Is San Antonio in the Right Game?

1. Not sure I understood what the “right game” is, keeping the city inexpensive for millennials?

2. We have to think differently. Atlanta and Dallas win because that’s where the talent is. How do we make more talent to attract businesses, creators and entrepreneurs?

3. Well at least we are in the conversation. But I agree talent is one thing, the other is Atlanta & Dallas have international airports & to corporations that makes a huge difference. Just ask AT&T

4. https://www.facebook.com/newyorker/posts/10152623852903869

5. Excellent as usual. The pursuit of the Raiders is about San Antonio’s identity crisis and desire for acceptance. Are we the 7th largest city in the U.S. (headed towards 5th with annexation)? Or are we more accurately the media market we rate as – in the high 20s/low 30s?

   When we look in the mirror, do we see Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia and Dallas or do we see Oklahoma City, Portland, Louisville and Greenville, S.C.?

   I suspect the some city leaders and big money wants the former.

   The only argument that might resonate for San Antonio pursuing the Raiders is messaging. The conventional wisdom is that important, prosperous American cities have NFL teams. So, as Jacksonville and Charlotte prospered and grew in the 1990s, the NFL set up shop.

   If the Raiders came here, is it a loud and clear signal to the rest of the country that San Antonio is thriving? And, why would we care to send that signal? Would it cause corporations to give San Antonio a first or second look? Did Randall Stephenson think SA was lacking the things that important American cities should have like a great airport and multiple major league sports teams?

   I suspect these arguments are 20th Century thinking. Though the NFL is the most popular American sport by far, so much of it is based on television ratings, gambling and fantasy leagues. However, because of the rampant head injuries, it may have a limited reign.

   Cities that don’t have the NFL and seem to be doing well: LA, Portland, Austin and Oklahoma City. Cities that have the NFL and are doing MEH: St. Louis, Detroit, Green Bay and Jacksonville.

   I don’t know what to make of the Tesla pursuit because it seemed intertwined with a statewide effort to bring them anywhere in Texas. Governor Perry publicly lobbied for it but if he specifically went to bat for San Antonio, I missed it.

   The messaging if we could have drawn Tesla is as opposite as you can get to the NFL. It’s forward-thinking and perhaps the most 21st Century consumer product.

   Maybe San Antonio’s attempt to draw Tesla was a great message to send. Some of our wealthiest, most well-known citizens own car dealerships. Texas car dealers want to stop Tesla from selling its cars direct to consumers and they have sued to prevent it.

   So, when San Antonio courts Tesla is the city signaling that it is progessive, technologically savy and not afraid to bite the hand that feeds it?

   I think that the NFL courtship is likely a bad look and a waste of time and money. It makes us look desperate.

   I think the Tesla pursuit, even though unsuccessful, was the right message to send. Tesla chose Reno so it’s not like we lost to a major metro area. Though its proximity to Tesla’s headquarters may have made it tough to beat out.

   As our city progesses there will be people that want to wear the cloak of traditional respectability and those that want to plot a different course.

   As you noted above, one of our strengths is that, right now, you can still make a difference in whatever the future holds here.

6. This piece reminds me of all the other pieces that have been being written since you started the Rivard Report. And it’s not your fault. Things move so slow here in SA. I am from here, went to Holmes high school, was told I worked well with my hands and would make a nice A/C repairman. I went off to UT Austin in 1999 and got my BS, MA and PhD by the time I was 29 years old. I moved here 5 years ago from Austin to take a job as a tenure track professor. Moving back was like going back in time by 10 years. It was like nothing had changed since I moved. King Williams was blowing up when I left and 10 years later it was still barely booming. That all said, since my 5 years of being here, I would beg to differ about how much change has taken place. We are indeed seeing some movement. I am one of the Rivard Report’s biggest critics. I feel it is a gentrifying, culture consuming rag piece. But the truth is, it means that in a way, San Antonio has arrived. In my eyes it sits some where between the Austin Chronicle and Austin American Statesman. Your articles have shown the earnest efforts being made by both locals and out of towners. I think in a way, maybe it has to be said by an outsider like me that, by covering the pieces you all have and including guest writers you all are part of the answer this article is talking about.

   That said, I wish San Antonio would realize something. We are a DOD and big Oil town. That means we tend to have uber conservative people who tend to not want to talk about their jobs outside of work. They are not huge networkers outside of their industries. And for DOD workers, it is for a good reason, most have security clearance. They are not going to go to Geekdom or the Friendly spot and strike up conversations about innovative technology they are using at work, because at the root of their job it isn’t wise to do so.

