⬚ figure

Adopted: AUGUST 11, 2016

⬚ figure

CITY OF SAN ANTONIO

Comprehensive Plan

⬚ figure

Prepared by: ⬚ figure

In association with: Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. WSP | Parsons Brinkerhoff Ximenes & Associates, Inc.

(blank page)

⬚ figure

SA

TOMORROW

Table of Contents

SECTION 1: BACKGROUND AND VISION

Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................... 1.1

Why Plan Now?...................................................................................... 1.2 Planning Area ........................................................................................ 1.3 Plan Background.................................................................................... 1.5 Plan Process and Engagement............................................................ 1.10 Plan Organization ................................................................................ 1.14

Chapter 2: Assets, Issues and Opportunities ........................... 2.1

Assets and Opportunities ...................................................................... 2.1 Challenges ............................................................................................. 2.5

Chapter 3: Vision Framework..................................................... 3.1

Vision...................................................................................................... 3.1 Guiding Principles.................................................................................. 3.4 Cross Cutting Themes ........................................................................... 3.6

SECTION 2: PLAN FRAMEWORK

Chapter 4: Building Blocks ......................................................... 4.1

Complete Neighborhoods ..................................................................... 4.2 Corridors................................................................................................ 4.7 Urban Centers ..................................................................................... 4.10 Regional Centers ................................................................................. 4.13 Place Types ......................................................................................... 4.15

Chapter 5: Regional Centers....................................................... 5.1

Three Types of Regional Centers ........................................................... 5.2 Regional Center Profiles......................................................................... 5.4

Chapter 6: Place Types............................................................... 6.1

Multimodal, Mixed-Use Place Types ..................................................... 6.2 Trails, Parks and Open Space Place Types.......................................... 6.22 Adaptive Reuse Place Types ............................................................... 6.38 Place Types and Regional Centers....................................................... 6.50

SECTION 3: PLAN ELEMENTS

Chapter 7: Plan Element Framework....................................... 7.1

Organization ............................................................................................ 7.1

Chapter 8: Growth and City Form........................................... 8.1

Strategic Infill........................................................................................... 8.2 Strategic Expansion ............................................................................... 8.5 Housing Stock ........................................................................................ 8.7 Natural Resources................................................................................... 8.8 Education.............................................................................................. 8.10 Goals and Policies................................................................................. 8.11

Chapter 9: Transportation and Connectivity........................... 9.1

Multimodal Network .............................................................................. 9.2 Land Use and Transportation ................................................................ 9.6 Congestion.............................................................................................. 9.8 Effectiveness ........................................................................................ 9.10 Economic Competitiveness .................................................................. 9.11 Goals and Policies................................................................................. 9.12

Chapter 10: Housing ............................................................ 10.1

Affordable Housing .............................................................................. 10.2 Housing Choice .................................................................................... 10.4 Connected Neighborhood.................................................................... 10.5 Priority Areas........................................................................................ 10.6 Infill Neighborhoods ............................................................................ 10.8 Goals and Policies............................................................................... 10.10

Chapter 11: Jobs and Economic Competitiveness ................ 11.1

Economic Geography............................................................................ 11.2 Economic Diversity .............................................................................. 11.4 Workforce.............................................................................................. 11.8 Business Attraction and Retention...................................................... 11.10 Goals and Policies............................................................................... 11.12

Chapter 12: Community Health and Wellness....................... 12.1

Healthcare and Food ............................................................................ 12.2 Physical Activity .................................................................................. 12.4 Water..................................................................................................... 12.5 Transportation ...................................................................................... 12.6 Health Outcomes.................................................................................. 12.7 Air........................................................................................................ 12.10 Goals and Policies............................................................................... 12.11

Chapter 13: Public Facilities and Community Safety ........... 13.1

Infrastructure............................................................................................... 13.2 Emergency Response............................................................................... 13.4 Schools...................................................................................................... 13.5 Energy........................................................................................................ 13.6 Zero Waste ............................................................................................... 13.8 Parks.......................................................................................................... 13.9 Goals and Policies................................................................................... 13.11

Chapter 14: Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability ......................................................... 14.1

Natural Resources..................................................................................... 14.2 Water......................................................................................................... 14.3 Energy........................................................................................................ 14.5 Stormwater................................................................................................ 14.6 Air.............................................................................................................. 14.8 Recycling.................................................................................................. 14.10 Goals and Policies................................................................................... 14.12

Chapter 15: Historic Preservation and Cultural Heritage ............................................................................. 15.1

Policies and Procedures........................................................................... 15.2 Cultural Heritage ...................................................................................... 15.4 Economic Development ........................................................................... 15.6 Technology and Innovation....................................................................... 15.7 Adaptive Reuse ......................................................................................... 15.8 The Missions ........................................................................................... 15.10 Goals and Policies................................................................................... 15.12

Chapter 16: Military ................................................................... 16.1

Land Use and Military Integration............................................................ 16.2 Encroachment............................................................................................ 16.5 Economic Impact and Employment ......................................................... 16.7 Care for Service Members, Families, and Veterans................................ 16.8 Goals and Policies................................................................................... 16.11

SECTION 4: IMPLEMENTATION

Chapter 17: Comprehensive Planning Program ................... 17.1

Plan Hierarchy .................................................................................... 17.2 Regional Planning............................................................................... 17.3 Sub-Area Plans ................................................................................ 17.10 Implementation Service Component................................................ 17.15

Chapter 18: Implementation Strategy..................................... 18.1

APPENDIX: GLOSSARY AND ACRONYMS

Glossary.............................................................................................. A.1 Acronyms............................................................................................. A.4

SA Tomorrow Acknowledgements

MAYOR

Ivy R. Taylor

CITY COUNCIL

Roberto C. Trevino, District 1 Alan E. Warrick, II, District 2[^ *] Rebecca J. Viagran, District 3[^ *] Rey Saldana, District 4 Shirley Gonzales, District 5 Ray Lopez, District 6 Cris Medina, District 7[^ *] Ron Nirenberg, District 8[^ *] Joe Krier, District 9 Mike Gallagher, District 10

* Comprehensive Planning Committee

CITY MANAGER'S OFFICE

Sheryl Sculley – City Manager Peter Zanoni – Deputy City Manager Michael Rodriguez – Executive Assistant

PLANNING COMMISSION

Marcello D. Martinez, Chair George Peck, Vice Chair Andrea Rodriguez, Chair Pro Tem Jody R. Sherrill Angela Rinehart Michael Garcia, Jr. Bradley Carson Jason Koehne George McNair

DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Bridgett White, AICP – Director Bobbye Hamilton – Assistant to the Director Rudy Nino, Jr., AICP – Interim Assistant Director & Project Manager Jacob Floyd, AICP – Planning Coordinator Micah Diaz – Senior Planner Brenda V. Martinez – Senior Planner Ian Benavidez, CNU-A – Planner John M. Dugan, AICP – Former Director

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN STEERING COMMITTEE

Ron Nirenberg, Tri-Chair Darryl Byrd, Tri-Chair Dr. Afamia Elnakat, Tri-Chair Hazem Rashed-Ali Stephen Allison Melissa Byler, P.E. Janie Canty-Mitchell, PhD, RN, FAAN James Cunningham Will Garrett Debra Guerrero Karen Guz George Peck Sue Ann Pemberton Angela Rinehart Jody R. Sherrill Susan Wright

SPECIAL THANKS

Leilah Powell, Mayor’s Office Walter Ague, District 8 Norbert J. Hart, Deputy City Attorney Susan Guinn, Assistant City Attorney Office of Sustainability Transportation & Capital Improvements Department VIA Metropolitan Transit San Antonio Water System CPS Energy San Antonio River Authority

[^ *]: Comprehensive Planning Committee

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ADVISORY GROUP

Urban Land Institute

David Adelman

VIA Metropolitan Transit

Jeffrey Arndt

South San Antonio Chamber of Commerce

Al Arreola Jr.

San Antonio Chamber of Commerce

Roger Arriaga

San Antonio Tourism Council

Marco Barros

Bexar County School Boards Coalition

Bobby Blount

San Antonio Mobility Coalition

Victor Boyer

San Antonio Public Library Board of Trustees

Jean Brady

University of Texas Health Science Center

Janie Canty-Mitchell, PhD, RN, FAAN

University of Texas at San Antonio

Albert Carrisalez

San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Ramiro Cavazos

Alamo Regional Mobility Authority

John Clamp

San Antonio Water System

Steven Clouse

SA2020

Molly Cox

Edwards Aquifer Authority

Brock Curry

University Health System

Ted Day

CENTRO San Antonio

Pat DiGiovanni

San Antonio Mobility Coalition

Don Durden P.E., R.P.L.S.

San Antonio Housing Authority

Sara Eaves

Responsible Growth Alliance

Ashley Farrimond

Port San Antonio

Ramon Flores

American Institute of Architects

Angel R. Garcia, AIA

Brooks Development Authority

Leo Gomez

San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

Jose Maria Gonzalez

San Antonio Board of Realtors

Gilbert Gonzalez

San Antonio River Authority

Steve Graham

Habitat for Humanity

Natalie Griffith

University Health System

George B. Hernandez, Jr. JD

North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce

Kent Hickingbottom

Union Pacific

Ivan Jaime

Joint Base San Antonio

Felipe Jimenez

Texas Department of Transportation

Mario Jorge, P.E.

San Antonio Parks and Recreation Board

Ray Knox

San Antonio Board of Realtors

Justin Landon

Greater San Antonio Builders Association

Jim Leonard

Bexar County Health Collaborative

Elizabeth Lutz

San Antonio Conservation Society

Bruce MacDougal

Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization

Isidro Martinez

San Antonio Apartment Association

Allyson McKay

CPS Energy

Richard Medina

San Antonio Housing Authority

Richard Milk

City of San Antonio Aviation Department Frank Miller

San Antonio Apartment Association Hector Morales

Green Spaces Alliance Julia Murphy

San Antonio Area Foundation Dennis E. Noll

San Antonio Medical Foundation Jim Reed

Greater Bexar County Council of Cities Chris Riley

Bike Texas Jack Sanford Robin Stallings

Mayor's Fitness Council Jeff Skelton

CPS Energy George Tamez

San Antonio Youth Commission Adam Tutor

San Antonio Sports Mary Ullman Japhet

Texas A&M University-San Antonio Mario Vazquez

Real Estate Council of San Antonio Susan Wright

Citizens Environmental Advisory Committee Erin Zayko

COMMUNITY HEALTH AND WELLNESS PLAN ELEMENT WORKING GROUP

Janie Canty-Mitchell, PhD, RN, FAAN, Chair Elizabeth Lutz, Vice-Chair Noah Almanza Ruben Arciniega Hannah, Beck George Block Terry Burns Eric Cooper Matthew Driffill Laura Esparza Ashley Farrimond Trever Gilman Angela Hartsell Beth Keel Alan Montemayor Dora Peralta Leslie Provence Krystin Ramirez Sonia Rodriguez Steven Sano Hannah Santiago Jeff Skelton Susan Thompson

Supporting City Departments: Metropolitan Health District Solid Waste Management Department

GROWTH AND CITY FORM PLAN ELEMENT WORKING GROUP

Susan Wright, Chair Steve Patmon, AIA, Vice-Chair Andres Andujar Karen Bishop Stephen Colley, AIA, LEED AP Phil Crane Cris Eugster Gabriel Gonzales Rene Gonzalez Lori Hall Azza Kamal, PhD Amber Lamm Michael Lara Mark Larson Jaime Lawhn, AIA Pam Leissner Lina Luque Martha Mangum Debbie McNierney Richard Medina Sam Mills, P.E. Emil Moncivais FAICP,AIA, CNU Deborah Omolawe Howard Peak Brad Peel, AICP Kim Stoker Christine Vina, AIA

Stephen Whatley Stephanie Wiese Bob Wise, AIA Clint Wynn Erin Zayko

Supporting City Department: Development Services Department

HISTORIC PRESERVATION AND CULTURAL HERITAGE PLAN ELEMENT WORKING GROUP

Sue Ann Pemberton, Chair James Griffin, Vice-Chair John Baker Cherise Bell Paula Bondurant Tom Brereton Antonia Castaneda Dayna A. Cramer Cecilia Garcia Sarah Gould Michelle R. Krupa Frederica Kushner Bianca Maldonado Marilu Reyna J.R. "Corky" Rubio Norma Witherspoon Barbara Witte-Howell

Supporting City Departments: Office of Historic Preservation Office of the City Clerk

HOUSING PLAN ELEMENT WORKING GROUP

Debra Guerrero, Chair Natalie Griffith, Vice-Chair Cheri Bass Kitty L. Brietzke, J.D. Karina C. Cantu Christina Castano Adam Conner Sara Eaves J. Antonio Fernandez James Fischer Joni Foster Jose Gonzalez Xavier Gonzalez, AIA Mike Hogan Donna Jones Jeff Kuwamura Brad McMurray Richard Milk Dennis E. Noll Jennifer Ramos Marc Ross Desiree Serna

Supporting City Departments: Department of Human Services Metropolitan Health District

JOBS AND ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS PLAN ELEMENT WORKING GROUP

Will Garrett, Chair Karen Dickson, CEcD, Vice-Chair Heather Adkins Margaret Anaglia Marco Barros Mack Bennett Brian Buchanan Danny Chavez Adrian Collett Robert Colunga Serafina De Los Santos Brian C. Dillard Scott Farrimond Ernest Gerlach Lorenzo Gomez III Melissa Gray Christopher Herring David Holmes Trey Jacobson Marcel Johnson Rob Killen Tom Long Aiyana J. Longoria Adrian Lopez Rosemary Melody Jim Pershbach

Sha-Rone Caffie-Reyes David Shelledy, PhD Adam Tutor Renee Watson, BBA, MPA, MCCA Federico Zaragoza

Supporting City Departments:

Economic Development Department San Antonio Public Library

MILITARY PLAN ELEMENT WORKING GROUP

James Cunningham, Chair Byron C. Hepburn, M.D., Vice-Chair Joseph Hart Bill Hill Felipe Jimenez Sheryl Johnson Deborah Kendall-Gallagher, J.D., PhD Tracy Manning Michael Moore Hector Morales Sheli Lawson Dick Nevell Marcus Peoples David E. Petersen Meg Reyes Rob Rodriguez Mike Rust Gail Siller Susan Thompson

Supporting City Department:

Office of Military Affairs

NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY PLAN ELEMENT WORKING GROUP

Karen Guz, Chair Sara Beesley, Vice-Chair Gavin Nichols Annalisa Peace Noah Almanza Rene Perez Philip Bedford Francine Romero Scott Bible Pauline A. Rubio Karen Bishop Thursten Simonsen, PE Steven Clouse Karen Weehler Trey Dawson Brenda Williams Brent Doty Scott Halty Greg Hammer Maggie Hernandez Bryan H. Hummel Nicholas Jones June Kachtik Hector Martinez Alan Montemayor

Supporting City Departments:

Office of Sustainability Metropolitan Health District Parks and Recreation Department

PUBLIC FACILITIES AND COMMUNITY SAFETY PLAN ELEMENT WORKING GROUP

Hazem Rashed-Ali, Ph.D, Chair Yvonne Rivera, Vice-Chair Don Adams Christina Aronhalt Tremell Brown Tanisha Fuller-Felix Santiago Jaramillo Alberto Jorge Gayle Knight Anita Ledbetter Mark Ledford Juanita Pineda, DDS Maggie Thompson

Supporting City Departments:

San Antonio Fire Department Department of Human Services Metropolitan Health District Pre-K 4 San Antonio

TRANSPORTATION AND CONNECTIVITY PLAN ELEMENT WORKING GROUP

Melissa Byler, P.E., Chair Laura Morales, Vice-Chair Jim Reed Jason Rodriguez Nolan Anderson Jack Sanford Jeffrey Arndt Darcie Schipull Roger Arriaga

Dave Wegman P.E., CFM Jonathan Bean James Williams Joseph Black Jeremy Wyndham, P.E. Victor Boyer Lester Bryant Moises Cruz Don Durden P.E., R.P.L.S. Angel R. Garcia, AIA Jesse Garcia, P.E. Jeanne Geiger Robert G. Hanley, AIA Mark Hurley Ivan Jaime John C. McCarthy Barbara McMillin Marques Mitchell William A. Myers

Supporting City Departments:

Transportation & Capital Improvements Department Aviation Department, Metropolitan Health District Office of Sustainability

CITIZEN’S PLANNING INSTITUTE

Bill Bailey Jennifer Ramos Hannah Beck Oscar Rosalez Ken Brown Klaus Schonfeld Andy Castillo Lauren Sides Dominick Dina Donalda Smith Lorenzo Gomez Mark Tirpak Xavier Gonzalez, AIA Kay Turner Amy Hardberger Felix Ziga David Komet Sylvia Mendez Paul Miller Gilbert Morales Brad Parscale

CONSULTANT PROJECT TEAM

MIG, Inc.

Mukul Malhotra, Principal Jay R. Renkens, Principal Chris Ryerson, Project Manager Nicole Hofert Chase Mullen Elly Brophy Joyce Vollmer Noe Noyola Mark Sillings Beth Martin JulieAnn Murphy Amalia Leighton Jose Rodriguez Diana Gonzalez Cole Gehler Mark De La Torre

Economic & Planning Systems, Inc.

Andrew Knudtsen, Principal Matt Prosser, Vice President

WSP | Parsons Brinkerhoff

Kerri M. Collins, Vice President Derek Mueller

Ximenes & Associates, Inc.

Linda Ximenes Sonia Jimenez

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

SECTION 1

Background and Vision

Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Assets, Issues and Opportunities Chapter 3: Vision Framework

⬚ figure

Chapter 1: Introduction

San Antonio is planning boldly. We’re tackling the tough issues and making the hard choices because “business as usual” isn’t good enough. We’re planning now to ensure that the great City of San Antonio captures the type of growth and economic development that is compatible with our community’s vision of the future and provides benefits to all our current and future residents.

In 2014, our community embarked on the momentous effort of developing a modern Comprehensive Plan for our city. Comprehensive planning is a coordinated community-based process that will help us achieve the goals that are important to our residents. It promotes sound development, as well as public health, safety and welfare.

Chapter 213 of the Texas Local Government Code enables a municipality to adopt a comprehensive plan for the long-range development of a municipality. A comprehensive plan may include, but does not have to be limited to, provisions on land use, transportation and public facilities. Comprehensive plans often consist of a single plan or a coordinated set of plans and may be used to coordinate and guide the establishment of development regulations. In light of this, a municipality must develop standards for determining the consistency required between a plan and development regulations.

The city’s current comprehensive plan is the 1997 Master Plan Policies. It is important to review and update comprehensive plans periodically in order to meet the changing goals and needs of a community. Any future update will include resident and stakeholder input as the Comprehensive Plan is a community-based plan. The primary objective in undertaking the current Comprehensive Plan was to engage the community in the refinement and implementation of our vision for growth and development in San Antonio that was established by the SA2020 process.

The SA2020 vision originated with a series of public forums in 2010 to develop goals for improving San Antonio by the year 2020. Thousands of San Antonians participated in the visioning process, which culminated in a detailed report, released in 2011, that outlined a bold strategic vision for San Antonio’s future.

Our vision reflects the community’s desire to support economic development and new jobs while fostering community arts, education, health and culture. SA Tomorrow is the city’s innovative, three-pronged planning effort established to implement the SA2020 vision through 2020 and beyond, and includes three concurrent and complementary plans: the updated Comprehensive Plan, a Sustainability Plan, and a Multimodal Transportation Plan. These plans all work in concert to guide the city toward smart, sustainable growth.

Why Plan Now?

Projected growth for Bexar County is expected to add up to 1.1 million new residents, with 500,000 new jobs, and 500,000 new dwelling units by 2040. We need to update the city’s Comprehensive Plan to prepare our community for this anticipated population and employment growth, and to help us understand what that growth will look like and how it will affect our daily lives. With a relatively fixed area available for future development, the anticipated population and employment growth will certainly have an impact on our community’s overall quality of life and livability. We also have to ask ourselves if it’s now time to expand our boundaries or focus on development within the city’s existing footprint.

To be successful and truly address the long-term issues facing San Antonio, the Comprehensive Plan has to tackle those difficult questions that arise from an honest assessment of our community’s challenges and clearly state the hard choices we must make to achieve the community’s vision for the future. Many of these hard choices are rooted in the fact that a “business as usual” approach is beginning to result in systems and patterns that are unsustainable or that produce results counter to our community’s stated vision and goals. Reversing decades-old habits and changing entrenched systems is difficult. The uncertainty and complexity associated with planning for the next 25 years is daunting.

Perhaps the most important task tackled by our community in crafting this Comprehensive Plan was determining where growth should be directed and encouraged, and doing so in a way that protects vital historic, cultural, social and natural resources. By engaging an array of community stakeholders, jurisdictions and communities, the planning process has allowed us to articulate where growth should be encouraged and where it should be discouraged. With these areas identified, we can deploy policies and regulatory techniques that encourage development in the desired areas. Such efforts are predicated on a new way of thinking about growth that requires significant cooperation and coordination between different jurisdictions, utilities and other members of the community at a citywide and regional level.

⬚ figure

If San Antonio continues to develop along recent trends and using existing development patterns, our quality of life will decrease significantly over time leading to increases in cost of living, commute times and congestion levels.

If guided properly, the influx of new residents and jobs will enhance our city and all our residents. Planning now will allow us to direct growth consistent with the community’s vision and our goals for the future. The goals of the Comprehensive Plan effort are to:

• Update the 1997 Master Plan Policies;
• Re-affirm the community’s vision for the future;
• Implement and expand on the SA2020 vision for the built environment;
• Articulate the form of future physical growth;
• Accommodate and distribute projected population growth;
• Guide strategic decision making;
• Guide infrastructure investments and incentives;
• Reconcile existing plans, policies, and assumptions; and
• Update the city’s current comprehensive planning program.

Planning Area

The planning area for SA Tomorrow is the corporate limits of the City of San Antonio and its extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) in unincorporated Bexar County. When implemented, the plan will also affect and inform planning with the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (AAMPO) and other regional agencies. While the Comprehensive Plan is an umbrella policy and planning document with citywide implications, it does not alter or negate our existing neighborhood plans, community plans, sector plans or any other land use plans.

Rather, the Comprehensive Plan and the larger SA Tomorrow effort provide an overarching planning framework, big picture direction and the tools necessary for our residents to create, coordinate, update and implement plans and strategies for regional centers, corridors, and neighborhoods, along with many other existing and future places throughout the city.

What is a Comprehensive Plan?

A comprehensive plan is an official, long range planning document that provides strategic direction for decision making and community investment. San Antonio’s comprehensive planning effort was developed with support and collaboration from our city’s residents, local organizations, the Department of Planning & Community Development (DPCD) and other city entities. The purpose of this plan is to unify the visions, goals, and policies of San Antonio’s other plans and initiatives and identify specific issues, challenges and needs. It presents preliminary concepts, strategies, and recommendations for various elements of the community.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Plan Area

Plan Background

A variety of previous and concurrent efforts were critical inputs to the Comprehensive Plan process. Several of those efforts are highlighted below.

1997 MASTER PLAN POLICIES

The previous umbrella document is the San Antonio Master Plan Policies, adopted May 29, 1997. These policies provided guidance in the evaluation of future decisions on land use, infrastructure improvements, transportation and other issues, setting broad, long-range goals for San Antonio. The 1997 Master Plan Policies have been largely implemented through more detailed levels of planning by means of other citywide functional plans, sector plans, neighborhood and community plans and community development plans.

SA2020

The SA2020 process was a community-wide visioning effort guided by a steering committee of community leaders and representatives. The Steering Committee consisted of three Tri-Chairs and 22 respected members of the community, representing the public, private and nonprofit sectors. The Steering Committee drew from the diversity of San Antonio, including a broad range of interests and areas of expertise. The process was supported by the City of San Antonio and the Office of the Mayor, whose staff was responsible for meeting logistics, publicity and coordination.

The SA2020 process began with a Vision Scan to honor and build upon past community visioning efforts, including both broad-based visions and targeted vision statements from various community sectors. The Vision Scan process identified common themes and values, and provided the foundation of a structural framework for the SA2020 process, which is organized into 11 areas:

• Arts & Culture;
• Community Safety;
• Downtown Development;
• Economic Competitiveness;
• Education;
• Family Well-Being;
• Government Accountability & Civic Engagement;
• Health & Fitness;
• Natural Resources & Environmental Sustainability;
• Neighborhoods & Growth Management; and
• Transportation.

SA2020 resulted in an overarching vision for our community, as well as more detailed visions, targets and strategies for each of the 11 areas. SA2020 provides a significant foundation for the Comprehensive Plan and the larger SA Tomorrow efforts.

⬚ figure

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN INITIAL STUDIES

The city completed several technical studies before initiating the more formal SA Tomorrow effort. These studies provided a baseline understanding of how San Antonio fares in terms of capacity, land buildout and costs associated with different growth scenarios and community goals. The three major components to the initial studies are summarized below.

Component 1: Land and Development Capacity Study

This study assessed the land and infrastructure capacity necessary to accommodate additional employment and housing development within the existing city limits and the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ). The study found a lack of residentially-zoned land to accommodate the forecasted demand for housing in several portions of the city. There isn’t enough land to capture housing development, particularly within the north part of the city—if development continues under the same density and development patterns. Increasing the density of neighborhoods and the average density of single-family development will help reduce some of the demand for land. Additionally, there is an oversupply of land in underutilized commercial- and industrial-zoned parcels. Areas with large concentrations of vacant and underutilized commercial and industrial-zoned parcels can be repositioned as residentially-focused, mixed-use neighborhoods that will increase the supply of residential land in these inner subareas.

The analysis of housing preferences and existing housing conditions indicated there is unmet demand for walkable neighborhoods, based on existing conditions and consumer preferences. San Antonio lacks walkable neighborhoods. Despite limited newly constructed single-family development projects that have a more walkable design, local demand exists for more walkable development. The recent inner city development and the strength of the city’s historic neighborhoods—which, on average, are more walkable than the rest of San Antonio—are indicative of this demand.

San Antonio has reached the limits of unconstrained outward growth due to land availability, high cost and difficulty of developing infrastructure and utility service. There is land capacity within the county to accommodate the growth forecasted by 2040; however, it will likely require investment in currently under performing parts of the city and development at slightly higher densities in targeted locations.

Component 2: Future Jobs, Economic Opportunity and Housing Study

This study analyzed the demand for jobs and housing over the next 25 years and the impact of forecasted demand on development patterns and geographic locations. Employment in San Antonio has a polycentric geographic pattern, with clusters of employment dispersed throughout the city. This reflects the dispersed nature of the major economic drivers of the city’s economy (military, healthcare, education and tourism). There are currently inadequate land use controls or incentives, and a lack of appropriate master plans to guide and attract employment growth. This has made it difficult for the city to leverage these assets to their full potential.

However, jobs within the city have somewhat organically concentrated into 13 centers or nodes, largely along major transportation routes. This configuration offers an opportunity to align economic development efforts with land use planning and infrastructure investment. Focusing economic development within these centers will help transform these areas from employment centers to true mixed-use activity centers.

Component 3: Fiscal Impact of Alternative Growth Scenarios

This fiscal analysis had two main findings regarding new development. First, infill development was found to have a lower cost (infrastructure, services, etc.) to the city relative to potential tax revenues than greenfield development (in vacant areas). Second, the density of a development is key. The potential costs and benefits of five existing development patterns were also assessed. The denser programs tested had the greatest revenue relative to costs for the city. Bexar County also recently analyzed the fiscal impact of development. The County found that it is not equipped to provide an adequate level of urban services due to limitations in its revenue generation and service provision tools provided by the State, which will ultimately create a burden for the city.

⬚ figure

Existing Land Uses

⬚ figure

The Multimodal Transportation Plan includes policies, strategies and projects intended to promote a more balanced transportation system.

⬚ figure

The Sustainability Plan includes recommendations in seven focus areas addressing environmental sustainability, economic resiliency and social equity.

SA TOMORROW PLANS

To achieve our community’s vision as expressed and tracked by SA2020, the city launched a robust, three-pronged planning effort: SA Tomorrow. SA Tomorrow encompasses this Comprehensive Plan, as well as a Multimodal Transportation Plan and a Sustainability Plan. All of these efforts focused on addressing the challenges and opportunities associated with adding over one million people to our region by 2040.

Multimodal Transportation Plan

The city worked with stakeholders, partner agencies and the larger community to develop a Multimodal Transportation Plan that builds upon and operationalizes Comprehensive Plan goals and policies, incorporates all modes of transportation and recommends a sustainable, safe and efficient transportation system that can support the new residents, housing and jobs anticipated for our community over the coming decades.

Its recommendations are consistent with the Comprehensive Plan's vision for the city's transportation system. It communicates the city's transportation strategy for the future, proposes improvements that address all modes and provides methods for prioritizing projects.

Sustainability Plan

The community and stakeholders described a sustainable San Antonio as an inclusive and fair community with a thriving economy and a healthy environment. The Sustainability Plan highlights seven focus areas and five cross-cutting themes. Each focus area has its own vision, outcomes, strategies and measures of success. The cross-cutting themes—identified by reviewing past surveys, current plans and policies and public input—identify and highlight key priorities. These priorities create the framework on which every identified strategy was evaluated to ensure that upon implementation, the state of these priority areas is improved or, at a minimum, not negatively impacted. Additionally, these cross-cutting themes have been considered and integrated into each of the major components and elements of the Comprehensive Plan and the Transportation Plan.

VIA’S VISION 2040

Vision 2040 is a community-driven process to update VIA Metropolitan Transit’s Long Range Comprehensive Transportation Plan through the year 2040. Through its planning process, VIA customers and stakeholders, along with residents in the larger San Antonio region, have helped develop our region’s vision for the future of public transportation. VIA’s Vision 2040 planning process occurred alongside SA Tomorrow and other significant planning efforts by the City of San Antonio, Lone Star Regional Rail and Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. Developing these multiple plans together ensures unprecedented synergies across all efforts for our city and region.

Vision 2040 identifies a range of transit solutions to serve our region’s busiest and most vibrant areas of activity, employment and housing. The plan will present various modes of transportation, and develop system alternatives to understand how transit could affect our region. By engaging the community, Vision 2040 will work to evaluate all alternatives and identify a preferred system plan that meets the transit needs of today and tomorrow. The preferred system plan could result in a mix of high-capacity transit, express bus, skip-stop, circulator and local bus services.

⬚ figure

Based upon community input, VIA’s Vision 2040 plans for the future of transit connectivity in San Antonio over the next 25 years includes a substantial expansion of the existing Primo bus service and enhanced premium and express service.

What's the Link Between Density and Transit?

Collaborative efforts between the city and VIA will align major land use and transportation initiatives in San Antonio for decades to come. Our Comprehensive Plan calls for projected growth to be captured primarily in regional centers, urban centers, and key multimodal corridors. These focused areas of greater residential and job concentration benefit from more dynamic and connected mobility opportunities. VIA’s Vision 2040 Long Range Plans seeks to enhance our transit network with high-capacity and high-frequency options that operate most effectively when connecting high-density stops and stations. Ongoing strategic coordination must ensure that VIA’s expanding network overlaps and connects with our existing and emerging mixed-use and activity hubs.

⬚ figure

Plan Process and Engagement

The planning process for the Comprehensive Plan began in Fall of 2014 and extended over a year and a half. A variety of opportunities were offered for key partners, stakeholders and the larger community to provide input and feedback. Four major phases of the planning effort were supported with stakeholder interviews, Plan Element Working Groups, neighborhood workshops, public meetings and other outreach efforts. The following provides an overview of the planning phases and timeline, as well as several key sources of the community input that informed and inspired the contents of this document.

PHASES AND TIMELINE

Building on the Comprehensive Plan Initial Studies, the first phase of the process focused on the development of the Existing Conditions Technical Background Report. That report presents data and summaries of document and plan reviews for each of the nine content-specific elements of the Comprehensive Plan.

With the Existing Conditions Technical Background Report complete, the process shifted toward policy analysis and the development of goals and policies. The existing conditions report, the subsequent policy analysis and several rounds of working group revisions informed a framework of goals and policies for each plan element.

In the third phase of the process, plan element goals and policies were further refined in conjunction with a concurrent process of identifying and developing place types that will help guide and shape growth, redevelopment, and preservation in neighborhoods, regional centers, and major corridors throughout the city. In the end, the goals and policies reflect and support our community’s vision and the key guiding principles that characterize the city’s ambitions for the next 25 years.

The final phase of the process was to draft a new Comprehensive Plan specific to San Antonio that will be adopted by the City Council. Throughout the process, there was ongoing community involvement and stakeholder input that is woven into the final plan.

⬚ figure

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN COMMITTEE

The SA Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan Committee (CPC) is a subcommittee of City Council that provided high level direction to staff and the larger planning efforts throughout the planning process.

COMPREHENSIVE PLAN ADVISORY GROUP

The Comprehensive Plan Advisory Group (CPAG) is a collection of leaders from over 65 community partner organizations and agencies. The CPAG met on several occasions during the planning process to review draft materials and identify creative ways for community organizations to engage in the planning process and partner in implementation of the Comprehensive Plan. The CPAG membership nominated members of their organizations to participate in the Plan Element Working Groups described below.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

STEERING COMMITTEE

The overall SA Tomorrow process was guided by a Steering Committee composed of three Tri-Chairs, the chair or co-chairs of each of the nine Plan Element Working Groups, three Planning Commissioners, and a representative from VIA. The Steering Committee provided guidance for the tone and direction of the plan, how best to respond to and incorporate community input and feedback, and the continued coordination of the Comprehensive Plan, Multimodal Transportation Plan and Sustainability Plan efforts. The Steering Committee also provided critical direction on the overall Implementation Strategy and specific aspects of the indicators, targets and actions associated with each plan element.

PLAN ELEMENT WORKING GROUPS

Each of the nine plan elements of the City of San Antonio’s Comprehensive Plan was guided by a Plan Element Working Group (PEWG) composed of community leaders and representatives of relevant city departments, partner organizations, utilities, colleges and universities, neighborhoods and advocacy groups. Each PEWG included between 15 and 30 members who met a minimum of eight times throughout the planning process. The issues, goals, policies and implementation strategies specific to each plan element were largely developed through the individual and collective work of the PEWGs.

NEIGHBORHOOD ENGAGEMENT

Our neighborhoods are the bedrock of the San Antonio community. A series of neighborhood outreach activities and workshops was a critical element of the overall community awareness and engagement strategy of the Comprehensive Plan. The city held a series of community workshops at various locations at several key milestones. Neighborhood workshops were instrumental in the development and refinement of place types, regional centers, corridors and neighborhood preservation and enhancement strategies.

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Broader community outreach included a variety of activities ranging from stakeholder interviews and focus groups to large community events and from surveys to a variety of web-based activities and social media. A large SA Tomorrow kick-off event linked the Comprehensive Plan effort to concurrent planning for the Multimodal Transportation Plan, Sustainability Plan, SA2020 and VIA’s Vision 2040 Plan Update. Stakeholder interviews, focus groups and surveys were used to take a deeper dive into issues and opportunities related to housing, mixed-use development, regulatory hurdles and incentives, new policy direction and the future of existing and future regional centers. A website was developed for the larger SA Tomorrow effort with an interactive section devoted to the Comprehensive Plan. Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were used extensively throughout the planning process to promote events and drive participants to surveys and the website for more information and opportunities to get involved.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Plan Organization

The Comprehensive Plan is organized into four major sections. Each section contains multiple chapters. The purpose of each major plan section is summarized below.

SECTION 1: BACKGROUND AND VISION

The first section provides an orientation to the purpose, structure and foundation of the Comprehensive Plan. This section includes a plan introduction, an overview of assets, challenges and opportunities, and the vision framework. The vision framework includes the updated vision for the San Antonio of 2040, a set of guiding principles and the cross-cutting themes that guide the entire SA Tomorrow effort.

