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San Antonio night view

San Antonio

A Growing City’s Moment of Truth

Since the Civil War, when railroads first connected San Antonio to the eastern U.S., the city has been one of America’s most ethnically diverse. When the United States spread west, San Antonio became home to a confluence of Germans, Hispanics, and Anglo-Americans, all attracted by its reputation as the center of a new mercantile economy. San Antonio grew quickly and expanded outward; following World War II, its population increased about 60 percent and its territory grew by more than 260 square miles. It is currently the 9th largest city in the United States, with a population of 1.12 million.

Its sprawl is largely due to Texas’s liberal annexation policy, which has allowed the city to continue to annex its suburbs—a policy that has pulled resources and focus away from the city center. Highway Loop 410, which circles the central part of the city, separates two vastly different communities. The more prosperous, predominantly Anglo section stretches north into the suburbs. Meanwhile, as of 2002 San Antonio as a whole was 58.7 percent Hispanic, compared to an average of 30 percent for other cities in Texas. Most of that Latino population is located on the west side of San Antonio, which is nearly 100 percent Spanish speaking. Housing in these neighborhoods, where Latino and black populations earn on average $17,000 less per year than whites, has deteriorated considerably. About 35 percent of the inner city units were built before 1950. The homeless population increased by 19 percent from 1999 to 2002, according to the Enterprise Foundation. It’s clear that San Antonio’s dramatic expansion has left much of the inner city behind.