   And the successful big corporations that we tend to discount have been steady and profitable, even during the economic down turn. USAA, HEB, Valero, Tosoro, etc… These companies have been a backbone to our economy.

   But if you look at all those companies, they are run either like military style companies or blue collar companies with white collar positions. And they are successful for that.

   So what does that mean?

   It means that we have a talent base, that does not match up with Richard Florida’s idea of the Creative Class. The group that I think this article is trying to articulate needs to be here.

   “The Creative Class is also known for its departure from traditional workplace attire and behavior. Members of the Creative Class may set their own hours and dress codes in the workplace, often reverting to more relaxed, casual attire instead of business suits and ties. Creative Class members may work for themselves and set their own hours, no longer sticking to the 9–5 standard. Independence is also highly regarded among the Creative Class and expected in the workplace (Florida, 2002).”

   I think we yearn for this, it is what Austin has had for decades. It is what gave me radical potential when I went to UT Austin. It is how I worked for startups, did work in San Francisco, watched friends become Millionaires and middle class friends have hobbies and social activities that spanned everything from building 1500 horse power supras to hosting “Nerd Night” and “Dorkbot” two monthly events in Austin that draw over 200 people a month with a good number of those people being women and wide range in age as well.

   Here in San Antonio, those same movements whether it is the 1500 horse power supra builders or the Geeks is a much smaller group with a much smaller audience.

   But it should be noted, they are growing. We do have people moving here and wanting new things. Cafe Commerce’s Million Cups run by Peter French is a great example of the type of change we have been needing in San Antonio. It’s a free weekly public event where a vast array of men and women from multiple social and cultural backgrounds meet in a public space and discuss creative class ideas. The format is short enough for the millinenals yet leaves enough room for true discussion that all groups feel included.

   So what does this all mean? I could care less about the Raiders in terms of building a creative class. Austin doesn’t have a pro football team, they have UT Austin. Well we have UTSA and if you do not like them, go to a Trinity game or a UIW game or drive up to Austin and go to a UT Austin game, and if you are one of “those people”, go to an A&M game (I kid).

   I guess what I am saying is that San Antonio will never be Austin, it was never meant to be and I don’t think we should be trying to be the same type of creative class as all these other cities. Those desires to be like a Dallas and Houston will just make San Antonio like any other city in our region. There is a balance here.

   As someone who lived through Austin’s biggest growth rate, I promise you all will look back at San Antonio’s current growth and talk about them as “the good times”, when middle class folks could buy things cheap, start companies and actually buy land. We will talk about the first coffee shops to actually make it over multiple years. The first veggie places that established a long term permanence.

   But there will always be the DoD and Oil here too, they are the straight laced seemingly perfect family member, the ones who bring home the bacon almost too well, and we often wonder how and at what cost…

   Anyway, I am off my soap box.

   1. I want to read what this guy writes on a monthly basis.

      1. Did you read that comment, Joseph? We should post your article now and perhaps others in the future. –RR

      2. I want to read more from Joseph too! I think his comments and insight are very interesting. I agree with some comments and disagree with others but I sure would like to discuss all of them!

         Well done.

7. I Agree, they ain’t coming here.

8. Great story.

9. May I say that one of the business factors they stay away from us is our airport. I believe the lack of non-stop and international flights is a corporate turn off. Just saying.

10. Great commentary. It would be far more productive to put more effort into attracting businesses and entrepreneurs for start ups in industries where we have an advantage (medical, cyber security, solar) as opposed to every single pipe dream. Or working with small local businesses with high growth potential to find the next Rackspace or KCI.

11. Great story, Bob. Hope our city leaders will give it a read, especially Henry Cisneros.

12. Well written. Great story.

13. Time to get to work and be the change we wish to see in San Antonio.

14. I’m digging it, Bob – and your comments get closer to the reality of San Antonio as a boomerang city for many. . . the place you come back to when you realize how sad/unfair living is elsewhere (and begin to notice pale imitations of San Antonio creeping into their offerings). Margaritas, chips y queso on a rooftop in Manhattan in summer? Bueno. A fight for a table and enough chairs and an eventual $100+ tab? No bueno.

    San Antonio is and has been a liberation, rejuvenation and re-boot/start-up city . . . and, sadly, it used to seem a little more friendly and easier to be happy here without a car or much cash.

