View from the Hill at Night

Downtown SA from the Hays Street Bridge

Downtown SA and the Hays Street Bridge

View of Downtown SA from Lockwood Park

Dignowity Hill has some of the best night time views of downtown San Antonio.

Brewery vs Reality

Alamo Brewery is getting closer to becoming a reality next to the historic Hays Street Bridge.  The owners of the Alamo Brewery recently submitted their final proposal for the brewery to the city.  Whether you're against the brewery or support it there is no question that this is huge for the Eastside, the city and especially for Dignowity Hill.  In 2010 when the Eastside Economic Summits were initiated, a list of "catalytic" projects was developed from input from Eastside stakeholders. The brewery was not on that list. Yet this project if it comes to fruition has enormous potential to actually change the landscape on the near Eastside and be a real catalyst for further economic development. So how can you not be in support of this project?

Hays Street Bridge

At the same time for those of us that live on the Eastside, we need to also be realistic that the brewery by itself is not going to be our saving grace for the many challenges that Eastside neighborhoods face. Many of our neighborhoods still need sidewalks, street repairs, improved drainage, better street lighting. Over the last 10 years the Eastside has seen a decline in population density as folks have move away to other neighborhoods in the city. Housing and education are big issues for the Eastside. If further investment is to occur on the Eastside then the neighborhoods along with basic infrastructure need to be improved for folks to want to either stay or move back to the Eastside and more importantly to bring further investment into the Eastside.

Despite the many challenges we face, I would not want to live anywhere else in San Antonio.  We all have a great opportunity before us to build our community and all us who have a stake in the Eastside need to do our part.

New Life for an Old Building

A couple of years ago I posted a rambling about the number of ex-corner store buildings that dot the neighborhood (http://dhsa1.blogspot.com/2009/09/corner-storesliterally.html). Back in the day, the neighborhood corner store was a common feature of not only our neighborhood but other older neighborhoods in the city. With the emergence of big grocery chains and declining population as folks moved to the suburbs, many of these old corner stores shut down.

Well, recently one of those old corner store buildings in the neighborhood was bought by a couple of successful artists who have plans to re-purpose the building. In the past few weeks the old place has been spruced up and looking good. Can't wait till the grand old lady is given a fresh coat of paint!
Go to http://whistlestopcorner.blogspot.com/ for more info on this project!