San Antonio | Deep In The Heart.

[RadicalModerate]

My aunt and uncle just built a McMansion in New Braunfelns. Quite peculiar since they lived the last six decades in Fairhope AL and as far as I know have no connection to that area other than maybe taking the grand kids to the waterpark there.

Now what I want to know is whatever happened to Old Braunfels?

The BBQ joints were declared inauthentic and they decided to respond by making sausage and building McMansions.
The cottage industry of wadding panties also went away.

[RadicalModerate]

Quick, honest, question: How does all of this align with New Urbanism (that apparently seems to want to cram as many people as possible into the Olde Parte o' Town) for the sake of . . . ? I would love to live and work in downtown OKC and I certainly get the list of endless downsides to Urban Sprawl yet the In-Packing of population for the sake of so doing is a concept that eludes me. (along with many other concepts).

[josh]

Quick, honest, question: How does all of this align with New Urbanism (that apparently seems to want to cram as many people as possible into the Olde Parte o' Town) for the sake of . . . ? I would love to live and work in downtown OKC and I certainly get the list of endless downsides to Urban Sprawl yet the In-Packing of population for the sake of so doing is a concept that eludes me. (along with many other concepts).

Is this a question geared towards me or is it for the other thread thread that this thread was split from.

[RadicalModerate]

Is this a question geared towards me or is it for the other thread thread that this thread was split from.

It's an open, general, question regarding possible paradigms, vis-à-vis people and where to put them, without needless conflict.
Yet it isn't rhetorical. San Antonio--as good as it was 30 years ago--is apparently even better now.
Even with all the sprawls and loops and whatnots.
Sort of an infilling of the exurbs with a urban, diverse--yet contextual--twists I suppose.

Again: I like(d) San Antonio.

[Mel]

Does anyone else find it ironic that a SAT thread is the busiest on a OKC forum?

[RadicalModerate]

Does anyone else find it ironic that a SAT thread is the busiest on a OKC forum?

Not me.

It may simply be a matter of civic pride . . .

[HangryHippo]

I don't know what Sparty's problem is, but I find San Antonio far superior to Austin.

[Urbanized]

1. I often see people on here mis-use the term "New Urbanism". What is happening ind downtown OKC is NOT New Urbanism. It is revitalization of an existing urban environment. New Urbanism can happen in the suburbs, new communities, etc., and is usually a carefully planned approach to creating a walkable environment from scratch. At times if not done properly it can be a bit corny and inauthentic. But overall it is a wonderful way to make places more livable.
2. Lots of great stuff is happening in SA's urban core. I've seen it with my own eyes, and was pleasantly surprised. Shouldn't be THAT much of a surprise; downtown redevelopment is happening in nearly every major city in America, and SA has the benefit of some pre-existing downtown amenities and some great historic building stock.
3. SA also has a cool vibe in certain old neighborhoods similar to what is happening on NW 23rd here in OKC. SA has some great neighborhood bars, dining, etc. It's a very old city for this part of the world, and that gives it some cool funkiness that we could only dream of here.
4. As much as I sometimes wish it were, OKC Talk is not strictly an urbanist forum (sorry Sparty). Obviously, the most active commenting is often on urban projects (perhaps because the most exciting stuff happening in OKC is happening downtown, and/or perhaps because urbanists tend to be a bit more on the zealot end of the spectrum). But the board is a city-wide forum, with tons of suburban-oriented topics (which I usually have little interest in) and posters (who I welcome, other than when they come and crap on urbanist issues without solicitation). Considering OKC is HEAVILY suburban, many if not most people here are going to be interested in what is going on in their part of town, and that is totally fair.

[josh]

Here's a map and number guide to show where and what the urban core projects are.

Click on the picture for a LARGER version


I added a couple of projects that the scorecard doesn't list. Those are: 930 Broadway, Wyndam Garden, Hemisfair Park redevelopment, San Pedro Creek redevelopment.

[josh]

Hilton Garden Inn │ 10 Stories │ Downtown









Tobin Center for the Performing Arts │ 11 STORIES │ Downtown

[josh]

W Hotel and Residences │ 33 Stories │ Downtown

[UrbanRanger]

W Hotel and Residences │ 33 Stories │ Downtown

This is a very beautiful project. I hope to see more of it.

[Plutonic Panda]

That is awesome man!!!!!!!!

[josh]

Merchants Ice Lofts │ 6 Stories │ Near East Side

The renderings are not of the finished design, it's just generic structures to show the height of the under design buildings.

[josh]

The Phipps │ 5 Stories │ River North

[josh]

The River House │ 5 Stories │ River North









Construction occurs with 1221 Broadway in the background.

[josh]

Confluence Park │ Mission Reach

[josh]

UIW Medical School Phase I │ 10 Stories │ River North

[josh]

The Cellars │ 10 Stories │ The Pearl

[josh]

1130 Broadway │ 4 Stories │ River North

[josh]

930 Broadway │ 4 Stories │ River North

[josh]

Rolling Homes Townhouses │ 1-2 Stories │ SoSo District

An abandoned trailer park, in the South of Southtown District, is currently being transformed into an urban community comprised of 27 modern homes.

[JoninATX]

Thanks for all the updates Josh. San Antonio is a boom town with more projects on the horizon.

[JoninATX]

I'm not sure how like this will be, But there is talk about a high speed bullet train from San Antonio to Monterrey MX.

TX congressman backs high-speed rail from SA to Mexico | News - Home

If anything I think a bullet train will do wonders for the Austin- San Antonio Corridor. A region that has 4.2 million people and about the size of Massachusetts. We need this this train as well as more public transportation.

[Snowman]

I'm not sure how like this will be, But there is talk about a high speed bullet train from San Antonio to Monterrey MX.

TX congressman backs high-speed rail from SA to Mexico | News - Home

If anything I think a bullet train will do wonders for the Austin- San Antonio Corridor. A region that has 4.2 million people and about the size of Massachusetts. We need this this train as well as more public transportation.

Given the section only in Texas is roughly equal distance to Dallas to Houston, it seems a little hard to believe it happens before a DFW-Houston line. Which has like six times the voters in Texas and more than double the total population of potential riders.