SECTION 2: PLAN FRAMEWORK

The second section of the plan provides the overarching framework for the physical form of San Antonio. The Building Blocks chapter outlines how regional centers, corridors and neighborhoods work in concert to create the San Antonio we envision over the coming decades. The overview of 12 place types shows how they build upon and protect existing and future community assets by creating places that are livable, inclusive and sustainable. A final chapter in the section provides guidance on the application of place types throughout our community.

SECTION 3: PLAN ELEMENTS

Section 3 of the Comprehensive Plan dives into the individual plan element topic areas. After the presentation of an overarching plan element framework, the section devotes a chapter to each of the nine Plan elements shown on page 1.15. Each chapter includes an overview of major issues and challenges specific to each element with a set of goals and policies to set the direction for how our community will respond to or address the challenges before us.

SECTION 4: IMPLEMENTATION

The final section of the Comprehensive Plan focuses on implementation. It includes an overarching Implementation Strategy that is built on an updated approach to the Comprehensive Planning Program for the city. The section then provides detailed indicators, targets and actions that are overarching and specific to each plan element.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Growth and City Form

⬚ figure

Jobs and Economic Competitiveness

⬚ figure

Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability

⬚ figure

Transportation and Connectivity

⬚ figure

Community Health and Wellness

⬚ figure

Historic Preservation and Cultural Heritage

⬚ figure

Housing

⬚ figure

Public Facilities and Community Safety

⬚ figure

Military

⬚ figure

Chapter 2: Assets, Issues and Opportunities

The City of San Antonio has many assets that make it a desirable place to live and a place that is estimated to capture a significant number of new residents and employees over the coming decades. These assets serve as the basis for future opportunities.

However, changes in demographic trends, land supply, development patterns and other factors have generated challenges that the city must address to develop sustainably, to be economically competitive and to retain a high quality of life for our residents. The city's assets, challenges and opportunities are summarized throughout this chapter and supplemented with plan element specific strengths and weaknesses in Section 3.

Assets and Opportunities

The underlying assets, opportunities and challenges that this plan must address are driven by the forecast for new growth for the city and region. San Antonio, with a total population of 1.44 million (2014 US Census), is the seventh largest city in the nation. The City of San Antonio surpassed Dallas in the early 2000s to become the second largest city in Texas. Both San Antonio and Bexar County have experienced strong population and employment growth over the past decade. These trends are expected to continue as an additional 1.1 million people and over half a million jobs and households are forecast by the Alamo Area Council of Governments for Bexar County between 2010 and 2040. This amount of growth would represent a 65% increase in the population in Bexar County, much of which has the potential to be within San Antonio city limits.

The forecasted amount of growth represents significant opportunity for our community. The city will have a range of demand for housing types from a growing diversity of residents. This growth will generate a variety of new jobs needing varying sites and buildings in which to locate. Aligning the land use plan for San Antonio to match market demand and consumer and employer preferences will allow the city to provide more housing choice, generate additional economic opportunity, and help address issues such as affordable housing, income/economic segregation and health goals and objectives.

⬚ figure

The Eagle Ford Shale formation has stimulated the economy and generated new development of jobs, housing, goods and services.

EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMY

San Antonio is home to primary employment centers and economic engines in the greater San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area. Our core economic assets are the major drivers for our four traditional industries (tourism/hospitality, healthcare, education, and military). We also have other major economic assets, both long standing and emerging, that provide us with a diversity of opportunities for future economic growth.

San Antonio is also an attractive place to do business. The business-friendly and low-tax environment in Texas appeals to many companies considering locating here. Also adding to the appeal are the city's municipally-owned utilities (CPS Energy and San Antonio Water System), which provide affordable energy and water and the ability to innovate their approach to long-term service.

Over the past ten to fifteen years, San Antonio's economy has grown steadily and is predicted to continue this course. This economic growth will drive demand for housing and hopefully improve opportunities for existing residents. With a polycentric economic geography and multiple large concentrations of employment throughout the city, living near work is easier for many residents.

Yet this polycentric employment pattern can pose problems such as establishing a coordinated approach to job growth and connecting residents to jobs through multiple modes of transportation. Continued growth in these centers of employment and housing will help keep travel distances and commute times lower for residents and provide potential opportunities for better multimodal connectivity.

San Antonio's geographic location is also an asset to our economy and makes us an attractive place to live. Proximity to the Eagle Ford Shale formation and the fracking of natural gas is a major asset to our city. The primary active area for drilling is along I-37 between San Antonio and Corpus Christi has made San Antonio a major hub for business, services, goods and housing needed to support the drilling activities in the Eagle Ford. Additionally, our city's location near major sea ports in Houston and Corpus Christi and major interstates is also significant. Connectivity to those ports via roadway and rail makes San Antonio a competitive logistics location facilitating national and international trade. San Antonio's close proximity to Austin, also experiencing significant growth, provides an opportunity for a coordinated approach that may generate larger opportunities for growth in the Central Texas region.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

SeaWorld San Antonio and historic assets like the King William Historic Neighborhood are destinations for residents and visitors alike.

TOURISM

San Antonio is a major tourist destination in the U.S. and hosts more than 31 million visitors annually, 24.9 million of which come for leisure activities. Anchored by its unique history and culture, San Antonio is home to the Alamo, River Walk and other major attractions such as SeaWorld San Antonio, Six Flags Fiesta Texas, the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, the Museum and Mission reaches on the River Walk, the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts and the Pearl Brewery development. Our San Antonio Missions are a National Historical Park and were recently named a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

QUALITY OF LIFE

Another significant asset to our community is our high quality of life. Our below-national-average cost of living and home prices and our strong economic growth, relatively short average commute times make our city appealing to new residents. In addition, San Antonio's strong cultural heritage gives us a unique sense of place.

Our historic neighborhoods are another example of how our heritage impacts housing and neighborhoods. The demographic makeup of the San Antonio's 27 historic districts is largely reflective of the city as a whole. The historic districts are some of the most desirable neighborhoods in the city. A study commissioned by the city's Office of Historic Preservation in early 2015 found that the property values in the historic districts have increased over the past 15 years more than the city as a whole. The historic districts have many of the characteristics of neighborhood types that are in demand nationally, including walkability (all the historic districts have a higher Walk Score than the citywide average), a greater mixture of uses and even shorter commute times to work.

DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Our community has remarkable opportunities for infill development in the urban core. The Comprehensive Plan Initial Studies found that there are a large number of vacant and underutilized parcels within the inner core of the city (inside Loop 410) that are zoned commercial and industrial. Allowing for these commercial and industrial-zoned areas to redevelop with a wider mix of uses and introducing housing can help revitalize these areas and improve the surrounding existing neighborhoods.

GROWING MOMENTUM

Our city has a number of large, transformational development projects—important sites that have the potential to change the prevailing direction of growth within our city. Four of these transformational development sites include Hemisfair, Brooks City Base, Port San Antonio and the Texas A&M University-San Antonio campus and associated development. The future development, or redevelopment, of these sites has the potential to catalyze development in portions of the city where recent growth has been relatively limited. More significantly, these sites are located in areas where an ample supply of developable land exists. The large size, limited number of owners, and public and political backing for these sites allows for the opportunity to create model development projects that can serve as a guide for future growth.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

The recent economic upturn has resulted in significant investment in existing and new housing throughout San Antonio, as well as redevelopment or expansion of several transformational development sites.

Challenges

Despite our numerous assets, San Antonio does lack some key features and faces challenges that impact the future growth and health of our community.

UNCHECKED EXPANSION

Historically, San Antonio has had no major physical or political constraints to outward expansion. However, this is no longer the reality for the city. The boundary in the north and northeastern parts of the city have effectively reached the edge of Bexar County and the boundaries of multiple jurisdictions on the north including Boerne, Bulverde, Converse, Live Oak, Schertz, Universal City and others. The western edge of the city has begun to enter Medina County. This continued outward expansion has led to the perception of disinvestment in the urban core.

Changes to annexation law in 1999 made annexation more onerous for the city. As a result, San Antonio greatly curtailed its annexation efforts from 2000 to 2012. In the absence of annexation, a large amount of development occurred in the unincorporated portion of Bexar County, where the County has limited oversight. This has led to an inability to adopt zoning, perform residential building inspections, and raise any revenue to offset the new development costs to the County. Any development within the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) is subject to some of the city’s development standards, but no mechanisms exist for enforcement once subdivision plats are approved.

DEVELOPMENT CAPACITY

San Antonio’s developable land capacity is constrained by physical and environmental barriers such as the 100-year floodplain, the Edwards Aquifer Recharge zone, steep slopes and environmentally critical habitats. It is estimated that these barriers create an estimated 27% reduction in development capacity. The northern portion of our city and Bexar County are particularly impacted by these barriers. For example, development potential in certain areas of San Antonio was met with concerns over potential impact of the Edwards Aquifer Recharge zone. In other areas, steep topography makes the provision of sewer service costly and challenging.

Moving forward, our community must work towards a more coordinated approach for identifying areas of development and coordinating the provision of utilities.

⬚ figure

Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zones

COMPETITION AND TRENDS

Over the past decade, San Antonio has been capturing a decreasing share of single-family home development within the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and now captures less than half of such new development. Developers have begun working in unincorporated parts of Bexar County for reasons including favorable public financing structures provided by the County, leading to a large amount of development outside the city’s boundaries and control. Single-family home buyers over the past decade have transitioned to the suburbs where lower homes prices and new infrastructure have allowed for easy access in and out of the city’s periphery.

However, market trends and land capacity analysis indicate that these recent growth patterns are changing. The north and northwestern portions of the county that saw so much recent growth are nearing build-out due to the lack of available land, topographic constraints, traffic congestion and corresponding challenges for utility service. A shift to the west, and to some degree to the south, is expected to occur. The city’s ability to create policies and infrastructure (utilities, schools, services, etc.) may provide additional shifts either to locations within the city limits or expansion into other counties.

AUTO-ORIENTED CITY FORM

The prevalence of highways and single-family neighborhoods in San Antonio created an auto-centric city form. A car is needed for most daily trips and the existing highway system is a significant barrier for non-auto travel modes. While our topography is generally flat, and we have a strong street grid system in older neighborhoods, our outward growth has been precipitated by a highway development pattern. Given the road network and limited multimodal access, subdivision development of this nature is often more isolated than neighborhood-focused development types that incorporate multiple options for travel.

Older subdivisions often lack basic pedestrian amenities, but have more road connections between the interior system and the main arterials. Newer subdivisions have very poor internal connectivity, often with many cul-de-sacs and a limited number of intersections. External connectivity is also very poor due to numerous new subdivisions relying heavily on the same arterial and collector roadways for basic travel outside the subdivisions to downtown, activity centers and other subdivisions.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

The auto-oriented nature of existing development around the community increases dependency on the automobile and results in increased congestion and time on the road.

CONGESTION

Projected population growth and an increase in vehicle miles travelled (VMT) will lead to congestion throughout our city, especially on the far west side, downtown and the far north side. To manage this congestion many of the improvements included in regional infrastructure plans focus on the region's interstate highways. Yet as interstates become continually congested, stress will be placed on our streets, specifically major and minor arterials, as people look for alternate routes. For example, the north side of the city is expected to be heavily congested by 2040, with all major roads on the north and west sides of the city outside of Loop 410 over capacity with the exception of Wurzbach Parkway. The south side will experience significant congestion as well, with most major north-south roads operating at a failing level of service. The inner east and southwest sides are the only areas of the city that would still have available capacity (20% or greater) on their road network.

⬚ figure

2010 Congestion Levels

⬚ figure

2040 Congestion Levels

MOBILITY AND ACCESS

Equitable access to a well-developed multimodal network and a connected city are critical aspects of our future growth. While walkable neighborhoods have been a goal in urban areas across the U.S. for years, San Antonio did not fully take on this planning initiative until the SA Tomorrow effort began. The goal of a walkable neighborhood is to provide residents safe and convenient access by walking, bicycling, or transit increasing connectivity to many of the places and services they use daily. In short, it's a neighborhood where residents can have a high quality of life without needing to rely on a personal vehicle for all trips.

San Antonio’s low walk score of 34 (on a scale of 100) is a clear sign of our car-dependent community. Walk scores are based on measures of pedestrian friendliness including population density, block length and intersection density and points are awarded based on a location's proximity to a variety of amenities in different categories. A score of 90-100 would indicate a “Walker’s Paradise.” Our community’s relative low number of bike lanes and insufficient amount of public transportation options are additional barriers we must address when working towards walkable and accessible neighborhoods.

⬚ figure

Access to Existing Parks and Open Space

While walkability and connectivity of each neighborhood is important, our city also needs to address larger scale issues of green space integration. We need to support residential development within 1/2 mile of parks and other public recreation facilities, as well as find ways to better integrate and connect waterways, drainage ways and the buffer zones around military installations.

⬚ figure

Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio (HFHSA) works with hardworking, low-income families who would not otherwise be able to afford a home to help them build affordable houses for themselves and their families at no interest and no profit.

SOCIAL EQUITY AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING

Our city has among the highest levels of income segregation in the country. Often accompanied by clear geographic concentrations of poverty, economic segregation has numerous deleterious effects on the less fortunate members of our community. Lower-income individuals typically have reduced rates of economic mobility and often live in areas that struggle to attract jobs and residential amenities. In addition, these families tend to live in areas with lesser educational opportunities and their children often struggle in school.

Economically segregated groups in the San Antonio area may also face challenges achieving and maintaining healthy lifestyles. Generally speaking, racial and ethnic minorities and those with lower educational and income levels have the poorest health outcomes. This is attributed to difficulty in accessing healthcare, healthy food options and recreational opportunities. As of 2014, 28% of adults and 12% of children were uninsured in Bexar County and it is estimated that almost 20% delayed medical care due to unaffordable costs. In addition, healthcare resources are not equally accessible in all parts of our city-access by non-automobile modes is often difficult or impossible.

A higher proportion of San Antonio’s low-income residents (13%) live at least one mile from a grocery store, compared to 12% in Texas and 7% nationwide. Finally, several areas, particularly in the west and southwest, offer significantly fewer acres of parks facilities per 1,000 residents than other areas of our city. Our community must work to minimize economic segregation, provide equal opportunities and access to resources and foster programs that empower low-income residents.

Economic segregation is also a factor contributing to our city’s affordable housing gap. The city’s Comprehensive Needs Housing Assessment and Strategic Housing Plan (2013) concludes that San Antonio’s housing market is increasingly unaffordable; fewer than 50% of homes on the market are priced attainably for families with median incomes. Areas with higher concentrations of affordable housing are primarily located in the near-east and near-west side neighborhoods around downtown and in the southern part of the city. Housing affordability issues are further compounded for many of our residents when transportation costs are included. Less than 30% of households in the San Antonio-New Braunfels Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) live in areas that are considered affordable when total housing plus transportation costs are considered.

DECLINING NEIGHBORHOODS

A cycle of disinvestment has perpetuated the problems witnessed in our community’s declining neighborhoods today and contributed to under-performing schools and depressed infrastructure. The southern and central portions of San Antonio are especially at risk for high income disparity. San Antonio’s rapid growth to the north has diverted much of the city’s capital investment and other resources away from core neighborhoods inside Loop 410. These areas generally have an auto-oriented urban form with low walkability and few destinations easily accessed without a vehicle. This creates an environment that limits many residents’ mobility and access to crucial important needs such as education, healthcare, recreation and job opportunities.

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Population growth and business expansion will increasingly strain our city’s environmental health. Air quality, water supply, drainage and mitigating impacts from climate change and extreme weather are all challenges we face. Our air quality has been worsening for many years. San Antonio must lead the region in striving to maintain compliance with state and federal requirements that help ensure the safety and health of our residents, especially with an additional 500,000 cars on our roads by 2040.

Water supply, water quality and drainage are critical issues. The San Antonio Water System (SAWS) has made great strides ensuring a diversified water supply and helping our city lead the nation in water conservation and recycling programs. However, the city and all its residents and businesses must collaboratively continue and strengthen our efforts. Drainage and water quality are also ongoing challenges that may be intensified by increasing instances and severity of extreme weather events. Flooding is a historic problem in the area and, in addition to safety and property damage implications, it can have serious negative effects on the health of our rivers and streams.

⬚ figure

Chapter 3: Vision Framework

This chapter summarizes the vision, guiding principles and cross cutting themes that were developed throughout the SA Tomorrow planning process and comprise the Vision Framework of the Comprehensive Plan.

Collectively, the Vision Framework provides the direction for all subsequent chapters and sections of this document. The Plan Framework, the Plan Element goals and policies, as well as the specific implementation strategies are intended to position the City of San Antonio, its partners and the larger community to realize the future envisioned throughout this chapter.

Vision

The vision for San Antonio in 2040 is based upon the robust foundation provided by SA2020. The original SA2020 vision originated with a series of public forums conducted throughout 2010 to develop goals for improving San Antonio by the year 2020. Thousands of San Antonians participated in the visioning process, which culminated in a detailed report released in 2011 that outlined a bold vision for San Antonio's future.

The vision articulated in SA2020 has been augmented to reflect the community's vision that has been extended through 2040 and integrates many of the key themes that emerged throughout the Comprehensive Plan process and the larger SA Tomorrow effort. Key additions include the important components of regional centers and corridors, historic and cultural assets and inclusivity. The following summarizes our community's vision for San Antonio in 2040.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

SA Tomorrow is the story of a great American city.

San Antonio is a dynamic city with neighborhoods that are complete with unique places that define their character and celebrate our history. Our corridors unite our residents and our businesses, using cutting-edge multimodal options that connect our neighborhoods to vibrant regional destinations. Our infrastructure supports a healthy and safe lifestyle while making San Antonio an efficient, resilient city. Our economy is the envy of the country, with a thriving and ever expanding business sector. San Antonio maintains an elite status in the country, supporting the military missions that keep our country safe while supporting the vast number of military personnel that call San Antonio home. We nurture our future, with a thriving natural environment as well as quality education and opportunities for all children...they will inherit a truly great and sustainable city.

San Antonio is a diverse and thriving community, with a local government that's accountable, innovative and responsive.

This is the story of a great American city...SA Tomorrow.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Guiding Principles

The following principles establish a higher-order decision-making framework to guide the growth and evolution of the City of San Antonio for the next 25 years. The guiding principles were developed throughout the Comprehensive Plan process to support the vision and set clear priorities for plan development. The guiding principles articulate the overarching direction for the plan recommendations while also framing a set of criteria for evaluating unanticipated opportunities and potential deviations from the specific direction set in this document. The nine guiding principles include:

1

Maintain the character and integrity of existing San Antonio neighborhoods, parks, open space and trails by focusing growth in mixed-use regional centers and along attractive multimodal corridors with high performing transit service.

⬚ figure

2

Ensure that all residents living in existing and new neighborhoods have safe and convenient access to jobs, housing, and a variety of amenities and basic services including great parks, strong schools, convenient shopping and nearby regional centers.

3

Connect safe and stable mixed-income neighborhoods with a system of walkable and bikeable streets, trails and pathways that celebrate and link natural greenways and drainage ways.

⬚ figure

4

Ensure an inclusive San Antonio by providing affordable housing and transportation choices throughout the city.

⬚ figure

Provide an ongoing planning framework for more detailed and timely planning and design of regional centers, corridors and neighborhoods with continued opportunities for participation and partnerships, prioritization, and performance measurement.

Provide the residents of San Antonio, including youth, seniors, and disabled populations, with enhanced levels of authentic engagement.

⬚ figure

Encourage and integrate innovative and sustainable ideas and development.

⬚ figure

Encourage a variety of amenity-rich places throughout the city with a balance of live, work and play opportunities.

Conserve, protect and manage San Antonio’s natural, cultural and historic resources and open space.

⬚ figure

Cross Cutting Themes

In order to ensure that the identified strategies of SA Tomorrow are specific to the needs of San Antonio, five cross cutting themes were identified through the Sustainability Plan process that address high priority issues for the community. The cross cutting themes are important to every aspect of the SA Tomorrow Planning efforts, including each of this Plan’s major components and elements.

These priorities create the lens through which potential recommendations in this document were evaluated to ensure that the themes are considered through prioritization, implementation and future re-evaluation.

Our Cross Cutting Themes for SA Tomorrow are:

⬚ figure

ECONOMIC VITALITY

A thriving economy is key to long-term sustainability. Strategies identified through the planning process will be assessed for their potential impact (positive, neutral, or negative) on the local economy.

⬚ figure

AIR QUALITY

Continuously finding opportunities to improve air quality is a priority for the City of San Antonio. Strategies identified through this planning process will be evaluated to ensure they create no negative impact or, ideally enhance the quality of San Antonio’s air.

⬚ figure

WATER RESOURCES

Water is essential to life. In San Antonio the availability and quality of this resource is expected to be a challenge for years to come. Strategies identified through this planning process will be evaluated based on their ability to protect, preserve, and improve the quality of San Antonio's water.

⬚ figure

EQUITY

A fair and just community ensures equal opportunities for all of its members. Strategies identified through this planning process should be able to demonstrate that it will bring value to all of San Antonio's people.

⬚ figure

RESILIENCE

Like all cities, San Antonio has a set of vulnerabilities that could weaken it. Measuring the value and identifying strategies towards reducing those vulnerabilities and enhancing resilience to all social, environmental and economic vulnerabilities is essential to ensure a sustainable future.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

SECTION 2

Plan Framework

Chapter 4: Building Blocks Chapter 5: Regional Centers Chapter 6: Place Types

⬚ figure

Chapter 4: Building Blocks

Our continued growth and development as a city can help us achieve our vision for 2040. It will require a shift in the way we are doing things now, and the public and private investments necessary to accommodate 1.1 million additional residents can be leveraged to improve livability, sustainability and inclusivity across the entire community.

The guiding principles presented in Chapter 3 set the stage for an approach to development that should benefit all San Antonians. This chapter describes a set of building blocks that will guide planning, design and investment moving forward. Each building block generally has a scale, shape and role within the larger San Antonio landscape. While often distinct from each other, in some cases these building blocks overlap and benefit from shared investments and amenities.

The major building blocks of the San Antonio of the future include:

• Neighborhoods;
• Corridors;
• Urban centers; and
• Regional centers.

SA Tomorrow recognizes the importance of our existing neighborhoods. These treasured assets are the foundation of our city and will continue to play a critical role in our future planning efforts. The growth strategies recommended in this plan protect and enhance these valuable parts of our city by focusing many of the new housing units and jobs into the other building blocks. By investing in our neighborhoods in conjunction with strategic planning in our corridors, urban centers, and regional centers, we ensure the ability to create and support complete communities across our city with access to a variety of amenities and daily needs and services.

San Antonio’s corridors link our neighborhoods to each other and to the urban and regional centers that contain some of our city’s major activities, attractions, and job opportunities. These corridors will be a focus of new residential and employment growth while providing safe and comfortable multimodal transportation options for a variety of users including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users and automobiles.

Urban centers vary in size and serve as community destinations and employment nodes for multiple nearby neighborhoods. These walkable, mixed-use destinations are generally smaller in scale, but as San Antonio’s population increases, they have the potential to become future regional centers. Key to the development of these areas is increased multimodal connectivity, linking them to surrounding residential areas and other urban and regional centers.

Regional centers are the employment and activity nodes of our city and provide the best opportunity for absorbing our projected population and employment growth in a way that preserves and maintains the character of our valued

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Continued investment in our downtown and other regional and urban centers will help manage our growth and provide places for our residents to live, work and play.

neighborhoods. Each center currently employs at least 15,000 people. The influx of additional residents and employees over the next 25 years will attract enhanced amenities and connectivity that will benefit communities across San Antonio. While regional centers are briefly discussed in this chapter, more detail and specific examples are provided in Chapter 5.

The final section of the chapter introduces place types; a concept the city can use to help guide appropriate growth in the building blocks identified above and leverage and protect San Antonio's unique existing assets. These twelve concepts identify development options for parks, trails and open spaces, multimodal, mixed-use sites and adaptive reuse opportunities. Place types are explored in more detail in Chapter 6.

Complete Neighborhoods

The first building block is perhaps the most vital as it will continue to be home to the majority of San Antonio’s residents. Our neighborhoods are the backbone of the San Antonio community, an essential element of the city form and a source of pride for most residents. They occupy the areas between regional and urban centers and the corridors that connect them. In some cases, the edges of neighborhoods bleed into regional centers and corridors frequently serve as the boundary between two or more neighborhoods. The approach of focusing many of the new housing units and jobs into regional centers, urban centers and corridors is largely a way to maintain and protect existing neighborhoods and ensure the ability to continue providing neighborhood housing options during the coming decades.

A complete neighborhood provides residents safe and convenient access to the goods and services they need on a daily or regular basis. This includes a range of housing options, grocery stores and other neighborhood-serving commercial services, quality public schools, public open spaces, recreational facilities and access to frequent transit. A complete neighborhood also includes an interconnected network of streets, sidewalks and trails that makes walking and bicycling within and to these places safe and relatively easy for people of all ages and abilities.

⬚ figure

Registered Neighborhood Associations

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Both existing and new residential development benefit from the amenities and services associated with complete neighborhoods.

PRESERVATION AND ENHANCEMENTS

Throughout the SA Tomorrow community engagement process, residents expressed their concerns that the plan would threaten their existing neighborhood and potentially even their homes. To the contrary, the plan is a blueprint for focusing future growth and development away from existing neighborhoods and into regional centers, urban centers and along major transportation corridors. When coupled with the creation of new neighborhoods in currently undeveloped areas of the city, the result will be less development pressure on existing neighborhoods. The plan element focused on housing (Chapter 10) includes a comprehensive set of goals and policies related to housing and neighborhoods, many of which focus on protecting and enhancing existing areas. Enhancements may include, but are not limited to improvements to infrastructure, adding new shops and restaurants nearby, providing better facilities for walking and biking, increasing the tree canopy and adding new parks and trails.

AMENITIES AND SERVICES

Having safe, convenient and walkable access to schools, parks, grocery stores and transit can help our residents save money and stay healthy. Regardless of the mode of travel chosen, shorter distances between home and the places we need to go on a daily and weekly basis can help decrease overall costs for individuals and households. Lower transportation costs help reduce overall household expenditures and increase housing affordability. And incorporating daily exercise is a lot easier with a safe network of sidewalks outside your door. Complete neighborhoods may not contain all of the amenities and services someone would want on a daily basis, but they should provide access to many of these amenities and services and have at least one or two destinations that are easy for someone to access by walking or biking.

Amenities and services associated with a more complete neighborhood can be organized into three major categories: transportation and related infrastructure; civic amenities; and commercial destinations.

Transportation and Related Infrastructure: Improvements to infrastructure in and between neighborhoods helps to close gaps in the transportation network, improve safety and enhance comfort. Potential infrastructure improvements can include, but are not limited to:

• Sidewalks, crosswalks and curb ramps;
• Furnishings and lighting;
• Bike lanes, cycle tracks, and multi-use pathways;
• Pedestrian and bicycle bridges and underpasses;
• Enhanced transit stops and stations;
• Landscaping and community gardens;
• New or improved roadways and overall streetscapes;
• Signalization, signage and other intersection control/communication; and
• Gateway treatments, signage and wayfinding.

Civic Amenities: The integration of civic amenities in the larger neighborhood context can help to anchor residential and mixed-use areas, as well as provide social, recreational and cultural opportunities for residents close to home. Potential civic amenities can include, but are not limited to:

• Parks, open spaces and sport courts and fields;
• Community, recreation, youth and senior centers;
• Pools and water play areas; and
• Libraries.

⬚ figure

Connectivity between neighborhoods increases access to amenities and services.

Commercial Destinations: Many people equate a complete neighborhood with having shops and restaurants nearby that they can easily access. Commercial destinations that are local to one or more neighborhoods help to reduce the distance of many trips across the community, including the daily commute for people who are able to work close to home. Commercial destinations can include, but are not limited to:

• Grocery stores and markets;
• Farmers markets;
• Restaurants and bars;
• A variety of retail shops;
• Professional services; and
• Convenience services.

⬚ figure

Stacked flats in Seattle, Washington integrate four well-designed residences into a standard single-family parcel.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Walkable and well connected neighborhoods help to keep our residents active and healthy.

NEIGHBORHOOD CONNECTIVITY

A neighborhood can be made more complete with improved connectivity to amenities and services nearby with safe and comfortable linkages. In many cases, amenities may be nearby, but are not accessible for one or more transportation modes. In addition, making active transportation and transit more viable options for a greater portion of the community requires larger network connectivity between neighborhoods and from neighborhoods to nearby centers. For these reasons it is critical that our community focus resources on improving neighborhood connectivity through a variety of infrastructure enhancements.

Existing and planned neighborhoods can be designed in a variety of ways resulting in varying levels of connectivity and accessibility. More traditional suburban development patterns include large arterials feeding into relatively disconnected subdivisions with a large number of cul-de-sacs. While this traditional development pattern does have impacts on traffic for motor vehicles, it does not necessarily preclude good pedestrian and bicycle connectivity. In fact, pathway and trail connections combined with on-street and sidewalk facilities can make these more traditional developments quite supportive of pedestrians and bicyclists accessing transit or other nearby amenities. The use of drainage ways and utility corridors can provide pathway opportunities that link disconnected portions of a neighborhood.

Similarly, more compact development can be difficult to traverse as a pedestrian or bicyclist if infrastructure is missing or inadequate. Major arterials often separate neighborhoods from commercial destinations, civic amenities and other neighborhoods. Well connected and maintained sidewalks, bike facilities and crossings are critical elements to making a neighborhood more complete.

HOUSING CHOICE AND DIVERSITY

Another key aspect of a complete neighborhood is ensuring housing choice and diversity within and across neighborhoods. The majority of housing in San Antonio is currently detached single-family homes. A complete neighborhood should have a range of housing types and sizes (single-family detached, single-family attached and multifamily housing) for rent and for sale. Additional variety should be provided with a range of home sizes in the form of overall square footage and number of bedrooms.

Corridors

Nearly all of San Antonio’s regional centers and urban centers are located along or at the intersection of major transportation corridors. Attractive, multimodal corridors will help connect regional and urban centers to each other. Many will include premium transit service to help manage congestion and bolster safe, convenient and affordable transportation options. But, the corridors must serve more than just a transportation function. Successfully implementing the SA Tomorrow vision means rethinking those corridors. We need our corridors to provide safe and comfortable access and mobility, serve as attractive gateways and frame compact, walkable mixed-use development. They will also be targeted for higher-density housing and more employment opportunities. A multi-objective and multi-layered approach to corridor improvements can help ensure they are safe, comfortable and attractive for future residents, employees and nearby existing residents.

⬚ figure

VIA's Vision 2040 comprehensive transit plan calls for five priority Primo bus corridors to expand on the existing Primo bus route on Fredericksburg Road; the existing Primo route on Fredericksburg Road is planned for Primo Plus or LRT service.

MULTIMODAL CORRIDORS AND COMPLETE STREETS

Many of the community’s major transportation connections are auto-oriented and difficult for pedestrians and cyclists to navigate. Our transportation corridors should serve multiple modes of transportation and better balance the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, transit patrons, motorists and freight vehicles. Allowing a certain mode of transportation or even providing a dedicated facility for pedestrians or cyclists may not be sufficient.

The quality and condition of pedestrian, bicycle and transit infrastructure contributes greatly to the attractiveness, safety and use of these facilities. For example, a narrow sidewalk with no buffer between pedestrians and speeding traffic, no landscaping and no furnishings will be less attractive, safe and used than a wider sidewalk with attractive lighting, benches and a wide planted buffer with large street trees.

VIA PREMIUM TRANSIT CORRIDORS

VIA’s Vision 2040 Plan identified several corridors for premium transit service. VIA selected the corridors based on existing and potential concentrations of transit users and for their ability to connect two or more regional centers. The premium transit corridors are organized into three types of premium transit service: Priority Primo Bus Corridors, Primo Plus and Light Rail Corridors, and Express Routes.

⬚ figure

A modern and diverse transit system includes a variety of modes, speeds, and frequencies and typically includes some combination of traditional bus, bus rapid transit, express bus, and light rail transit.

Priority Primo Bus Corridors

Priority Primo Bus Corridors provide high frequency transit service with a premium transit vehicle in a shared roadway configuration. The following corridors have been identified as priorities for Priority Primo bus service:

• Looper Premium – Connects the airport, Brooks City Base, South Park Mall and Lackland Air Force Base;
• Randolph – Connects the Central Business District, AT&T Center and Randolph Air Force Base;
• Huebner-Grissom – Connects the Medical Center, Leon Valley and Alamo Ranch;
• General McMullen – Connects South Park Mall and the Medical Center; and
• Bandera – Connects the Central Business District to Leon Valley.

Primo Plus and Light Rail Transit

Primo Plus and Light Rail Transit will provide high frequency transit service with a premium transit vehicle in a dedicated guideway configuration. Primo Plus service will be rubber tire bus service and light rail transit (LRT), utilizing a dedicated rail alignment. The following corridors have been identified as priorities for Primo Plus bus service and LRT service:

• Zarzamora – connects the Medical Center, Crossroads Mall, South Park Mall and Texas A&M University-San Antonio;
• Commerce/Houston – connects the AT&T Center, the Central Business District and Lackland Air Force Base;
• Fredericksburg – connects the Central Business District, Crossroads and UTSA;
• San Pedro – connects the Central Business District, the airport, Blanco and Stone Oak;
• Austin Highway/ Broadway/Perrin Beitel/ Nacogdoches – connects the Central Business District, Pearl, University of the Incarnate Word and Rolling Oaks;
• New Braunfels Avenue – connects the Central Business District, Pearl and Brooks City Base; and
• Rockport Sub – connects the Central Business District and Brooks City Base.

Express Routes

The Priority Primo, Primo Plus and LRT corridors will be supplemented by express bus routes utilizing freeways and connecting many of the regional centers. Eleven express routes will have limited stops, 15-30 minute headways between buses and function in mixed traffic.

Transportation Demand Management

Transportation demand management (TDM) should be deployed in urban centers and all regional centers. Robust TDM programs use an array of data collection and management tools to encourage the efficient use of the transportation system. TDM encompasses a broad variety of programs, policies and strategies that encourage alternatives to driving alone such as car sharing, employer and development-based programs that offer incentives to ride transit, and public education and marketing programs to promote transit and other alternatives to driving.

⬚ figure

Urban Centers

San Antonians need and deserve walkable, mixed-use destinations outside of the regional centers. Urban centers will provide these opportunities and in certain instances, can serve as the nucleus of a future regional center.

These urban centers are compact and walkable, and can help to fill the gaps between regional centers. The common elements of a successful urban center are a central node of activity, a mix of opportunities to live, work and play, good transit access and strong multimodal connections to surrounding neighborhoods. These areas will attract new residents and serve existing nearby neighborhoods.

MIXED-USE LAND USE PATTERNS AND TRANSITIONS

Existing and future urban centers should contain a mix of uses and provide a combination of daily goods and services, as well as restaurants and some element of destination retail. Housing and offices are desirable but not required components of an urban center—the neighborhoods surrounding the center can provide the necessary population to support the center from a market perspective. With that said, the most vibrant urban centers will include housing and a larger employment component to support increased development density, a larger critical mass of shopping and dining, shared parking opportunities and stronger potential for activating the center during multiple times of the day and days of the week. Regardless of the overall land use mix, an activating node of some sort is at the heart of every urban center. The activating node can vary, but will typically include a transit station, institutional anchor and/or a clustering of shops and restaurants.

While urban centers should be targeted for higher-intensity development, the height and massing of structures in the urban center should decrease as they approach existing single-family neighborhoods. Destination retail and uses generating a significant amount of traffic should be focused at least two to three blocks from single-family homes wherever possible. Attached single-family and multifamily development can create a desirable transition from higher-intensity urban center uses out to surrounding traditional neighborhoods.

