a Rodeo and dance halls for culture; or the sophisticated home of French Impressionist art and Nelson Rockefeller’s Latin American collection; or the one time home of just about every great military general in U.S. History?  It is all of these things, which makes it such a darn interesting place.  Hey, I guess you have to mention it seems as if championship sports have a role here as well.

San Antonio is both big and small.  While San Antonio is the nation’s seventh largest city, it is in fact a small town.  San Antonio is distinctive collection of small communities linked together by geography.  Here is a cram course on some of these communities that run from the Riverwalk and Downtown north to Alamo Heights and Ft. Sam Houston over to Broadway and Brackenridge Park and north to Olmos Park and Cementville and the Quarry and then further north to the Airport and Hill Country Village up to Sonterra and even further north to Hill Country of Texas or go west along Loop 1604  to the and UTSA and Fiesta Texas and the La Canterra area back down Interstate 10 to the Medical Center and down Fredericksburg Road to San Pedro Springs and Park and San Antonio College then out  west to Woodlawn Lake and to SeaWorld and the Northwest area over to Lackland and Kelly and Brooks and back up Interstate 37 pass Mission San Jose and Hot Wells and  King William to out Interstate 35 to Windcrest and Selma and Retama Park and Randolph.  These and other communities make San Antonio the second-largest city in Texas and, according to the 2006 U.S. Census estimate, with a population of just under 1.3 million.  It is further estimated that the eight-county metropolitan area around San Antonio has a population of 2 million.  This makes San Antonio the 29th-largest metropolitan area in the United States. 

San Antonio has both history and a future.  One only has to look around to see our new future.  There is significant sustained growth in medical, banking, insurance, manufacturing, and tourism industries, as well as, the continued contribution of our standby industries of military and agriculture.  In these directions will be our future, but San Antonio also has history.  San Antonio was named for the Portuguese Saint Anthony of Padua, whose feast day it was (June 13) when a Spanish expedition stopped by in 1691.  You might note that the date of 1691 predates any U.S. history, as such, but San Antonio history is also a significant part of United States history.  Did you know when the Wright Brothers sold the first air planes to the U.S. Government; they delivered them to Ft. Sam Houston?  As a result a few Air Force bases have sprung up and have survived around here since then.  Just about every significant U.S. military leader can trace some connection to San Antonio.  If you could go back in time, you might find a young Dwight Eisenhower coaching the St. Mary’s University football team; or Douglas MacArthur going to high school; or Teddy Roosevelt recruiting Rough Riders for the war in Cuban; or Robert E. Lee, spending his early career in the US Army; or General Pershing getting his horses ready to chase Pancho Villa back into Mexico.  The truth is and what I have known and remember is our brave soldiers many of whom have lived, served, trained, recovered, and retired in San Antonio.  We have a national cemetery and the largest Air Force and second largest Army hospital here.  Even the fictional Col. Potter would reminisce about his days at Ft. Sam. 

San Antonio communities are connected by an excellent freeway system, as well as, a unique South Texas tradition of diverse cultures.  The Bexar County freeway system allegedly has the second largest system of state highways in the nation and in the same breath Texas Highway reports, “There are currently 993 centerline miles and 3,107 lane miles of state-maintained highway in Bexar County.  About 210 centerline miles and 1,100 lane miles of this total are controlled-access freeways.   But we are also connected closely by our cultures.  No place else but San Antonio do you have Fiesta or the Alamo or our Rodeo or our historic Missions.  Will Rogers once said San Antonio was one of the four most beautiful American cities with San Francisco, New Orleans and St. Louis as the others.

San Antonio the saying goes is where every Texan’s heart has a home.  The Alamo is a well known landmark and hopefully you know something of its history, if not click on it.

The building above is less well known so I will tell you its history.  From its completion in the summer of 1929 until the 1950’s it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi.  It is presently known as the Tower Life Building after the insurance company that owns it.  It was originally named the Smith Young Tower after its developers.  A 31 story, eight sided, neo-Gothic "skyscraper," which I think is reminiscent of the Empire State Building in style, if not size.  The building has unique features, such as its rain spouts; which are gargoyles intended by Mr. Smith and Young to ward off evil spirits.  They did not work their magic.  The completion of the building came just a few months before the stock market crash of 1929, which sealed the economic fate of Mr. Smith and Mr. Young.  To me the building is symbolic of San Antonio in that it has never been abandoned or mistreated even though it fell upon hard times.  It also represents the economic daring San Antonians are known to exhibit on occasion. 

Click on the map to be hyperlinked to the Convention Bureau’s website.  Their site is a good source of information about San Antonio, including a larger copy of this excellent map. A good thing about this map is it is a source of connecting roads.  Clearly the hub and spoke nature of San Antonio is visually demonstrated.  In the older map you can see what is called Loop 13, which connected Lackland, Kelly, Brooks and Ft. Sam Houston military bases. 

This older map demonstrates how large the military were as a physical presence and in comparison to more recent maps, the incredible growth here. 

I grew up in San Antonio beginning in 1950’s and have spent most of my life here.  I know the city well and I would really like to help you find that place that will make you comfortable here.  As you can see by the picture, we are an adaptive bunch who enjoys food and drink.  San Antonio has been growing steadily and we would love to have you as our new neighbor.  Howdy!!! 

I have my favorite apartments in each of the San Antonio areas, as well as, good ideas for value properties and properties that accept special challenges.  I have authored some special web pages about my favorite properties.   Be sure and check them out.  Let me know if I can be of any help.  Okay?