    Man, I miss the paired-up ambassadors with paper maps downtown (not solo workers focused to cleaning and security duties) and constant VIA trolley presence midtown-to-downtown-to-southtown offered just a few years back. Although the trolleys could use an update (expanded route, improved waiting areas, late night service, electric engines and a simpler fare structure – a 2 buck / 1 buck or free discount fare should be the only VIA ticket), why does it feel like this visitor-friendly and once iconic service has been axed (even if other VIA buses now run similar routes)?

    The Riverwalk expansion and B-cycle program are truly world leading . . . but getting to groceries, most parks, libraries, sporting fields, malls, campuses, schools, the airport, etc. without a car remains (and in some cases has become more of) a chore in recent years – even with the start of the regional Bus Rapid Transit ‘PRIMO’ system (which now needs investment in supportive infrastructure – sidewalks and crossings – and the likely relocation of some stations – particularly the current Crossroads Mall stop in both directions).

    And what in the world happened to Rivercenter Mall at street level? How could such a beautiful and historic storefront so close to the Alamo be left vacant so long?

    Similarly, the now-closed downtown YMCA (on the old blue trolley line, with indoor swimming pool and in walking distance of the Greyhound station and the Central library) was helpful and enjoyed by a broad range of urban residents and visitors including older kids. In contrast, the ‘municipal’ Tobin Center currently feels and is managed like a dry-docked cruise ship for 1604 seniors – complete with champagne served in plastic tumblers and complaints about parking galore . . . and no activities around the boat – er, grounds – for anyone during the day.

    Raiders at the Alamodome (remembering biking, walking or trolley-ing to Spurs games just ten years ago) without a tax break might have been okay. Tesla could have happene, too, but nothing in the recent CPS Energy management playbook (punishing distributed solar production while the Tesla bid was ongoing, complicating solar leasing, going big and alone on a coal energy future, etc) or VIA management (minimal investment in e-vehicles or solar energy harvesting at VIA facilities or commitments to renewable energy use) or City management (minimal support for e-vehicles or commitments to solar harvesting at public buildings or renewable energy use) indicated that San Antonio was on board with Tesla’s urban vision or interests.

    So how does San Antonio build a healthier economy now (and recover from some recent management blunders)? We could start by looking afresh at the visitor experience . . . and particularly how it appears to have declined in the last ten years or so for a person entering the city without a car or particular job from another area – from a midwestern suburb to Mexico City.

    Millennials are interesting and have their own tastes (no amount of macrobiotic quinoa will save them from the amounts of bourbon and grass-fed beef they have consumed – or their access to easy credit), but I doubt they will ever want to live with their parents in a retirement village. However, a lot of young and older people alike seem to want to live in what feels and functions like an affordable and warm weather college town – books, music, conversation, ideas, mingling, outdoor activities (including moonlight swims and strolls),attraction, equality, low overhead and entertainment costs and with minimal attention to housing, cars or employment.

    Currently, I can’t think of a city with more colleges, conferences or committees that feels less like a college town than San Antonio – not because we are poor and majority Latin@ (so are most college students in our region) but because we seem to have allowed retirement home / gated community logic and approaches to dominate downtown public spending and management.

    A challenge to consider is starting at the Greyhound or another regional bus station, Amtrak, or the airport alone mid-day with an overnight bag and making your way to the Blue Star complex by public transit and walking.

    What draws your attention? Where would you think about working, eating, housing, exercising, bathing, sunning, resting, etc? Does the environment feel collegiate, youthful, welcoming or promising to you – noting that the majority of San Antonio residents are under 24 years old – closely followed by a large percentage of young adults aged 25-44 (30% of the population)? We’re mainly Gen Xers and pre-teens with little cash (natural allies?). What kind of city works for us?

15. I am sick to death of the Raiders talk. Enough! Does no one remember Irwindale?

    If you want to see where San Antonio is headed, do a quick Google search for Irwindale Raiders. Back in 1987, Al Davis (father to current owner Mark Davis), wanted a stadium for his team. LA flat out refused, so Al went shopping. He went to Irwindale with lots of swag and big promises: build me a stadium and I’ll bring the Raiders here.