⬚ figure

Primary Transit Corridors

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Proximity of housing to urban centers in Charlotte, North Carolina (top) and multiuse paths in Indianapolis (bottom) provide access for residents.

TRANSIT-SUPPORTIVE DEVELOPMENT

A strong transit system is a major pillar of the vision for San Antonio in the coming years. But, it isn't enough to say that we need more transit and better access to transit. We have to plan for it and make it happen. Transit systems function best when they are well integrated with and supported by local land use and community design decisions. Supporting transit requires looking at how streets and roads are built and the mix of land uses around them, making it easy for people to access transit and making sure people have reasons to ride transit.

Urban centers provide the greatest opportunity for transit-supportive development outside of regional centers. Compact, higher-density development patterns shorten the distance people must travel to reach their destinations and supply the ridership that can support more frequent transit service and a greater variety of routes. In turn, higher service levels in these areas attract more riders and support the local land use vision. This self-perpetuating nature of urban centers is a large reason for their vibrancy and why they tend to attract private development.

NEIGHBORHOOD CONNECTIVITY

While not all urban centers include a strong residential element, they must always provide safe and comfortable connections and transitions to the surrounding residential neighborhoods. Urban centers provide amenities or additional options for nearby residents. Safe on-street and off-street walking and biking connections link the core of urban centers to surrounding residential areas and decrease the impacts of traffic on surrounding neighborhoods.

Decreasing automobile use in urban centers is intimately related to the availability and cost of parking. Parking can have a significant impact on peoples’ decision to drive, walk, bike or use transit. The less land devoted to parking, the more space that is available for other uses. This puts more destinations within walking distance, creates a more comfortable pedestrian experience, and helps an area reach a development intensity that supports public transportation and spurs additional development. Additionally, reduced parking requirements can lower the cost of new development, making housing and commercial rent more affordable. The city should explore neighborhood parking permit programs as part of a larger management strategy for urban centers and adjacent neighborhoods.

Regional Centers

San Antonio has a tremendous opportunity to take advantage of a polycentric pattern of regional employment centers that has developed here during the past decade. Most cities have a downtown and a few additional mixed-use employment clusters. San Antonio has 13. About 50% of all jobs in San Antonio are within those 13 regional economic centers, which have captured over half of all non-residential development since 2000.

A major organizing element for the Comprehensive Plan is to focus growth in these regional centers, building on the existing pattern of development. They’re envisioned as new “places” where we live, work and play.

New development is already gravitating to these centers and we can guide additional growth in these areas. Each center is different and its development will be influenced by its existing uses (particularly those oriented to military, aviation or heavy industry). However, many of the centers are also well positioned to develop as vibrant mixed-use places. They offer a variety of housing options and price ranges, allow higher-density and incorporate carefully designed and located amenities that will benefit both residents and employees of the center, as well as people in adjacent neighborhoods. While these live-work-play environments attract development and businesses nationally, they are underrepresented in San Antonio.

Our community’s unique distribution of growth areas exacerbates the challenges of allocating resources and coordinating growth plans to encourage clustered businesses and spin-offs in similar industries. Each center’s character can attract and retain a distinctive mix of businesses and employees. Therefore, San Antonio must focus its investment and infrastructure strategies on supporting and leveraging the unique identity and assets of each center.

Regional centers operating in isolation do not benefit our city in the same way as a connected system. To function most effectively, they must be linked to each other, smaller urban centers and our neighborhoods. Our multimodal and transit corridors ensure connectivity to, between and within each center providing access to employment opportunities and daily activities for our residents.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Regional Centers come in many shapes and sizes and include varying proportions of employment, housing and entertainment uses.

⬚ figure

Regional Centers

Existing Regional Centers

Place Types

With the major building blocks of San Antonio identified, it is important to identify the types of places that we would like them to be. Chapter 6 provides greater detail regarding the rationale, form and function for twelve place types. The place types provide the design intent and key planning and design parameters related to the development of places with a desirable mix of uses, city form, public spaces, roads and trails and parking. The place types are organized into three categories: Multimodal, Mixed-use Place Types; Trails, Parks and Open Space Place Types; and Adaptive Reuse Place Types.

Multimodal, mixed-use place types constitute a range of transit supportive development with a transit station, institutional anchor or concentration of shops and restaurants at their core.

Trails, parks and open space place types are intended to leverage and/or protect a natural or man-made open space or recreational asset.

Adaptive reuse place types acknowledge that some commercial and industrial properties can benefit from contemporary enhancements or have served their useful life for their original purpose.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Place types integrate the desirable mix of uses, city form, public spaces, roads and trails, and parking for new and infill development in well established and emerging areas of the city.

⬚ figure

Chapter 5: Regional Centers

Regional centers were introduced in the previous chapter as one of the major building blocks of San Antonio’s city form. Regional centers are a major component of the Comprehensive Plan and the overall SA Tomorrow effort.

While most cities have one or two larger employment centers, we have 13. This provides challenges and opportunities. Challenges for these regional centers include distribution of resources, sufficient differentiation and managing cooperative versus competitive dynamics. Opportunities include dispersed employment throughout the city, focused specialization to increase quality and competitive advantages for targeted centers, better distributed traffic and transit networks with improved access for all residents.

This chapter will lay out a framework for understanding regional centers found in San Antonio and their importance in our community’s future. First we investigate and describe the three types of regional centers that occur in San Antonio. We then build profiles for each regional center based on a thorough analysis of nine indicators that illustrate differences between them. These indicators are used to help identify each center’s existing conditions and help us start thinking about achieving aspirational goals of each. These profiles will inform future regional center plans.

Three Types of Regional Centers

The 13 regional centers are grouped in three categories based on analysis of their existing conditions, unique traits and potential growth capabilities. It is important to note that they are not homogenous places. Although they cover large areas, each one includes multiple place types, urban forms and land uses.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

ACTIVITY CENTERS

These areas have high concentrations of people and jobs in a mixed-use environment. They should be highly walkable and well connected by multiple types of transportation and transit. They should have an even mixture of jobs and housing and contain amenities that support residents, workers and employers within the centers and also throughout the city. Many are home to our educational, entertainment and cultural institutions.

LOGISTICS/SERVICES CENTERS

These areas have superior connectivity for the movement of goods and people including air, freight/rail and roadway transportation. This positions them as launching points for the city’s exports and imports. These centers have large, coordinated areas of single uses, and concentrated nodes of mixed-use, with more jobs than residents. They provide goods and service to support businesses and residents adjacent to the center.

SPECIAL PURPOSE CENTERS

These areas have large employers, institutions and/or concentrations of similar types of employment. These centers typically require or a barrier or buffer to separate their specialized activities from surrounding areas. They mostly contain primary employers and supportive services and amenities.

Regional Centers are one of the key building blocks of our city’s future. In order to leverage their potential to help absorb San Antonio’s projected growth we need a clear vision and strategic plan for each. These regional center plans need to refine each center’s boundaries, identify areas of change and stability, and develop a detailed land use plan that prioritizes infrastructure, policy and program improvements. While these centers should promote higher-density, mixed-use development, not all areas within a regional center are recommended for this type of growth. For example, existing historic districts and neighborhood conservation districts are not recommended for higher-density development and should receive enhanced protection to prevent this. Our historic and conservation districts are some of our city’s greatest assets and our development policies should protect them. Regional center plans must be respectful of these special areas when defining development opportunities. A more detailed framework for these regional center plans is provided in Chapter 17.

⬚ figure

Regional Center Types

Activity Centers

1. Central Business District
2. Medical Center
3. Midtown
4. Brooks
5. Texas A&M - San Antonio
6. University of Texas - San Antonio
7. Stone Oak
8. Highway 151 and Loop 1604

Logistics/Services Centers 9. Greater Airport Area 10. Northeast I-35 and Loop 410 11. Rolling Oaks

Special Purpose Centers 12. Fort Sam Houston 13. Lackland AFB/Port San Antonio

Primary Transit Corridors — Premium Corridors — Express Corridors

Regional Center Profiles

The following section provides the results of the regional center analysis and measures how a center performs relative to the future vision for its category. This study uses data from the Comprehensive Plan Initial Studies, the U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), VIA Metropolitan Agency, WalkScore.com and the U.S. Census, including the Location Affordability Index (LAI). The analysis utilizes nine indicators of existing conditions that illustrate differences between the centers. The indicators are grouped by type:

• Social: Job diversity, Housing and Transportation (H&T) Index, Per Capita Income
• Connectivity: Transit Utilization, Walkability, Median Commute Distance
• Mix of Uses: Ratio of Workers to Residents, Residential Density, Employment Density

An analysis of potential for land development complements the regional center profiles. It includes indicators for population and employment per developed acre and the percent of acres developed in each center.

The city and stakeholders developed aspirational scores and ideal measures of success for each of the indicators, tailored to the three regional center types. Comparing the existing conditions scores in each center to the aspirational scores shows how each center is performing well and where it needs improvement to reach its potential.

Aspirational scores vary based on the urban form, land use mix and anticipated specialization of each of the three regional center types. For example, Activity Centers have high aspirational scores for transit use and residential density, while these criteria are less relevant for Logistics/Service Centers and Special Purpose Centers based on the descriptions of the regional center types on page 5.2.

How well a center is currently meeting its aspirational score is demonstrated by bar graphs.

The profiles on the following pages tell the story of each regional center’s analysis. Each one provides:

• Strengths (A)
• Introductory Text (B)
• Locator Map (C)
• Key Economic and Demographic Facts (D)
• Existing Conditions and Aspirational Scores (E)
• Tasks Ahead (F)
• Precedent Photo (G)

⬚ figure

Activity Centers: Central Business District (Downtown)

CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT (DOWNTOWN) REGIONAL CENTER PROFILE

Existing & Aspirational Scores

Strengths: Downtown is the most walkable and transit-friendly regional center. It has a high concentration and diversity of jobs and is surrounded by a large workforce. Population (2015 estimate): 5,567 Households (2015 estimate): 2,920 Single-family to Multifamily Housing Units Ratio: 0.18 Employment (2013 estimate): 44,400 Largest Industries (by employment): Accommodations and Food Service, Healthcare and Public Administration Acres: 960 Developed Acres: 840

⬚ figure

Downtown is the historic and cultural center of the city and home to the world-renowned Riverwalk. It is the center of San Antonio’s traditional economy, anchored by our multi-billion-dollar tourism, education and healthcare industries. The urban core is revitalizing and experiencing a growth renaissance, supported by the “Decade of Downtown” movement. The City Center is evolving into a vibrant mixed-use area with a range of employment, services and housing, all centered around great historical and cultural destinations.

Tasks Ahead: Although it is close to meeting the aspirational scores, Downtown needs to continue adding housing to even the mix of employment and residents.

⬚ figure

The Cityway development in downtown Indianapolis includes a world-class business hotel, high-end apartments, restaurants, retails shops and other community amenities.

Activity Centers: Medical Center

MEDICAL CENTER REGIONAL CENTER PROFILE

Existing & Aspirational Scores

Strengths: The Medical Center has great job diversity and a large concentration of housing.

Population (2015 estimate): 39,117 Households (2015 estimate): 19,318 Single-family to Multifamily Housing Units Ratio: 0.08 Employment (2013 estimate): 64,000 Largest Industries (by employment): Healthcare, Finance and Insurance, Education Acres: 3,670 Developed Acres: 3,330

⬚ figure

The South Texas Medical Center is a major cluster of 45 healthcare and medical-related facilities, including 12 hospitals and five specialty institutions. Healthcare employment reached 27,500 jobs in 2011 and accounts for nearly 30% of all healthcare employment in the city. The Medical Center is also home to USAA, one of the city’s largest employers. This area will continue to be the primary hub of medical-related activities in San Antonio with potential to evolve into a vibrant mixed-use center.

Tasks Ahead: Transit use to and within the medical center can be increased and the pedestrian environment can be improved to make it more walkable.

⬚ figure

Chestnut Hill Square in Boston is a lifestyle and retail destination with a mix of shops and restaurants anchored by medical office and clinical spaces.

Activity Centers: Midtown

MIDTOWN REGIONAL CENTER PROFILE

Existing & Aspirational Scores

Strengths: The Midtown area has a high concentration of jobs and housing in a walkable environment. Population (2015 estimate): 10,302 Households (2015 estimate): 4,380 Single-family to Multifamily Housing Units Ratio: 1.00 Employment (2013 estimate): 16,950 Largest Industries (by employment): Healthcare, Education, Transportation Services Acres: 1,190 Developed Acres: 1,110

⬚ figure

Located between Downtown and the historic neighborhoods to the north, Midtown is the nexus of live, work and play in central San Antonio. Anchored by Brackenridge Park, San Pedro Springs Park, San Antonio College and the Pearl Brewery redevelopment, Midtown increasingly attracts multifamily residential development and businesses in creative industries. Broadway, one of several major arterials connecting Downtown to Midtown and neighborhoods to the north, is slated to become a major cultural corridor in San Antonio.

Tasks Ahead: The Midtown area will benefit from additional job diversity, particularly those which help increase incomes of residents in the area.

⬚ figure

The renovated Fred Meyer in the Uptown neighborhood of Portland, Oregon added an active street edge with additional shops and restaurants on a former parking lot.

Activity Centers: Brooks

BROOKS REGIONAL CENTER PROFILE

Existing & Aspirational Scores

Strengths: The Brooks regional center has successfully captured a significant number and diversity of jobs in a short period of time. Additionally, the area benefits from excellent highway and arterial connectivity to Downtown and other regional centers.

Population (2015 estimate): 20,149 Households (2015 estimate): 6,885 Single-family to Multifamily Housing Units Ratio: 1.91 Employment (2013 estimate): 7,200 Largest Industries (by employment): Healthcare, Public Administration, Retail Trade Acres: 7,540 Developed Acres: 4,800

⬚ figure

Anchored by the redeveloping Brooks City Base, this area is one of San Antonio’s emerging activity centers and a major catalyst for growth on the south side of the city. As the focus of redevelopment in the area, the 1,200 acre mixed-use Brooks City Base has attracted 3,000 jobs, comprising over 40% of the center’s employment. Brooks is located near several major highways including I-37, which connects to Downtown and the San Antonio International Airport.

Tasks Ahead: Future efforts led by the Brooks Development Authority should focus on attracting jobs and high-density housing to the Brooks City Base redevelopment. As this regional center develops, walkability and transit connectivity should be prioritized.

⬚ figure

The Fleet Street Condominiums and Aloft Hotel development in National Harbor, Maryland anchors a key intersection in the National Harbor mixed-use district.

Activity Centers: Texas A&M University–San Antonio / Toyota

TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY–SAN ANTONIO / TOYOTA REGIONAL CENTER PROFILE

Existing & Aspirational Scores

Strengths: The Texas A&M University - San Antonio regional center benefits from two strong employment anchors, as well as ample land for future redevelopment. Population (2015 estimate): 1,070 Households (2015 estimate): 308 Single-family to Multifamily Housing Units Ratio: 0.78 Employment (2013 estimate): 3,800 Largest Industries (by employment): Transportation Equipment Manufacturing, Education Acres: 7,240 Developed Acres: 5,260

⬚ figure

Anchored by the Toyota manufacturing complex and the new Texas A&M University-San Antonio campus, this is one San Antonio’s emerging regional centers. The Toyota assembly plant employs over 3,000 and supports 23 related nearby suppliers. The university currently has 4,500 students and plans to grow to 25,000 students by 2025 on its 700-acre campus. Significant opportunities exist to develop vibrant mixed-use neighborhood serving the university and the south side of the city.

Tasks Ahead: Planning for this regional center should focus on increased connectivity and other infrastructure and investments that will catalyze the expected residential and employment growth.

⬚ figure

HafenCity urban regeneration project in Hamburg, Germany is adding a diverse mix of uses and vibrant open spaces to an area that had limited infrastructure and amenities.

Activity Centers: UTSA

UTSA REGIONAL CENTER PROFILE

Existing & Aspirational Scores

Strengths: The UTSA regional center has a good mixture of jobs and residents with a significant employment base anchored by the University.

Population (2015 estimate): 18,557 Households (2015 estimate): 7,482 Single-family to Multifamily Housing Units Ratio: 0.82 Employment (2013 estimate): 18,650 Largest Industries (by employment): Healthcare, Education, Retail Trade, Oil and Gas Acres: 7,780 Developed Acres: 4,730

⬚ figure

Anchored by the University of Texas at San Antonio, the UTSA activity center is a focus of entertainment and retail for the northern portion of the city. Located at the northern intersection of I-10 and Loop 1604, the UTSA regional center includes major destinations such as Six Flags Fiesta Texas, The Rim Shopping Center and The Shops at La Cantera.

Tasks Ahead: UTSA will benefit from increased housing and employment density. As it grows, multimodal connectivity should be prioritized.

⬚ figure

Developed by Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, the Lofts of Washington University is a student housing and retail mixed-use project along a vibrant commercial corridor a 1/2-mile from the main university campus.

Activity Centers: Stone Oak

STONE OAK REGIONAL CENTER PROFILE

Existing & Aspirational Scores

Strengths: The Stone Oak regional center is major service and retail hub. Population (2015 estimate): 40,503 Households (2015 estimate): 15,004 Single-family to Multifamily Housing Units Ratio: 2.52 Employment (2013 estimate): 21,300 Largest Industries (by employment): Healthcare, Finance and Insurance, Retail Trade Acres: 10,240 Developed Acres: 7,095

⬚ figure

The Stone Oak regional center is located at US Highway 281 and Loop 1604. It comprises the master planned community of Stone Oak, two independent hospitals and the Northwood Shopping Center, among other uses. This mix of uses supports over 21,000 jobs and 75,000 residents in the area.

Tasks Ahead: Planning for Stone Oak regional center should focus on increased density and multimodal connectivity.

⬚ figure

The Cleveland HealthLine bus rapid transit system has helped to connect existing residents to regional destinations and new projects like this two block mixed-use development.

Activity Centers: Highway 151 and Loop 1604

HIGHWAY 151 AND LOOP 1604 REGIONAL CENTER PROFILE

Existing & Aspirational Scores

Strengths: The Highway 151 and Loop 1604 regional center has attracted major employers, an educational institution and entertainment destinations.

Population (2015 estimate): 11,859 Households (2015 estimate): 3,998 Single-family to Multifamily Housing Units Ratio: 7.74 Employment (2013 estimate): 14,200 Largest Industries (by employment): Retail Trade, Healthcare, Finance and Insurance, Education Acres: 4,205 Developed Acres: 2,546

⬚ figure

Home to several large employment campuses, including Wells Fargo, as well as the SeaWorld amusement park, this regional center is one of San Antonio’s emerging centers. Located on the western edge of the city, it includes the Westover Hills area and portions of the large master planned community of Alamo Ranch. This area, including portions of unincorporated Bexar County has been a focus of major development activity during the past decade.

Tasks Ahead: This emerging regional center should prioritize transit service to link uses that are largely disconnected from each other.

⬚ figure

The EMX bus rapid transit system connects several neighborhoods, employment centers, a new hospital and mixed-use districts in Eugene and Springfield, Oregon.

Logistics and Services Centers: Greater Airport Area

GREATER AIRPORT AREA REGIONAL CENTER PROFILE

Existing & Aspirational Scores

Strengths: The Greater Airport Area has a balanced mix of residents and workers, leading to a large work force in close proximity. Population (2015 estimate): 37,470 Households (2015 estimate): 16,446 Single-family to Multifamily Housing Units Ratio: 1.00 Employment (2013 estimate): 65,0000 Largest Industries (by employment): Retail Trade, Professional and Technical Services, Construction, Finance and Insurance Acres: 6,886 Developed Acres: 6,412

⬚ figure

The Greater Airport Area includes the San Antonio International Airport, large concentrations of office uses and major retail destinations, making it the most economically diverse regional center. Located at Highway 281 and Loop 410, the area is well connected by a variety of transportation infrastructure to facilitate the movement of people and goods. This commercial diversity and regional and international activity contribute to a high number of jobs; making the Greater Airport Area the biggest employment hub of all regional centers. Although the airport is a major anchor, an estimated 60% of employment is not airport related.

Tasks Ahead: The Greater Airport Area regional center should prioritize walkability and transit connectivity.

⬚ figure

The Roissypole district at the Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport includes office buildings, light manufacturing and distribution, hotels and several transit stations.

Logistics and Services Centers: Northeast I-35 and Loop 410

NORTHEAST I-35 AND LOOP 410 REGIONAL CENTER PROFILE

Existing & Aspirational Scores

Strengths: The Northeast I-35 and Loop 410 regional center has superior regional connectivity and an emerging potential for revitalization of former industrial uses.

Population (2015 estimate): 13,607 Households (2015 estimate): 5,147 Single-family to Multifamily Housing Units Ratio: 2.45 Employment (2013 estimate): 15,000 Largest Industries (by employment): Retail Trade, Construction, Accommodation and Food Services Acres: 2,638 Developed Acres: 2,257

⬚ figure

As the traditional industrial employment center for San Antonio, the area around I-35 and Loop 410, has several types of employment and community-serving retail. As industrial uses shift to the southeast portion of the city and further north along the I-35 corridor, this area is beginning to evolve away from its industrial roots. This evolution creates new opportunities for infill redevelopment and capitalizes on the center's location on the main route to Austin.

Tasks Ahead: This evolving regional center will benefit from coordinated land use planning to leverage existing infrastructure and support new types of development.

⬚ figure

Ebene CyberCity on Mauritius, an island nation in the Indian Ocean, is 9 miles south of the capital and is being developed as a new information technology hub.

Logistics and Services Centers: Rolling Oaks

ROLLING OAKS REGIONAL CENTER PROFILE

Existing & Aspirational Scores

Strengths: The Rolling Oaks regional center has superior connectivity to regional highways. This area is in the process of rapid expansion attracting new residents and businesses. Population (2015 estimate): 23,987 Households (2015 estimate): 8,979 Single-family to Multifamily Housing Units Ratio: 3.86 Employment (2013 estimate): 8,400 Largest Industries (by employment): Retail Trade, Accommodations and Food Service, Wholesale Trade Acres: 6,638 Developed Acres: 4,624

⬚ figure

The Rolling Oaks regional center, at I-35 and Loop 1604, is poised to expand rapidly over the next 25 years. Already a major retail location with assets such as Rolling Oaks Mall and The Forum at Olympia Parkway (in Selma, Texas), Rolling Oaks is expected to add a significant number of new residents and jobs by 2040. This growth will be supported by this regional center’s ideal location on the I-35 corridor leading to Austin.

Tasks Ahead: This emerging center should prioritize attracting major employers and greater job diversity.

⬚ figure

Ecospace business park in Newtown, Rajarhat is multi-use, mixed-use development that integrates offices with ample open space, trails and housing nearby.

Special Purpose Centers: Fort Sam Houston

FORT SAM HOUSTON REGIONAL CENTER PROFILE

Existing & Aspirational Scores

Strengths: The Fort Sam Houston regional center is a major national destination because of Brooks Army Medical Center – a DOD Level I Trauma Center.

Population (2015 estimate): 16,506 Households (2015 estimate): 4,190 Single-family to Multifamily Housing Units Ratio: 1.21 Employment (2013 estimate): 62,000 Largest Industries (by employment): Military, Advanced Manufacturing, Retail Trade, Agriculture Acres: 8,080 Developed Acres: 6,978

⬚ figure

This special purpose center includes JBSA-Fort Sam Houston and large portions of San Antonio’s older industrial sites along I-35. Fort Sam is a designated Historic Landmark and one of the Army’s oldest installations. As home to Brooks Army Medical Center, the only U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) Level I Trauma Center, this regional center supports an innovative employment sector. The area is home to over 62,000 jobs, of which 40,000 are military jobs.

Tasks Ahead: This regional center will benefit from improved connectivity and multimodal access, as most of the area’s employees commute a long distance. Support of innovative and advanced manufacturing job types will help increase average resident incomes.

⬚ figure

New development in Boulder, Colorado has integrated bicycle facilities, landscaping and public space in close proximity to safe and reliable public transit.

Special Purpose Centers: JBSA-Lackland / Port San Antonio

JBSA-LACKLAND / PORT SAN ANTONIO REGIONAL CENTER PROFILE

Existing & Aspirational Scores

⬚ figure Transit Utilization

⬚ figure Walkability

⬚ figure Median Commute Distance

⬚ figure Employment Density of Developed Land

⬚ figure Residential Density of Developed Land

⬚ figure Ratio of Employees to Residents

⬚ figure Per Capita Income

⬚ figure Housing + Transportation Index

⬚ figure Job Diversity Index

Strengths: The JBSA-Lackland / Port San Antonio regional center is a significant economic driver for the city. Existing major employers provide a strong economic base while Port San Antonio’s foreign trade zone designation and strategic master plan will help attract the city’s targeted industries. Population (2015 estimate): 19,425 Households (2015 estimate): 3,217 Single-family to Multifamily Housing Units Ratio: 1.99 Employment (2013 estimate): 50,500 Largest Industries (by employment): Military, Information Technology, Transportation Equipment Manufacturing Acres: 8,900 Developed Acres: 8,637

⬚ figure

This regional center is home to JBSA-Lackland and Port San Antonio, the former Kelly Air Force Base. Redevelopment of The Port, a 1,900-acre site, is creating an economic engine for San Antonio. This master planned employment center and foreign trade zone currently has over 12,000 employees. With only about 40% of Port San Antonio’s land utilized, full development of the site could potentially support an additional 35,000 jobs. Located between I-35, Loop 410 and US Highway 90, Port San Antonio has strong highway connectivity as well as direct air and rail access.

Tasks Ahead: This employment-focused regional center will benefit from expanded housing options for JBSA-Lackland and Port San Antonio employees.

⬚ figure

Rotterdam, Holland has focused on developing housing in and near historically single use office and industrial areas to create stronger community and decrease congestion.

⬚ figure

Chapter 6: Place Types

With the major building blocks of the city identified (regional centers, urban centers, corridors and neighborhoods), we then described the types of places that we would like each of those building blocks to be.

Throughout the SA Tomorrow process, participants pointed to examples of development they like, both within San Antonio and around the country. The common thread linking each of these desirable examples is that they are actual places. Instead of a poorly planned collection of buildings, uses and infrastructure, the residents of San Antonio want true places. Residents want places where the sum of the individual investments in development projects, roads, transit, parks, open space and trails amounts to an attractive destination that is well-defined, walkable and provides plenty of shopping and dining options.

San Antonio will use the concept of “place types” to designate the appropriate and desired development patterns for the major building blocks. The place types provide the design intent and key planning and design parameters related to how each place will be developed—with a desirable mix of land uses, city form, public spaces, roads, parking and other infrastructure.

The place types will guide desirable development within each of the major building blocks.

At least one place type is appropriate for each of the building blocks. For example, there are three different place types that represent three distinct approaches to urban centers. The larger geographies of regional centers and corridors allow for many place types to be developed within each of those building blocks. In neighborhoods, several different place types are appropriate at different scales, including main streets, community corridors and green neighborhoods (which would usually be new neighborhoods, but its defining characteristic can be applied to existing neighborhoods to make them more sustainable).

All place types were defined with an eye toward how they transition to existing single-family neighborhoods that may be nearby. The city considered land use, scale and massing to ensure that each of the place types will be developed in a manner that is harmonious and complementary with existing and future neighborhoods.

We used four major determinants to explore and define place types: land use; mobility; sustainability; and natural topography and other natural features.

An exploration of the determinants resulted in 12 place types organized into three categories: Multimodal Mixed-Use; Trails, Parks and Open Space; and Adaptive Reuse.

Coordination with VIA

The multimodal, mixed-use place types were developed in coordination with VIA’s Vision 2040 transit-supportive development typologies. They align with the specific Vision 2040 typologies of Urban Centers, Community Corridors and Neighborhood Main Streets. The VIA Typologies are further described through key characteristics such as orientation, land use, street network, housing unit density minimums and transit facility areas of influence.

SA Tomorrow’s urban center typologies vary from VIA Vision 2040 by introducing three different urban center place types instead of a single urban center transit supportive development type. The three urban center typologies include regional/ commuter rail; high-capacity transit corridor; and institutional/ campus mixed-use.

REGIONAL/COMMUTER RAIL

Multimodal, Mixed-Use Place Types

Multimodal mixed-use place types are transit-supportive and address all levels of transit service, from broader regional commuter rail station areas and larger institutions, to smaller scale places such as short segments along community corridors and neighborhood main streets. The place types in this category include:

• Regional/Commuter Rail;
• High Capacity Transit Corridor;
• Institutional/Campus Mixed-Use;
• Community Corridor; and
• Neighborhood Main Street.

⬚ figure

Regional/Commuter Rail

A Regional/Commuter Rail place type has a major transit station along a regional or commuter-heavy rail corridor. The predominant land uses surrounding the transit station should be mixed, with high-density residential closer to the station and then transition to single-family residential moving further away from the station. The features that make this place type unique are pedestrian access to regional transit and pedestrian and bicycle connectivity, which activate the surrounding neighborhood. The VIA Centro Plaza, Robert Thompson Transit Center and future Lone Star Rail all have the potential to fully realize the Regional/Commuter Rail place type.

MAJOR DETERMINANT

Major transit station along a regional or commuter heavy rail corridor.

RELATION TO VIA TRANSIT SUPPORTIVE DEVELOPMENT TYPOLOGIES

One of three typologies corresponding to VIA’s Urban Center typology.

PREDOMINANT LAND USES

Mixed-use housing and office development with retail on a portion of the ground floor, office, multifamily housing and attached single-family housing.

⬚ figure

Legend

⬚ figure

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Height: 5 to 12-stories or 70 to 150 feet Massing and Density: 20 to 60 housing units per acre and 2.5:1 to 8:1 Floor Area Ratio (FAR)

Street Level Activation: Transparency along primary street of 60%; transparency along side street of 25% Connectivity: Maximum block perimeter of 1,200 feet; minimum 150 intersections per square mile

Public Space: Plazas and park spaces totaling 15 acres per 1,000 residents Parking: On-street and off-street parking (most in structures)

⬚ figure

POTENTIAL LOCATIONS

The Regional/Commuter Rail place type is appropriate within 1/4-mile to 1/2-mile of commuter and regional rail stations. The map above illustrates areas within 1/4-mile of existing Amtrak stations and a potential new regional rail station. The applicability of this place type to the regional centers is addressed at the end of this chapter.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Denver, Colorado (top) and San Diego, California (bottom) both have regional transit and Union Station areas that have helped to stimulate millions of dollars in new development.

HIGH-CAPACITY TRANSIT CORRIDOR

⬚ figure

High-Capacity Transit Corridor

High-capacity transit corridors often have many major stations or transfer points and serve as anchors for higher-density and intensity mixed-use development. These stations are usually served well by mixed-use development in the immediate proximity, along with high-density residential development that transitions out to lower-scale structures and attached single-family housing as development approaches the detached single-family residential neighborhoods. Surrounding neighborhoods along high-capacity transit corridors have great pedestrian and bicycle access to nearby stations. San Pedro and Broadway are high-capacity transit corridors that would be well served by this place type.

MAJOR DETERMINANT

Stations along corridors with premium bus service with dedicated right-of-way, or light rail transit.

RELATION TO VIA TRANSIT SUPPORTIVE DEVELOPMENT TYPOLOGIES

One of three typologies corresponding to VIA’s Urban Center typology.

PREDOMINANT LAND USES

Mixed-use housing and office development with retail on a portion of the ground floor, office, multifamily housing and attached single-family housing.

⬚ figure

The High-Capacity Transit Corridor can develop around bus rapid transit (BRT) or light rail transit (LRT).

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Height: 4 to 8-story development or 55 to 110 feet Massing and Density: 16 to 40 housing units per acre and 2.5:1 to 5.1 Floor Area Ratio (FAR)

Street Level Activation: Transparency along primary street of 60%; transparency along side street of 25% Connectivity: Maximum block perimeter of 1,200 feet; minimum 150 intersections per square mile

Public Space: Plazas and park spaces totaling 15 acres per 1,000 residents Parking: On-street and off-street parking (most in structures)

⬚ figure

POTENTIAL LOCATIONS

The High-Capacity Transit Corridor place type is appropriate within ¼-mile to ½-mile of existing and planned Primo bus, Primo Plus bus, light rail and express transit routes. The applicability of this place type to the regional centers is addressed at the end of this chapter.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

LRT has anchored development in Charlotte, North Carolina's South End (top) and BRT has catalyzed revitalization of a major corridor in Cleveland, Ohio (bottom).

INSTITUTIONAL/CAMPUS MIXED-USE

⬚ figure

Institutional/Campus Mixed-Use

Large institutional or campus-style developments tend to be magnets for people, which helps develop a built-in critical mass that can support a variety of amenities and services. These existing destinations should be enhanced with mixed-use development, higher-density residential land use and open spaces that can serve the surrounding community. Often, public-private partnerships catalyze the transformation of institutions and campuses into true places. If appropriately planned and designed, the institutional core and identity can actually be strengthened. Strong pedestrian and bicycle connections to the surrounding neighborhoods help to stitch the institutional anchor into the surrounding community fabric. Key locations such as Our Lady of the Lake University, Port San Antonio, UTSA, Texas A&M-San Antonio, USAA and the Medical Center are candidates for the institutional/campus mixed-use place type.

MAJOR DETERMINANT

Existing or new institutional/campus anchor.

RELATION TO VIA TRANSIT SUPPORTIVE DEVELOPMENT TYPOLOGIES

One of three typologies corresponding to VIA’s Urban Center typology.

PREDOMINANT LAND USES

Medium-density mixed-use development, multifamily housing and attached single-family housing.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Legend

⬚ figure

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Height: 2 to 5-story development or 35 to 70 feet Massing and Density: 16 to 30 housing units per acre and 2:1 to 4:1 Floor Area Ratio (FAR)

Street Level Activation: Transparency along primary street of 50%; transparency along side street of 20% Connectivity: Maximum block perimeter of 1,200 feet; minimum 120 intersections per square mile

Public Space: Plazas and park spaces totaling 15 acres per 1,000 residents Parking: On-street and off-street parking (most in structures)

⬚ figure

POTENTIAL LOCATIONS

The Institutional/Campus place type is appropriate within ¼-mile to ½-mile of existing and planned hospitals, colleges and universities. The map above illustrates areas within ¼-mile of existing hospitals, colleges and universities. The applicability of this place type to the regional centers is addressed at the end of this chapter.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Seattle's University District (top) has stitched together the University of Washington with adjacent neighborhoods and the University of Wyoming (bottom) has developed strong open space connections with the surrounding community.

COMMUNITY CORRIDOR

⬚ figure

Community Corridor

The Comprehensive Plan and VIA Vision 2040 Plan share the Community Corridor place type. Community Corridors are commercial areas with limited available land that may surround a transit facility (typically a bus stop). They are focused on an infill development and redevelopment approach to corridor revitalization. They can be transformed over time through adaptive reuse and infill strategies and reinvention of auto-oriented strip malls. Land uses include higher-density residential and commercial mixed-use. Future development should maintain a necessary parking supply and visibility for key retail sites. An improved streetscape should frame higher-intensity uses, mixed with existing retail and new development that better relates to the corridor and its pedestrian realm. Roosevelt, Perrin Beitel, Pleasanton and Zarzamora are potential candidates for the Community Corridor place type.

MAJOR DETERMINANT

Arterial or collector corridor with adjacent commercial uses and a transit facility.

RELATION TO VIA TRANSIT SUPPORTIVE DEVELOPMENT TYPOLOGIES

Aligns with the Community Corridor typology.

