A big, boring, blue-collar town
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4/14/2011
If you read the local chamber of commerce propaganda, the "River City" (more appropriate for a city with a real river) is a spectacular place, highly desired and steeped in history. Others might say the Alamo is nothing but a glorified attempt to rewrite history (which would indicate the "fight" was for anything but freedom because all that free land was useless without slavery) and other downtown tourist attractions are worse. The artificial river walk with it's "barges" of tourists and hawkers trying to grab customers, billions of colored lights at Christmas to attract even more tourists and their money, a pathetic wax museum. Wow! It's overwhelming. San Antonio is a "good ol' boy" kinda place where the good old boys have been running things into the ground for years. One of the fattest cities in the country is bicycle unfriendly (the entire state is thanks to a useless governor more wizened than wise), and has its arteries clogged with zillions of chain fast "food" places serving calories of junk food (Krispy Kreme isn't really very nutritious) restaurants, and places where you can eat like a pig (and look like one in the process) for very little money. The cops aren't to be trusted, the DA less, schools are a disaster, and apartment dwellers have virtually no rights. Local news is so bad it's at times hilarious (Marvin!!) and the skeleton of a poor newspaper needs to fold. Let's see, salaries are low because there are not scads of highly skilled jobs available like in Austin (plus retired military flood the job market), and traffic is a nightmare as are the forests of ugly outdoor advertising. The only worse art is at the Blue Star costume parties that attract people who want to dress up like what they think artists look like. Good points: the downtown public library, the Witte and the McNay museums. Ah! Schilo's. If you're going off your diet, it's the way to go in San Antonio (and on the West Side the tacos at Veronica's on West Commerce are the best).
mike | San Antonio, TX