Tuesday, April 04, 2006

What's to Dislike about S.A.

This morning I overheard someone telling another about how San Antonio has become a popular & regular site for the NCAA Final Four (the Men's basketball championship played last nite, U of Florida winning). While I was listening, I considered, "Yes, of course! What's to NOT like about the Alamo City?"

Nevertheless, this "country boy" who used to dislike ALL urban entities (see my initial posting) will readily confess that there are indeed aspects of S.A. that are most unattractive, and even repulsive. This city is, after all, a human-made entity. And we humans are most definitely imperfect! Except for that one from Nazareth, the only one who never sinned and thus never deserved to die. And yet He died, for you & me!

Here are a few things to dislike most about S.A., not necessarily in order of diss-ability. (How's THAT for a new word?)

1. Over-emphasis on The Alamo. A few years back I actually made two lists, of the things I liked MOST, and the things I disliked in this city. The Alamo made both lists. It made the one because everybody, or at least all Texans, automatically associate S.A. with the world-famous battle site and shrine of Texas liberty. It's to dislike because one runs into constant reminders of it all over town! That distinctive roof line - which the Franciscan-instructed Coahuiltecans did not construct and which was not yet there at the time of the 1836 battle, is copied everywhere! I get tired of looking at it!

2. Gang graffiti. Sometimes called "tagging", this eyesore can be seen on all parts of town; in fact, the building next door to where I live has a new graffito on the side facing me. But it's especially prevalent on the Westside. Which happens to be where gangs with their crime activity are also most notorious.

3. Grackles. Those pesky birds are all black & mostly tail feathers, with a loud caw-like voice, who like to leave their smelly, dirty "calling cards" if you pass or stand (e.g. while waiting at a bus stop) under their tree or wire. They tend to gather to roost in huge numbers in certain specific locales around the metropolis, such as Travis Park downtown (a major bus stop and transfer point), Rector Street along North Star Mall, and northwest S.A.'s huge Medical Center (several major hospitals, the UT Health Science Center & attendant supporting institutions). When I say "gather to roost in huge numbers", imagine yourself in a scene from the Alfred Hitchcock horror movie "The Birds". Thus you'
ll get the picture!

4. The "bladder effect". Many of the VIA bus stops have garbage cans, which are lined with plastic bags. Sometimes the trash collectors are sloppy in installing a fresh bag, and the bag ends up hanging out of the can; when the wind blows furiously (as it often does here) the bag will bulge out and flop in the wind, looking for all the world like the bladder of some giant animal! Yuk!

5. Gated communities. The northern portions of the city abound with gated - and often guarded, sometimes gate-sentried - communities. A few of these are also found inside Loop 410. And I know a few are found in other cities. But again these sad places abound north of Loop 410 here. For me, anyone who chooses to live in such a place is truly imprisoned (or enslaved) by paranoid materialism.

6. And of course, like many a metropolitan area, S.A. simply has WAY TOO MANY RESIDENTS. To make things worse, the developed metropolitan area (homes, shopping centers, industries, etc.) really sprawls. It SPRAWLS!

Well, there's my short list of what to dislike in S.A. My old list on the positive side was much longer. I tried to limit it to my "top ten", but I still had to include a fairly lengthy set of things that almost made that "top ten"! Perhaps I shall share that list with you in the future.

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