PREDOMINANT LAND USES

Mixed-use development, retail, restaurants and multifamily residential.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Height: 2 to 5-story development or 35 to 70 feet Massing and Density: 10 to 30 housing units per acre and 1:1 to 4:1 Floor Area Ratio (FAR)

Street Level Activation: Transparency along primary street of 50%; transparency along side street of 20% Connectivity: Maximum block perimeter of 1,200 feet; minimum 90 intersections per square mile

Public Space: Plazas and park spaces totaling 10 acres per 1,000 residents Parking: On-street and off-street parking (mix of surface and structured parking)

⬚ figure

POTENTIAL LOCATIONS

The Community Corridor place type is appropriate along existing commercial corridors. The map above illustrates the majority of commercial corridors throughout the city. It also highlights several conceptual locations for the Community Corridor place type where the conditions are known to be conducive for this style of development. The applicability of this place type to the regional centers is addressed at the end of this chapter.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Complete street improvements have helped to stimulate new development along major corridors in West Sacramento, California (top: West Capital Boulevard) and San Francisco, California (bottom: Octavia Boulevard).

NEIGHBORHOOD MAIN STREET

⬚ figure

Neighborhood Main Street

The neighborhood main street place type aligns with the VIA Vision 2040 transit-supportive development typology. It is an area within a new or existing neighborhood that has development largely limited to the land immediately adjacent to the transit facility. The neighborhood main street provides a safe, quality walking environment for residents nearby. It’s ideal for small commercial and entertainment-based districts that draw local patrons. The mix of uses includes local-serving commercial, small scale mixed-use, smaller multifamily development and attached single-family residential. This place type typically occurs along a short two to four-block linear corridor with a mix of restaurants, small shops and local services. Southtown, Southcross, Flores and Commercial Avenue are examples of the Neighborhood Main Street place type.

MAJOR DETERMINANT

Small commercial node nestled within a single-family neighborhood.

RELATION TO VIA TRANSIT SUPPORTIVE DEVELOPMENT TYPOLOGIES

Aligns with the Neighborhood Main Street typology.

PREDOMINANT LAND USES

Local-serving commercial, small scale mixed-use, smaller multifamily development and attached single-family residential.

⬚ figure

Legend

⬚ figure

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Height: 1 to 4-story development or 20 to 70 feet Massing and Density: 15 to 20 housing units per acre and 1:1 to 3:1 Floor Area Ratio (FAR)

Street Level Activation: Transparency along primary street of 50%; transparency along side street of 25% Connectivity: Maximum block perimeter of 1,200 feet; minimum 90 intersections per square mile

Public Space: Plazas and park spaces totaling 10 acres per 1,000 residents Parking: On-street and off-street parking

⬚ figure

POTENTIAL LOCATIONS

The Main Street place type is appropriate existing or future neighborhoods and can be as small as an intersection and as large as several blocks long. The applicability of this place type to the regional centers is addressed at the end of this chapter.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

San Antonio's South Town (left) is enjoying a renaissance. Existing and new neighborhoods are revitalizing, adding and augmenting main street-style development around the country (above).

TRAIL-ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT

Trails, Parks and Open Space Place Types

These place types are designed to create stronger connections among the city's active and passive recreational and cultural assets by both leveraging and protecting these important community features. Place types in this category include:

• Trail-Oriented Development;
• Community/Regional Park;
• Natural/Historic/Cultural Asset; and
• Green Neighborhood.

⬚ figure

Trail-Oriented Development

The Trail-Oriented Development place type builds on the growing network of trails and pathways throughout San Antonio and the region. Key features include well-connected, multi-use pathways and trails (often along drainage ways or other water features); multiple trail crossings that include both dedicated pedestrian and bike bridges, as well as vehicular bridges with sidewalks; and strong pedestrian and bicycle connectivity with surrounding neighborhoods. The predominant land uses can vary significantly, ranging from single-family residential to medium scaled mixed-use development. Higher-intensity development should be limited to select nodes along the trail and development should generally provide a substantial buffer between structures and the trail. Existing and potential locations for the trail-oriented place type include the Riverwalk, San Antonio Greenway Trails, Alazán and Apache Creeks, the Mission Reach and Leon Creek.

MAJOR DETERMINANT

Multi-use pathway or trail corridor.

PREDOMINANT LAND USES

Varied, but may include some combination of attached and detached single-family residential, small-scale commercial, low to medium-intensity multifamily and mixed-use development.

⬚ figure

Legend

⬚ figure

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Height: 1 to 4-story development or 20 to 70 feet Massing and Density: 5 to 20 housing units per acre and 0.25:1 to 2:1 Floor Area Ratio (FAR)

Street Level Activation: Transparency along primary street of 50%; transparency along side street of 20% Connectivity: Maximum block perimeter of 1,200 feet; minimum 90 intersections per square mile

Public Space: Plazas and park spaces totaling 20 acres per 1,000 residents Parking: On-street and off-street parking

⬚ figure

POTENTIAL LOCATIONS

The Trail-Oriented Development place type is appropriate along existing or future trails, greenways, streams and other flowlines. The map above illustrates priority locations and all areas within ¼-mile of existing and planned trails, greenways, streams and flowlines. The applicability of this place type to the regional centers is addressed at the end of this chapter.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

San Antonio is a leader in trails and trail-oriented development. Peer cities that have also helped to pioneer this style of development include Minneapolis, Minnesota (top) and Denver, Colorado (bottom).

COMMUNITY/REGIONAL PARK

⬚ figure

Community/Regional Park

Large community and regional parks provide an amenity that can be better leveraged with medium to higher-intensity development along a portion of their perimeters. A major park entrance is a frequent anchor for the higher-intensity nodes. The predominant land uses in higher-intensity edges include attached single-family residential, medium to high-density residential and small to large-scale mixed-use development. Development should have the main entrance oriented to the park. Mixed-use and commercial development should be buffered from detached single-family housing with smaller scale multifamily development and attached single-family development. Neighborhood pedestrian and bicycle connections should be emphasized. Areas well-suited for this include Brackenridge Park and Phil Hardberger Park.

MAJOR DETERMINANT

A large community or regional park.

PREDOMINANT LAND USES

Detached single-family residential, attached single-family residential medium to high-density residential and small to large-scale mixed-use development.

⬚ figure

Legend

⬚ figure

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Height: 2 to 12-story development or 35 to 150 feet Massing and Density: 10 to 40 housing units per acre and 1:1 to 6:1 Floor Area Ratio (FAR) Street Level Activation: Transparency along primary street of 50%; transparency along side street of 20% Connectivity: Maximum block perimeter of 1,200 feet; minimum 90 intersections per square mile Public Space: Plazas and park spaces totaling 20 acres per 1,000 residents Parking: On-street and off-street parking

⬚ figure

POTENTIAL LOCATIONS

The Community/Regional Park place type is appropriate near community and regional parks that are approximately 20 acres or more. The map above illustrates conceptual locations where the conditions are known to be conducive for this place type. It also shows all areas within ¼-mile of existing parks that are 20 acres or larger. The applicability of this place type to the regional centers is addressed at the end of this chapter.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Vancouver, Washington attracted extensive redevelopment in downtown with Esther Short Park (top) and Denver reconnected with their waterfront with the development of Commons Park along the Platte River (bottom).

NATURAL/HISTORIC/CULTURAL/ECONOMIC ASSET

⬚ figure

Natural/Historic/Cultural Asset

Sometimes the most important aspect of a place has everything to do with what is there now, what happened there or what has been there historically. The Natural/Historic/Cultural Asset place type is intended to respect and preserve such places of importance. Protected assets can include historical structures, special habitat or areas identified as a place of significance. Key features can include a peripheral vehicular road with more limited access through the amenity, neighborhood pedestrian and bike connections, and parking limited to on-street spaces along the perimeter road and small parking lots near a few trailheads. Unlike other place types, the density adjacent to these place types is much lower, scaling up as one moves away from the asset. The surrounding land use context is primarily single-family residential neighborhoods with a character strongly influenced by the natural, historic or cultural asset. Appropriate areas include the World Heritage Corridor (Mission San Antonio de Valero [Alamo] to Mission San Francisco de la Espada), military assets and the San Antonio River Authority Plan (e.g., San Pedro Creeks Project).

MAJOR DETERMINANT

A natural, historic, or cultural asset.

PREDOMINANT LAND USES

Detached single-family residential with attached single-family residential and multifamily residential farther from the asset.

⬚ figure

Legend

⬚ figure

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Height: 1 to 2-story development or 20 to 350 feet Massing and Density: 2 to 10 housing units per acre and 0.25:1 to 1:1 Floor Area Ratio (FAR) Street Level Activation: Transparency along primary street of 35%; transparency along side street of 15% Connectivity: Maximum block perimeter of 1,600 feet; minimum 75 intersections per square mile Public Space: Plazas and park spaces totaling 20 acres per 1,000 residents Parking: On-street and off-street parking

⬚ figure

POTENTIAL LOCATIONS

The Natural/Historic/Cultural Asset place type is appropriate adjacent to those assets. The map above shows areas within 1/4-mile of natural, historic and cultural assets around San Antonio with an area of five acres or larger. The applicability of this place type to the regional centers is addressed at the end of this chapter.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

The World Heritage Corridor missions inspired the creation of the Natural/Historic/Cultural Asset place type. Conservation easements, open space buffers and low density development can help preserve and respect community assets.

GREEN NEIGHBORHOOD

⬚ figure

Green Neighborhood

The Green Neighborhood place type typically involves new development focused on optimizing sustainability. Key features include the use of natural drainage ways, a network of connected pedestrian and bicycle trails, designated areas for urban agriculture, alternative energy production, localized utilities and site orientation for passive lighting, heating and cooling. The land use mix is mostly compact single-family residential with the potential for a mixed-use node. There are often a variety of small and larger park-like open spaces within the development. It’s common to use sustainable materials and technology such as solar panels, small wind turbines and low impact development practices. Potential locations for this could include Mahncke Park and areas outside Interstate Loop 410 in the southern portion of the city.

MAJOR DETERMINANT

New residential neighborhood development focused on sustainability and low impact development.

PREDOMINANT LAND USES

Compact single-family residential with some mixed-use and/or smaller scale commercial.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Height: 2 to 4-story development or 30 to 65 feet Massing and Density: 10 to 20 housing units per acre and 0.5:1 to 2:1 Floor Area Ratio (FAR)

Street Level Activation: Transparency along primary street of 25%; transparency along side street of 15% Connectivity: Maximum block perimeter of 1,000 feet; minimum 90 intersections per square mile

Public Space: Plazas and park spaces totaling 15 acres per 1,000 residents Parking: On-street and off-street parking

⬚ figure

POTENTIAL LOCATIONS

The Green Neighborhood place type is all vacant areas of the city and especially in areas with natural open space or more sensitive landscapes. The map above depicts the majority of vacant parcels in San Antonio with an area of five acres or larger. The applicability of this place type to the regional centers is addressed at the end of this chapter.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Seattle's High Point neighborhood includes green homes and an integration of low impact development (LID).

SHOPPING MALL RETROFIT

Adaptive Reuse Place Types

Adaptive Reuse place types offer solutions for areas still in transition that will need to evolve to remain relevant either in their current use or change to a new use. The place types in this category include:

• Shopping Mall Retrofit;
• Office Park Infill; and
• Industrial Site Reuse.

⬚ figure

Shopping Mall Retrofit

San Antonio has many large, suburban shopping malls—many were built decades ago and have outlived their intended use. Most were designed to focus on an interior corridor and they are surrounded by a “sea” of parking lots. However, razing a shopping mall for new development can be cost prohibitive. Adaptive reuse of large shopping mall spaces can help activate the available indoor spaces and the surrounding neighborhoods. Adaptive reuse can also integrate new transportation connections and placemaking amenities.

Introducing new connections through a shopping mall site can help break the mall into smaller pieces with double-loaded exterior commercial corridors. This helps orient storefronts outwardly, reintroducing the surrounding street grid into the site and creating better pedestrian and bicycle connections to the surrounding community. The land use mix includes commercial, medium to high-density residential, office and civic uses. Parking solutions can include on-street parking, parking structures and retaining downsized parking lots. Rackspace is a well-known example of this place type, and South Park Mall could be better used with this place type designation.

MAJOR DETERMINANT

Shopping mall revitalization or reuse.

PREDOMINANT LAND USES

Retail, mixed-use, medium to high-density residential, office and civic uses.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Legend

⬚ figure

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Height: 2 to 8-story development or 35 to 110 feet Massing and Density: 15 to 40 housing units per acre and 2:1 to 5:1 Floor Area Ratio (FAR)

Street Level Activation: Transparency along primary street of 50%; transparency along side street of 20% Connectivity: Maximum block perimeter of 1,200 feet; minimum 90 intersections per square mile

Public Space: Plazas and park spaces totaling 10 acres per 1,000 residents Parking: On-street and off-street parking (most in structures)

⬚ figure

POTENTIAL LOCATIONS

The Shopping Mall Retrofit place type is appropriate at under-performing and outdated shopping malls. The map above shows areas within ¼-mile of existing shopping malls. It also shows several conceptual locations for the place type where the conditions are known to be conducive for this style of development. It should be noted that several shopping malls are currently performing well. The applicability of this place type to the regional centers is addressed at the end of this chapter.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Stonebridge at Potomac Town Center (top) is an updated shopping mall that includes apartment lofts, shopping and dining, and public spaces. Rackspace in San Antonio (bottom) converted an old shopping mall to their offices.

OFFICE PARK INFILL

⬚ figure

Office Park Infill

Suburban-style office parks with large buildings surrounded by parking are very similar to shopping malls in that they are heavily auto-oriented and are frequently focused inward. Infill development should be used to create a denser, more compact development pattern, with integrated plazas and park spaces. Pedestrian connectivity to and within the site should be a major objective. The mix of uses includes office buildings with a better pedestrian level experience, medium to high-density residential and parking garages wrapped with retail and additional office space. Multi-use/commercial edges bring more activity into the immediate area and help to better integrate office parks with other surrounding land uses. Potential locations include Port San Antonio, Brooks and the Westover Hills area.

MAJOR DETERMINANT

Suburban-style office park.

PREDOMINANT LAND USES

Office, mixed-use, commercial, and limited multifamily and attached single-family residential.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Legend

⬚ figure

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Height: 2 to 10-story development or 35 to 130 feet

Massing and Density: 15 to 40 housing units per acre and 2:1 to 6:1 Floor Area Ratio (FAR)

Street Level Activation: Transparency along primary street of 40%; transparency along side street of 20%

Connectivity: Maximum block perimeter of 1,200 feet; minimum 90 intersections per square mile

Public Space: Plazas and park spaces totaling 5 acres per 1,000 residents

Parking: On-street and off-street parking (most in structures)

⬚ figure

POTENTIAL LOCATIONS

The Office Park Infill place type is most appropriate in suburban-style office parks with large surface parking lots and underutilized landscaped areas. The applicability of this place type to the regional centers is addressed at the end of this chapter.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Top companies - Google (left), Amazon (top right) and Facebook (bottom right) are making major efforts to update their traditional office campuses with more urban amenities and mixed-use development.

INDUSTRIAL SITE ADAPTIVE REUSE

⬚ figure

Industrial Site Adaptive Reuse

Industrial sites are some of the least activated “places” in urban areas. Buildings typically have deep setbacks, are single-story with high ceilings, few windows and specific intended uses (such as storage or manufacturing) that are associated with very few people for the size of the buildings and properties they occupy. Industrial Site Adaptive Reuse can breathe new life into underutilized and vacant industrial sites. Key features include adaptive reuse of older industrial buildings, great public spaces and introducing a large mix of uses. High-density residential is often brought into the sites, mixing old structures and infrastructure with new uses, and integrating ample landscaping and pedestrian connectivity throughout the site. This place type is well represented by the Pearl Brewery and Blue Star developments. Future areas where this place type would work include the Lone Star Brewery site.

MAJOR DETERMINANT

Larger industrial site.

PREDOMINANT LAND USES

Multifamily residential, office, retail, mixed-use and light manufacturing.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Legend

⬚ figure

PERFORMANCE STANDARDS

Height: 2 to 8-story development or 35 to 110 feet Massing and Density: 15 to 40 housing units per acre and 2:1 to 5:1 Floor Area Ratio (FAR)

Street Level Activation: Transparency along primary street of 40%; transparency along side street of 15% Connectivity: Maximum block perimeter of 1,200 feet; minimum 90 intersections per square mile

Public Space: Plazas and park spaces totaling 10 acres per 1,000 residents Parking: On-street and off-street parking

⬚ figure

POTENTIAL LOCATIONS

The Industrial Site Adaptive Reuse place type is appropriate at abandoned, under-performing and outdated industrial sites. The applicability of this place type to the regional centers is addressed in the next section of this chapter.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

San Antonio's Pearl Brewery (left and bottom right) has been reinvented as a mixed-use neighborhood, employment center and entertainment destination. Berkeley's Fourth Street neighborhood (top right) contains a combination of reused industrial structures and new development.

Place Types and Regional Centers

Regional Centers represent one of the major opportunities for developing the place types presented in this chapter. The following table summarizes where place types are appropriate within the 13 regional centers. It also indicates the place types that should be encouraged and incentivized in specific regional centers. The following symbols are included in the table:

— not appropriate or recommended

A appropriate

! recommended

POTENTIAL PLACE TYPES IN REGIONAL CENTERS

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

SECTION 3

Plan Elements

Chapter 7: Plan Element Framework

Chapter 8: Growth and City Form (GCF)

Chapter 9: Transportation and Connectivity (TC)

Chapter 10: Housing (H)

Chapter 11: Jobs and Economic Competitiveness (JEC)

Chapter 12: Community Health and Wellness (CHW)

Chapter 13: Public Facilities and Community Safety (PFCS)

Chapter 14: Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES)

Chapter 15: Historic Preservation and Cultural Heritage (HPCH)

Chapter 16: Military (M)

⬚ figure

Chapter 7: Plan Element Framework

Previous sections of this Plan have outlined our city’s Background and Vision (Section 1) and the Plan Framework (Section 2). Section 3: Plan Elements, provides an outline and discussion of each of the nine plan elements that make up our Comprehensive Plan.

Each of these nine elements was guided by a Plan Element Working Group (PEWG) composed of community leaders and representatives of relevant City departments, partner organizations, utilities, colleges and universities, neighborhoods and advocacy groups.

Although many of these elements are typically found in other cities’ Comprehensive Plans, ours also needed to move beyond the standard to reflect our city’s unique context and history. The inclusion of the Historic Preservation and Cultural Heritage (HPCH) and Military (M) elements do just that.

The nine elements in our plan are:

• Growth and City Form (GCF)
• Transportation and Connectivity (TC)
• Housing (H)
• Jobs and Economic Competitiveness (JEC)
• Community Health and Wellness (CHW)
• Public Facilities and Community Safety (PFCS)
• Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES)
• Historic Preservation and Cultural Heritage (HPCH)
• Military (M)

Organization

Each of the following nine chapters focuses on one of the elements listed above. The chapter provides an overview of major issues and challenges specific to each element as well as a set of goals and policies to set the direction for how our community will respond to and address the challenges before us.

We begin each chapter with an introduction to the element and proceed by addressing key questions relating to that element’s policies and goals. Wherever possible, we include examples of case studies that demonstrate best practices that have been proven successful in other urban areas.

Plan Element Goals and Policies are defined as follows:

• Goals are the broadest statements of the community’s desired long term direction. Goals describe ideal end-state conditions in 2040 that would result if the Plan is successfully implemented.
• Policies are statements that identify the community’s preferred actions in relation to the Plan Element Goals.

Each element’s goals and policies reflect and support the City’s Vision and the key Guiding Principles that characterize the City’s ambitions for the next 25 years.

⬚ figure

Chapter 8: Growth and City Form (GCF)

San Antonio is the seventh largest city in the country, having surpassed Dallas as the second largest city in Texas in the early 2000s. With an estimated population of 1.44 million, our population and employment growth is expected to continue.

The Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization forecasts that 1.1 million more people with over a half million jobs and households will locate in Bexar County by 2040.

The main reason for our continued growth is our existing assets. San Antonio is home to the primary employment centers and economic engines of the greater San Antonio-New Braunfels metropolitan statistical area. We’re a major tourist center, attracting about 25 million leisure visitors every year. We’re business-friendly with an affordable tax environment. The City’s municipally-owned utilities provide affordable, reliable energy and water with innovative approaches to long-term service provision—a draw for many businesses. We combine our business environment with a relatively low cost of living and average home price. And our strong cultural heritage creates a unique sense of place, demonstrated in our historic neighborhoods and our well-known public spaces. Clearly, San Antonio offers a high quality of life that will attract employers and employees.

Growth presents a tremendous opportunity for San Antonio—if we plan for it now.

Growth will create demand for a range of housing types and locations and generate a variety of jobs requiring a variety of employment sites. Aligning the City’s land use plan—how, where and what we develop—with market demand and consumer and employer preferences will allow us to: expand and diversify housing; preserve existing neighborhoods and natural resources; generate more economic activities; achieve our land use objectives; and help address issues such as affordable housing, income/economic segregation and health and wellness.

The City is proactively addressing the challenges and opportunities of growth. Some of the issues we face include changing demographic trends, effectively utilizing our land supply and development patterns to ensure we develop sustainably and remaining economically competitive so all of our residents may experience and benefit from a high quality of life.

The Growth and City Form (GCF) goals and policies were developed in response to five key areas of questions about what we would like our city to be in the future.

1 Strategic Infill

Where in the city should higher-intensity growth be directed and encouraged?

Given the decreasing land supply in traditionally high-growth areas (north and northwest), which other areas of the city can sustain additional growth?

How can the City shift development momentum to areas that traditionally have had limited demand?

GCF Goal 1

Higher-density uses are focused within the city’s 13 regional centers and along its arterial and transit corridors.

GCF Goal 2

Priority growth areas attract jobs and residents.

San Antonio has a polycentric economic geography with multiple large concentrations of employment and housing throughout the city (e.g., Downtown, the Medical District, military bases, etc.). These concentrations are largely located along major transportation routes, making living near work easier for many residents. But a polycentric pattern also creates challenges.

The composition of the economy (mainly based on healthcare, the military, education and tourism) and the dispersed employment nodes have scattered both employment opportunities and economic assets across the city, so much so that it is often difficult to distinguish the concentrations. This dispersion is compounded by the lack of master plans that could guide development and attract employment. Without coordinated growth plans, it is difficult to leverage these assets to their potential and create the spin-off economic activities that can result from clustered businesses in similar industries.

The City has identified priority growth areas that include regional employment centers, mixed-use centers, areas of high land capacity for growth, underserved areas of the city, land near the City Center, premium transit corridors and key arterial corridors.

Our efforts will focus on 13 regional centers—nine existing and four emerging. We can strategically focus employment and housing growth in those centers, aligning land use planning and infrastructure investment with economic development. These centers can offer a wide variety of employment-oriented uses, sites, infrastructure and amenities. Some also can be developed into vibrant, mixed-use areas that offer the live-work-play environments that are attracting development and business nationally, but are lacking in San Antonio. Continued employment and housing growth in these centers will also keep commute times low and offer more opportunities for transportation connections.

San Antonio also has a number of large, transformational development projects that can change the direction of growth within the city. Four of these sites are Hemisfair, Brooks City Base, Port San Antonio and the Texas A&M University-San Antonio campus. Developing these sites can catalyze development in areas of the city where recent growth has been relatively limited. Even more significantly, these transformational projects are in areas with an ample supply of developable land. The large size, limited number of landowners and public and political backing for site development can result in model projects that will serve as a guide for future growth in the city.

There are additional opportunities for sustainable infill development within the urban core as well. Inside Loop 410, a large number of commercial and industrial zoned parcels are vacant or underutilized. This indicates that site uses and buildings are out-of-date and don’t meet current market demand. Allowing these areas to be redeveloped with a wider mix of uses, including housing, can help revitalize those areas and improve the existing neighborhoods around them.

We can create policies and infrastructure that shift growth to areas within the city limits, which will encourage more compact, mixed-use, walkable communities. Compact forms of development allow for denser population and employment, more efficient land use and less sprawl.

⬚ figure

Pedestrian-scaled development with the proper mix of uses can bolster a city's growth by catalyze further development and attracting new residents and visitors.

⬚ figure

San Antonio's environmental assets provide an opportunity for investment in neighborhood amenities and infrastructure (including green infrastructure) that will facilitate higher-density development and create urban centers.

Development Strategies for Connected Growth: Portland, Oregon

The Portland Metro region in Oregon is perhaps the most frequently cited example of an American metropolis working to reduce its dependence on the automobile by creating more walkable neighborhoods, connected destinations and transportation choices. Portland has an elected and effective regional government (Metro) that coordinates urban growth in 24 cities and parts of three counties. Metro’s urban growth management plans include: Urban Growth Boundaries, a set of policies that protects fertile farmland and open space by limiting the development of sprawling suburbs and exurbs through strict controls over location of growth; Parking Management which allows developers and the housing market to determine parking ratios, saving them money and supporting Metro’s 2040 Growth Concept for mixed-use areas near light rail; and Transportation Choices which includes 5 major light rail extensions.

Portland’s array of public policies that manage urban growth have created more compact forms of development, offering financial, mobility, environmental and livability benefits for the Metro area.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

2 Strategic Expansion

How can San Antonio utilize annexation strategically?

Should San Antonio grow (more so) into other counties?

How should San Antonio address development in unincorporated Bexar County?

What is the City's role in providing infrastructure for new development in greenfield and annexation areas?

Should the City and SAWS direct growth through water provision policies and decisions?

How should the provision of services from SAWS, CPS Energy, VIA and others be connected to the City's growth plans?

GCF Goal 3

Strategic annexation benefits existing and future residents and does not burden the City fiscally.

As of 2013, San Antonio covered 467 square miles with a population density of 3,017 people per square mile. Historically, San Antonio has had no major physical or political constraints to outward expansion. However, that’s no longer the case. The city boundary and ETJ have effectively reached the northern edge of Bexar County as well as the boundaries of several other jurisdictions including Boerne, Bulverde, Converse, Live Oak, Schertz and Universal City. On the west, the city has begun to enter Medina County. This continued outward expansion has led to resources being spread across a large geographic area, and to a perception among some residents that there has been disinvestment in the inner portions of the city.

San Antonio can annex unincorporated areas of Bexar County. However, changes to the State’s annexation law in 1999 made it very difficult for the City to continue to annex new areas. Nonetheless, development continued in unincorporated Bexar, which put a strain on both the County and the City.

⬚ figure

Neighboring jurisdictions present challenges for new development and the corresponding new infrastructure in these expanding communities.

Bexar County’s 2012 analysis showed that, like other Texas counties, it has limited capability to fund and provide acceptable urban-level services to new development. The County cannot adopt zoning, perform residential building inspections or raise enough revenue through bond issuance to offset infrastructure and service costs. Development that occurs in the county, within the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ), is subject to San Antonio’s subdivision and ordinance, but there are no mechanisms for applying or enforcing the City’s other development regulations. In some cases, these developments have created unforeseen impacts because the City has such limited control of the area.

Do SAWS and CPS impact City Form?

The availability of utility services allows new development to occur around the city’s edges. However, until recently, San Antonio’s growth was not aligned with the service provision boundaries maintained by our major utility providers. Both SAWS and CPS serve areas that extend beyond the city boundary as well as the ETJ, and are required to fulfill any requests for service within those areas. In addition, SAWS and CPS typically benefit from expanding their infrastructure and prefer to provide service when requested to prevent competitive and/or substandard utility providers. If one of these utilities denies service to an area outside their service area boundary, the developer can find an alternative means of provision. SAWS and CPS tend to serve newly developing areas to ensure minimum standards are met. SAWS has sometimes been forced to take over operations of sewer plants because the provider couldn’t provide adequate service and maintain infrastructure. Expansion by our service providers may in some cases diverge from the Goals of the SA Tomorrow Comprehensive Plan. To address these potential conflicts, the City, SAWS and CPS should arrange regular coordination meetings to address impacts of planned development.

⬚ figure

The Comprehensive Plan Initial Studies found that infill development has a greater fiscal benefit than building in undeveloped areas (greenfield development). This means that the City expends fewer resources providing infrastructure and ongoing services to infill areas. Building major infrastructure such as water and sewer systems and roads is typically costlier to the City for greenfield development sites. It is also more expensive for cities to provide ongoing police and fire service to areas under new development.

San Antonio can develop a comprehensive approach to annexation that is consistent with growth forecasts and that ensures newly-annexed residents receive the same level of service as current residents—without creating undue burdens on the city.

3 Housing Stock

How can growth be managed in a way that respects and protects the city’s historic features, neighborhoods and cultural assets?

How can we leverage growth to support and improve the lives of our current and future residents?

GCF Goal 4

Sustainable infill and mixed-use developments provide walkable and bikeable destinations for all residents.

GCF Goal 5

Growth and city form support improved livability in existing and future neighborhoods.

GCF Goal 6

Growth and city form support community health and wellness.

During the past decade San Antonio has been losing its competitive market position for single-family housing within the metro area; developers and homebuyers are looking outside city boundaries in unincorporated Bexar. However, this large amount of development still relies on City services and infrastructure.

Since 2000, residential development has been located mainly in the north and northwestern portions of the county. But those areas are nearing build-out with a lack of available land, traffic congestion, topographic constraints and challenges for utility services. Land capacity will likely push future residential growth more to the west and south. The City’s policies and infrastructure (utilities, schools, services) will determine whether we attract development into San Antonio or continue expanding into other counties.

The City’s Comprehensive Plan Initial Studies found that there is not enough residentially-zoned land to accommodate forecasted demand for housing in several areas of the city, especially to the north if development continues with the same density and patterns. Increasing the density of some neighborhoods and the average density of single-family development will reduce the demand for additional land. Rezoning the vacant and underutilized commercial and industrial parcels (inside Loop 410) will allow development of residentially-focused mixed-use neighborhoods, greatly increasing the housing supply and walkability. Currently, only 14% of San Antonio’s neighborhoods offer walkability (defined as very or somewhat walkable), and most of those are in our historic districts.

At the same time, our historic neighborhoods are central to life in San Antonio. The 27 historic districts offer some of the most desirable places to live in San Antonio. Property values within historic districts have increased more than in other areas. They offer the characteristics of neighborhood types that are in demand locally and nationally, including walkability (all historic districts have higher Walk Scores than the citywide average), a greater mix of uses and shorter commute times to work.

The City can develop policies to encourage higher-density housing in some areas while preserving our existing neighborhoods.

.

4 Natural Resources

How can growth be managed in a way that respects and protects the city's natural resources?

Do the City and San Antonio Water System (SAWS) have enough water to serve future growth?

GCF Goal 7

Development practices avoid, minimize or mitigate negative impacts on the city's natural resources, water supply, water quality, surface waterways and air quality.

The high-growth northern areas of Sac Antonio and Bexar County are bordered by environmentally sensitive natural resources. These include the Edwards Aquifer (one of the most important and sensitive aquifers in Texas), steep slopes of the Texas Hill Country, 100-year floodplain and critical wildlife habitats. The Comprehensive Plan Initial Studies showed that nearly 30% of land available for development in these sensitive areas was constrained. The topography also makes providing water and sewer service in those areas costly and difficult.

⬚ figure

To help ensure a more sustainable future for our community, the City should encourage and incentivize new and existing development that protects San Antonio's abundant and precious natural resources.

The City of San Antonio historically relied almost entirely on a single source of water, the Edwards Aquifer. With the creation of San Antonio Water System (SAWS), we have made great strides towards developing a sustainable supply of water for residents with water management planning, diversification of supply and an award-winning conservation program. While we still face challenges related to regulations, extreme weather and demand for water associated with outdoor irrigation, we continue to innovate.

One of these initiatives is the Twin Oaks Aquifer Storage and Recovery plant that stores water underground for peak use or drought. A more recent SAWS water supply diversification project is the Vista Ridge Pipeline. Although the 142-mile pipeline will provide the largest non-Edwards Aquifer water supply in the City’s history, consideration of and unanimous SAWS and City Council commitment to the project allowed for significant community debate regarding water reliability, SAWS rate restructuring and conservation and landscape irrigation controls.

Our City also leads in water conservation efforts, including the largest direct water recycling program in the nation—using recycled water to irrigate parks, golf courses, lawns, and the River Walk. Our continued efforts to address develop new diversification and conservation solutions will help ensure a more sustainable future for our community.

Smart Growth and Urban Containment Policies: Austin, Texas

The City of Austin is bisected north-south by portions of the Edwards Aquifer, a sensitive source of drinking water. Although 34% of Austin's land area is classified as “undeveloped,” much of it has environmental constraints. Austin's predicted growth rate (double over 30 years) will place heavy demands on resources, infrastructure and services. To help mitigate the impact, the City has launched a series of planning initiatives to manage and direct growth; developed an extensive overlay system to identify and map environmentally sensitive lands and lands unsuitable for development; and established five “growth areas,” three where new development and redevelopment are desired and two where they are not.

By mapping where Austin wants development, and providing infrastructure and tax break incentives, the City has enticed development in the desired areas and away from the open space and natural resources it wants to preserve.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

5 Education

How can we leverage growth and development to support educational access and achievement?

GCF Goal 8

Students throughout San Antonio have enhanced educational access and perform at a high level. (See also PFCS Goal 4)

There are 17 independent school districts operating within the San Antonio area with local control over the education system in their respective areas. While the City has a limited role in education, we can develop policies that encourage a broader variety of employment opportunities and housing choices across the city, especially in the southern, eastern and western areas of the city that have not traditionally seen high levels of economic growth. Neighborhood-friendly infill development can attract new families and improve the real estate market in those areas.

The City can also work to help provide land, facilities and entitlements that can be used to establish new schools as communities grow. And we can work closely with school districts in priority growth areas to support and enhance student success, including those in early childhood education programs.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Promoting innovative educational opportunities within priority growth areas of our city can drive market demand for housing and can help bolster our city's educational growth and development by supporting and invest in existing schools and their neighborhoods.

Goals and Policies

The goals and policies for Growth and City Form show a willingness to consider new, progressive approaches that will ensure San Antonio grows and develops in ways that benefit our existing and future residents, our businesses and our environment. These goals and policies are linked with the other important directives in the following chapters. The policies that can create higher-intensity, mixed-use developments align with policies to leverage the unique polycentric pattern of our regional economic centers, improve transportation options, attract young, skilled workers and provide environmental enhancements for air quality, water conservation and stormwater management.

The eight goals address the key issues identified above and provide the framework for the policies and actions the City will take as a result of SA Tomorrow. The policies are not associated with specific goals, but are grouped by common theme.

GROWTH AND CITY FORM (GCF) GOALS

Eight goals were developed to fulfill the City’s vision and to address the key issues identified for the Growth and City Form element.

• GCF Goal 1: Higher-density uses are focused within the city’s 13 regional centers and along its arterial and transit corridors.
• GCF Goal 2: Priority growth areas attract jobs and residents.
• GCF Goal 3: Strategic annexation benefits existing and future city residents and does not burden the City fiscally.
• GCF Goal 4: Sustainable infill and mixed-use development provide walkable and bikeable destinations for all residents.
• GCF Goal 5: Growth and city form support improved livability in existing and future neighborhoods.
• GCF Goal 6: Growth and city form support community health and wellness.
• GCF Goal 7: Development practices that minimize, mitigate or avoid negative impacts on the city’s natural resources, water supply, water quality, surface waterways and air quality.
• GCF Goal 8: Students throughout San Antonio have enhanced educational access and perform at a high level. (See also PFCS Goal 4)

GROWTH AND CITY FORM (GCF) POLICIES

Priority Growth Areas

• GCF P1: Incentivize the development of housing and employment uses in the city’s priority growth areas.
• GCF P2: Identify and support catalyst projects which include a mix of housing types for a range of income levels and which attract additional employment.
• GCF P3: Invest in neighborhood amenities and infrastructure (including green infrastructure) that will attract new residents to priority growth areas.
• GCF P4: Create subarea/corridor plans for the city’s regional centers, major arterials, and transit corridors to ensure maximum coordination of land use, transportation and other infrastructure in support of higher-density development.
• GCF P5: Invest in needed amenities and infrastructure that will facilitate higher-density development in the city’s priority growth areas.
• GCF P6: Align land uses and infrastructure improvements in regional centers with employment uses and jobs best suited for each center’s unique assets.
• GCF P7: Ensure employment centers provide a variety of land uses and infrastructure that will allow the city to remain economically competitive.

