Change seemed to be the only constant this year in San Antonio. One day, an old downtown building is there, the next it’s gone, replaced by construction cranes and steel beams. And just when it seemed that Ivy Taylor was going to roll into another term as the city’s mayor, along comes Ron Nirenberg going door-to-door and pulling off an upset victory. That triggered its own cycle of change in and around City Hall.
To reflect back on all the comings and goings, and with a hat tip to the Washington Post‘s annual The List for the concept, the Rivard Report compiled its own, highly subjective list of what’s in the rearview mirror as we leave 2017 behind and head into San Antonio’s Tricentennial year.
| OUT | IN |
| Mayor Ivy Taylor | Mayor Ron Nirenberg |
| Old barges operated by Rio San Antonio | New electric river barges operated by Go Rio Cruises |
| Hurricane Harvey | Flood preparedness |
| Taciturn Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich | Outspoken Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich |
| Shopping mall food courts | Food Hall at the Pearl |
| San Antonio Stars | San Antonio FC |
| UTSA President Ricardo Romo | UTSA President Taylor Eighmy |
| Kelly Field’s 100th anniversary | San Antonio’s 300th anniversary |
| Robert E. Lee High School | Legacy of Educational Excellence (LEE) High School |
| Confederate monument in Travis Park | Christmas tree in Travis Park |
| The old Solo Serve building | Construction cranes and street closures downtown, including Frost Bank Tower |
| Spurs injury report | Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard |
| Google Fiber huts | Google Fiber in very select locations |
| Edward Benavides, Tricentennial CEO | Carlos Contreras, Tricentennial Commission interim executive director |
| Glass walls around Alamo Plaza | Shade trees on Alamo Plaza |
| Texas House Speaker Joe Straus | State Senate President Dan Patrick |
| Councilman Alan Warrick (D2) | Councilman Cruz Shaw (D2) |
| Proposed apartments near the Hays Street Bridge | Views of the Hays Street Bridge |
| Satellite parking at San Antonio International Airport (SAT) | Short-term parking at SAT |
| U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-San Antonio) | Twenty candidates for the 21st Congressional District |
| Lone Star Brewery redevelopment in Southtown | Merchants Ice complex and Red Berry Estate redevelopments on the Eastside |
| Councilman Cris Medina (D7) | Councilwoman Ana Sandoval (D7) |
| Brad Parscale | Jill Giles and Kori Ashton |
| Bathroom bill | Ashley Smith |
| Amazon HQ2 | Hulu Viewer Experience Headquarters |
| Tacos and Tequila | The Modernist |
| Local Coffee heads to Austin | Rosella Coffee in downtown San Antonio |
