T
he other morning we had breakfast at Tommy's Cafe with Norma Witherspoon. Norma owns and operates Nick's Beauty Supply on the corner of New Braunfels and Burnet Streets. She wanted to talk about the New Braunfels street business corridor. The area she is concerned about runs from the Ft. Sam Houston gate to Houston street. Her and other small business owners along this stretch of New Braunfels street feel they may be missing on the economic development promised by the BRAC and the Eastside re-investment initiatives being promoted by the city. The gate closure at the New Braunfels street entrance to Ft Sam and the opening of Walters Street as the main entrance to the post were two reasons for the concern.
There is no question that the gate closure has had the greatest impact on businesses just outside the gate since there is no direct traffic coming in or out of the post. It's unlikely that the military will open the gate any time soon. One compromise would be to open the gate as an exit only but so far the military is not listening to community and neighborhood concerns. Further south from the gate on New Braunfels and past the interstate there is a healthy infrastructure of small businesses already in place. At the intersection of Houston and New Braunfels streets there are several anchor businesses that appear to be thriving, although a major upgrade is sorely needed to the HEB grocery store at that corner. As for Walters Street, its still too early to determine if the corridor will eventually develop into a viable business gateway. Walters street past the interstate is mostly residential and it will take some deep pockets to develop the area with new businesses.
Norma is a long time Eastside business owner and over the years she's heard many promises for economic development and seen little change. On the other hand, the way I see it the New Braunfels street corridor stands a good chance of further development if the small business owners are willing to organize themselves into a common voice and are willing to work together to bring the right kind of attention and resources. Ti
ming is every thing in life and I think that the time is ripe for business growth along this stretch of the Eastside.....but the reality is that these business owners and the community cannot stand around and wait for it to happen.
One of the the nice things of living in Dignowity Hill is having two great parks- Dignowity and Lockwood- located right in the middle of the neighborhood. The parks are adjacent to each other and overlook downtown. The view of the city in the evening from the parks is spectacular. Lockwood Park has an outdoor basket ball court and if you happen to pass by on a warm summer night chances are good that you'll find a night basketball game going on.
he other morning we had breakfast at Tommy's Cafe with Norma Witherspoon. Norma owns and operates Nick's Beauty Supply on the corner of New Braunfels and Burnet Streets. She wanted to talk about the New Braunfels street business corridor. The area she is concerned about runs from the Ft. Sam Houston gate to Houston street. Her and other small business owners along this stretch of New Braunfels street feel they may be missing on the economic development promised by the BRAC and the Eastside re-investment initiatives being promoted by the city. The gate closure at the New Braunfels street entrance to Ft Sam and the opening of Walters Street as the main entrance to the post were two reasons for the concern.
ming is every thing in life and I think that the time is ripe for business growth along this stretch of the Eastside.....but the reality is that these business owners and the community cannot stand around and wait for it to happen.
Now that summer is upon us I like to take my walks in the neighborhood in the evening just as it's getting dark. It's a good time to get out...it's relatively cooler and there's something about taking a walk as the day is phasing into night. As I'm walking about I like to take note of how many of my neighbors light up their front porches. There is something about a front porch with the light on that is welcoming. It's also a good crime deterrent. There are many parts of the neighborhood that have dark areas because the street lighting falls short of providing more than adequate illumination. Our cops like to see properties well lit....burglars and other bad guys typically do not like working with lights shining on them.
has a strong industrial look and feel with a healthy dose of historical significance. The old building complex is on the market again after several attempts in the past 10 years to breathe life back into it. During the recent series of economic summits that focused on the Eastside this building was chosen as among one the top 5 revitalization projects. For some in the community hope still lingers that the Eastside will someday benefit from the resurrection of this old building. In the meantime, life goes on.