⬚ figure

Enhanced public realm for residents and visitors support improved livability in existing and future neighborhoods.

⬚ figure

Sustainable infill and mixed-use development in San Antonio will provide more walkable and bikeable destinations for all residents and promote community health and wellness.

Infill and Revitalization

• GCF P8: Continue to focus on the revitalization of neighborhoods adjacent to downtown and extend these efforts to regional centers, urban centers and transit corridors.
• GCF P9: Allow higher-density and mixed uses in portions of, or adjacent to, single-family residential areas to encourage shopping, services and entertainment amenities in closer proximity to housing and where appropriate.
• GCF P10: Develop a plan to preserve and maintain affordable housing within revitalizing neighborhoods and along transit corridors.
• GCF P11: Continue and bolster incentive programs for infill development in priority growth areas.
• GCF P12: Develop programs to encourage and incentivize adaptive reuse.
• GCF P13: Evaluate commercial and industrial land use and zoning designations in the core of the city, regional centers, urban centers and primary transit corridors to determine areas that could be converted to residential or mixed-use.
• GCF P14: Establish appropriate buffers and transitions (land use, form and/or landscaping) between residential neighborhoods and surrounding higher-density development.

Annexation

• GCF P15: Work with AACOG (Alamo Area Council of Governments), AAMPO, and other regional partners to determine a consistent approach for forecasting growth in the region and develop a strategic, proactive approach to annexation that is consistent with the adopted growth forecast.
• GCF P16: Ensure the City’s annexation policy supports desired city form.
• GCF P17: Ensure that newly annexed residents of the city receive the same level of service as current residents.
• GCF P18: Ensure that annexation decisions do not create an undue fiscal burden on the City or utilities providers, SAWS and CPS.
• GCF P19: Ensure that the City’s growth and annexation plan provides guidance for growth plans and policy decisions made by the major utility providers, SAWS and CPS.

Transit

• GCF P20: Work with VIA Metropolitan Transit to develop a long-term transit plan that increases transit connectivity to employment centers.
• GCF P21: Work with VIA Metropolitan Transit to develop a long-term transit plan that facilitates transit-supportive development.

Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability

• GCF P22: Encourage development types and designs that promote and support water conservation practices.

• GCF P23: Implement stormwater infrastructure management best practices that balance well-developed and well-maintained regional and site-specific stormwater infrastructure (i.e., gray and green infrastructure). (See also NRES P17 and PFCS P13)
• GCF P24: Incentivize developments in or near the recharge and contributing zones and in areas identified by the watershed master plans of the Bexar Regional Watershed Management Consortium to use low impact development techniques, to meet minimum standards for pervious area and to develop natural resources mitigation plans.
• GCF P25: Explore incentive and enforcement programs for Low Impact Development (LID).
• GCF P26: Encourage land intensive development patterns to locate outside of the Edwards Aquifer recharge and contributing zones and along preservation reaches of rivers and creeks. (See also CHW P36 and NRES P11)
• GCF P27: Purchase undeveloped land within the Edwards Aquifer recharge and contributing zones and along river and creek corridors for public open space.
• GCF P28: Incentivize development that is consistent with recommendations within the watershed master plans of the Bexar Regional Watershed Management Consortium.
• GCF P29: Develop and promote incentives and other tools to facilitate development types and designs that promote and support water conservation practices.

⬚ figure

Strategic infill with the appropriate uses on developable land and maximum coordination of land use, transportation and other infrastructure in support of higher-density development will help ensure our city grows and develops in ways that benefit our existing and future residents, our businesses and our environment.

• GCF P30: Develop and promote incentives and other tools to facilitate development types and designs that protect natural resources, water quality, surface waterways and air quality.
• GCF P31: Promote development that leverages and protects the public’s investment in major green infrastructure and natural resources projects (e.g., the San Antonio River Improvements Project and other creek and trail restoration projects). (See also PFCS P9)
• GCF P32: Support the efforts of and collaborate with appropriate governmental entities to monitor, protect and ensure water quality within the Edwards Aquifer. (See also NRES P17 and CHW P41)

Schools and Education

• GCF P33: Support and invest in existing schools and their neighborhoods.
• GCF P34: Promote innovative educational opportunities within priority growth areas of the city to drive market demand for housing.
• GCF P35: Help provide land, facilities, and/or entitlements that can be used to establish schools that attract a broader spectrum of families with children.
• GCF P36: Collaborate with and provide support to underperforming independent school districts to enhance access and improve performance.
• GCF P37: Increase funding and support for early childhood education programs in underperforming school districts.

⬚ figure

Chapter 9: Transportation and Connectivity (TC)

San Antonio has long enjoyed high quality of life complemented by a congestion-free network of roads and highways. Until recent years we all moved about our city with few impediments; new roads and ample parking were built in unison with the rapid outward expansion of development, particularly to the north and northwest parts of the city.

San Antonio has many transportation assets that have kept congestion at bay and the transportation system working at an acceptable level of service, despite being the seventh largest city in the country. Our low cost of living, relatively short commute times and dispersed land uses all encouraged and facilitated a transportation culture dominated by automobiles. In fact, statistics show that 95% of us drive to work, while 5% percent either walk, bike or use public transit.

Continued reliance on single-occupancy-vehicle travel is not sustainable. Current traffic projections indicate that our road and highway network will be unable to accommodate the unprecedented growth anticipated over the next 25 years. We are already witnessing longer-than-average commutes during rush hour especially on the major highways and in the northwest part of town. While many people from around the country are attracted to our economic stability and low cost of living, both are in jeopardy if we continue “business as usual” when planning our transportation system.

For a variety of environmental, economic development, and community health reasons, this plan calls for a new approach to transportation planning in our city. Expected congestion can no longer be managed simply by building new roads, and many of us have expressed a desire for more safe, comfortable and healthy transportation options. Walking, bicycling and transit must be prioritized. Many of us will continue to drive for some or all of our trips, but our city needs to provide a wider range of mobility choices that allow us access to work, recreation and other daily activities if we cannot or choose not to drive a car.

The Transportation and Connectivity element is somewhat unique in this plan, as a separate Multimodal Transportation Plan is being developed concurrently as part of the SA Tomorrow effort. Because the Multimodal Transportation Plan will address the full range of mobility issues in great detail, this chapter examines San Antonio's transportation challenges and opportunities at a more comprehensive level, making connections to the other elements of this plan.

The Transportation and Connectivity (TC) goals and policies were developed in response to the five key transportation challenges that follow.

1 Multimodal Network

How can San Antonio increase access to, safety and use of multimodal transportation options for all residents?

How can we improve pedestrian safety and comfort throughout the city?

How can we more successfully implement and improve upon our long-range bicycle plan?

How and when can San Antonio implement high-capacity premium transit that links key residential areas and employment centers with healthcare, cultural, educational and recreational facilities?

How can San Antonio provide better regional non-automobile connections?

TC Goal 3

San Antonio’s transportation and connectivity networks support a high quality of life and strong, healthy communities.

TC Goal 5

San Antonio provides a range of convenient, safe and comfortable active transportation options for all users and abilities and many regularly use multimodal options such as walking, biking and transit. (See also CHW Goal 4)

The five questions above highlight the importance of alternative modes of transportation and illustrate the range of options we want to see incorporated throughout our city. Many San Antonio residents currently walk, bike and ride public transit, but there is much work to be done before these options are viewed as safe and desirable choices for the majority of residents.

WALKING

The National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration (NHTSA) has named San Antonio a Pedestrian Focus City, a classification of 22 cities that have pedestrian death rates higher than the national average. Along with Dallas, San Antonio has the highest average pedestrian fatality rate per 100,000 people in Texas based on data from 2010 through 2013. San Antonio’s existing pedestrian network includes gaps in existing sidewalks, sidewalks in disrepair, sidewalks with accessibility issues such as barriers and absent curb ramps, and even some roadways without sidewalks. Pedestrian safety is an area of focus for the City of San Antonio. Particular attention should be paid to ensure residents of all ages and abilities have the opportunity to safely walk to a variety of daily amenities and activities, such as transit stops, schools, local parks and trails, healthcare services, and employment and cultural destinations.

BICYCLING

While bicycling is gaining popularity for both commuting and recreation, safety remains a concern. There were 258 bike crashes in San Antonio in 2013, increasing to 324 in 2014. Of even greater concern are the serious injuries and fatalities associated with increased bicycling. There were five fatal bike crashes in 2013 and one in 2014, all of which occurred on larger roadways (collectors and arterials).

⬚ figure

Short commute times and increasing popularity of cyclists coupled with unsafe conditions provide an opportunity to identify and prioritize bicycle infrastructure improvements.

The Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (AAMPO) travel demand model shows that the majority of all bicycle trips in the network are 10 miles or less in distance and 48% of all trips are 10 minutes or less in duration. These shorter trips are ideal opportunities for bike travel if improved infrastructure is in place. When implemented, the projects detailed in the City’s 2011 Bike Master Plan will help reduce the danger of bicycling by providing a connected bicycle network of trails, bike lanes and other facilities throughout the city.

San Antonio also has the BCycle bike-sharing program. Users can pick up a bike at any BCycle station and return it to any BCycle station when finished with their ride. Users can pay a membership fee to gain unlimited access to the BCycle system or they can pay based on the time that the bike is used. There are currently 55 BCycle stations in San Antonio. Most are located in Downtown; some are near the Mission and Museum Reaches of the Riverwalk, on the campus of San Antonio College and throughout the River North area.

The City must continue to prioritize expanding of our bicycle network, creating a valuable amenity for residents and adding a distinctive element to entice and delight the many visitors our city attracts every year.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

By incorporating multimodal opportunities and developing a safe and convenient pedestrian travel network, San Antonio can have a more accessible public transit system and safer, more walkable streets.

⬚ figure

Expanding and enhancing our bicycle network for our residents is a priority, while ensuring the engineering and design of transportation facilities provides for the safety of all users.

HIGH-CAPACITY TRANSIT

A regional high-capacity transit network, such as Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) or light rail, will not only help to reduce vehicle miles travelled (VMT), it will also help San Antonio meet future transportation demands of residents and businesses. Cities compete with each other for residents and businesses, and a robust rapid transit system is increasingly considered a hallmark of world-class cities. Two key demographics that cities compete for include millennials and baby boomers. Statistics show that both of these groups are driving less and demanding alternative modes of transportation.

They are also less willing to pay a high percentage of their incomes for transportation costs. A high-capacity and high frequency transit network answers both of these concerns and could serve as a major attractor to these important demographics in our city.

The Transportation and Connectivity goals and policies of this Comprehensive Plan are aligned with the VIA Vision 2040 plan being concurrently developed by VIA Metropolitan Transit. This collaboration should continue, and both entities must focus on aligning VIA’s high-capacity transit corridors with the city’s regional centers and other key investments.

REGIONAL MOBILITY

The Lone Star Rail District (LSRD) had proposed a 118-mile passenger rail service from north of Austin to San Antonio. The proposed passenger rail service (LSTAR) would have operated on existing Union Pacific freight rail lines and offered 75-minute express service from Downtown Austin to Downtown San Antonio.

Unfortunately, as of early 2016, Union Pacific has pulled out of the cooperative agreement with LSRD to provide commuter rail jeopardizing the proposed LSTAR line. However, there is still an expressed desire by stakeholders for regional rail connectivity. The City and rail district should continue to explore options that do not rely on Union Pacific tracks. Implementation of this regional rail connection will complement and link into the high-capacity transit network and demonstrate our City’s commitment to playing a larger role in the regional economy.

The full range of multimodal options described above will enhance our quality of life and improve our air quality and health outcomes. In addition, a robust mobility network is a desirable amenity to many skilled workers, increasing the chances that San Antonio can attract and retain a workforce that supports targeted industries at the heart of our economic development strategy.

Connecting People with Transit: Los Angeles, California

First and last mile connections are a problem all cities face when talking about making public transit accessible to all residents. In cities like Los Angeles, which have a large and dispersed population, the challenge is that not many households and workplaces fall within a ¼ mile of a transit station. To help increase ridership and accessibility Los Angeles has implemented a new fist and last mile strategy to make the first and last mile between public transit access as enjoyable and easy as possible. To achieve this, Los Angeles has: partnered with ride-hailing and bike sharing services to decrease commute time to a transit station; developed ‘mobility centers’ (hybrid convenience store and bus stop); and increased wayfinding measures that outline multiple ways for users to get to their final destination.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) First-Last Mile Strategic Plan is moving the city towards a more enjoyable and accessible public transit system. By paying attention to the entire trip, specifically the first and last miles, the City is investing in a more coordinated infrastructure with the desire of extending the reach of transit and ultimately increasing ridership.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Land Use and Transportation

How can San Antonio enhance its transportation system to ensure residents have safe and easy access to a range of daily amenities and basic services?

TC Goal 1

San Antonio has a world class multimodal transportation system, providing safe and comfortable connectivity to residential, commercial, education, cultural, healthcare and recreation opportunities.

⬚ figure

Walking, bicycling and high-capacity transit options must be integrated into a comprehensive network that provides San Antonio residents with multiple options for accessing residential, commercial, educational, cultural, healthcare and recreation opportunities throughout our city. In addition, this network must be coordinated and aligned with key land use objectives and investments that ensure a greater number of people live in close proximity to this range of multimodal options in the future. The City's Complete Streets program, existing and planned linear greenway multi-use trails, and investments in regional centers should all be leveraged to achieve this goal. Our City must make a concerted effort to link regional centers with multimodal and transit corridors, providing multiple, non-automobile options for our residents traveling to and from work and other daily activities. Mobility within regional and urban centers is also important. Even if residents and employees must drive for some longer trips, many will choose other options for shorter trips that are easily reached by walking and biking. Expanded multimodal connections between and within employment and housing concentrations enhance our residents' quality of life, increase access to employment and increases efficiency of our transportation system.

COMPLETE STREETS

A Complete Street is a roadway planned, designed and operated to enable safe access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities. There is no one type of Complete Street since roadways must serve different purposes for different land uses. Thus, Complete Streets are context-driven, with different components and amenities depending on the community served. While all Complete Streets are designed to accommodate all modes of travel in a safe, accessible and comfortable manner, they can be tailored to best serve the needs of surrounding communities, both existing and planned.

LINEAR GREENWAY TRAILS

San Antonio is developing a world-class system of bike paths and trails through the linear greenway parks, which provide routes for bicyclists outside of the street network. The City, in collaboration with other agencies, created paths along Leon Creek, Salado Creek, Medina River, and the Mission and Museum Reaches of the San Antonio River. Future plans include extending existing paths further along the waterways and creating new paths along greenways such as San Pedro and Alazán Creeks. This network of greenway trails connects us to a variety of important destinations, provides a direct connection to our treasured natural resources and offers safe and beautiful routes for commuting, recreational or visiting cyclists. In addition, this trail network is the basis for the unique Trail-Oriented Development place type illustrated in Chapter Six.

Finally, strategic development of regional centers in San Antonio represents the city’s best opportunity to absorb and leverage projected population and employment increases while preserving the existing fabric of neighborhoods. These regional centers are one of the main building blocks of our city’s future. Each is at a different stage of development and offers unique potential in terms of combining land uses and multimodal connectivity. We must focus our efforts on carefully considered regional center plans that link existing and emerging land uses with our investments in walking, biking, and transit.

Connecting Regional Centers: Cleveland, Ohio

In 2008, the City of Cleveland completed the $197 million, 9-mile bus rapid transit (BRT) line, known as the HealthLine. The HealthLine connects Clevelands's downtown to its health and education regional centers and its eastern neighborhoods along Euclid Avenue. With dedicated lanes, covered stations and electronic ticketing, the HealthLine has been instrumental in: spurring $5.8 billion in development along the Euclid Avenue corridor since 2008; increasing access to Cleveland's medical, education and arts centers; and supporting the development of a multimodal network to compliment and support the BRT route.

Considered one of the best US examples of BRT implementation, the scheme has generated $114.54 in economic development for each transit dollar spent and has seen a 60% increase in ridership over the old route. Significantly, a majority of the ridership growth has been in choice ridership – people who have a car but choose to ride public transportation.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

3 Congestion

How can San Antonio reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and proactively address anticipated future problems with congestion and transportation delays?

TC Goal 6

San Antonio utilizes technology and other innovative services and solutions to ensure predictable and reliable travel throughout the city.

TC Goal 7

San Antonio’s roadway system has managed congestion and is efficient for residents and businesses.

One of the reasons San Antonio currently lacks a sufficient range of transportation options is that, even as recently as 2010, the transportation system operated at an acceptable level of service (LOS); congestion was really not a problem in our city. Level of service is a measure of delay and congestion on roadways and at intersections. It is reported by a letter grade of A through F, with A representing the ideal condition with very little delay and congestion present, and F representing over-capacity conditions with substantial delay and congestion. Although the city’s road network generally operated at an acceptable LOS in 2010, by 2013 it was ranked 43rd in the country for worst traffic congestion according to TomTom’s annual Traffic Index report. It had an overall congestion level of 15% (8% on highways and 22% on non-highways), compared to a 21% congestion rate in Houston and Austin and the 16% congestion rate in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. With an addition of 1.1 million people by year 2040 we will continue to see dramatic increases in demand on the transportation system.

With vehicle miles travelled (VMT) increasing due to this continued growth, the levels of congestion will worsen. The City expects the largest increases in population on the far-west side, downtown and the far-north side areas. The north side of the city will be congested by 2040. All major roads on the north and west sides of the City outside of Loop 410 will be over capacity with the exception of Wurzbach Parkway. The south side will experience significant congestion as well, with most major north-south roads operating at LOS F. The inner east and southwest sides are the only areas of the city that will have available capacity on the road network.

Based on the AAMPO travel demand model results, congestion will result in a decrease in average speed (about 48%), meaning it will take twice as long to travel the same distance on the same roadway in year 2040 compared to year 2010. Total vehicle hours of delay will also increase by over 900% from 2010 to 2040.

We’ll need to use a wide range of tactics to manage and mitigate this future congestion. The expansion of multimodal and transit options described earlier in this chapter is one important approach. However, many of us will continue to drive, and we must explore innovative technologies and programs that will work in concert to manage and minimize the impacts of congestion on our roadways. The Multimodal Transportation Plan details a wide range of possible technologies and strategies. For example, Transportation Demand Management tools will help to reduce average VMT per person and shift roadway demand away from peak hours. The City should work with VIA to implement technologies that improve transit performance and reliability, especially on priority corridors. In addition, the City and VIA should test and implement a suite of roadway pricing and accessibility options such as managed lanes, high occupancy vehicle (HOV)/high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes and ramp metering to create the most efficient roadway system possible.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Reaching our City's environmental, community health and economic aspirations requires prioritizing transportation projects and investments that manage congestion and reduce emissions and vehicle miles traveled and increase multimodal transit options.

⬚ figure

Non-automobile travel alternatives can be encouraged by creating expanded, more accessible and safer pedestrian and bicycle networks and transit options.

How do we get around?

Our city’s dependency on automobiles and the resulting congestion produces many negative impacts on our community’s economy, environment and overall health and wellness.

80

% of San Antonians who drive alone to get to work as of 2013

22.4

vehicle miles travelled (VMT) by San Antonians in 2013

18.7

SA2020's VMT goal for our city

$453mil

predicted economic savings if residents reduce their daily VMT by 1 mile

For more information on what we are doing to address this challenge, refer to the San Antonio Sustainability Plan; SA Tomorrow Multimodal Transportation Plan; and VIAVision 2040 Plan.

4 Effectiveness

How can San Antonio update its transportation planning and facilities to meet current and future needs, including increasing demands from residents and businesses?

TC Goal 4

San Antonio builds, manages and maintains its transportation and connectivity system cost-effectively in order to meet current and future needs and expectations.

TC Goal 8

San Antonio is a world leader in moving people and goods safely, efficiently and sustainably.

In an era of increasing costs and limited resources, our City must invest in transportation improvements wisely. We seek to be a world leader in mobility and connectivity; to do so requires a holistic and innovative approach to our entire transportation system, and a more nuanced understanding of how people will choose to move about our city over the next 25 years. It will be crucial to coordinate efforts among City departments and between the City and VIA to ensure efficient transportation and mobility investments in the coming years.

The City took an important step toward efficient management of transportation planning and investment by creating the Transportation and Capital Improvements Department (TCI) in January 2014. TCI combines the former Public Works and Capital Improvements Management Services departments. The newly combined department employs over 800 people dedicated to meeting the infrastructure and transportation needs of our city. TCI is also the lead department on the Multimodal Transportation Plan, and will be instrumental in implementing the recommendations of that plan.

TCI manages the City’s five-year rolling Bond Program that funds over $500 million of capital improvement projects and other high-profile capital projects like the Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center expansion and the San Antonio Airport projects. Future Bond Programs should fund important infrastructure and mobility investments in our city’s regional centers, particularly in coordination with corresponding investments from VIA.

Considering the scale of our City’s Bond Program and other transportation investments, we must prioritize projects carefully to yield the most effective and impactful results. The Transportation and Connectivity policies in this Plan call for prioritization of projects based on long-term cost-effectiveness and value, emissions and VMT reductions, coordination with other large-scale projects and considerations of a project’s full life cycle costs.

⬚ figure

Cost-effective building, management and maintenance of our transportation and connectivity system will help us meet current and future needs and expectations.

⬚ figure

We intend to utilize technology and other innovative services and solutions to ensure predictable and reliable travel throughout our city.

5 Economic Competitiveness

How can San Antonio update its transportation planning and facilities to meet current and future needs that strengthen its role in the regional, national, and international economy?

TC Goal 2

San Antonio's transportation system supports the city's competitiveness in the regional, national, and international economy.

Transportation and mobility impact not only our city's environment and community health outcomes, but also serve as key economic development tools. Although often distant from our everyday lives, freight transportation is an important aspect of our system and is an important driver of our economic success. Freight moves through our city by roadway and rail.

Seven major railroad lines pass through San Antonio, all operated by Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR). Major rail yards are located at Port San Antonio, and along I-35 south of Fort Sam Houston. San Antonio's proximity to the I-35 and I-10 corridors is a great economic asset with regard to movement of goods. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has greatly increased the movement of freight between Texas and Mexico, the state's largest trading partner. Major freight rail and highway corridors originating on the Texas border in Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley all converge in and pass through San Antonio. Trade between Texas and Mexico has increased in recent years and is expected to continue to place additional demands on the City's transportation infrastructure.

The recent growth and activity associated with the energy sector has also contributed to an increase of freight traffic. Drilling in the Eagle Ford Shale formation, primarily in counties south of San Antonio such as Karnes and Atascosa, has increased dramatically over the last several years. The Eagle Ford Shale formation produces over a million barrels of oil per day (Texas Railroad Commission). San Antonio is the nearest major city to the Eagle Ford Shale, located less than an hour away from the northern edge of the oil field. Major truck and rail corridors from the region pass through San Antonio. Many companies operating in the Eagle Ford, such as Halliburton and Baker Hughes, have now located in San Antonio. The large number of trucks and employees needed to drill and maintain oil wells has increased traffic on the highways heading to and from the south such as I-37 and US Highway 181.

Finally, as described in earlier parts of this chapter, an integrated and well-designed multimodal network is an important economic development tool. San Antonio's current urban form—defined for the most part by low-density, single-use developments connected by an auto-centric transportation system—does not offer the kind of places that will attract today's young, skilled, innovative workers. Continuing with the status quo and perpetuating the same basic development types and patterns that have dominated the city over the past few decades will all but ensure San Antonio's inability to become a center of innovation and creative industry.

Instead, we must plan for and encourage the creation of more neighborhoods and districts that offer the density, mix of uses, mobility options and amenities that draw skilled millennial workers, retiring baby boomers and many other segments of the population that crave a sustainable, walkable, and human-scaled place to live. San Antonio should continue with traditional business attraction efforts, and we also need to add the additional layer of strategic and holistic thinking about what will help bring targeted industries and businesses to the city. In this sense, the land use, urban design, and mobility goals and policies that punctuate almost every plan element are also economic development policies.

To be successful, we do not need to retrofit the entire city, and the status quo of city form dominated by an auto-centric transportation system and few places with true urban amenities will no longer work. The goals and policies articulated for this and other plan elements must address these challenges and work towards creating and linking great places to live, work and play.

Goals and Policies

The City of San Antonio supports the creation of walkable, bikeable and transit-oriented places, looking towards our City’s environmental, community health and economic aspirations. The eight Transportation and Connectivity goals address the key issues identified above and provide the framework for the policies and actions the City will take as a result of the SA Tomorrow process. The policies are not associated with specific goals, but are grouped by common themes.

TRANSPORTATION AND CONNECTIVITY GOALS

Eight goals were developed to address the key issues identified and provide the framework for the policies and actions the City will take resulting from the SA Tomorrow process.

• TC Goal 1: San Antonio has a world class multimodal transportation system, providing safe and comfortable connectivity to residential, commercial, education, cultural, healthcare, and recreation opportunities.
• TC Goal 2: San Antonio’s transportation system supports the city’s competiveness in the regional, national, and international economy.
• TC Goal 3: San Antonio’s transportation and connectivity networks support a high quality of life and strong, healthy communities.
• TC Goal 4: San Antonio builds, manages and maintains its transportation and connectivity system cost-effectively in order to meet current and future needs and expectations.
• TC Goal 5: San Antonio provides a range of convenient, safe and comfortable active transportation options for all users and abilities and many regularly use multimodal options such as walking, biking and transit. (See also CHW Goal 4)
• TC Goal 6: San Antonio utilizes technology and other innovative services and solutions to ensure predictable and reliable travel throughout the city.
• TC Goal 7: San Antonio’s roadway system has managed congestion and is efficient for residents and businesses.
• TC Goal 8: San Antonio is a world leader in moving people and goods safely, efficiently and sustainably.

TRANSPORTATION AND CONNECTIVITY (TC) POLICIES

Planning and Investment

• TC P1: Prioritize transportation projects that manage congestion based on objective criteria to evaluate long-term cost effectiveness and value.
• TC P2: Prioritize transportation projects and investments based on the ability to reduce emissions and vehicle miles travelled (VMT).
• TC P3: Implement policies and programs based on objective criteria to consider full life cycle costs (including capital construction and maintenance as well as the full range of benefits (mobility, safety, economic development, quality of life, etc.)) in cost-benefit analysis of transportation projects.
• TC P4: Provide funding to maintain and expand a multimodal transportation system in a cost-effective, equitable, accessible and efficient manner.
• TC P5: Increase cost effectiveness and efficiency through coordinated project timing with other projects, other agencies and private development, thus avoiding costs of deferred maintenance.
• TC P6: Develop procedures to incorporate multimodal improvements during the maintenance phase of roadways.

Multimodal Transportation

• TC P7: Expand safe pedestrian and bicycle networks and transit options/access to encourage non-automobile travel alternatives. (See also NRES P40)
• TC P8: Prioritize transportation improvements that will incorporate multiple modes of travel and will provide connections between those modes.
• TC P9: Continue to encourage and implement programs and projects that make the City's bicycle network more accessible, direct and continuous in order to increase bicycling safety and opportunities for daily bicycle travel for riders of all levels and abilities. (See also CHW P24)
• TC P10: Invest in furthering the momentum of the City's current river and trail investments for multi-use paths and multimodal connectivity.
• TC P11: Develop a safe and convenient pedestrian travel network with sidewalks and trails integrated into the transportation system and activity areas such as schools, libraries, shopping and neighborhood centers. (See also CHW P28)
• TC P12: Prioritize safe accommodation and alternative routes for people walking, bicycling and at transit stops during street reconstruction.
• TC P13: Develop and implement specific maintenance procedures for pedestrian and bicycle facilities.
• TC P14: Incorporate multimodal opportunities to ensure access and use of transportation facilities.
• TC P15: Identify and prioritize bicycle infrastructure improvements in areas where increased bicycle trip rates can best address congestion problems and provide options for commuting to places of employment.

Safety and Comfort

• TC P16: Ensure the engineering and design of transportation facilities provides for the safety of all users.
• TC P17: Identify and implement regulations to improve the safety of people walking and bicycling.
• TC P18: Prioritize and maintain safe pedestrian crossings and continue supporting and implementing Safe Routes to School and Safe Routes to Transit programs.
• TC P19: Invest in infrastructure and amenities that provide shade and increase the comfort of pedestrians and waiting transit riders.
• TC P20: Accommodate the specific mobility and wayfinding needs of disabled individuals in all transportation modes.
• TC P21: Increase parking facility safety with design that minimizes conflicts between vehicles and people walking and bicycling.
• TC P22: Prioritize safety improvements and enhancements that effectively reduce crash and fatality rates and provide protection of the most vulnerable users (including children, seniors, persons with disabilities) and people walking and bicycling.
• TC P23: Develop performance and safety criteria for periodic evaluation of roadways and right-of-way.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Supporting active transportation technologies and infrastructure will encourage walking and bicycling for existing and future residents.

Land Use and Transit Supportive Development

• TC P24: Incentivize transit supportive development opportunities and incorporate transit supportive infrastructure improvements to promote transit use.
• TC P25: Develop incentives and zoning regulations to encourage transit-supportive development.
• TC P26: Encourage and invest in pedestrian-scaled streetscapes that promote placemaking and encourage walking and bicycling.
• TC P27: Encourage and invest in transportation infrastructure investments that also serve to strengthen social networks.
• TC P28: Assess and implement placemaking opportunities when developing transportation projects.
• TC P29: Prioritize construction and maintenance of sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian lighting in neighborhoods, retail and employment areas within a half mile of major transit stops and stations.
• TC P30: Design commercial, residential, educational, cultural, and recreational facilities that support and provide access to and all transportation modes.
• TC P31: Encourage and invest in transportation network improvements that support economic development.
• TC P32: Leverage multimodal transportation improvements in San Antonio as attractors of businesses and talent.

Regional Transportation

• TC P33: Work with other regional transportation agencies to improve San Antonio's overall transportation network to enhance connectivity and efficiency.
• TC P34: Partner with and support the Lone Star Rail District to pursue regional rail between San Antonio and Austin is implemented.

Technology and Innovation

• TC P35: Continuously identify, investigate and incorporate new and emerging transportation technology and innovative solutions to improve efficiency.
• TC P36: Promote Transportation Demand Management (TDM) tools to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per person and manage peak hour congestion.
• TC P37: Utilize technology and other innovative solutions for improving and prioritizing transit reliability, especially on major routes and corridors.
• TC P38: Test and implement options that provide reliable transportation alternatives through pricing and accessibility, such as managed lanes, high occupancy vehicle (HOV)/high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, ramp metering, etc.
• TC P39: Optimize intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and traffic signal systems to provide reliable travel times throughout the city.
• TC P40: Support development of autonomous and connected vehicle systems and plan for implementation in design.
• TC P41: Utilize managed motorways strategies to address reliability at a system-wide level. Managed Motorways is an innovative solution that provides real-time traffic management of the entire system – freeways, frontage roads and arterials.
• TC P42: Develop incident management strategies to maintain travel reliability on major roadways.
• TC P43: Continuously assess and integrate technological and design improvements that will move San Antonio to the forefront of safe, efficient and sustainable transportation systems design and infrastructure.

General Policies

• TC P44: Protect and enhance the environment through responsible, compatible and sustainable transportation projects.
• TC P45: Improve public health by supporting active transportation technologies and infrastructure that encourage walking and bicycling.
• TC P46: Provide community education to increase awareness of rules, appropriate behavior, and etiquette for drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians and transit riders.
• TC P47: Invest in public education and outreach about the regional benefits of a robust, interconnected transit system.
• TC P48: Support and invest in intermodal transportation facilities that safely, effectively and efficiently provide for the transfer of people and goods between modes.
• TC P49: Ensure resiliency in the transportation network and preparedness for system operations and management during natural or man-made emergencies.

⬚ figure

Frequent and continuous assessment and integrated technological and design improvements will move San Antonio to the forefront of safe, efficient and sustainable transportation systems design and infrastructure.

⬚ figure

Chapter 10: Housing (H)

Our quality of life in San Antonio is very dependent on our housing and the neighborhoods we live in. It’s relatively affordable to live here. The cost of living is below the national average, as is the average home price.

We have a strong cultural heritage that creates a unique sense of place. Our 27 historic districts offer some of the most attractive neighborhoods in the country, with charming houses, quiet streets, high walkability scores, a great mixture of uses and shorter commute times to work.

But we also have some real challenges. There is upward price pressure in the northern part of the city where the generally higher-paying jobs and better performing public schools are located. There are also large portions of the city with concentrations of low-income residents who don’t have access to the same quality of jobs and schools.

The residential development market in San Antonio has been following two distinct trends: suburban/exurban low-density single-family development mainly in the north and west along Loop 1604, and urban infill multifamily development within the core of the city. The result is very little mixed-use development that offers a variety of housing options and prices with a physically and functionally integrated blend of residential, commercial, cultural, institutional or industrial uses. These compact, walkable mixed-use neighborhoods are a growing preference for homebuyers.

As 500,000 new households are formed in Bexar County by 2040, we will see demand for a wide range of housing types, including single-family detached, row homes, townhomes, condos, multifamily and live/work spaces.

What type of housing is built and where it will be built is largely dependent on the market—and on housing developers. Fortunately, San Antonio has capacity for infill development and can benefit from a close partnership with local housing developers who are already active in creating urban, mixed-use multifamily projects. We also have a strong network of nonprofit housing advocates, developers and providers. We can work together to address shifts in housing preferences, diversify our housing stock, expand the housing stock for buyers and renters at all price levels and meet our land use and economic objectives.

We must plan for growth wisely and we must plan now to address the following five key areas of concern.

1 Affordable Housing

How can San Antonio address significant income inequality and economic segregation issues present?

How can the City stimulate housing and development in and near disadvantaged areas?

How can the City provide housing for low- and moderate-income households in high opportunity areas?

How can the City and its partners address the city's affordable housing gaps and needs identified in the City's Housing Needs Assessment and Strategic Housing Plan?

How can the City be proactive in mitigating impacts of gentrifying neighborhoods, especially near Downtown?

H Goal 1

Housing for lower-income residents is available throughout the community with the greatest proportion in priority growth areas with high levels of connectivity and amenities.

⬚ figure

The per capita income in San Antonio is $22,184, which is lower than both the Texas average of $26,327 and national average of $28,184. Our poverty rate was 19% in 2010, which is 2% higher than it was in 2000.

With new developments catering mainly to wealthier single-family home buyers, we have experienced a clustering of low-income residents in areas with less expensive housing, mainly in the near-east and near-west side neighborhoods around downtown and in the southern part of the city. Recent studies have shown that San Antonio has one of the highest levels of income segregation in the country. We clearly have an affordable housing gap.

In an effort to address this growing gap we need to incorporate Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) strategies and goals into action-oriented City and San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) plans (refer to Housing A25). AFH goals strive to increase low-income household access to neighborhoods of opportunity (both through place-based and mobility based strategies); identify fair housing issues and factors that impede home owner ownership for low-income families; and develop strategies to address these issues and factors.

While helping lower-income residents through providing education and jobs to improve their economic condition is important—and addressed in other elements—improving the neighborhoods they live in can also have a significant impact. A 2013 Harvard University/University of California at Berkeley study of metro areas found that when low-income families are residentially segregated from middle-income families, they have a very low rate of upward economic mobility.¹ It also showed that improving the neighborhood a child grows up in has a direct positive correlation with the child's future success.