    The sleepy town of Irwindale, located just 18 miles from the LA Coliesum, bought into it hook, line and sinker. They shelled out $10 million in legal fees, feasibility studies and other expenses. They also gave the Raiders a $10 million good faith deposit. Press conferences were held, contracts were signed. But the deal went south (big surprise) and Irwindale was left holding $20 million worth of nothing. Al Davis moved the team back to Oakland and Irwindale was the laughing stock of the country.

    It’s time for us to face the facts. This move is not going to happen. At all. (And let’s not ignore the fact that Jason Cole of the Bleacher Report has indicated that no less than three NFL officials have said there is “no way” the Raiders will be moving to SA).

    The valuable resources and time of our business and community leaders are better spent elsewhere. It’s time we stop pursing the slopping seconds (or is it sloppy thirds) known as the Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland-San Antonio Raiders.

16. I do not think we have the corporate base to support it.

17. We’re to be used and abused because of our status but the tables will be turned eventually.

18. I don’t believer an actual offer was made to the Raiders to fund a tax supported stadium in the $1B range and the article didn’t suggest that. However, I am certainly willing to bet that it was considered and I think at least one problem with economic development is that we think in terms of stadiums as engines for redevelopment instead of just investing in redevelopment. Also, assuming the $1B stadium offer is hypothetical, we should as a community lament that we weren’t able to offer a $1B battery plant to Tesla. That is where we should be investing. The battery plant would spawn dozens of spin off companies and ideas. People will always go to wherever the action is. We need to invest in similar growth technologies…not more stadiums.

19. It’s true that the City/County incentive package for the Raiders has not been publicly disclosed, so I am surmising on the $1B stadium figure and using some journalistic license, too, to be honest. The last 5-6 NFL franchise moves, not to mention the teams convinced to stay put and not move, involved stadia that ranged in cost from $700K-$1B-plus. All were taxpayer-supported, although it’s also true that owners paid a significant share of the cost in most or all of these cases. It was a stadium upgrade deal, coupled with enormous hometown sentiment, and NFL pressure, if memory serves, that kept the post-Katrina Saints from making SA their home.

    My larger point is that the confidential nature of these recruiting bids often involve commitments of extraordinary public expenditures. That’s fine if you are going to get a Toyota plant and all the jobs and indirect economic impact that come with the deal. But the return on investment here depends on what yard line your season tickets are located. For everyone else, you’ve just paid a very high price to say you live in an NFL town and have a home team to root for.

    For the record, I loved it when the Saints were here for a stay, and I loved it when the Cowboys and Oilers played the Governor’s Cup in the Alamodome for a few years. I’d love to see an NFL franchise in SA, but not at any price. And not at a price that the public gets no say in debating in advance of a deal.

    The Rivard Report is open to publishing someone out there who wants to make the case for the effort to recruit the Raiders here.

    –RR

20. Great story! I lived in SA in the 90s for high school before going to UT Austin for my undergraduate, then to NYC/Brooklyn, Italy, Mexico, back to Austin & now moving next month to SA exactly because Austin is done!! Brooklyn is done!! I’m not an artist, but an artist advocate, art dealer, art consultant. I have run a gallery for the past 10 years & I found Brooklyn & Austin stifling. Creatives are abandoning based on the high cost of living. Sure these cities, particularly NY is where the stimuli are but we appreciate the quality of life in midtown San Antonio. We are moving to Alta Vista & found a 3/2 for less than half if what you can buy a vacant lot in East Austin. My husband, an architect & ivy league graduate, and I travel for work but we look forward to spending our money at the great indie restaurants, music venues & coffee shops that have popped up in SA. We have both lived in some of the world’s most desirable cities but we love the potential in SA & the more we tell our friends about our motivation the more people who have turned their eyes toward SA & away from SF, NYC, Chicago, LA, etc. We are the biggest advocates for coming to SA & this is from someone who swore I would never live in SA again when I left in 1999. I am closer to 40 than 30 but I just had my first baby & we are going to enjoy the provincialism of SA & simultaneously try to spice it up a bit- push some boundaries, get people out of their comfort zone. All while we “Keep San Antonio Lame”. No sense in making it too self conscious like Austin or Brooklyn but for fricksake dust off some stodginess and allowing the creative people and the innate talents that reside here to manifest.

    Thank you for this opinion piece. May it help to rally the troops!

21. I commend Robert Rivard for this outstanding piece. It is to the point, objective and truthful which is something we are not the best at here. I agree with this wholeheartedly. For years (since my Port San Antonio) I would preach the marketing of San Antonio’s strengths and how to leverage that. And stop with the bull.

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