The recent successful infill housing in the Central Business District and other areas of the urban core has raised concerns about gentrification. Many cities have succeeded in their efforts to make a neighborhood a more prosperous and desirable place to live, but at the price of driving out long-time residents who could no longer afford to live there. Gentrification is not yet an extensive issue here, so we can take steps now to prevent it.

By identifying in advance those neighborhoods where gentrification may occur, we can develop policies and strategies to prevent the loss of affordable housing and help current residents adjust to market changes without being displaced. For example, we can develop housing initiatives focusing on residents with incomes below 80% of the area median. We can create strategic investment plans with nonprofit housing providers and provide fee waivers and/or waived development requirements for affordable housing development and preservation.

Sometimes simply designating an area for public infrastructure improvements or as a regional center for future development can drive up land values as market forces anticipate the change. Planning in advance for where those sites will be allows us and nonprofits to take steps like purchasing sites while the land values are still low and "banking" them for a few years until the time is right to develop them for affordable housing or other community services.

Combating Gentrification: Portland, Oregon

Portland is one of the most livable cities in the country, attracting young professionals, empty nesters and others with disposable incomes seeking an urban lifestyle. Entire neighborhoods have been transformed by this growth. But this urban success story has come at a price—rising housing prices are driving out long-time residents with lower incomes who can no longer afford to live there. A staggering 58% of Portland's neighborhoods have experienced gentrification, the highest rate among the nation's 50 largest cities. Portland Plan, the City's 2012 strategic plan, adopted policies and actions to address this challenge. The 11-point plan calls for such actions as: Affordability and Displacement Impact Analysis studies before the City rezones communities or invests in major transit or other public improvements; encouraging mitigation when those studies show people might be displaced; and Community Benefits Agreements like those requiring developers to hire locally and pay a living wage.

The City also developed a gentrification and risk assessment map that identifies neighborhoods at early, mid and late stages of gentrification. By predicting where the next wave of gentrification is likely occur, the City can work with residents and developers to ensure that people are able to remain in their homes and benefit from the changes in their neighborhoods.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Housing Choice

How can the City expand the market for housing, and capture an increased share of all housing types regionally?

H Goal 2

A variety of housing types (single-family detached, single-family attached, multifamily, as well as ownership and rental opportunities) are available at a variety of price and rent levels.

Despite recent strong growth in San Antonio, we are facing increased housing competition from neighboring communities and unincorporated Bexar County. Land costs are lower outside the city, and we've not been annexing land during the past decade. As a result, we've been capturing a decreasing share of the regional growth in single-family housing. And the city's capture of all types of new households in the metropolitan area has been declining steadily since 2000, from 77% of new units in 2001 to 58% in 2012. Decreased growth and not continuing to annex outward are not necessarily bad, but it does indicate that the city is becoming less competitive especially in the suburban single-family market.

The large, single-family developments in unincorporated areas of the county also generate large populations that rely on City infrastructure but are outside our land use controls and pay no property tax to the City. The Comprehensive Plan Initial Studies fiscal analysis found that new outward expansion is less fiscally beneficial to the City than are infill developments of all types. The analysis also found that compact, walkable communities offer three-to-four times greater fiscal benefits than do the traditional suburban residential neighborhoods than have been built during the past 50 years.

The City can ensure that land use designations and zoning districts allow and encourage a mixture of housing types and affordable housing units in development projects and provide incentives in targeted areas to increase the housing types that are in undersupply. We can also develop housing initiatives targeting not only the lowest income families, but also those with incomes between 80% and 120% of the median income. These initiatives facilitate the development of housing for low and moderate-income households in more affluent areas, while guarding against excessive gentrification within inner city neighborhoods.

⬚ figure

Developments should receive public funding or use public financing tools to provide a mixture of housing types and/or affordable housing units.

⬚ figure

Providing a variety of housing choices in walkable and bikeable neighborhoods located near transit, employment, retail, medical and recreational amenities is part of the housing vision.

Connected Neighborhood

How can San Antonio accommodate and provide more housing in and around where people work and play?

How can the City increase the walkability of San Antonio and its neighborhoods?

H Goal 3

Housing choices are available in walkable and bikeable neighborhoods located near transit, employment, retail, medical and recreational amenities.

Current development patterns make walking or biking within and between neighborhoods difficult, increasing reliance on the automobile. An analysis of housing preferences and existing housing conditions shows an unmet demand for walkable neighborhoods. Only 14% of San Antonio neighborhoods have Walk Scores that indicate it’s a very or somewhat walkable location, and most of those are in our historic districts. While there have been some new single-family development projects with a more walkable design, it’s clear that there is demand for even more, evidenced by the high market values of the historic districts.

⬚ figure

Supporting and investing in pedestrian-scaled streetscapes and connecting neighborhoods promote placemaking and encourage walking and bicycling.

Encouraging walkable residential development not only diversifies the housing stock, these types of neighborhoods have positive impacts on health as well. Environments that encourage walking and biking increase residents’ physical activity, which can help address health problems such as obesity, which is on the rise in San Antonio. Reduced auto use will also improve air quality.

⬚ figure

Development of housing for seniors in walkable areas and near community amenities such as parks, recreation centers and senior centers should be encouraged.

The City can adopt development standards for new housing that requires designs, land use and infrastructure (such as pedestrian and bike paths and lanes) that support safe walking, biking and transit use within the neighborhood and to surrounding neighborhoods, work and amenities. We must also work with nonprofit affordable housing providers so that our current residents won’t be priced out of participating in these neighborhood initiatives.

4 Priority Areas

How can the City create attractive housing in priority growth areas?

How can the City provide housing and neighborhoods that are attractive to young professionals and an educated workforce?

H Goal 4

Improved infrastructure, services and amenities increase market demand and attract residents to priority growth areas.

H Goal 5

High-density housing choices are available within the city’s 13 regional centers and along its arterial and transit corridors.

The City has identified priority areas where housing can be increased: regional employment centers, urban centers, mixed-use centers, premium transit corridors, key arterial corridors, underserved areas of the city, areas of the city where there is high land capacity for growth and land near the city center.

San Antonio’s polycentric economic geography, with large concentrations of employment and housing throughout the city, makes living near work more likely for many residents. There are eight regional employment centers that can become “Activity Centers” where we concentrate growth in employment, housing and amenities such as entertainment, retail and educational and cultural institutions. Portions of other center types currently are, or can be, attractive mixed-use areas supporting a range of housing types. The 13 regional centers can capture more than half of multifamily development during the next 30 years, transforming many areas into vibrant, high-density, highly walkable, mixed-use neighborhoods. (See Chapter 5, “Regional Centers” for maps and analysis.)

It’s also more fiscally sustainable to concentrate higher-density housing and employment in regional centers and near transit stations than to continue the outward growth beyond the city’s borders. Timing is critical. As the market realizes a neighborhood is being revitalized, land prices start to rise. We can develop specific action plans now that will support a mix of uses and higher-density development and provide incentives for developers to move quickly to provide a range of housing options. We can also invest in neighborhood amenities and infrastructure that will attract new employers, retail businesses and residents.

⬚ figure

Market demand can be increased and new residents attracted to priority growth areas by improving infrastructure, services and amenities and incentivizing high-density housing in regional centers.

⬚ figure

Housing with a mix of uses and built with or adjacent to retail uses and public amenities will provide a more enlivened neighborhood.

San Antonio’s Housing Commission for Preserving Dynamic and Diverse Neighborhoods

The Housing Commission for Preserving Dynamic and Diverse Neighborhoods is a 15-member coordinating body that makes recommendations to City Council on workforce/affordable housing production and preservation as well as policies to minimize displacement and mitigate the effects of neighborhood change. Since September 2015 this City Council-appointed Commission has been working to tackle complex issues such as: zoning and development codes, manufactured housing, and the planning for San Antonio’s first potential affordable housing bond.

In partnership with City staff, the Housing Commission is completing a first-of-its-kind assessment. This valuation has a two-pronged approach. First we will identify existing policies and programs that increase the cost of developing new affordable housing and contribute to the loss of existing affordable housing. That will be followed up by proposed policy changes to mitigate those impacts. The results of the Policy & Program Assessment are anticipated by late 2016.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

5 Infill Neighborhoods

How can San Antonio preserve and rehabilitate its existing and aging housing stock, especially its affordable housing stock?

How can the City address the needs of its existing residents as they age in the community, especially the city’s seniors?

H Goal 6

Infill development and revitalized neighborhoods provide a range of housing choices near the city center.

Multifamily housing development has been increasing in the inner core of San Antonio. Over 30% of all apartment development (the number of units under construction, approved or planned) is taking place within Loop 410. The area still has a large number of vacant and underutilized parcels, indicating the buildings are out of date and the sites are not meeting market demand for their current zoning designation. Allowing them to redevelop with a new mixture of uses, and specifically introducing housing, can help revitalize those areas and improve the neighborhoods around them.

Some neighborhoods are already engaged in long-term revitalization. Examples of revitalization programs providing replicable best practices from the EastPoint effort, including Choice Neighborhood, Eastside Promise Neighborhood and Eastside Promise Zone. We must provide a revitalization toolbox to existing neighborhoods and developers to encourage and guide investment in our existing neighborhoods.

Recent infill development has raised some concerns about the compatibility of those developments with existing neighborhoods, in terms of character, design and perceived density. Context-sensitive development policies can ensure the character of neighborhoods is enhanced by new development.

We can also help seniors remain in their homes through programs that support retrofitting, repairing and maintaining their homes. Or, if they choose to move to more walkable neighborhoods near amenities, we can ensure there are housing options for seniors available.

The City is now coordinating housing and community development through an interagency collaborative. REnewSA takes a place-based approach aimed at restoring the vitality of existing neighborhoods and commercial corridors. The partnership is led by the City of San Antonio’s Department of Planning & Community Development and includes nonprofit housing providers, Build San Antonio Green, the San Antonio Housing Authority, and the City’s Office of Historic Preservation, OUR SA (Office of Urban Redevelopment), Transportation & Capital Improvements Department, Development Services Department, Center City Development Office and Office of Sustainability.

⬚ figure

Fee waivers and/or adjusted development requirements could be provided to incentivize affordable housing development and preservation.

⬚ figure

Identifying and incentivizing mixed income catalyst projects within underserved areas should include a mix of housing that is affordable to a variety of households, including seniors.

Transit-Oriented Development Fund: Denver, Colorado

With a population, expected to double by 2035, Denver began the largest expansion of mass transit in the country in 2004. But as light rail, new lines and stations were built, costs of nearby housing began to soar. This inspired the first affordable housing Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) acquisition fund in the country, a partnership of government, quasi-governmental organizations, banks, nonprofits and foundations. This innovative financing mechanism provides affordable housing choices where market forces alone might otherwise have made that impossible. By making strategic property acquisitions in current and future transit corridors the fund purchases land for affordable housing at stations and makes capital available at low rates, allowing affordable housing developers time to arrange financing to buy the site later.

By “banking” the land in Denver’s TOD corridors, the fund supports affordable housing in the region, especially for low-income populations that are frequently transit-dependent.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Goals and Policies

The City is proactively addressing the challenges and opportunities of changing housing trends, land supply, affordability, the environment and our quality of life here in San Antonio for existing and future residents. The Housing Element (H) goals were developed in response to questions in six key areas about the types, locations, density and sustainability of our future neighborhoods and available housing.

HOUSING (H) GOALS

Six goals were developed to fulfill the City's vision and to address the key issues identified for the Housing element.

• H Goal 1: Housing for lower-income residents is available throughout the community with the greatest proportion in priority growth areas with high levels of connectivity and amenities.
• H Goal 2: A variety of housing types (single-family detached, single-family attached, multifamily, as well as ownership and rental opportunities) is available at a variety of price and rent levels.
• H Goal 3: Housing choices are available in walkable and bikeable neighborhoods located near transit, employment, retail, medical and recreational amenities.
• H Goal 4: Improved infrastructure, services and amenities increase market demand and attract residents to priority growth areas.
• H Goal 5: High-density housing choices are available within the city's 13 regional centers and along its arterial and transit corridors.
• H Goal 6: Infill development and revitalized neighborhoods provide a range of housing choices near the city center.

HOUSING (H) POLICIES

Affordable Housing for Low-Income Residents¹

• H P1: Work with affordable housing partners, such as SAHA and nonprofit housing providers, to develop strategic investment plans for targeted areas.
• H P2: Support nonprofit housing providers through provision of capacity building and technical assistance.
• H P3: Provide fee waivers and/or waived development requirements for affordable housing development and preservation.
• H P4: Develop incentives to reduce costs and attract affordable housing development within target areas.
• H P5: Develop affordable housing initiatives targeting all residents with incomes below 80% of the area median.
• H P6: Work with affordable housing partners and developers to provide affordable housing options for seniors.
• H P7: Identify and incentivize mixed income catalyst projects within underserved areas that include a mix of housing that is affordable to a variety of households.
• H P8: Create opportunities for new mixed-income housing in lower-income neighborhoods through an aggressive land banking initiative.

Housing Diversity and Choice

• H P9: Develop affordable housing initiatives targeting residents with incomes between 80% and 120% of the area median.
• H P10: Ensure land use designations and other policies allow for and encourage a mixture of housing types and densities of housing within development projects.
• H P11: Encourage and incentivize new housing development projects to provide a mixture of housing types, sizes and prices.
• H P12: Require developments that receive public funding or use public financing tools to provide affordable housing units.
• H P13: Require developments that receive public funding or use public financing tools from the City, via city grants or through other city sources, to provide a mixture of housing types (e.g., rentals and ownership opportunities, attached and detached single-family units, multifamily units, and housing with a range of sizes and amenities).
• H P14: Provide incentives in targeted areas to encourage development of housing types that are in undersupply.
• H P15: Develop an outreach plan to the local real estate and development community to highlight new housing products that are in demand throughout the country in an effort to attract new development types and/or builders to the city.
• H P16: Partner with the development community and incentivize the development of mixed housing prototype neighborhoods.
• H P17: Encourage development projects to have a mixture of uses.
• H P18: Encourage housing to be built with, near or adjacent to retail uses.

Priority Growth Areas

• H P19: Develop specific land use and action plans for regional centers and transit corridors that support housing, a mix of uses and higher-density development, and that discourage lower-density uses.
• H P20: Incentivize high-density housing in regional centers and along major public transit routes where appropriate.
• H P21: Develop transit supportive zoning and infrastructure improvement plans for regional centers and transit corridors.
• H P22: Redevelop vacant and underutilized properties on transit corridors into stand alone or mixed-use higher-density housing.
• H P23: Work with VIA Metropolitan Transit to develop high-capacity and high-frequency transit options that support higher-density housing.
• H P24: Encourage and incentivize the development of a range of affordable housing options in and near regional centers and transit corridors.
• H P25: Invest in neighborhood amenities and infrastructure that will benefit existing residents while attracting new residents to underserved areas.
• H P26: Attract new employers and retail businesses to regional centers near or adjacent to underserved areas.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Encouraging development that invests in a live-work-play environment will help San Antonio to become a more active, healthy city.

• H P27: Target a set of neighborhoods for investment of resources for a pre-determined number of years. “Grandfather” in started or planned affordable housing developments in an existing target area when changing to another target area to allow the developments to be completed cost effectively.

Infill Development and Existing Neighborhood

• H P28: Explore commercial and industrial areas in the core of the city for conversion to residential or mixed-use.
• H P29: Continue and expand existing incentive programs for infill development and periodically redefine the areas eligible for incentives based on development feasibility analysis.
• H P30: Ensure infill development is compatible with existing neighborhoods.

⬚ figure

• H P31: Prioritize infrastructure investment within existing neighborhoods.
• H P32: Develop a revitalization toolbox available to existing neighborhoods and promote these tools to neighborhoods and developers.
• H P33: Provide increased funding and incentives for owner-occupied housing rehabilitation or reconstruction for residents in existing neighborhoods, conservation districts and historic districts.
• H P34: Develop and implement a plan to preserve and maintain affordable rental and ownership housing for lower income residents within revitalizing neighborhoods.
• H P35: Prioritize the maintenance and renovation of public spaces and amenities in targeted neighborhoods with input from the community.
• H P36: Develop a plan to allow seniors to remain in their homes, when feasible, through programs that support reinvestment, retrofitting, repair and maintenance of their homes.
• H P37: Support ongoing long-term, comprehensive neighborhood revitalization efforts (such as EastPoint).
• H P38: Initiate new comprehensive neighborhood revitalization efforts, implementing key lessons learned from EastPoint.

Walking, Biking and Transit

• H P39: Prioritize infrastructure investments to improve walkability and bikeability of existing neighborhoods.
• H P40: Adopt and implement development standards for new housing developments requiring infrastructure, land use, and design that support direct, comfortable, and safe walking, biking and transit use to surrounding neighborhoods, amenities and major streets.
• H P41: Encourage the development of amenity-based neighborhoods.

New comprehensive neighborhood revitalization efforts will be initiated implementing key lessons learned from other neighborhoods and ensure infill development is compatible with existing neighborhoods.

• H P42: Encourage the development of housing for seniors in walkable areas and near community amenities such as parks, recreation centers and senior centers.
• H P43: Implement development standards for nonprofit affordable housing developers so they will not be priced out of participating in walkable and bikeable neighborhood initiatives.
• H P44: Provide incentives and support to employers who create programs to encourage workers to live within a certain distance of work.

General Policies

• H P45: Implement policy recommendations developed in the City of San Antonio's Comprehensive Housing Needs Assessment and Strategic Housing Plan.
• H P46: Encourage new City plans and development proposals to consider and address the existing jobs-housing imbalance and the true combined housing and transportation (H+T) costs.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Creating a variety of housing types at a variety of price and rent levels in walkable, bikeable neighborhoods proximate to alternate transit methods will allow San Antonio to plan and grow wisely, diversify its demographics and keep a competitive advantage with its neighboring cities and public demand.

⬚ figure

Chapter 11: Jobs and Economic Competitiveness (JEC)

San Antonio is an attractive place to do business. We’re business friendly, with an affordable tax environment and business-friendly government supportive of new and developing businesses.

We’re strategically located near the major sea ports of Houston and Corpus Christi and on the roadway and railway corridors that connect with Mexico, Canada, and the East and West Coasts. We have world-class universities and colleges. Our City-owned utilities, CPS Energy and San Antonio Water System, provide affordable energy and water with stable pricing. And, perhaps most important, San Antonio offers a high quality of life with a focus on family that attracts young workers.

There’s no doubt that our city has strong assets and emerging economic opportunities.

But in the coming years, we must focus on opportunities and challenges that have been uncovered in an honest assessment of our city’s economic competitiveness and the jobs available to our residents. Our economic geography lacks modern planning, the airport is constrained, our workforce lags behind in education and wages, college graduates are leaving the city and there’s a lack of diversity in jobs and wage levels.

As in many other elements, it’s clear that without a unifying, long-term plan, the region may very well be headed toward a stagnating economy with minimal job gains in an increasing competitive global market. The Jobs and Economic Competitiveness (JEC) goals and policies were developed to meet the five economic key challenges for our city that follow.

Economic Geography

How can we better define and take advantage of our distinct polycentric economic geography to enhance the potential benefits of emerging industry clusters?

JEC Goal 1

Employment is focused in the city's 13 Regional Centers, in site-specific locations in Urban Centers and along mobility corridors, providing easy connectivity for San Antonio's residents and businesses.

⬚ figure

Generally speaking, employment and economic assets are widely dispersed throughout the city and not well connected. The scattered assets are largely due to the lack of appropriate master plans to guide/ attract employment growth to guide adequate land use controls and industry and geographic-specific incentives. Reflective of the nature of the major economic drivers present in San Antonio, these challenges have meant the City can't fully leverage these assets to create clustered businesses and spin-offs in similar industries.

However, a detailed analysis of job density also shows that jobs have somewhat organically concentrated into nine existing and four emerging regional centers along major transportation routes (see Regional Centers by Status on next page). About 50% of all jobs in San Antonio are within those 13 regional economic centers, which have captured over half of all non-residential development since 2000.

Looking holistically at this polycentric pattern of regional centers can fundamentally change the way San Antonio envisions land use, urban form, transportation and community in the future. By developing strategic growth plans that align economic development with land use planning, public transit and infrastructure investment, these 13 regional centers can offer a wide variety of opportunities for employment-oriented uses, sites, infrastructure and amenities. Clustering similar industries within these centers will create formal and informal interactions between businesses, spurring additional economic activity.

Downtown has been, and should continue to be, a major economic focus because it anchors the multi-billion dollar tourism industry, has great potential to attract innovative and creative industries whose workers seek vibrant urban environments, and makes cost-effective use of large infrastructure investments already in place in the city's core. But other existing and emerging centers need similar levels of attention and investment to help them develop, promoting equity and access throughout the region

As compatible development surrounding bases is identified and prescribed, San Antonio should work with the military to attract developers who specialize in creating affordable, community-focused housing. As with development in all parts of our city, access to transportation, green spaces, parks, trails, and proximate healthcare are all factors to consider.

Each center is different and its development will be directed by its existing uses (particularly those oriented to military, aviation or heavy industry). However, some of the centers are well positioned to develop as vibrant mixed-use places that offer a range of housing options and price ranges, allow higher-density and incorporate carefully designed and located amenities that will benefit both residents and employees of the center, as well as people in adjacent neighborhoods. These live-work-play environments attract development and businesses nationally, but are lacking in San Antonio.

The partnership of an active institution such as a university or an innovative large employer, working in concert with the City and other partners, can bring significant and rapid positive changes to areas that would otherwise remain vacant or underutilized for many years. We will also need to invest in and encourage greater multimodal and transit connections between all the centers, as well as other key corridors and activity areas.

Innovative, creative thinking about these regional centers and encouraging and supporting appropriate growth within them is a key strategy for preserving our existing lower-density, single-family neighborhoods so they retain their character in the face of significant expected population and job growth.

⬚ figure

Regional Centers by Status

Regional Center - Existing Regional Center - Emerging

Regional Center Names

1. Central Business District
2. Midtown
3. Fort Sam Houston
4. Brooks
5. Texas A&M - San Antonio
6. Lackland AFB/Port San Antonio
7. Highway 151 and Loop 1604
8. Medical Center
9. University of Texas - San Antonio
10. Greater Airport Area
11. Stone Oak
12. Rolling Oaks
13. Northeast I-35 and Loop 410

2 Economic Diversity

How can we diversify our economic base and attract jobs with higher wages?

JEC Goal 2

Traditional and targeted growth industries support San Antonio's diversified economy and provide a range of job opportunities.

San Antonio is home to the corporate headquarters of USAA, Valero Energy, NuStar, Whataburger, Southwest Business Corporation (SWBC) and HEB Grocery stores, with a combined total of approximately 40,000 employees.

But our economy is mainly driven by four major industries: tourism, healthcare, the military and education (see sidebar). Between 2000 and 2012, these industries increased in employment by 80,811 jobs and accounted for 80% of new jobs in the city. The issue for the City is that while these industries provide a strong economic base, they offer wages 20% below average. The average annual wage for workers in Bexar County was about $45,000 in 2014. The average annual wage of workers in those four industries was $36,179. These industries are also dependent on changeable state and federal policy and spending levels.

Going forward, economic development efforts need to shift to industries that produce employment in the 21st century, including business within specifically targeted industry sectors.

There is growing recognition and active efforts to diversify and expand our economic base into 21st century industries that provide better wages, diversify the economy of San Antonio and can be leveraged to develop support businesses, startups and spin-offs. These targeted industries include:

Biosciences and Scientific R&D

Local operations represent nationally recognized cutting-edge biotech companies and well-respected global enterprises like Medtronic and Becton Dickinson. Global-minded companies like Xenex and Canadian medical device company Innovative Trauma Care, as well as German biosciences company Cytocentrics, have noticed and have chosen to make San Antonio their base of operations.

Information Technology/Cybersecurity

This burgeoning industry is anchored by IT hosting company Rackspace, which is attracting more companies involved in Internet infrastructure such as Peer 1 Hosting, a Canada-based company, recently located an office in the Pearl. Another example is Geekdom, a start-up incubator and co-working space located in San Antonio.

Cybersecurity companies continue to grow in San Antonio due to the presence of the Air Force's Cyber and Intelligence Commands and the NSA's Texas Cryptologic Center.

Advanced Manufacturing

Boeing, Standard Aero and General Dynamics, all located in Port San Antonio, are leaders in the aerospace industry. Toyota has a major manufacturing plant in the southern area of the city. This category includes aerospace, auto, heavy equipment and other high-automation manufacturing.

New Energy

CPS Energy is partnering with a consortium of businesses focused on solar, battery, and other power storage and distribution opportunities, such as solar module manufacturer Mission Solar Energy that is located at Brooks City Base. The city is near the Eagle Ford Shale formation along I-37 and I-35, and oil and natural gas drilling companies rely on us to provide support services.

Cultural and Creative

This industry is aspirational, reflecting the recognition that creativity and cultural uniqueness will play an increasingly important role in our economy. San Antonio’s burgeoning art, music and film industries are staking out a global identity that will attract a desirable workforce and innovative companies. New cutting edge firms, such as Tribu and HeartFire Media, are popping up every day.

One of San Antonio’s traditional value propositions for attracting companies, low-cost labor, no longer entices targeted industries in the way it once lured call centers and other back-office operations. Instead, the city’s ability to grow and attract these newer industries will be based on the expertise, relationships and funding options associated with the area’s military bases, growing research universities and spin-off companies emerging from those great assets.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

San Antonio is actively working to diversify its economy - primarily comprised of tourism, healthcare, the military and education - in order to provide better wages and to develop support businesses, startups and spin-offs.

Is San Antonio cyber-savvy?

San Antonio’s association with the military and with scientific research has helped create a unique combination and concentration of technology resources making us a leader in cybersecurity. This specialization creates a foundation for over 80 cybersecurity, defense companies and institutes and 7,500 Sensitive Compartmented Information (SCI) employees and includes:

• JBSA-Lackland’s Security Hill, home to the 24th Air Forces Cyber (AFCYBER), part of the U.S. Cyber Command;
• University of Texas at San Antonio Institute for Cyber Security (ICS); and
• Southwest Regional Institute (SwRI).

Looking forward, this nucleus of U.S. and world-leading cyber and defense technology is poised to attract greater job diversity and new innovative spin-off industries to San Antonio.

OUR TRADITIONAL ECONOMIC ASSETS

San Antonio’s economy is mainly driven by four traditional industries: Tourism/Hospitality, Healthcare, Education and the Military.

Tourism/Hospitality

Over 80% of our 31 million annual visitors come to San Antonio to explore our city’s cultural, historic and leisure activities. Some of our most popular sites include:

• The San Antonio Missions UNESCO World Heritage Site including The Alamo;
• River Walk;
• Yanaguana Garden;
• Tobin Center for the Performing Arts;
• SeaWorld San Antonio and Six Flags Fiesta Texas;
• Market Square;
• Pearl Brewery; and
• Historic neighborhoods including King William, Mahncke Park and Monte Vista.

In recent years we have also become a top destination for conventions, hosting 6.2 million business visitors annually. In 2016, our new Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center and Hemisfair area are scheduled to be completed.

Healthcare

The South Texas Medical Center is a major cluster of healthcare facilities, with 45 institutions and supporting facilities, including 12 hospitals, five specialty institutions and the University of Texas Health Science Center, a leading health education center. The San Antonio Military Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston is the largest military hospital in the United States and the only Level 1 Trauma Center, bringing in patients and their families from all over the world.

The Military

We’re known as “Military City, USA.” The US military has been active in San Antonio for over 300 years. Currently, we’re home to three major bases, Fort Sam Houston, Lackland Air Force Base and Randolph Air Force Base. Along with eight other operating areas and the almost 30,000-acre Camp Bullis training camp, these facilities together form the largest joint base operations for the Department of Defense. The facilities house major cybersecurity, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance services. Additionally, NSA Texas/the Texas Cryptologic Center are located in northwest San Antonio.

Education

More than 160,000 students attend the 15 higher education institutions located within 50 miles our city, including: the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA); the growing Texas A&M University-San Antonio; the UT Health Science Center; Texas State University; Trinity University; University of the Incarnate Word (UIW); St. Mary’s University; Our Lady of the Lake University; Wayland Baptist University; Texas Lutheran University; and the Alamo Community College District with its five colleges.

UCSF Regional Center Planning: San Francisco, California

Since the early 2000s, the University of California San Francisco’s (UCSF) Mission Bay Campus has transformed a mostly-vacant former rail yard into a state-of-the-art biotechnology campus. Today, UCSF is an economic engine for San Francisco, as well as the anchor of the city’s largest urban development in several decades. Mission Bay’s success is largely due to cooperation and collaboration between the university, the City, landowners and the surrounding community.

Strategic land and space planning is contributing to the rapid growth of the Mission Bay Campus, the surrounding neighborhoods and the biotechnology industry in San Francisco.

The master planning process allowed the City to work with UCSF to: foster regional development in the biotechnology industry; create a supportive mixed-use development program; and engage the community to minimize potential neighborhood impacts of Mission’s Bay development.

Regional center planning that incorporates increased development flexibility available in mixed-use centers, an expanded appetite for density in key areas and a more robust approach to regional transit will yield fiscal, environmental, mobility and social benefits for the City and its residents and businesses.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Workforce

How can we grow and attract a more educated workforce?

JEC Goal 3

San Antonio’s skilled and educated workforce supports the city’s traditional and emerging growth industries.

San Antonio is behind the state and the country in workers age 25 to 34 with bachelors and advanced degrees. We also lag behind our peer Texas cities (Austin, Houston, and Dallas). It’s not that the education is not available here. Many of our college graduates leave San Antonio, citing a lack of attractive, dense neighborhoods that are important to young professionals, lack of centralized social centers, inadequate public transit and the low walkability.

As our young people plan their lives, we need to ensure that they have access to the education that supports both traditional and targeted emerging industries and attractive job opportunities locally.

And we need to ensure that our college graduates—and graduates from other areas—find San Antonio an attractive place to live and work. Younger workers have demonstrated a greater affinity than previous generations for moving to and raising families in distinctly vibrant urban environments. They are the living embodiment of the idea that great places are defined by their power to attract and engage people. San Antonio’s current urban form—defined for the most part by low-density, single use developments connected by an auto-centric transportation system—does not offer the kind of places that attract today’s young, skilled, innovative workers. Continuing with the status quo and perpetuating the same basic development types and patterns that have dominated the city over the past few decades will hamper San Antonio’s goal of developing into a center of innovation and creative industry.

Instead, the city must plan for and encourage more neighborhoods and districts that offer the density, mix of uses, mobility options, and amenities that draw skilled millennial workers, retiring baby boomers, and many other segments of the population that crave sustainable, walkable and human-scaled places to live.

In this sense, our land use, urban design, and mobility goals and policies are also economic development policies.

⬚ figure

In order to attract a skilled and educated workforce, San Antonio must provide a greater diversity of employment opportunities in targeted industries and invest in quality-of-life and livability amenities that are attractive to innovative businesses and their employees.

Attracting an Innovative and Entrepreneurial Environment: Austin, Texas

In 2010, while many regions in the United States struggled under the weight of the 2008 economic recession, Austin, Texas was the sixth fastest growing city in the nation. Led by strong growth in the innovation and high-tech sectors, Greater Austin ranked among the top metropolitan regions for economic recovery and job growth, and was listed as a top relocation city for young professionals, entrepreneurs, and students among mid-sized cities. Austin’s rise did not happen overnight, but rather was a carefully structured process that included: decades of strategic collaboration between government, academic and industry partners fostering policies to attract and retain high tech and innovation companies to the region; creation of an entrepreneurial business climate that supports a strong regional economy; and capitalizing on its unique location and quality of life as a differentiating factor in luring the top talent from around the country.

Austin’s ability to successfully attract technology firms, cultivate homegrown technology start-ups and lure young professionals has led to the development of some of the city’s most vibrant and growing regional sectors of the economy.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

4 Business Attraction and Retention

How can we create and maintain over 500,000 additional jobs requiring a diverse range of education and expertise over the next 25 years?

How can we best coordinate efforts with regional partners to better position the city and the region in the national and global economy?

JEC Goal 4

San Antonio’s economic environment fosters innovation and attracts new and innovative businesses, investment and industries.

JEC Goal 5

San Antonio plays an important role in the regional, national and international economy.

Employers want and need to be where they have access to a talented and well-educated workforce—the kind that gravitates to exciting, great places to live and work. And new, entrepreneurial companies need to be nurtured and supported.

⬚ figure

To retain existing business and attract new, the City of San Antonio must maintain an innovative business climate that fosters technologies and create public-private partnerships with the city’s major public and governmental assets, public institutions and major employers.

San Antonio needs to continue to be an attractive place to do business to ensure that we can successfully attract new employers and retain and expand existing businesses. And, we must ensure that San Antonio is an attractive place for direct foreign investment and an ideal location for exporting goods and services. To do this, San Antonio needs to elevate our role in the regional, national and international economy and better coordinate efforts with regional partners to attract attention to the city.

As a major gateway city, San Antonio plays an important role facilitating trade between Mexico and South Central Texas. We have the required assets to increase export and trade activities on both a national and international scale. The 2015 Trade & Investment Strategy identifies ways of connecting San Antonio with economic opportunities around the world.

Our Business Incubation

Our entrepreneurial spirit is growing with the help of support organizations that provide both technical assistance and networking support:

• Café Commerce teaches young professionals to “think like an entrepreneur” and serves as a central repository for support services offered by a variety of public and private providers.
• The Texas Technology Transfer Development Center (T3DC) helps coordinate and mobilize risk capital and matches it with a programmatic process for helping entrepreneurs become investment quality ventures—accelerating innovation-led economic development.
• UTSA’s Center for Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CITE) creates a pipeline for UTSA faculty, students and the surrounding business community to develop new technology ventures.
• Geekdom is a technology incubator and co-working space that provides programming and mentorship for a growing downtown tech-ecosystem.
• TechBloc is an advocacy group for the tech industry, focused on making San Antonio an even more desirable place for tech workers and businesses.
• The Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), with 2,800 employees, is a major anchor of research and development for industrial and government clients. The independent, nonprofit organization focuses on the creation and transfer of technology in engineering and physical sciences.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Goals and Policies

A willingness to question the status quo and consider alternative approaches will allow our city to remain nationally competitive and has the added benefit that multiple plan goals can be realized through the implementation of a single new approach. The goals and policies that will drive jobs and economic development are linked with other important policy directives, including land use, transportation and environmental sustainability. The same policies that will support attraction of young, skilled workers to San Antonio and leverage the unique polycentric pattern of regional economic centers also align perfectly with strategies for creating higher-density, mixed-use developments to help accommodate the addition of 1.1 million people to the San Antonio area, while also improving transportation options to limit reliance on cars. Each also has environmental benefits for air quality, water conservation and cleaning and managing stormwater.

The five Jobs and Economic Competitiveness goals address the key issues identified above and provide the framework for the policies and actions the City will take as a result of the SA Tomorrow process. The policies are not associated with specific goals, but are grouped by common themes.

JOBS AND ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS (JEC) GOALS

Five goals were developed to fulfill the City’s vision and to address the key issues identified for the Jobs and Economic Competitiveness element.

• JEC Goal 1: Employment is focused in the city's 13 Regional Centers, in site-specific locations in Urban Centers and along mobility corridors, providing easy connectivity for San Antonio’s residents and businesses.
• JEC Goal 2: Traditional and targeted growth industries support San Antonio’s diversified economy and provide a wide range of job opportunities.
• JEC Goal 3: San Antonio’s skilled and educated workforce supports the city’s traditional and emerging growth industries.
• JEC Goal 4: San Antonio’s economic environment fosters innovation and attracts new and innovative businesses, investment and industries.
• JEC Goal 5: San Antonio plays an important role in the regional, national, and international economy.

⬚ figure

While a workforce and economic drivers should be diversified, continued support of San Antonio’s traditional industries as entryways for needed entry-level positions for a growing population is also important.

JOBS AND ECONOMIC COMPETITIVENESS (JEC) POLICIES

Economic Diversification and Target Industries

• JEC P1: Target and incent job growth within the city's target industries, including:
  • Healthcare, biosciences, life sciences and scientific R&D;
  • Information technology and cybersecurity;
  • Advanced manufacturing (Aero, Auto, Heavy Equipment);
  • New Energy (Solar, Battery, Natural Gas); and
  • Cultural and Creative Industries.
• JEC P2: Market and promote the city's assets within target industries nationally and internationally.
• JEC P3: Align regional centers and other employment centers with target industries and market these areas to prospective businesses.
• JEC P4: Market San Antonio's competencies and competitive advantages in cloud computing, big data, hosting and cybersecurity.
• JEC P5: Invest in the creation, development and redevelopment of employment hubs that allow for the collocating of businesses within target industries.
• JEC P6: Identify one or more regional centers to create an innovation district to serve as the center of the innovation economy within San Antonio (e.g., Downtown or Medical Center).

Education and Training

• JEC P7: Support collective impact initiatives that identify, prioritize and support accountability in the execution of comprehensive workforce development strategies that ensure the entire spectrum of San Antonio citizens have access to the training that can connect them to gainful employments.
• JEC P8: Identify talent gaps that are critical constraints for targeted industry growth and coordinate short and long-term comprehensive solutions to close those talent gaps for both targeted and traditional industries through partnership with high schools, community colleges, universities and other training providers and intermediaries.
• JEC P9: Pursue alignment of P-16 educational institutions and training providers to create clear, connected and continuous career pathways that also provide opportunities for internships, apprenticeships and job training for all students.
• JEC P10: Invest in the alignment of efforts and resources that help connect residents of chronically distressed areas, underserved or underrepresented residents, the formerly incarcerated and other populations secure wrap-around services that can help mitigate challenges securing training and job opportunities.

Business / Economic Climate

• JEC P11: Work with the city's economic partners to identify opportunities for increasing export activities and foreign direct investment into San Antonio and San Antonio's businesses.
• JEC P12: Engage trade groups, target industry representatives and investors on a regular basis in order to educate interested parties on the opportunities and assets that exist in San Antonio.
• JEC P13: Execute the 2015 Trade and Investment Strategy through support for partners such as the Free Trade Alliance of San Antonio and the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation through regular communication and targeted joint efforts.
• JEC P14: Work with other communities in the Central/South Texas region to market the area's strengths and highlight each community's unique assets.
• JEC P15: Work to identify common projects with communities along the Austin-San Antonio corridor and begin to plan as a region.
• JEC P16: Leverage the major assets within San Antonio's traditional industries to bring attention to other economic opportunities within San Antonio.

Business Attraction and Retention

• JEC P17: Market the strength of San Antonio's traditional industries to attract additional economic activity.
• JEC P18: Partner with the city's major public and governmental assets, public institutions and major employers to create public-private partnerships that generate economic activity out of public institutions.
• JEC P19: Identify ways to reduce barriers to entry for new businesses.
• JEC P20: Ensure that the city fosters an innovative business climate that is open to new technologies.
• JEC P21: Cluster businesses within similar and compatible industries and public institutions geographically to encourage increased interaction and collaboration.
• JEC P22: Partner with the military to identify ways to generate business creation that supports and leverages military activities in the city.

Workforce Attraction

• JEC P23: Attract a skilled and educated workforce by providing a greater diversity of employment opportunities in targeted industries.
• JEC P24: Continue to support San Antonio's traditional industries as entryways for needed entry-level positions for a growing population.
• JEC P25: Continue efforts to revitalize the urban core and encourage creation of other mixed-use nodes in order to create environments attractive to young professionals and other workers.
• JEC P26: Create the modern workplaces and walkable neighborhoods that will attract young professionals.
• JEC P27: Invest in quality-of-life and livability amenities (i.e. public spaces, civic amenities, parks and trails, public libraries, multimodal transportation options) that are attractive to innovative businesses and their employees.
• JEC P28: Create and support social networks and programs that allow for the interaction of businesses, education institutions and the San Antonio workforce.

Land Use and Connectivity

• JEC P29: Develop master plans for the regional centers to align land use with future development demand and to direct industries to the appropriate regional centers.
• JEC P30: Coordinate economic development efforts and land use plans to encourage and incentivize employment growth within regional centers and along transit corridors.
• JEC P31: Create gathering places that encourage interactions between people within regional centers and along transit and other transportation corridors.
• JEC P32: Enhance and increase connectivity for multiple modes of transportation to and from regional centers and other employment hubs.
• JEC P33: Encourage the appropriate mixture of industries and uses within regional centers by identifying each center’s market strengths, and niches and uses that support these strengths.
• JEC P34: Provide needed support to the large redevelopment projects to catalyze employment growth (Port San Antonio, Brooks, Texas A&M University-San Antonio, and Hemisfair).

Infrastructure Investment

• JEC P35: Prioritize and catalyze development with infrastructure investments that facilitate new development in priority growth areas.
• JEC P36: Identify and invest in opportunities to retrofit existing infrastructure to allow for a mixture of uses and facilitate denser development.
• JEC P37: Invest in the infrastructure needed to support the growth of San Antonio's target industries.
• JEC P38: Prioritize traditional infrastructure investments such as road and rail projects that support the growth of San Antonio's traditional industries.
• JEC P39: Invest in and leverage emerging infrastructure investments that provide increased communication and connectivity that support San Antonio's traditional industries.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

San Antonio's primary industries/economic drivers can be leveraged to bring attention to other economic opportunities within the city and attract bright students, employees and promising businesses.

⬚ figure

Chapter 12: Community Health and Wellness (CHW)

Safe, healthy and well-educated citizens of all ages are the basis of a prosperous and high-quality city. Policies and programs that increase access to multimodal transportation, parks and open space, recreation activities, healthy foods, healthcare services and educational opportunities all enhance community health in San Antonio.

Healthcare is a major economic driver in Bexar County, and San Antonio residents have access to numerous high-quality healthcare resources.

In spite of that, many in the San Antonio community face serious health challenges. In 2016, of 241 measured counties in Texas, Bexar County ranked 81st in overall health outcomes, 31st in health behaviors, 61st in length of life and 148th in quality of life. In 2014, almost 1 in 3 residents was obese, while 1 in 7 had diabetes.

Health outcomes in San Antonio must improve. As in many other elements, it’s clear that “business as usual” can’t continue. The Community Health and Wellness (CHW) goals and policies were developed to meet the six health and wellness challenges for our City that follow.

⬚ figure

Continuing to grow our network of farmers markets, such as this one on La Cantera Parkway, will help to ensure all residents have access to healthy and sustainable foods.

1 Healthcare and Food

How can San Antonio improve access to healthcare, education, healthy food and recreational and exercise opportunities?

How can San Antonio increase opportunities for and support of healthy food production, distribution and equitable access?

CHW Goal 1

Healthy food, health services, health literacy and proven education programs are easily accessible to all residents, regardless of location, income, age, race, ethnic background or ability level.

Access to healthcare, defined as the percentage of the civilian population under 65 with health insurance coverage, remains a challenge in San Antonio. Although access to healthcare stood at 73% in 2012 and increased under the Affordable Care Act, there are still unaddressed gaps in healthcare coverage. In 2014, 23% of adults and 8% of children in Bexar County were uninsured. In 2012, 19% of respondents in the community health assessment reported delaying medical care due to cost. Even those with insurance find that healthcare resources are not equally distributed across the region. In addition, there are limited non-auto transportation options for reaching healthcare destinations.

Access to healthy foods is also an ongoing concern. According to the 2013 Bexar County Community Health Assessment, only 22% of adults eat three or more vegetables per day, and only 12% eat three or more fruits. Among children, 40% eat five or more fruits and vegetables daily, but 25% also consume at least one soda a day. Fresh food is simply hard to find in some areas: 40% of the county's urbanized population lived at least one mile from a grocery store and the number of farmers markets decreased by 26% between 2009 and 2013 while they increased in both Texas and the US. Contributing to the lack of healthy options, 52% of all restaurants—in both the county and the city—are fast food establishments.

Although the full impact of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is not yet clear, the proportion of uninsured residents is expected to decrease over the long term. But more actions will be needed to address the uneven distribution of healthcare facilities, limited transportation options and other factors making it difficult for residents to have equitable access to healthcare resources. The process of improving access can begin by first identifying where gaps in healthcare resources at the community level may exist. This information can then be used in partnership with community leaders and public transit agencies to design and implement solutions that improve access to and availability of healthcare resources in each community where problems have been identified.

Efforts to improve access to healthy food can also begin by identifying which areas in the city lack access to affordable fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low fat milk, and the other foods that make up a healthy diet. Knowing where these "food deserts" exist will allow us to target these communities and implement policies that support the development of affordable, healthy food options.

A critical strategy will be to encourage the development of grocery stores offering healthy, natural foods along with farmer's markets, community gardens and other amenities within ¼ to ½ mile walking distance of all neighborhoods. We also need to educate community members about the value of good nutrition and healthy foods and discourage the consumption of fast foods and unhealthy, highly processed foods.

Urban Garden Network: Los Angeles, California

The Urban Garden Network in Los Angeles is a community-planned and controlled series of urban open space gardens that provide community access to fresh, local produce. The gardens are an extension of the Motor Avenue Farmer’s Market program. In total there are six gardens: two garden parklets, one community garden and three gardens at local schools. With support from local officials, corporations, foundations and the community, the gardens help to: improve food quality and access for kids and families; elevate community health practices and sustainability; and foster opportunities for social, education and recreation activities.

The Urban Garden Program is an exemplary model for other cities to emulate in their efforts to educate children and adults on the benefits of healthy living and sustainability.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

2 Physical Activity

How can San Antonio expand parks, trails, and recreation opportunities and ensure equitable access to these important assets citywide?

CHW Goal 2

San Antonio residents are physically active and have safe and convenient access to recreation opportunities.

Inadequate physical activity is a major source of health issues. Despite programs that promote healthy lifestyles, physical activity levels in San Antonio have declined in recent years. Between 2010 and 2013, regular participation in physical education in schools declined from 55% to 43%. The community also believes that physical activity is not encouraged on local streets because of the city's narrow lanes, lack of bicycle facilities, poor lighting, potholes, lack of sidewalks and prohibitions against playing in the street.

The city does have a robust parks and recreation system. In 2014, there were 18 acres of parkland for every 1,000 residents. Because of population growth, the park ratio declined from 2010 when there were 20.7 acres of parkland per 1,000 residents, although it is still above the national average. But more significantly, the size and distribution of parks in the city is uneven. As a consequence, only 33% of the population lives within walking distance of a park.

In the short term, the City can work with local schools, as it is now doing with SPARK parks, to allow open access to school playgrounds during non-school hours.

Long term, the City needs to provide parks and recreation amenities on a citywide basis, with a particular focus on areas that are currently underserved. It can also work to provide access to other green space such as community gardens, orchards, trails, greenways and creekways. By developing a network of bike lanes physically separated from vehicle lanes and connected with creek sub-street bike paths, the City could provide seamless, safe citywide travel for bicyclists. Development codes can also be reviewed and revised to improve walkability and provide recreation/play opportunities within the public realm.

Our City's Recreation Assets

The City of San Antonio operates and maintains:

• 244 parks;
• 100 miles of trails;
• 27 pools;
• 41 community and fitness centers; and
• The Botanic Garden and Conservatory.

⬚ figure

3 Water

How can San Antonio continue ongoing efforts to expand and diversify San Antonio's water supply and to improve conservation measures throughout the city?

CHW Goal 3

All San Antonio residents and businesses have access to sufficient clean, sustainable and affordable water during foreseeable conditions.

The City of San Antonio historically relied almost entirely on a single source of water, the Edwards Aquifer. Through water management planning, diversification of supply and an award-winning conservation program, San Antonio has made great strides towards developing a sustainable supply of water. SAWS has diversified its water sources to reduce reliance on the Edwards Aquifer and added new sources, including the Twin Oaks Aquifer Storage and Recovery plant that stores water underground for peak use or during droughts. The City also has the largest direct water recycling program in the nation, using recycled water to irrigate institutional, commercial and industrial campuses, as well as parks, golf courses, lawns and the River Walk.

Water quality in San Antonio is excellent. In 2012, Bexar County met the national benchmark for safe drinking water—absolutely no samples from SAWS facilities had health-based violations. This contrasts with the rest of the state, where 6% of the population obtained drinking water from sources with health-based violations.

However, San Antonio still faces challenges related to regulations, extreme weather and demand for water associated with outdoor irrigation. In response, SAWS has developed an ambitious plan to expand the water supply and to save water through conservation measures.

In addition to developing new water supply sources, the City and its regional partners should work together to protect all existing water sources. A land management plan can protect the recharge zones of the Edwards Aquifer and other area waterways by discouraging land-intensive development patterns in the Edwards Aquifer. The City can further protect these vital water supply sources by working with the San Antonio River Authority (SARA) to develop and update plans, standards and regulations for development on or near watersheds, aquifers, flood zones and stream restoration areas. The City can also identify aquifer recharge areas and acquire them as open space, using voter approved sales tax proceeds.

The SAWS water quality protection program is one of the most aggressive in the state and includes sampling, monitoring and enforcement. Based on this strong foundation, a sound water quality protection plan will ensure the City can continue to provide clean water at affordable rates far into the future.

⬚ figure

As growth pressures continue to put strain on our natural resources we will need to create innovative approaches to manage and ensure a sustainable water supply for the future.

4 Transportation

How can San Antonio enhance multimodal transportation options and choices and encourage active transportation?

CHW Goal 4

San Antonio provides a range of convenient, safe and comfortable active transportation options for all users and abilities and many regularly use multimodal options such as walking, biking and transit. (See also TC Goal 5)

Land use patterns in San Antonio over the past 60 years have created a transportation system dominated by single-occupancy automobile trips. Biking, walking and transit lag far behind as ways to get around the city. Over the five-year period from 2009-2013, 95% of San Antonio residents traveled to work by car: only 3.5% of workers rode public transit, 2% walked to work and less than 0.25% cycled to work.

We have taken measures to improve this situation. Our Parks & Recreation Department has developed 50 miles of greenway multiuse trails and has plans for 40 more miles of trails. VIA Metropolitan Transit has developed a plan to provide more frequent and efficient transit service along major transit corridors and provide better transit mobility between important activity centers. Along with a recent bicycle plan and a new focus on pedestrian safety, San Antonio is beginning to lay the foundation for a safer and more efficient transportation system that safely links pedestrian, bicycle and bus travel.

Still, we need to make much more progress to create a more human-scaled, inclusive and sustainable city where people can get to work, school, personal activities and daily tasks without getting into their cars. Capital improvement and incentive programs that focus on building, expanding and improving pedestrian, bicycle and transit-oriented infrastructure should be a priority.

We can continue to encourage programs and projects that make the City’s bicycle network more accessible, direct and continuous. We can promote urban forms that reinforce bicycling, pedestrian and transit activity by encouraging and providing incentives for developments close to destinations within walking or bicycling distance. We can develop sidewalks and trails integrated into the transportation system and activity areas such as schools, shopping and neighborhood centers. And we can develop a system of safe routes to schools, while we ensure ADA accessibility in all public realm improvement projects.

5 Health Outcomes

How can San Antonio improve individual and community health outcomes (as measured by comparative health metrics and indices)?

CHW Goal 6

All San Antonio residents enjoy a high level of safety, physical and mental health and well-being.

Data collected from national, state and local sources indicates that individual health concerns in San Antonio are varied, widespread and tied to the health of the broader community. Obesity stands out as one of the most crucial health concerns. In general, racial and ethnic minorities with lower educational attainment and income levels have the worst health outcomes.

As a response to these increasing challenges, the City designated health and active living as top priorities for the region. In 2010, San Antonio formed the Active Living Council to promote the integration of physical activity into people’s daily routines. The Active Living Plan for a Healthier San Antonio provides a set of policies and strategies that public and private institutions can implement across eight community sectors. And the SA2020 Vision Report lays out a strong vision for a healthy community with an online dashboard that tracks progress towards these targets. The latest SA2020 dashboard results show that the City is making progress, is on track, or has met target goals in all areas except for air quality, walkability and vehicles miles traveled.

Despite these achievements, there is much room for improvement. Community health issues are integrated with many other elements of the City including land use, urban design, transportation, economics and community services. To improve our health scores and enhance the safety and resiliency of city assets and services, San Antonio should consider the interactions of the natural and built environments on the provision and quality of services provided.

Our approach must be regional to have a significant impact on community health. Active partnerships between the City, County, adjacent municipalities, healthcare organizations, school districts, numerous nonprofits and other organizations can support the design and implementation of public health services, coordinate healthcare education and awareness programs, and support efforts to shape a built environment that supports community health goals. For example, we can inform developers about the role the built environment plays in influencing individual and community health, and all large-scale land use and development projects can be required to include an assessment of the impact they will have on community health.

⬚ figure

Studies show that active kids become active and healthy adults. We need to support development and recreational activities that work toward this goal.

⬚ figure

Improving Individual and Community Health Outcomes:

San Diego, California

The San Diego region enjoys many assets including rich cultural diversity, a robust economy, wonderful weather, world renowned educational and research institutions, and more—all of which provide an excellent quality of life. Yet, data clearly showed that residents were experiencing increasing rates of chronic diseases, accounting for over 50% of deaths in San Diego County. In response to these alarming trends, the Svan Diego County Board of Supervisors adopted in 2010 a regional vision known as Live Well San Diego. This program reflects a new way of thinking about and working toward solutions, new definitions and measures of success, and the recognition that no one organization can do it all. To achieve its goals, Live Well San Diego: built a collaborative network of 120 recognized partners from all sectors of society (public, private, nonprofit and community based); created a collective impact scorecard to measure successes; and identified five targeted areas of influence to guide and organize partner efforts.

San Diego County's recognition that complex issues impacting health, safety and other aspects of a high quality life cannot be addressed by individuals acting in isolation has helped effectively improve air quality, combat obesity rates and increase average life expectancy.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

By 2040, 75% our youth should be getting the recommended amount of aerobic and muscle strengthening activity to meet guidelines.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

San Antonio's Missions, River Walk and parks and green spaces all provide walking and biking opportunities for our residents.

Health in All Policies Approach: San Antonio Metropolitan Health

San Antonio is one of a growing number of communities who have embraced a health in all policies (HiAP) approach. This approach promotes community and personal health awareness in the development and implementation of all city wide policies and services. HiAP: recognizes that personal health behaviors are strongly influenced by the environments where we live, learn, work and play; acknowledges that greater coordination is required to ensure that programs and policies do not produce unintended negative impacts on residents’ health; and offers strategies for cities to reduce inequitable access to healthy food options and safe play spaces for children. By paying attention to the built environment – from land use planning and restaurants, to safe streets and parks – our community can greatly shape the health of our community, and especially our children.

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. – World Health Organization

⬚ figure

Air

How can San Antonio continue improving the city’s air quality?

CHW Goal 7

San Antonio’s air quality is better than state and national standards. (See also NRES Goal 7)

Air quality in San Antonio and the region has been worsening for several years. Before 2005, Bexar County’s average daily air quality measure far exceeded the state measure. By 2008, the county’s level of fine particulate matter in the air had decreased to 9.1 micrograms per cubic meter. This level was lower than the state’s 10.2 micrograms, but higher than the national benchmark of 8.8. SA2020 put forth a goal of reducing ozone by 16%. However, our current ozone levels are above the standard.

The City of San Antonio maintains and enforces a pollution control ordinance to address urban air quality. It’s also monitored and governed by the Federal Clean Air Act, which requires states to meet national ambient air quality standards. States must develop plans to achieve and maintain acceptable levels in all areas, and develop specific plans and implement additional programs for those areas designated as not meeting the standard.

⬚ figure

The San Antonio Missions National Historical Park was one of the first sites chosen by the National Park Service to receive public electric charging stations as part of its Clean Cities National Park Initiative. The initiative will also educate visitors on the benefits of fuel efficient driving and multimodal transportation options.

There are many steps we can take to improve air quality, especially for car and truck emissions: we can preserve and expand the city’s tree canopy to reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere or enhance programs and policies such as incentives for electric and hybrid cars to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

We can also provide incentives to increase the amount of local renewable energy production. We can develop strategies to increase bicycling, walking and transit ridership. And we can develop new and utilize existing public/private partnership programs to monitor air quality to see how well we’re doing.

Goals and Policies

Efforts to improve community health and wellness are integrally linked with other important Plan Elements, including land use patterns, transportation, urban design, and environmental and economic sustainability, all of which have an impact on public health. Policies to encourage the development of pedestrian-friendly communities, for instance, can attract young professionals seeking a more vibrant urban environment in which to live and work. This not only helps achieve economic development goals by attracting workers with the skills needed for the region to compete in a global economy, but by reducing auto dependence also helps meet air quality improvement goals, while promoting a more active healthy lifestyle among residents.

The following goals were developed to address the key issues identified and to provide the framework for the policies and actions the City will take as a result of the SA Tomorrow process. The policies are not associated with specific goals, but are grouped by common themes.

COMMUNITY HEALTH AND WELLNESS (CHW) GOALS

Six goals were developed to fulfill the City's vision and to address the key issues identified for the Community Health and Wellness element.

• CHW Goal 1: Healthy food, health services, health literacy and proven education programs are easily accessible to all residents, regardless of location, income, age, race, ethnic background or ability level.
• CHW Goal 2: San Antonio residents are physically active and have safe and convenient access to recreation opportunities.
• CHW Goal 3: All San Antonio residents and businesses have access to sufficient clean, sustainable and affordable water during foreseeable conditions.
• CHW Goal 4: San Antonio provides a range of convenient, safe and comfortable active transportation options for all users and abilities and many regularly use multimodal options such as walking, biking and transit. (See also TC Goal 5)
• CHW Goal 5: San Antonio is a Vision Zero City that is committed to eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries.
• CHW Goal 6: All San Antonio residents enjoy a high level of safety, physical and mental health and well-being.
• CHW Goal 7: San Antonio's air quality is better than state and national standards. (See also NRES Goal 7)

COMMUNITY HEALTH AND WELLNESS (CHW) POLICIES

Health and Wellness Coordination and Integration

• CHW P1: Increase coordination, education and awareness of the City's social, physical and mental health programs and sustainability goals in formats accessible to all residents.
• CHW P2: Establish information programs for developers to convey the role of the built environment in achieving sustainability and community health goals.
• CHW P3: Partner with healthcare organizations to promote, support and expand comprehensive public health services and programs, including substance abuse-free lifestyles and substance use prevention programs.
• CHW P4: Partner with physical and mental healthcare organizations and nonprofits to promote, support and expand the availability and quality of senior services and amenities citywide.
• CHW P5: Study and promote best practices to identify and address connections between community health and economic development including living wages, the effects of poverty, education and literacy.

• CHW P6: Consider health impacts (such as conducting health impact assessments (HIA)) when conducting Community, Corridor and Regional Center Plans.

• CHW P7: Partner with school districts to assess the health and well-being of youth by utilizing the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS).

Access

• CHW P9: Identify and address gaps in public transit, pedestrian and bicycle access to parks, open space, recreation sites and healthcare destinations.

• CHW P10: Coordinate with public transit agencies and organizations on public transit network improvements that increase access to healthcare facilities.

• CHW P11: Increase the number and quality of parks and ensure a more equitable distribution of park and recreation opportunities.

• CHW P12: Provide access to and equitable distribution of other green spaces (which can include community gardens, orchards, school grounds, trails, greenways and creekways).

Healthy Food

• CHW P13: Evaluate and develop a plan to address food desert¹ neighborhoods.

• CHW P14: Implement policies to increase accessibility and affordability of healthy food options (natural grocery stores, natural and/or organic sections in grocery stores, school programs, farmer’s markets, community gardens and urban agriculture/retail opportunities) within walking distance of all neighborhoods (1/4 to 1/2 mile depending on amenity).

• CHW P15: Implement policies to promote education about nutrition and healthy foods and create programs to disincentivize unhealthy, highly processed and “fast” foods and/or incentivize nutritious, healthy, and culturally appropriate foods in new and creative ways.

• CHW P16: Identify important farm lands for production of healthy foods in the San Antonio vicinity and protect them from development using zoning, subdivision and other regulatory or incentive-based tools.

• CHW P17: Revise zoning requirements and guidelines for the Urban Agricultural District to allow edible landscapes and supportive produce retail.

Active Living

• CHW P18: Partner with businesses, healthcare providers, senior and childcare centers and residents to promote local physical activity education programs and active living projects.

• CHW P19: Provide increased parks and recreation amenities city-wide, with a particular focus on areas of the city considered as under-served based on regularly updated indicators.

• CHW P20: Provide access to other green spaces (which can include community gardens, orchards, school grounds, trails, greenways and creekways) city-wide, with a particular focus on areas of San Antonio considered as under-served based on regularly updated indicators.

• CHW P21: Partner and coordinate with area school districts through the SPARK program to allow community recreation and gardening options in school activity spaces and facilities.

• CHW P22: Study and promote best practices for how zoning code revisions can help address walkability and recreation/play opportunities.

Active Transportation

• CHW P23: Prioritize capital improvements and incentive programs that build, expand, and improve pedestrian, bicycle, and transit-oriented infrastructure.

• CHW P24: Continue to encourage and implement programs and projects that make the City’s bicycle network more accessible, direct and continuous in

order to increase bicycling safety and opportunities for daily bicycle travel for riders of all levels and abilities. (See also TC P9)

• CHW P25: Encourage and incentivize development in locations that provide or are in close proximity to many destinations within walking or bicycling distance.

• CHW P26: Develop a system of safe routes to schools and other public activity areas; create partnerships with businesses, schools and other organizations to establish the system and to promote the program. (See also PFCS P38)

• CHW P27: Implement accessibility solutions for issues identified in the City's ADA Pedestrian Transition Plan, in all public realm improvement projects.

• CHW P28: Develop a safe and convenient pedestrian travel network with sidewalks and trails integrated into the transportation system and activity areas such as schools, libraries, shopping and neighborhood centers. (See also TC P11)

• CHW P29: Continue to promote and implement Vision Zero to ensure the safety of all people in the community.

Air Quality

• CHW P30: Implement policies to achieve air quality levels within the thresholds established by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), with particular reference to automobile and truck emissions and CPS emissions. (See also NRES P34)

• CHW P31: Enhance San Antonio's tree canopy and develop a robust street tree program. (See also NRES P39)

• CHW P32: Develop new and utilize existing public/private partnership programs with public agencies and a diversity of residents, community groups and organizations to monitor the city's air quality. (See also NRES P38)

• CHW P33: Continue to enhance programs and policies (including incentives for electric and hybrid vehicles) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25% by 2020 and 50% by 2040. (See also NRES P35)

• CHW P34: Increase the amount of local renewable energy production, with 30% of energy use from renewable sources by 2025 and 50% by 2040. (See also NRES P27)

Water

• CHW P35: Develop and implement a management plan for land use activities that includes best management practices, based on a scientific study, which will protect the recharge and contributing zones of the Edwards Aquifer and other area waterways.

• CHW P36: Encourage land intensive development patterns to locate outside of the Edwards Aquifer recharge and contributing zones and preservation reaches of rivers and creeks. (See also GCF P26 and NRES P11).

• CHW P37: Coordinate with SARA and other agencies to regularly review and update, and as necessary as part of the standard UDC amendment process, plans, standards and regulations for development on or near aquifers, flood zones and stream restoration areas based on best management practices and scientific studies.

• CHW P38: Identify and acquire land in aquifer recharge areas for use as city open space utilizing voter-approved sales tax proceeds.

• CHW P39: Jointly work with SAWS and CPS to determine the impact of utility service area expansion by coordinating the providers' service areas with the City's Comprehensive Plan and growth policies. (See also NRES P13)

• CHW P40: Develop new and utilize existing partnership programs between public agencies and private citizens to monitor the city's water quality. (See also NRES P16)

• CHW P41: Support the efforts of and collaborate with appropriate governmental entities to monitor, protect and ensure water quality within the Edwards Aquifer. (See also NRES P17 and GCF P32)

⬚ figure

Chapter 13: Public Facilities and Community Safety (PFCS)

The safety of the community must always be a priority. As the city continues to grow and develop, we will work to accommodate this growth sustainably so we always maintain a safe and healthy community.

Community services and facilities are vital to our economic prosperity and quality of life. Crime prevention, maintaining reliable energy supplies, schools, parks, flood protection and green infrastructure provide an essential foundation for stable, prosperous communities.

Failing to plan for the impact of growth on our public facilities is not an option.

For instance, we know buildings account for over 90% of electricity consumption in San Antonio (compared with 75% nationally). Our community has already begun to implement strategies to improve environmental performance, such as the Mission Verde effort and the Mayor's task force which provided new building code recommendations. We do not have a large-scale, municipally supported retrofit program. Nor do we have a citywide green infrastructure and stormwater management effort.

Given that 1.1 million more people will live in the area by 2040, it's clear that "business as usual" can't be continued. This growth represents a tremendous opportunity for the San Antonio metropolitan region, but could undermine our quality of life if we do not plan and act appropriately. The Public Facilities and Community Safety (PFCS) goals and polices were developed to meet the six public facilities and community safety challenges for our City that follow.

Infrastructure

How can San Antonio upgrade its infrastructure and public facilities and services to remain economically competitive while supporting healthy, prosperous and safe lives for all its residents?

PFCS Goal 1

San Antonio has a 21st century infrastructure that supports the existing and future growth of the city.

PFCS Goal 2

The City has an environment of continuous quality improvement that ensures its facilities and services adequately support the existing and future growth of San Antonio.

To spur economic growth and remain competitive at both a national and international level, San Antonio needs to continually maintain and upgrade our existing infrastructure—roads, bridges, electrical grid, water and sewage systems—incorporating principles of sustainable design. We can strategically use our infrastructure investments as a tool to support our broader urban planning and economic development goals.

The City has identified 13 employment centers that offer an opportunity to create vibrant, mixed-use places; the type of live-work-play environments that attract development and business nationally, but are lacking in San Antonio. We can use infrastructure investments to focus economic activity that will facilitate new development in these priority growth areas. We can also identify and invest retrofitting existing infrastructure to allow for a mixture of uses and facilitate denser development within these regional centers. Major public and private facilities can also be strategically located to serve as an additional catalyst for the development of downtown and other regional centers as destinations of choice for residential and business communities. New neighborhoods and other new developments should then be oriented around the parks, schools, libraries and other public facilities within these growth centers.

These same investments can also support the growth of San Antonio’s target industries within these centers. These targeted industries include biosciences and scientific R&D, information technology/security, advanced manufacturing and energy. Many of these industries rely on young, highly skilled professionals who will be attracted to the regional centers’ walkable neighborhoods, civic amenities and urban lifestyles.

To ensure the environmental sustainability and resilience of these growth centers and of San Antonio as a whole, we can promote development that leverages and protects the public’s investment in major green infrastructure and natural resource projects. As a core element of this sustainability program, the City can coordinate stormwater management by upgrading existing infrastructure with green stormwater management solutions. We can also implement stormwater infrastructure management policies that balance well-developed and well-maintained regional infrastructure with site-specific stormwater infrastructure.

Infrastructure investments must also take into account projected population growth to ensure there will be adequate capacity as demand increases. We need to be sure that public facilities and services remain aligned with public needs and expectations. The City can regularly evaluate the capacity and timing of new infrastructure, concurrent with private development. In addition, we can plan how best to expand water treatment and wastewater treatment plants. This will also require partnering with utility providers to regularly update their planning efforts and review processes. Finally, we should also systematically evaluate and identify existing infrastructure that is at or near the end of its lifespan, or that is operating at or above recommended capacity and plan accordingly for replacement or expansion.

Integrated Drainage and Flood Mitigation: Portland, Oregon

Portland has a history of combined sewer (and stormwater) overflow (CSO) issues. Between 1991 and 2011 the City invested over $1.4 billion in major grey infrastructure projects to help control the problem. In 2008, Portland also launched a Grey to Green Initiative with an initial investment of $50 million in Stormwater Management Fees to support green infrastructure projects including 43 acres of green roofs, 920 green street components, planting over 80,000 trees and purchasing 419 acres of high priority natural areas.

As green streets projects developed over time, the City realized they had the potential to incorporate elements that achieved other city goals beyond stormwater management. Specifically, green street projects can easily combine natural stormwater management and water quality techniques; provision of neighborhood park and green spaces; and facilities to enhance safety and comfort for walking and biking.

Portland’s integrated, multilayered approach to stormwater management has created a sustainable and scalable application for the City, allowed for multiple goals to be achieved through a singular application, and laid the ground work for a broader regional and state-wide green infrastructure network. In addition, these programs reduced the region’s infrastructure upgrade costs from an estimated $144 million for conventional solutions to $86 million with green infrastructure approaches.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

2 Emergency Response

How can San Antonio continue improving emergency response times for fire and police protection and plan for continued provision and improvements in level of service for existing and future growth areas?

PFCS Goal 3

All San Antonio residents have the opportunity to live in safe and resilient neighborhoods.

We have made significant progress in improving our emergency response. In one of the early successes, both the San Antonio Fire Department and San Antonio Police Department have reduced emergency response times from 9.4 minutes in 2010 to 7.1 minutes in 2013. The crime rate decreased about 11% from 2010 to 2012. And, in 2014 66% of San Antonio citizens surveyed rated their overall feeling of safety as “excellent” or “good.”

Public safety officials, City staff, businesses and residents must continue to collaborate through strong, engaged community neighborhood networks

⬚ figure

The safety of our local police, emergency responders, and residents is a high priority for our City.

to reduce crime and promote a thriving and law-abiding San Antonio. We need proactive crime prevention programs, responsive enforcement efforts and a high state of disaster readiness to achieve and maintain low levels of crime and a high sense of personal safety.

It will be critically important for San Antonio to maintain our progress with a rapidly expanding population. We can meet this challenge by strategically locating police, fire and emergency medical services in both existing and new growth areas to provide and enhance effective and efficient services and response times. Public safety facilities and services and neighborhood resilience can also be enhanced through efforts such as safety awareness and educational programs, animal control and a focus on other issues impacting neighborhoods.

Schools

How can San Antonio work with area school districts to improve access to education and educational outcomes?

PFCS Goal 4

Students in San Antonio have access to quality education and perform at a high level. (See also GCF Goal 8)

The City has identified education as one of its most important challenges. We’ve set a variety of goals for improving educational standards and performance, from kindergarten readiness to high school graduation rates and the number of San Antonio adults with college degrees. Achieving these educational goals will prepare our residents to thrive in a variety of occupations and to respond to the changing needs of the 21st century workplace.

The results of our efforts so far have been mixed. High school graduation rates have increased 7% since 2010 and are still trending upwards. But, third grade reading proficiency levels declined 3% over a three-year period leading up to 2014. And despite an enormous citywide push to encourage more students to enroll in 2- and 4- year colleges, we are not graduating enough students to meet the demand in the workplace. Of the nation’s largest cities, San Antonio has one of the lowest percentages of adults with college degrees. That number has indeed slightly increased recently. But since college enrollment has not increased, the higher percentage may be due to new arrivals with degrees coming to San Antonio, rather than more local students completing college degrees.

The City can and should play a significant role in promoting educational performance. The effort to improve educational outcomes can also be used to support other important regional goals, such as encouraging development within priority growth areas. For instance, the City can assist area school districts in reserving land for future school sites in planned regional centers and other future growth areas. And, to drive market demand for housing, we can work with school districts to help promote innovative educational opportunities within these priority growth areas. And we can also support existing schools by investing in their surrounding neighborhoods. Finally, by encouraging cooperative, flexible design of school facilities to ensure maximum use, we can also ensure their potential for adaptive reuse as ongoing neighborhood resources.

To enhance educational performance on a community-wide basis, the City can provide land, facilities and entitlements that can be used to establish schools to attract a broad spectrum of families with children. We can collaborate with and provide support to underperforming independent school districts, including effort-funding increases and support for early childhood education programs.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Our economic future is linked to the success of our youth. We need to prioritize programs that support higher education achievement and increase graduation and retention rates.

4 Energy

How can San Antonio encourage further increases in renewable energy capacity and energy conservation measures?

PFCS Goal 5

San Antonio is a leader in energy conservation and providing clean, renewable energy for residents and businesses. (See also NRES Goal 5)

⬚ figure

The City of San Antonio’s power is delivered by CPS Energy, a municipally owned energy utility. CPS has a relatively diversified mix of fuels, including 43% natural gas, 28% coal, 14% nuclear and 14% wind. Solar and methane-gas sources account for the remaining 1%. As of December 2013, renewable sources accounted for 14.6% of the region’s generating capacity (1,113 megawatts), up from 9.7% in 2011 and 7.5% in 2009. While the city has grown and increased our energy demand, CPS’s greenhouse gas emissions have declined as a result of increasing use of nuclear and renewable energy. The city reached its SA2020 goal of having 1,500 MW of renewable energy capacity under contract five years early in 2015.

CPS’s Save for Tomorrow Energy Plan (STEP) aims to reduce the growth in demand for electricity in the city by 771 megawatts by 2020. This is the equivalent of the output of one large power plant. To achieve this goal, CPS has committed millions of dollars in incentives and rebates for customers. Residents are encouraged to purchase energy-efficient appliances, improve residential HVAC systems and insulation, increase the use of energy-efficient lighting, increase the use of programmable thermostats and expand commercial lighting retrofits. But it is an ongoing challenge to reach lower-income customers and find ways to include renters in the programs.

Between 2008 and 2013, the STEP program reduced over 318 megawatts of energy consumption. To continue this progress requires that we acknowledge that buildings account for over 90% of electricity consumption in San Antonio. The Mission Verde effort, an economic development plan initiated in 2008, recommended strategies to improve the environmental performance of existing buildings through a retrofit program and improve new construction by developing a high-performance development code. The Mayor’s Task Force established guidelines for a new building code that has not yet been adopted. Despite the lack of a consolidated green building effort, San Antonio has over 180 buildings and residences certified under the U.S. Green Building Council’s green building certification program. Build San Antonio Green the City’s residential green building program has certified over 3,500 homes to date.

Moving forward, the City can set an example by promoting policies and regulations that maximize the energy efficiency of all City buildings and facilities. Next, we can create policies requiring City owned buildings be brought up to green building standards by 2040 and promote and expand weatherization programs for existing buildings.

The City can also do more to encourage alternative forms of clean energy and expand systems for its provision. This effort can include partnering with utility providers to offer a renewable energy purchase choice and to expand renewable energy rebates programs. We can explore fee waiver programs to encourage renewable energy options in new development. And we can regularly review and revise ordinances regarding energy infrastructure and transmission components.

⬚ figure

Investment in renewable energy sources, such as the Blue Wing Solar Project, are vital and will create a more resilient and sustainable San Antonio.

⬚ figure

Is your home powered by renewable energy?

The Blue Wing Solar Project, a 14-megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) facility located in southeast San Antonio at the intersection of I-37 and U.S. 181, is the largest PV farm in Texas and the third largest nationally. Built in 2010, CPS Energy has a 30-year agreement to purchase all electricity generated by the site. According to CPS, the 139-acre site generates an estimated 26,570 megawatt-hours (MWh) of electricity each year. That's enough to power approximately 1,800 San Antonio area homes annually. Additionally, the emissions-free power generated from the site is equivalent to taking 3,800 cars off the road.

Zero Waste

How can San Antonio carry out a program of waste reduction, recycling and reuse to achieve its vision of zero waste?

PFCS Goal 6

San Antonio is a model for innovative recycling and solid waste diversion programs that deliver ongoing community benefits. (See also NRES Goal 8)

The City’s Solid Waste Management Department (SWMD) developed a Recycling and Resource Recovery Plan that outlines a vision for zero waste. It offers strategies and actions to improve waste reduction and recycling programs through education and outreach, incentives and regulatory changes. According to SWMD, an average single-family household in San Antonio generates about eight pounds of waste every day.

Recycling rates have increased so that, despite population growth, we are now sending less waste to landfills. After instituting automated recycling services and other improvements to make recycling more convenient for residents, household recycling increased almost four-fold, to 29% of the residential waste stream by 2014. The City’s goal is to increase the single-family residential recycling rate to 60% by 2025. Since the adoption of the Recycling and Resource Recovery Plan in 2010, the Department has reduced annual landfill waste from 444,000 tons to 362,000 tons, an 18% reduction.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Waste reduction and recycling education programs can help our residents of all ages make more informed choices about what they are putting into our landfills.

To move closer to fulfilling the zero waste vision, the City can establish regulations to minimize waste generation through effective waste reduction, reuse and recycling. We can also take the lead by prioritizing use of as many recycled materials as possible for all City facilities and programs.

Parks

How can San Antonio develop its park and recreation system to ensure that every neighborhood is within walking distance of a park, trail or other open space?

PFCS Goal 7

All San Antonio residents have equitable quality of and access to a variety of park, trail and open space amenities.

The City of San Antonio operates and maintains 257 parks covering 15,469 acres of land, with more than 100 miles of trails. Park facilities include playgrounds, trails, fitness equipment stations, pools, gyms, sports facilities, recreation centers and the Botanical Garden and Conservatory.

Park acreage in 2014 was 18 acres per 1,000 residents, which compares favorably with the national average. But as the city has grown, we haven’t increased park space. The 2014 figure is a decrease from 2010, when the rate was 20.7 acres per 1,000 residents. We will need to build many more new parks to keep pace with our population.

As our community grows, we need to prioritize park development and expansion in order to supply equitable green space and recreation access to all residents.

It’s also true that there’s an uneven distribution of numbers of parks and sizes of parks in the region. Park acreage is especially slim in the west and southwest portions of San Antonio, where there are only 3.0 and 5.1 acres per 1,000 residents respectively. As a consequence, in 2013 only 33% of the population lived within a walkable distance to a park.

We will need to enhance our efforts to reduce park disparities, while maintaining an acceptable park acreage ratio, especially in underserved areas. This effort should be guided by recommendations from the Parks and Recreation System Strategic Plan. In light of the uneven distribution, we also need to review and amend current park dedication requirements in the Unified Development Code (UDC) to ensure they yield the type and size of parks the city wants.

⬚ figure

San Antonio's parks provide access to nature, encourage physical activity and provide opportunities for social engagement.

⬚ figure

Equitable Parks and Recreation Planning: Minneapolis, Minnesota

The Minneapolis Parks System spans 6,790 acres of parkland and water, and features 251 park properties, over 200 miles of paths, 22 lakes, 12 formal gardens and 47 recreation centers. The City’s investment in parks and open space helped it earn the first-ever “five park bench” rating on The Trust for Public Land’s ParkScore® index, finishing first among the 50 largest U.S. cities. Minneapolis scored especially high marks for park accessibility and park system investment. Yet despite the City’s strong commitment to the park system, equitable distribution of open spaces and the quality of park and open space resources in lower-income communities remains a City concern.

The main avenue for addressing the equitable distribution and investment in its parks is the semi-independent Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB). The MPRB works to mitigate disparity by emphasizing equity as one of three cornerstones of system sustainability; utilizing system-wide planning to identify and address existing service gaps; and using growth projections to identify areas which will require new or enhanced services.

MPRB’s commitment to equitable park and open space planning has made Minneapolis a leader in providing physical, social and environmental benefits to all its residents and communities.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Goals and Policies

A willingness to question the status quo and consider alternative approaches will allow our city to remain nationally relevant. The goals and policies that drive the development of public facilities and provide for enhanced community safety are critical to the creation of vibrant, mixed-use places that will allow our city to achieve land use, community development, economic development and environmental sustainability goals.

The following goals were developed to address our key issues and to provide the framework for the policies and actions the City will take as a result of the SA Tomorrow process. The policies are not associated with specific goals, but are grouped by common themes.

PUBLIC FACILITIES AND COMMUNITY SAFETY (PFCS) GOALS

Seven goals were developed to fulfill the City's vision and to address the key issues identified for the Public Facilities and Community Safety element.

• PFCS Goal 1: San Antonio has a 21st century infrastructure that supports the existing and future growth of the city.
• PFCS Goal 2: The City has an environment of continuous quality improvement that ensures its facilities and services adequately support the existing and future growth of San Antonio.
• PFCS Goal 3: All San Antonio residents have the opportunity to live in safe and resilient neighborhoods.
• PFCS Goal 4: Students in San Antonio have access to quality education and perform at a high level. (See also GCF Goal 8)
• PFCS Goal 5: San Antonio is a leader in energy conservation and providing clean, renewable energy for residents and businesses. (See also NRES Goal 5)
• PFCS Goal 6: San Antonio is a model for innovative recycling and solid waste diversion programs that deliver ongoing community benefits. (See also NRES Goal 8)
• PFCS Goal 7: All San Antonio residents have equitable quality of and access to a variety of park, trail and open space amenities.

PUBLIC FACILITIES AND COMMUNITY SAFETY (PFCS) POLICIES

Parks, Libraries and Other Civic Facilities

• PFCS P1: Provide a variety of amenities at varying scales in each neighborhood city-wide.
• PFCS P2: Orient new neighborhoods and new development around parks, schools and public facilities including libraries.
• PFCS P3: Continue to implement recommendations from the Parks and Recreation System Strategic Plan.
• PFCS P4: Review and amend current parks dedication requirements in the Unified Development Code (UDC) to ensure they yield the type and size of parks that are identified as needs in the Parks and Recreation Systems Strategic Plan.
• PFCS P5: Periodically reevaluate and update park dedication requirements in the UDC to adjust for inflation of acquisition, construction and long-term maintenance costs.
• PFCS P6: Develop a long term plan for libraries based on community need.
• PFCS P7: Develop public and private partnerships to provide cultural amenities throughout the community.
• PFCS P8: Develop a plan for the development of downtown and other regional centers as destinations of choice for major public and private facilities.

⬚ figure

The Southwest Bexar Pipeline project is a crucial aspect in San Antonio's continued infrastructure and utility development. This public-private funded venture will catalyze development on the city's south side.

⬚ figure

San Antonio's emergency services have made great strides in reducing in emergency response times.

Infrastructure and Utilities

• PFCS P9: Promote development that leverages and protects the public's investment in major green infrastructure and natural resources projects (such as the San Antonio River Improvements Project and other creek and trail restoration projects). (See also GCF P31)

• PFCS P10: Develop and regularly update a comprehensive site and building plan review process to coordinate new development and capital improvements between the City, school districts and developers for new neighborhoods, schools and public facilities including libraries and parks.

• PFCS P11: Systematically evaluate and identify infrastructure that is at or near the end of its lifespan or that operates at or above recommended capacity.

• PFCS P12: Plan for the expansion of the water treatment and waste water treatment plants to accommodate projected growth in population.

• PFCS P13: Implement stormwater infrastructure management best practices that balance well-developed and well-maintained regional and site-specific stormwater infrastructure (i.e., gray and green infrastructure). (See also GCF P23 and NRES P17)

• PFCS P14: Continue to manage the capacity and transmission capabilities of the storm drainage network to prevent degradation of natural resources. (See also NRES P19)

• PFCS P15: Upgrade existing City infrastructure with green stormwater management solutions. (See also NRES P23)

• PFCS P16: Continue partnering with utility providers to regularly update utility planning efforts and review processes to ensure easements and distribution systems are and will continue to be adequate.

• PFCS P17: Continue to regularly evaluate and require adequate capacity and timing of infrastructure concurrent with private development.

• PFCS P18: Continue to design and implement emergency response services appropriate for narrower rights-of-way supportive of human-scale, walkable development patterns.

Schools and Education

• PFCS P19: Coordinate with school districts to identify potential school sites, especially those planned in regional centers and other future growth areas.

• PFCS P20: Support and invest in existing schools and their neighborhoods.

• PFCS P21: Promote innovative educational opportunities within priority growth areas of the city to drive market demand for housing.

• PFCS P22: Encourage innovative educational opportunities throughout San Antonio, including in traditionally underserved areas, in order to elevate educational attainment and quality.

• PFCS P23: Collaborate with and provide support to underperforming independent school districts to enhance access and improve performance.

• PFCS P24: Increase funding and support for early childhood education programs in underperforming school districts.

⬚ figure

Continued population growth will necessitate the building of new schools and related infrastructure.

• PFCS P25: Encourage cooperative, flexible design of school facilities to ensure maximum use and potential for adaptive reuse as continuing neighborhood resources.

Recycling, Compost and Waste Reduction

• PFCS P26: Establish regulations to minimize waste generation through effective waste reduction, reuse and recycling. (See also NRES P42)
• PFCS P27: Prioritize the purchase of recycled materials in City facilities and programs. (See also NRES P43)

Energy

• PFCS P28: Incentivize alternative forms of clean energy and expand systems for its provision.
• PFCS P29: Partner with utility providers to offer a renewable energy purchase choice and to expand renewable energy rebate programs.
• PFCS P30: Explore fee waiver programs to encourage renewable energy options in new development.
• PFCS P31: Promote policies and regulations which maximize the energy efficiency of all City buildings and facilities. (See also NRES P29)
• PFCS P32: Create policies requiring all existing City of San Antonio-owned buildings be brought up to green building standards by 2040. (See also NRES P31)
• PFCS P33: Promote and expand weatherization programs for existing buildings. (See also NRES P33)
• PFCS P34: Regularly review ordinances regarding energy infrastructure and transmission components and revise, if necessary and possible, to ensure resident health and safety.
• PFCS P35: Enhance public safety facilities and services (such as police, fire, and other emergency services) and neighborhood resilience, including safety awareness and educational programs, animal control and other issues impacting neighborhoods.
• PFCS P36: Strategically locate police, fire and emergency medical services in existing and growth areas to continue to provide and enhance effective and efficient services and response times.
• PFCS P37: Expand implementation of San Antonio’s Complete Streets Policy to ensure that the city’s rights-of-way are planned, designed and operated to provide safe access for all users.
• PFCS P38: Develop a system of safe routes to schools and other public activity areas; create partnerships with businesses, schools, and other organizations to establish the system and to promote the program. (See also CHW P26)
• PFCS P39: Develop a system of safe routes to transit. Work with AAMPO, TxDOT and VIA to identify priorities and funding to implement the system.

⬚ figure

Chapter 14: Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES)

A sustainable community aligns its built environment and socioeconomic activities with nature’s constraints and opportunities. Central to this concept is meeting our present and future needs by balancing protection of the environment and ongoing prosperity of the local economy. The two components are interrelated and equally important—one component should not succeed at the expense of the other.

The degree to which a city’s urban form is compact, mixed-use, pedestrian and bicycle-friendly and transit-oriented influences its travel patterns and vehicle miles traveled, public health and safety, emergency preparedness and access to housing and economic opportunity. San Antonio’s sustainability planning work to date has included considerations of both our transportation and our land use networks. In particular, the Mission Verde retrofit plan and the Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment provide a strong framework. San Antonio achieved a Neighborhood Sustainability Assessment median score of 40/100, with the downtown area scoring highest. Not surprisingly, neighborhoods with denser housing and development achieve higher index scores than those with low-density, suburban-style development patterns.

In 2014, the City adopted the nation’s first Green Event Guide Ordinance, requiring events on City-owned property to complete a “green scorecard” for certification and consider measures to reduce water and energy use, generate less waste and increase recycling. Other key City accomplishments include a Farm to Work program to help City employees receive farm fresh produce and working with Staples to establish eco-conscious purchasing policies and practices. The City’s upcoming Sustainability Plan will include recommendations, strategies and actions to further reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions and resource consumption.

Several key issues will define San Antonio’s successful approach to natural resources and environmental sustainability during the next 25 years.

Natural Resources

How can San Antonio protect and responsibly use its natural resources?

NRES Goal 1

San Antonio protects the natural environment and ensures sustainable land use and development.

NRES Goal 2

San Antonio balances environmental goals with business and community needs.

NRES Goal 3

San Antonio maintains a sustainable balance between the conservation, use and development of the city’s energy and natural resources.

As a community we will need to commit to preserving, protecting, conserving, reusing and efficiently using San Antonio’s natural resources to ensure they will be available for current and future residents. An ample and reliable supply of clean, safe water, sufficient energy supplies and the full diversity of natural resources will contribute to the physical and psychological health and well-being of the community and strengthen the vitality of our local and regional economic base.

Our City has established itself as a leader in urban sustainability. We have developed innovative policies, programs and partnerships that guide municipal and community actions to support resource conservation and sustainable behavior. But as we grow, we must recommit ourselves to ensuring San Antonio remains a sustainable community.

San Antonio has over 180 buildings and residences certified under the U.S. Green Building Council’s green building certification program. “Build San Antonio Green” is San Antonio’s local residential green building program certifying over 3,500 homes to date. The City itself continues to “green” its municipal operations under the leadership of the Office of Sustainability, ensuring efficient operations that minimize environmental impact and resource use. However, there is no large-scale, city-wide retrofit, energy efficiency, green building or green infrastructure program.

The City will need to incorporate sustainable principles into our everyday actions and decisions, monitoring progress and adapting to changing conditions and new information. City land use policies will need to increasingly promote compact, walkable, mixed-use development, infill development and redevelopment, protect open space and agricultural lands, and encourage a jobs and housing balance. The City’s transportation policies will call for improved connectivity between neighborhoods, jobs and services, street design that accommodates all modes of transportation and reduces idling time, reduced parking requirements and sustainable transportation modes. This sustainable policy direction will occur while fostering a positive climate for economic development.

Beyond the City’s civic efforts are those that will need to be spearheaded by the San Antonio community. Residents, businesses, community groups, schools and other organizations all need to be engaged and actively participating in the effort to create a socially, environmentally and economically healthy community. The City must be an effective leader and partner in sustainability efforts. Participation in larger scale sustainability efforts is critical because local environmental and economic issues are a part of a broader regional, national and global context.

2 Water

How can San Antonio ensure an adequate and safe drinking water supply?

How can we reduce demand for water?

NRES Goal 4

San Antonio has an adequate, diversified, high-quality water supply and is a national leader in water conservation.

Nothing is more integral to sustaining human life than clean, safe water. We depend on it for our basic needs. We also need a reliable supply for irrigation and for commercial, industrial and recreational uses. As we grow, we will need additional water supplies; insufficient supplies can stunt local housing and economic development. Historically, San Antonio has relied almost entirely on a single source of water, the Edwards Aquifer. Encompassing an area of 8 counties across south-central Texas, including San Antonio and our surrounding communities, the Edwards Aquifer is the main water supply source for the region and provides water flows for endangered species habitat.

In 2000, San Antonio passed the first voter-supported aquifer protection program to help safeguard the city’s primary source of drinking water, the Edwards Aquifer. Funded by a 1/8-cent sales tax, the Aquifer Protection Program has been renewed by voters three times, in 2005, 2010 and again in 2015. The Program has resulted in the protection of over 135,000 acres of land located over the sensitive recharge and contributing zones of the aquifer to date.

The San Antonio Water System (SAWS) has diversified its water sources to reduce reliance on the Edwards Aquifer with new sources such as the Twin Oaks Aquifer Storage and Recovery plant that stores water underground for peak use or during droughts. The SAWS Water Management Plan also lays out an ambitious program to expand the water supply by over 69,000 additional acre-feet of water annually by 2020 and over 100,000 acre-feet of water annually by 2026.

The city also benefits from the largest direct water recycling program in the nation. More than 130 miles of pipeline delivers high-quality recycled water for use by golf courses, parks, commercial and industrial customers, as well as San Antonio's famous River Walk. The system can provide up to 25,000 acre-feet per year, further reducing demand on the Edwards Aquifer.

Water conservation is a cost-effective and environmentally sound way to reduce how much water we need. Residents and business owners can use water-conserving fixtures and appliances, fix leaks, plant drought-tolerant landscaping and avoid unnecessary water use.

⬚ figure

San Antonio's advanced water retention and conservation efforts are helping to reduce dependency on aquifers and rivers by catching and re-using stormwater run-off.

⬚ figure

A San Antonio River Authority (SARA)-organized water education bike ride instructs residents on water conservation strategies while promoting healthy lifestyles.

⬚ figure

How can we protect San Antonio's waterways?

The San Antonio Regional Authority (SARA) has the mission of caring for our city's rivers and streams, ensuring continued high water quality and quantity. This is accomplished through improvements and programs such as: the Clean River Program; SARA Stream Monitoring Program; and the San Antonio River Basin Plan for Nature-based Park Resources. These programs help enhance community appreciation for and recreational use of our creeks and rivers. They also help balance our community's environmental, economic and quality of life needs.

Through water management planning, diversification of supply and an award-winning conservation program, San Antonio has made great strides towards developing a sustainable supply of water. Since the inception of the City's conservation program in 1993, per capita water use has generally declined over time, although it does increase during particularly dry years.

The City also needs to ensure the quality of the community's drinking water. Water contamination can come from various sources, including soil erosion, runoff from impervious surfaces and discharge from agricultural activities. We can reduce the impact on water quality in several ways: using proper management practices for agricultural, livestock, industrial, and commercial operations; reducing or eliminating excess sediment, nutrients and pathogens in upstream waters; requiring new development to use best management practices; and enforcing septic tank regulations

The SAWS water quality protection program is one of the most aggressive in the state. SAWS implements policies that prevent, detect and reduce environmental pollution in our drinking water supplies, streams and rivers by:

• Ensuring water quality of the Edwards Aquifer is protected;
• Enforcing the regulatory requirements established to protect regional water quality;
• Reviewing and analyzing development plans over the recharge zone of the Edwards Aquifer;
• Monitoring best management practices at construction sites;
• Utilizing an extensive sampling and monitoring network for compliance purposes;
• Educating industries on the Storm Water Program; and
• Funding a Sensitive Land Acquisition Program to protect water quality on the recharge zone.

While our water resources are currently adequate, the City still faces challenges related to regulations, extreme weather and demand for water associated with outdoor irrigation. To continue meeting the needs of population increases, economic growth and competing regional demands, San Antonio’s water resources must be effectively managed through a combination of conservation, supply development and other practices to support growth and sustainability.

3 Energy

How can San Antonio be a leader in energy conservation?

NRES Goal 5

San Antonio is a leader in energy conservation and providing clean, renewable energy for residents and businesses. (See also PFCS Goal 5)

Knowing where we get our energy supplies—particularly those sources that are nonrenewable—and understanding the consequences associated with energy waste will help us use energy more efficiently.

Our most common forms of energy are coal and natural gas to create electricity and heat, and petroleum (gasoline) for transportation. When we harness energy through burning fossil fuels, greenhouse gases are released into the environment. Energy use (in buildings, for transportation or elsewhere) is the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions in San Antonio as it is in most U.S. cities. Global climate change is caused by greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere faster than the Earth’s natural systems can reabsorb them.

Increasing renewable energy production and decreasing energy consumption through land use policy and energy conservation practices can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and slow the Earth’s climate change.

Residents, the business community and institutions can use less energy through simple conservation techniques. The City can provide incentives and programs that promote energy conservation, increased production of renewable energy sources, expand incentives and requirements for green building standards and encourage further investment in energy conservation education and incentives.

The City can serve as an example through a municipal energy reduction program; the new Energy Management Division (EMD) oversees efforts to maximize water and energy efficiency in City-owned buildings and facilities. Municipal operations, however, represent only a small percentage of the total electricity and natural gas used throughout the city—community-wide efforts are essential to achieving overall reductions in energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Buildings account for over 90%¹ of electricity consumption in San Antonio. The City’s ability to influence energy efficiency in existing buildings will be critical to achieving our sustainability goals. However, a large-scale municipally supported retrofit program has yet to be implemented. Similarly, green infrastructure efforts are concentrated in a handful of programs and are often driven by nonprofit advocacy organizations rather than institutionalized by the City.

Another significant way to conserve energy use is to reduce automobile use and the related vehicle miles traveled (VMT). The City can use regulatory authority in important areas like land use, building and transportation policy. As a result, San Antonio endorses land use and transportation policies and practices that encourage compact, mixed-use, pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly and transit-oriented development. These policies influence travel patterns and reduce vehicle miles traveled.

Stormwater

How can San Antonio best address flooding issues and stormwater management?

NRES Goal 6

San Antonio is a national leader in stormwater management best practices and low impact development (LID) design.

Flooding has plagued the San Antonio River Basin for generations. As recently as 2015, we experienced major flooding in the Upper San Antonio River watershed, which was felt throughout Bexar, Wilson, Karnes and Goliad counties. Floods can occur in various ways. Some develop slowly, when rain continues over a period of days and inundates water systems. Some, like flash floods, occur in a matter of minutes when a levee or dam is breached. Every year brings the potential for serious flooding.

Bexar Regional Watershed Management (BRWM) has been working to identify areas in Bexar County where there are major flooding issues. It has invested significant resources to develop new planning and technical tools, initiate comprehensive watershed and water quality studies and construct projects to address flooding concerns and improve safety.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Collaborative efforts between SARA, SAWS and the City have sparked innovative solutions to handle and mitigate flooding thereby helping to prevent urban runoff into our streams and waterways.

San Antonio has developed a public education program called the SAFE (San Antonio Flood Emergency) System to educate the public about flood awareness and preparedness.

On a more local level, we need to deal with urban stormwater, rainfall that has fallen onto our streets, roofs and driveways and other paved surfaces. Rainwater runoff picks up bacteria, toxins, oils, hydrocarbons, sediment, metals, fertilizers and other contaminants and deposits them right into our creeks and rivers. In San Antonio, stormwater does not drain into a sewer system to be treated as we treat wastewater.

The San Antonio River Authority (SARA) water quality monitoring data shows that pollutants carried by stormwater runoff are the greatest threat to our creek and river health. That water flows all the way to San Antonio Bay, with direct effect on the health of wildlife in the Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

The City’s Regional Storm Water Management Program was established to protect public health and safety by requiring developers to mitigate increases in stormwater runoff that result from development projects. Because impervious, paved surfaces have replaced most of the natural ground cover in our urban environments, a great stormwater control measure is low impact development (LID).

LID is an innovative stormwater management approach, modeled after nature. Rather than sending stormwater rushing into rivers, it mimics the natural environment, holding and cleansing water on site through natural filtration.

In San Antonio, stormwater management efforts are concentrated in a handful of programs and are often driven by nonprofit advocacy organizations rather than institutionalized in the city. SARA and its BRWM partners have developed a LID design manual to proactively address water quality and water resource protection in the San Antonio River Basin. These efforts work towards preserving natural watershed functions that manage the quality and quantity of stormwater runoff through a balance of economic, environmental and quality of life considerations.

Maintaining water quality is important to public health, wildlife and economic prosperity, and is a requirement of the federal Clean Water Act. A combination of increasing water quality regulations, aging infrastructure, a growing population and increased urbanization require that the City adopt a more holistic approach to solve flooding and environmental issues from stormwater events.

Key Principles of Low-Impact Development

LID is based on the premise that stormwater management is not stormwater disposal; in fact, stormwater can be a reusable asset. LID addresses stormwater through small, cost-effective landscape features located at the lot level. The goal is to mimic a site's original, natural hydrology by using design techniques that infiltrate, filter, store, evaporate and cleanse runoff close to its source, rather than sending it directly to the storm drain system in large, costly end-of-pipe facilities. Key principles include:

• Decentralize and manage urban runoff to integrate water management throughout the watershed;
• Preserve or restore an ecosystem’s natural hydrological functions and cycles;
• Account for a site’s topographic features in its design;
• Reduce impervious (paved) ground cover and the building footprint;
• Maximize infiltration on-site; and
• If infiltration is not possible, then capture water for filtration and/or reuse for irrigation.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

5 Air

How can San Antonio improve its air quality?

NRES Goal 7

San Antonio’s air quality is better than state and national standards (See also CHW Goal 7).

Chief among our environmental concerns is the impact of human actions and choices on the atmosphere. With the emergence of the industrial age, human activity began to release increasing amounts of pollutants, carbon dioxide and other harmful gases into the atmosphere, largely through burning fossil fuels and deforestation. The elevated levels of harmful gases and pollutants create two key concerns: compromised local air quality and a global “greenhouse” effect that has resulted in changing the Earth’s atmosphere.

Air quality in San Antonio has been steadily getting worse for several years, climbing to 81 parts per billion in 2013 from the baseline of 75 parts per billion in 2010. This number declined slightly in 2014 to 80 parts per billion, but we are still significantly off target from our goal of 68 parts per billion by 2020.

To comply with federal policy on air quality, which was put in place to protect the environment and community health, we must be more proactive about local solutions and incentives to improve air quality.

Good air quality in San Antonio contributes to good health, which benefits families and businesses (in terms of fewer sick days). While air quality is a regional issue addressed by State and regional regulatory agencies, the City has an obligation to contribute to regional efforts to improve air quality. The City’s Air Pollution Program monitors the ambient air in San Antonio and we maintain and enforce a pollution control ordinance. The program monitors for particulate matter 2.5 microns in size (PM2.5) and particulate matter 10 microns in size (PM10). These small particles could cause respiratory problems for small children, the elderly and the general public. The program also operates and maintains an ozone monitor located at Calaveras Lake for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).

How we design the built environment can have a significant effect on our air quality. Since motor vehicles are a major air pollution source, urban designs that decrease private automobile use could improve air quality and decrease air pollution related health risks. The City’s plans to meet and exceed state and federal air quality standards rely on control measures that reduce emissions associated with transportation facilities.

⬚ figure

Tree canopy programs help lessen the impact of harmful air pollutants, reduce heat islands, and enhance the natural and planned landscapes they are incorporated into.

These measures include any program to reduce vehicle trips and miles traveled, to increase average vehicle ridership, or to reduce direct emissions from vehicle activity.

San Antonio’s sustainability planning work has also included considerations of its transportation and land use networks. The challenge moving forward is to persuade San Antonio residents to drive less. To do that, we must change the way we plan, develop and manage our communities to make it easier and more attractive for people to use transit, bicycle or walk.

The Air We Breathe

Transportation-related pollutants such as ozone, sulfur dioxide and small particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) are the largest contributors to poor air quality in most cities. Many of these transportation-related pollutants are respiratory irritants, a major contributing factor to asthma rates. They are also associated with higher incidence and severity of other respiratory symptoms, impaired lung function and other health problems. Air pollution is significantly worse near energy-intensive industrial areas, diesel truck routes, rail yards, ports and busy/ congested roadways.

⬚ figure

Urban Forest and Tree Canopy Preservation: Baltimore, Maryland

Urban areas are subject to much higher rates of pollution and poorer air quality than rural areas, threatening the health of residents. To mitigate the effects of air pollution, the Baltimore, MD has heavily invested in and set an ambitious goal of 40% for Tree Canopy coverage over the city. The Baltimore Metropolitan Area has about 2.8 million trees, but about one-fourth of the city’s trees are distressed, dead or dying. To reach its goal, Baltimore must plant approximately 750,000 trees — about 25,000 to 30,000 each year. Currently, about 7,500 are planted per year. Spearheading these planting goals is a coordinated effort between the City and nonprofit organizations. TreeBaltimore, a city-led partnership funded in part by corporate donations, was established in 2007 and is headed by the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks Forestry Division. TreeBaltimore serves as the umbrella organization for all City agencies and private organizations working to increase the tree canopy of Baltimore. To achieve the 40% goal, it offers free one-gallon trees for homes and businesses every Spring and Fall, fosters community engagement and public education programs and invests in restoration of the existing tree canopy.

Baltimore’s commitment to its tree canopy will create a more sustainable and healthy future for all its current and future residents.

⬚ figure

Recycling

How can we increase recycling and minimize waste sent to landfills?

NRES Goal 8

San Antonio is a model for innovative recycling and solid waste diversion programs that deliver ongoing benefits to the community (See also PFCS Goal 6).

Recycling is an important component in San Antonio’s future – we have set a goal of achieving a zero waste vision. To accomplish this, we must establish regulations to minimize waste and promote reuse and recycling. Refer to Public Facilities Goal 6 for a more in depth discussion of achieving a zero waste vision.

The City’s goal is to increase the single-family residential recycling rate to 60% by 2025. We have begun to offer single-family residences the choice of three garbage cart options: 48-gallon; 69-gallon; and 96-gallon. Residents’ monthly bills will be based on the size of their garbage cart thereby encouraging households to recycle and reduce their waste. We will also work to ensure that residents living in multifamily properties have convenient and accessible recycling services and partner with businesses to improve recycling in the commercial sector.

⬚ figure

San Antonio’s residential recycling rates, which saw a sharp increase following the SA2020 roll-out, have since fallen off pace and are no longer on target.

Zero Waste Initiative: San Francisco, California

In 2009, the City of San Francisco passed an ordinance mandating the composting of food waste. The ordinance is part of the City’s larger goal of reaching zero waste by 2020. In 2011, San Francisco composted a record 600 tons of organic waste per day. In 2012, it was announced that 80% of San Francisco’s waste is diverted to recycling, composting, and reuse, making it the greenest city in North America. To achieve its 2020 goal of zero waste, the City has implemented a strategic waste reduction, education, and recycling and compost plan which utilizes innovative recycling and reuse programs and policies.

⬚ figure

A few of these policies include: the sale of locally made compost to farms and wineries in neighboring counties; a Christmas Tree Recycling program where chipped trees are turned into broiler fuel at waste to energy facilities; and an ordinance outlawing plastic bags and bottles.

By focusing on preventing waste, reducing and reusing first, and recycling and composting, San Francisco is quickly becoming not only a national leader, but a world leader with its zero waste initiative.

⬚ figure

⬚ figure

Goals and Policies

The City of San Antonio supports the preservation of San Antonio’s natural resources and environment through the reduction of impacts caused by human activity. The eight Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability goals address the key issues identified above and provide the framework for the policies and actions the City will take as a result of the SA Tomorrow process. The policies are not associated with specific goals, but are grouped by common themes.

NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY (NRES) GOALS

The City developed eight goals to address the key issues identified as part of the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability element.

• NRES Goal 1: San Antonio protects the natural environment and ensures sustainable land use and development.
• NRES Goal 2: San Antonio balances environmental goals with business and community needs.
• NRES Goal 3: San Antonio maintains a sustainable balance between the conservation, use, and development of the city's energy and natural resources.
• NRES Goal 4: San Antonio has an adequate, diversified, high quality water supply and is a national leader in water conservation.
• NRES Goal 5: San Antonio is a leader in energy conservation and providing clean, renewable energy for residents and businesses. (See also PFCS Goal 5)
• NRES Goal 6: San Antonio is a national leader in stormwater management best practices and low impact development (LID) design.
• NRES Goal 7: San Antonio’s air quality is better than state and national standards. (See also CHW Goal 7)
• NRES Goal 8: San Antonio is a model for innovative recycling and solid waste diversion programs that deliver ongoing benefits to the community. (See also PFCS Goal 6)

NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY (NRES) POLICIES

Land Use and Development

• NRES P1: Develop ordinances that preserve the integrity of natural settings in neighborhoods, communities, open spaces and parks and develop specific procedures for enforcement.
• NRES P2: Develop a growth and annexation plan that reduces negative environmental impacts of new development.
• NRES P3: Develop programs to attract environmentally sensitive industries to San Antonio and encourage local industries to adopt conservation measures and minimal impact technologies in their operations.
• NRES P4: Implement policies that encourage infill development and higher-density development outside environmentally sensitive areas.
• NRES P5: Plan and implement policies that protect and conserve native flora and fauna and iconic regional landscapes.
• NRES P6: Plan and implement policies that allow for the natural movement of wildlife.